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Could the music of the 18th century classical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart help tiny infants born today?

Yes, suggests an Israeli study that found that listening for just 30 minutes a day helped premature babies use less energy, which may help them grow faster.

“Within 10 minutes of listening to Mozart music, healthy infants [born prematurely] had a 10 percent to 13 percent reduction of their resting energy expenditure,” the study authors wrote. “We speculate that this effect of music on resting energy expenditure might explain, in part, the improved weight gain that results from this Mozart effect.”

The findings were published online Monday in Pediatrics, and are slated to appear in the January print issue of the journal.

In the 1990s, researchers released a small study that found that when adults listened to a Mozart sonata they performed better on intelligence tests. Numerous studies have been done since, including studies on premature infants that have found the “Mozart effect” can decrease the heart rate, lower stress hormone levels and ease distressed behavior in premature infants, according to background information in the new study. Babies exposed to music have also shown an increase in their levels of oxygen and weight gain.

However, none of these studies have been able to look at how the music might be causing these changes.

To get an idea of how Mozart’s music might help weight gain, the researchers designed a prospective, randomized trial that included 20 healthy babies who were born prematurely. The babies weren’t eating on their own, but instead were being tube-fed consistent quantities of food.

The babies were randomly assigned to listen to no music or to Mozart for 30 minutes for two consecutive days.

During the first 10 minutes, the resting energy expenditure was similar in both groups. But during the next 10 minutes, the researchers noted a change in the babies who were exposed to Mozart — their resting energy expenditure decreased, and the effect continued through the next 10-minute period as well. Overall, there was a 10 percent to 13 percent drop in resting energy expenditure.

“When you’re born early, lots of the pathways in the brain are still being laid down and developing, and then babies are put in an environment where there are lots of unfamiliar sounds and other stimuli, which may cause sensory overload. Music may help decrease those noxious influences,” said Dr. Cheryl Cipriani, director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Scott & White Memorial Hospital, in Temple, Texas. “It’s an area that needs further explanation.”

Dr. Beverly Brozanski, clinical director of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, said that “developmental inputs, whether music or touch or something else, are very important to infant brain development.”

Both experts said that while this study’s results are intriguing, it’s only a small pilot study, and that no definitive conclusions can be drawn from it.

Whether the effect seen in this study is exclusive to Mozart or could be replicated with other music is also unknown. The researchers suggest that the effect may be unique to Mozart because his music tends to repeat the melody more than music of other composers.

Brozanski said that she suspects that lullaby-type music that contains a soothing repetition would probably produce similar effects.

Cipriani said she doesn’t know if playing different music would change the outcome, but like Brozanski, she suspects the repetition probably is key. “The baby is used to hearing a beat before it’s born — the whoosh of the blood, the heartbeat — and it may be that certain types of music do a better job of soothing them and reminding them of the womb,” she said.

The chemical acrylamide, which is classified as a probable cancer-causing agent, does not appear to increase overall risk for mouth, throat, voice box, or thyroid cancers, with one possible exception, study findings hint.

Besides a possible link to an increased risk of mouth cancer among non-smoking women, Dr. Leo J. Schouten at Maastricht University, and colleagues observed no link between low to high levels of dietary acrylamide and other head-neck or thyroid cancers among 120,852 Dutch people followed for more than 16 years.

However, the small number of mouth cancer cases in the group calls for further investigation to determine “whether there is a real association or just a chance finding,” Schouten noted in an email to Reuters Health.

Acrylamide is found in some starchy foods cooked at high temperatures such as French fries and potato chips, baked goods and coffee. Animal studies have indicated acrylamide may cause cancer, and in 2005 the World Health Organization called for lower levels of acrylamide in food. However, studies of any link to human cancers have produced variable results.

Using food frequency surveys obtained when participants’ were 55 to 69 years old, Schouten’s team estimated the men’s and women’s average daily acrylamide intake at 22.5 and 21.1 micrograms, respectively, they report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Coffee accounted for about 47 percent of this intake. Dutch spiced cake, cookies, French fries, and potato crisps accounted for another 15, 13, 8, and 2 percent, respectively.

Besides the noted exception among non-smoking women, there was no link between acrylamide and head/neck and thyroid cancers in analyses that allowed for age, gender, smoking status, number of cigarettes smoked, and number of years spent smoking, as well as other demographic and dietary factors.

Considering that acrylamide molecules are small, water soluble, and, have the potential to reach nearly every organ and tissue in the body, the current findings are generally “reassuring,” Schouten said.

He reiterated, however, that further investigations need to confirm or refute these findings.

In the mean time, Schouten and colleagues advise limiting acrylamide intake, particularly in foods with minimal or no health benefits, such as French fries and potato crisps.

More than just a bad bout of stomach flu, some food-borne illnesses can cause long-term consequences, especially for young people, a report released on Thursday has found.

Researchers at the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention in Pennsylvania studied the five most common food-borne diseases and found they can cause life-long complications including kidney failure, paralysis, seizures, hearing or visual impairments and mental retardation.

“It’s not just a tummy ache,” the center’s Tanya Roberts told a news briefing.

An estimated 76 million Americans become sick each year from food-borne illness, 325,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About half are children under 15.

Since 2006, outbreaks have been linked to peanuts, peppers, ground beef, spinach and other common foods.

Diarrhea and vomiting are the most common symptoms of food-borne illness, and typically last only a few days.

But in 2 to 3 percent of cases, food-borne disease can cause serious long-term health problems, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

For the report, the team studied campylobacter infection, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Toxoplasma gondii.

In addition to diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting, campylobacter infection can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, the most common cause of paralysis in the United States. It can also trigger arthritis, heart infections, and blood infections.

E. coli O157:H7 infection can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome, the leading cause of acute kidney failure in children in the United States.

Listeria has been linked with infections of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in serious neurological dysfunctions or death. It kills about 1 in 5 people.

Salmonella bacteria can cause reactive arthritis, a painful form of arthritis that can interfere with work and quality of life.

And infants whose mothers were infected with toxoplamosis, caused by a food-borne parasite, can develop mental retardation, crossed-eyes and in some cases blindness in one or both eyes.

“It’s not just these five,” Roberts said. “There’s over 200 pathogens that have different kinds of consequences and these consequences can be prevented,” she said.

Sandra Eskin, director of the Food Safety Program at the nonprofit Pew Health Group, said she hopes the report will prompt action on legislation pending in Congress to reform food safety in the United States.

“We started 2009 with a major food-borne illness outbreak linked to peanut butter and peanut butter products. It ultimately resulted in nine deaths and sickened more than 700 people in 46 states,” Eskin said. “Families should not have to wait another year for safer food.”

Constipation occurs when it becomes difficult or painful to have regular bowel movements. What’s “regular” varies by person, however.

Some people have three bowel movements per day, while others have three movements per week, the American Academy of Family Physicians says.

Here are the academy’s suggestions for staying regular:
When you feel the need to have a bowel movement, don’t put it off.
Schedule time each day to have a bowel movement, such as after a meal.
Boost your fiber intake.
Drink plenty of water — aim for eight glasses each day.
Don’t rely on laxatives, as taking them too frequently can worsen constipation.
Get regular exercise.
Avoid sugary and high-fat foods that can contribute to constipation.

Declining use of hormone replacement therapy may be driving down rates of a condition called “atypical ductal hyperplasia,” a known risk factor for breast cancer, new research suggests.

This is the first time a link has been found between atypical ductal hyperplasia — abnormal cells in the breast’s milk ducts — and hormone therapy, said Diana Miglioretti, senior author of a paper published in the November issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

“It sounds like another reason not to take hormones,” said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge.

“This is part of a pattern that combined use of hormone therapy with both estrogen and progesterone does something to a woman’s breast that predisposes them to atypical ductal hyperplasia, which is felt to be a precursor to certain types of malignancies,” Brooks added.

If atypical ductal hyperplasia does turn out to be a precursor to breast cancer, this link would be a good indicator of how use of hormone therapy — often used for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes — can help spur malignancy.

The findings are in keeping with other recent research showing a decline in breast cancer rates since the release of results from the Women’s Health Initiative, a major trial that caused many women to stop taking combined (estrogen plus progesterone) hormone therapy.

The Women’s Health Initiative was halted in July of 2002 after researchers found higher risks of heart attacks and breast cancer in women taking the hormone supplements compared with placebo.

Since that time, use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has experienced a precipitous decline.

According to experts, women diagnosed with atypical ductal hyperplasia have a three to five times increased risk of developing breast cancer, either in the same breast or the opposite breast.

Atypical ductal hyperplasia “is a benign condition but it is a risk factor for breast cancer. It’s not clear if it’s a precursor to breast cancer,” said Miglioretti, who is a senior investigator with the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle. “This sheds light on more of the breast process, how HRT affects breast cancer.”

Miglioretti and her co-authors analyzed almost 2.5 million screening mammographies from samples provided by the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. The mammograms were done between 1996 and 2005.

In 1999, atypical ductal hyperplasia was found in 5.5 per 10,000 mammograms but by 2005 had declined to only 2.4 per 10,000, a drop of more than half. This occurred despite an increase over time of rates of mammography, which tend to pick up the abnormality.

Meanwhile, breast cancer cases in women with atypical ductal hyperplasia declined from 4.3 per 10,000 mammograms in 2003 to 3.3 per 10,000 mammograms in 2005.

And postmenopausal use of hormone therapy dropped from 35 percent to 11 percent.

The study also revealed that cancers associated with atypical ductal hyperplasia tend to be less aggressive, lending support to the theory that less aggressive and more aggressive cancers develop differently, the authors stated.

One breast cancer expert said the new study dovetails with recent trends in breast cancer incidence.

“The finding they report is consistent with [previous] observations that suggested there was a drop in incidence of breast cancer in about 2003 and it coincided with when the Women’s Health Initiative reported that estrogen-plus-progesterone use was associated with an increased risk of heart attacks as well as a slight increased incidence of breast cancer risk,” said Dr. James Liu, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at MacDonald Women’s Hospital, Case Medical Center, University Hospitals in Cleveland. “The association caused many women to either question their need to be on [hormone therapy] or stopping it.”

But, cautioned Liu, “the data is not strong enough to say this observation was caused by [a decline in hormone use] but it is a very strong association.”

Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead and treating children who have been poisoned by lead.

The goal is to prevent lead exposure to children before they are harmed. There are many ways parents can reduce a child’s exposure to lead. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead. Lead hazards in a child’s environment must be identified and controlled or removed safely.
Concern about Your Child’s Exposure

If you have any reason to suspect that your child has been exposed to lead contact your health care provider. Your child’s health care provider can help you decide whether to perform a blood test to see if your child has an elevated blood lead level. A blood lead test is the only way you can tell if your child has an elevated lead level. Most children with elevated blood lead levels have no symptoms. The health care provider can recommend treatment if your child has been exposed to lead.

Lead poisoning is entirely preventable. The key is stopping children from coming into contact with lead and treating children who have been poisoned by lead. Learn more about preventing childhood lead poisoning and National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week activities.

Childhood Lead Exposure

Young children often place their toys, fingers, and other objects in their mouth as part of their normal development, this hand-to-mouth activity may put them in contact with lead paint or dust.

The most common sources of lead exposure for children are chips and particles of old lead paint. Although children may be directly exposed to lead from paint by swallowing paint chips, they are more commonly exposed by swallowing house dust or soil contaminated by leaded paint. This happens because lead paint chips become ground into tiny bits that become part of the dust and soil in and around homes. This usually occurs when leaded paint becomes old or worn or is subject to constant rubbing (as on doors and windowsills and wells). In addition, lead can be scattered when paint is disturbed during destruction, remodeling, paint removal, or preparation of painted surfaces for repainting.

Lead, which is invisible to the naked eye and has no smell, may be found in other sources. These sources may be the exposure source for as many as 30% of lead-poisoned children in certain areas across the United States. They include
traditional home health remedies such as azarcon and greta, which are used for upset stomach or indigestion in the Hispanic community
imported candies
imported toys and toy jewelry
imported cosmetics
pottery and ceramics
drinking water contaminated by lead leaching from lead pipes, solder, brass fixtures, or valves and
consumer products, including tea kettles and vinyl miniblinds

Additionally, a variety of work and hobby activities and products expose adults to lead. This also can result in lead exposure for their families. Activities that are associated with lead exposure include indoor firing range use, home repairs and remodeling, and pottery making. “Take-home” exposures may result when people whose jobs expose them to lead wear their work clothes home or wash them with the family laundry. It also may result when they bring scrap or waste material home from work.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are more likely than other children to engage in criminal activity when they grow older, a U.S. study has found.

The study included more than 10,000 adolescents who were later surveyed in adulthood. It found that youngsters with ADHD were twice as likely to commit theft later in life and were 50 percent more likely to sell drugs.

The findings, believed to be the first evidence of a link between ADHD and criminal activity, were published online Sept. 30 in the Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics.

“While much research has shown links between ADHD and short-term educational outcomes, this research suggests significant longer-term consequences in other domains, such as criminal activities,” study lead author Jason M. Fletcher, an assistant professor at the Yale School of Public Health, said in a university news release.

“We also found important differences in the association between adult crime and the type of childhood ADHD symptoms — whether hyperactive or inattentive or both,” he said.

Crimes where ADHD is a factor may cost the nation $2 billion to $4 billion a year, estimates have indicated.

Fletcher and colleagues plan to investigate whether drug treatments may reduce the illegal activities associated with ADHD in adulthood. The researchers also plan to study the associations between childhood ADHD symptoms and later employment and earnings.

ADHD, which affects between 2 percent to 10 percent of U.S. schoolchildren, is far more common in males than females. It’s also more prevalent in people who have close relatives with the condition, suggesting a genetic origin, the study authors noted in the news release.

A Central Institutional Review Board (CIRB) for cancer clinical trials that was created by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, in 2001 helps trials start more quickly (just over a month faster, on average) and thus expedite the time from concept to completion of crucial investigational research according to a new finding. This study of the CIRB was performed by scientists at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) and Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif., with assistance from NCI and appears online October 19, 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Over the past 40 years, more than 1,700 institutions in the United States have enrolled up to 20,000 patients annually in phase III clinical trials coordinated by NCI and have used separate IRBs to monitor research involving patients. Federal regulations require that most NIH-funded clinical trials be monitored by an IRB.

To determine whether a new treatment is safe and more effective than current treatments using clinical trials is a lengthy process that can take up to 10 years and cost more than $1 billion, in some cases. Many researchers have complained that administrative requirements, including IRB oversight, are delaying the release of new treatments. One solution NCI proposed was to form a CIRB to conduct IRB review of large, multi-site oncology trials.

“Mounting a CIRB that is nationwide in scope has been challenging for NCI due to the complexity involved in assuring high-quality protection for study participants while attempting to speed the process,” said Jeffrey Abrams, M.D., associate director of NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. “For all the volunteer reviewers and participating sites, this study provides objective confirmation that a centralized approach significantly improves the overall process for participants in multi-site trials.”

The study assessed whether use of NCI’s CIRB was associated with lower effort, time and cost in processing adult phase III oncology trials, which are the gold-standard of trials for validating whether a therapy becomes a new standard of care. Early phase trials (phase I and II) and pediatric trials were not included in the analysis due to the lower patient enrollment populations required.

Clinical trial sites that are not enrolled with the CIRB must have their local IRB conduct a full board review as they would with any research study. Sites enrolled with the CIRB have their local IRB conduct a facilitated review, which is a review category requiring only that the local IRB chairperson or designee signal acceptance of the CIRB’s review.

To determine whether the CIRB was achieving the hoped-for efficiencies, researchers compared clinical trial review at sites affiliated with the NCI CIRB with the review at unaffiliated sites that used their local IRB. Oncology research staff and IRB staff were surveyed to understand differences in effort, timing and costs of clinical trial review. CIRB affiliation was associated with faster local review (about 34 days) and about six hours less research staff effort. Many clinical trials sponsors value faster and more predictable reviews and often pay commercial, fee- for-service, central IRBs to perform reviews.

Affiliation with NCI’s CIRB was also associated with a savings of $717 per initial review, of which about half was associated with time savings for research staff and the remainder was associated with savings for the IRB staff. Overall, the program resulted in a net cost of $55,000 per month for NCI, but the CIRB could actually save costs if more sites were to use the CIRB. Moreover, this net cost estimate does not include the benefits of bringing new cancer therapeutics to market more quickly.

“Efforts are underway to expand enrollment in the CIRB and to encourage sites to use the CIRB to minimize administrative inefficiencies,” said lead researcher Todd H. Wagner, Ph.D., health economist, VAPAHCS and Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif., “and based on our research, increased efficiencies and net savings are likely.”

The Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS) comprises three divisions, including a large tertiary care facility. It is affiliated with Stanford University Medical School and provides a full range of patient care services with state-of-the-art technology, as well as education and research. Comprehensive health care is provided through primary care, tertiary care and long-term care in areas of medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, dentistry, geriatrics, and extended care. VAPAHCS has 897 operating beds, and is home to a variety of regional treatment centers, including a Spinal Cord Injury Center, a Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center, a Geriatric Research, Educational and Clinical Center and the National Center for PTSD.