Author Interviews / 28.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amanda Mitchell PhD Postdoctoral researcher Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our study followed 80 pregnant women across the course of their pregnancy – throughout 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters. We examined whether women exhibited different levels of immune markers called cytokines based on fetal sex. We looked at this in two ways – levels of cytokines in the blood, and levels produced by a sample of immune cells that were exposed to bacteria in the laboratory. While women did not exhibit differences in blood cytokine levels based on fetal sex, we found that the immune cells of women carrying female fetuses produced more proinflammatory cytokines when exposed to bacteria. This means that women carrying female fetuses exhibited a heightened inflammatory response when their immune system was challenged compared to women carrying male fetuses. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, OBGYNE / 17.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lisa Underwood, PhD Research Fellow| Centre for Longitudinal Research Growing Up in New Zealand | Who are Today’s Dads? School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences University of Auckland  Auckland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study is part of the contemporary, longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand, which is tracking the development of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010. In previous reports we investigated antenatal and postnatal depression symptoms among the mothers of our cohort children. In this study we looked at the partners of those mothers to explore whether men and women have different risks for depression in each perinatal period. Our main findings were that expectant fathers were at risk if they felt stressed or were in poor health. Elevated depression symptoms following their child’s birth, were also linked to social and relationship problems. The strongest predictor of postnatal paternal depression was no longer being in a relationship with the child’s mother. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, OBGYNE / 01.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kristina M. Deligiannidis, MD Associate Professor Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research Director, Women’s Behavioral Health Zucker Hillside Hospital Northwell Health Associate Professor Psychiatry and Obstetrics & Gynecology Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Because of effects on social behavior, including maternal behavior, oxytocin has often been seen as a potential mediator of postpartum depression and anxiety. The original objective of our study was to examine the relationship between the use of synthetic oxytocin during and after labor and the development of depressive and anxiety disorders within the first year postpartum. We hypothesized that women exposed to synthetic oxytocin before or during labor would have a reduced risk of postpartum depressive and anxiety disorders compared with those without any exposure. Our findings told the opposite story. We found that peripartum synthetic oxytocin exposure was associated with an increase in risk for the development of postpartum depression and anxiety. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, OBGYNE, Thyroid Disease / 27.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Spyridoula Maraka Assistant professor of medicine Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System Little Rock Arkansas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Subclinical hypothyroidism, a mild thyroid dysfunction, has been associated in pregnancy with multiple adverse outcomes. Our aim was to estimate the effectiveness and safety of thyroid hormone treatment among pregnant women with subclinical hypothyroidism. Using a large national US dataset, we identified 5,405 pregnant women diagnosed with subclinical hypothyroidism. Of these, 843 women, with an average pretreatment TSH concentration of 4.8 milli-international units per liter, were treated with thyroid hormone. The remaining 4,562, with an average pretreatment TSH concentration of 3.3 milli-international units per liter, were not treated. Compared with the untreated group, treated women were 38 percent less likely to experience pregnancy loss. However, they were more likely to experience a preterm delivery, gestational diabetes or preeclampsia. Moreover, the benefit of thyroid hormone treatment on pregnancy loss was seen only among women with higher TSH levels (4.1 to 10 mIU/L) before treatment. We also found that for women with lower levels of TSH (2.5–4.0 mIU/L), the risk of gestational hypertension was significantly higher for treated women than for untreated women. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, PLoS, Weight Research / 27.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Rebecca Richmond PhD Senior Research Associate in the CRUK Integrative Cancer Epidemiology Programme MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit School of Social and Community Medicine University of Bristol MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We have been involved in earlier work which applied the same methods used here (using genetic variants to provide causal evidence) and showed that higher maternal pregnancy body mass index (BMI) causes greater infant birth weight. The paper here aimed to build on that earlier research and asked whether maternal BMI in pregnancy has a lasting effect, so that offspring of women who were more overweight in pregnancy are themselves likely to be fatter in childhood and adolescence. Our aim was to address this because an effect of an exposure in pregnancy on later life outcomes in the offspring could have detrimental health consequences for themselves and future generations. However, we did not find strong evidence for this in the context of the impact of maternal BMI in pregnancy on offspring fatness. (more…)
Author Interviews, Baylor College of Medicine Houston, OBGYNE, Outcomes & Safety / 25.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with; Dr. Amirhossein Moaddab Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States maternal mortality ratio is three to four times higher than that of most other developed nations. Previous studies from the demonstrated a possible association between weekend hospital admissions and higher rates of mortality and poor health outcomes. We investigated differences in maternal and fetal death ratios on weekends compared to weekdays and during different months of the year. In addition we investigated the presence of any medical and obstetrics complications in women who gave birth to a live child and in their offspring by day of delivery. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Weight Research / 25.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alan Peaceman, MD Professor and Chief of Maternal Fetal Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Excess maternal weight gain during pregnancy is very common in the United States, and has been associated with a number of pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes, maternal hypertension, excess fetal size, and cesarean delivery. Children born to mothers who gained excessively during pregnancy are at much higher risk of developing obesity themselves. We performed a randomized trial where half of the women received an intensive intervention of diet and exercise counseling in an effort to limit their weight gain. Compared to the control group, those in the intervention gained on average 4 pounds less and were more likely to gain within recommended guidelines. Despite this improvement, however, we did not see any improvement in any of the pregnancy complications. (more…)
Author Interviews, Blood Pressure - Hypertension, OBGYNE / 24.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Lauren Theilen, MD Obstetrics/Gynecology specialist Salt Lake City, Utah. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Women with a history of hypertensive disease of pregnancy are known to have increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular and other causes. Our study shows that hypertensive disease of pregnancy is strongly associated with deaths due to diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The association is strongest for early mortality – deaths occurring before age 50 – and life expectancy decreases with increasing number of affected pregnancies. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 24.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Josianne Paré MD, FRCSC Département d'obstétrique-gynécologie Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé de l'université de Sherbrooke 3001 12e avenue Nord, Sherbrooke (Québec), J1H 5N4 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prolonged labor is a significant cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and very few interventions are known to shorten labor course. Skeletal muscle physiology suggests that glucose supplementation might improve muscle performance in case of prolonged exercise and this situation is analogous to the gravid uterus during delivery. Therefore, it seemed imperative to evaluate the impact of adding carbohydrate supplements on the course of labor. Accordingly, we conducted a single centre prospective double-blind randomized-controlled trial comparing the use of parental IV of dextrose 5% with normal saline to normal saline in induced-nulliparous women. A total of 193 patients (96 in the dextrose with normal saline [NS+D] group and 97 in the normal saline group [NS] were analysed in the study. The median total duration of labor was 76 minutes shorter in the NS+D group (499 versus 423 minutes, p = 0.024) than in the NS group. There was no difference in the rate of caesarean section, instrumented delivery, APGAR score or arterial cord pH. (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Surgical Research / 20.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Adam Sachs MD Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology University of Connecticut School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: When women undergo appendectomy or cholecystectomy during pregnancy they are obviously concerned about the well being of their fetus. Unfortunately, the majority of the data available to council pregnant women is outdated and medical practice has significantly changed since their publication. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 13.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Alex Kemper, MD, MPH, MS Member,US Preventive Services Task Force Professor of Pediatrics and Professor in Community Medicine Department of Pediatrics Duke University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Neural tube defects, where the brain or spinal cord do not develop properly in a baby, can occur early in pregnancy, even before a woman knows she is pregnant. Taking folic acid before and during pregnancy can help protect against neural tube defects. Most women do not get enough folic acid in their diets, so most clinicians recommend that any woman who could become pregnant take a daily folic acid supplement. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 06.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nathalie Auger MD MSc FRCPC Montréal, Québec MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We carried out this study because congenital heart defects take a large share of birth defects, but not much is known on its risk factors. In previous research, we found that very high temperatures in the summer were associated with a greater risk of stillbirth. We sought to determine whether elevated outdoor heat could also be linked with congenital heart defects in a sample of about 700,000 pregnancies. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, UCLA, Zika / 20.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karin Nielsen, MD, MPH Professor of Clinical Pediatrics Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA Director, Center for Brazilian Studies MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Our research was a prospective study in which pregnant women in Rio de Janeiro who developed a rash in the last 5 days between the end of 2015 to mid 2016 were screened for possible infection with Zika virus by a special molecular test (PCR) which looked for the virus in blood or urine. Women who were found to have Zika virus in either blood, urine or both were followed throughout time to look for pregnancy and infant outcomes. We also followed women who had a negative PCR test for Zika as a comparison group. By July 2016, we had outcomes known for 125 Zika affected pregnancies, of these 58 had abnormal outcomes, with 9 fetal losses and 49 babies who had abnormal findings on physical exam or brain imaging, all consistent with neurologic abnormalities. This meant 46% of the pregnant women in our study had an abnormal pregnancy outcome, and 42% of live birth infants were found to have an abnormality in the first few months of life. (more…)
Author Interviews, MRI, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 17.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof Paul D Griffiths, FRCR and Cara Mooney, Study Manager: MERIDIAN Clinical Trials Research Unit The University of Sheffield  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Around three in every 1000 pregnancies is complicated by a fetal abnormality. In the UK Ultrasonography (USS) has, for many years, been the mainstay of antenatal screening and detailed anomaly scanning to detect such abnormalities.  However previous studies have suggested that in utero Magnetic Resonance (iuMR) imaging may be a useful adjunct to USS for detecting these brain abnormalities in the developing fetus. This study was designed to test the diagnostic accuracy and clinical impact of introducing fetal MR in to the diagnostic pathway. Our results show that iuMR has an overall diagnostic accuracy of 93% compared to ultrasound at 68%, this is an increase in diagnostic accuracy of 25%. When divided into gestational age group the improvement in diagnostic accuracy ranged from 23% in the 18-23 week group, and 29% in the 24 week and over group. IuMR provided additional diagnostic information in 49% of cases, changed prognostic information in at least 20% and the contribution to clinical management was felt to be at least ‘significant’ in 35% of cases. IuMR also had high patient acceptability with at least 95% of women stating that they would have an iuMR if a future pregnancy were complicated by a fetal brain abnormality. (more…)
Author Interviews, FASEB, Microbiome, OBGYNE, Stanford / 09.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carlos Simón, M.D., Ph. D. Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Valencia University, Spain Scientific Director, Igenomix SL. Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, Stanford University, CA Adjunct Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, Baylor College of Medicine, TX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The main findings of this study reside in the concept that the uterine cavity, which has been classically considered as a sterile organ, possess its own microbiome and that the composition of this uterine microbiome have a functional impact on the reproductive outcome of IVF patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 01.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kenji Tanimura M.D., Ph.D. Assistant professor Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology Graduate School of Medicine and Hideto Yamada M.D., Ph.D. Professor and Chairman Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection can cause long-term neurological sequelae, such as hearing difficulties and mental retardations, in affected children. Some investigators reported that early diagnosis and antiviral therapy can improve neurological outcomes in symptomatic congenital infected infants. However, universal screening of newborns for congenital CMV infection is not yet available. Therefore, the development of non-invasive methods for prenatal detection of mothers and newborns at high risk for congenital CMV infection has been desired. We aimed to determine maternal clinical, laboratory, and ultrasound findings that effectively predict the occurrence of congenital CMV infection in high-risk pregnant women, who were positive for CMV IgM. We performed maternal blood screening for CMV IgG and IgM, and 300 IgM-positive pregnant women, including 22 with congenital CMV infection, received series of examinations. We evaluated maternal clinical and laboratory findings, including serum CMV IgM and IgG, IgG avidity index, antigenemia testing, and CMV-DNA PCR for the maternal serum, urine, and uterine cervical secretion, and prenatal ultrasound findings. (more…)
Author Interviews, Emory, Fertility, OBGYNE / 01.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer F. Kawwass, MD, FACOG Assistant Professor, Emory Reproductive Center Director of Third Party Reproduction, Emory Reproductive Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: With the increasing use of assisted reproductive technology (ART), the number of cryopreserved embryos in storage has increased, as residual viable embryos from an in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle may be frozen for future use. Each embryo maintains attributes reflective of the age of the female at time of the original oocyte retrieval. Embryo donation, a form of third-party reproduction, involves donation without compensation of previously formed embryos to another couple for implantation. Limited published data exist detailing outcomes of donor embryo cycles. Patients and clinicians would benefit from information specific to donor embryo cycles to inform fertility treatment options, counselling, and clinical decision-making. We sought to quantify trends in donor embryo cycles in the United States, to characterize donor embryo recipients, and to report transfer, pregnancy, and birth outcomes of donor embryo transfers. (more…)
Author Interviews, MRI, Technology / 28.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Heron Werner Junior Clínica de Diagnóstico por Imagem – CDPI Rio de Janeiro - Brazil MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: A growing number of technological advancements in obtaining and viewing images through noninvasive techniques have brought major breakthroughs in fetal medicine. In general, two main technologies are used to obtain images within the uterus during pregnancy i.e. ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Fertility, OBGYNE / 21.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David McLernon PhD MPhil BSc Research Fellow in Medical Statistics Medical Statistics Team Institute of Applied Health Sciences University of Aberdeen Foresterhill Aberdeen MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Normally when a couple attend a fertility clinic to begin IVF treatment they are only informed about their chances of having a baby for the first attempt of IVF. In actual fact the first treatment is often unsuccessful and many couples will go on to have several complete cycles of the treatment– each involving the transfer of one or two fresh embryos potentially followed by one or more frozen embryo transfers. We felt that a prediction model that could calculate the chances of having a baby over the complete package of treatment would provide better information for couples. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Surgical Research, Weight Research / 15.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brodie Parent, MD MS General Surgery R4 University of Washington MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We already knew that women with a history of bariatric surgery are a high risk group when it comes to childbirth. Our study has confirmed prior data which show that infants from these women are at a higher risk for being premature, low birth-weight, or requiring ICU admission. However, this is some of the first data which looks at their risk over time after recovery from the operation. Data from this study show that risks to the infant are highest in the first 3 years after an operation, and diminish over time. This suggests that women should wait a minimum of three years after an operation before attempting conception. (more…)
Anemia, Author Interviews, OBGYNE / 07.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel C Benyshek, PhD Professor, Department of Anthropology Adjunct Professor, UNLV School of Medicine Co-Director, Metabolism, Anthropometry and Nutrition Lab University of Nevada, Las Vegas MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Maternal placentophagy is ubiquitous among nearly all terrestrial mammals, but is rare to non-existent among humans in the historic and cross-cultural records. Recently, however, human maternal placentophagy has emerged as a popular trend among a small but growing number of women in many industrialized countries. Most women engaging in the practice today consume their processed placenta in capsule form, taken daily, over several weeks postpartum. While human maternal placentophagy advocates claim many maternal health benefits from the practice, including improved postpartum mood, increased breast-milk production, and improved energy, among others, no carefully designed, placebo-controlled studies have evaluated these claims. Our randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study (N=23) investigated some of these claims. Our study found that the postpartum iron status of participants who consumed their own encapsulated placenta (based on the three week daily intake recommendation of one prominent placenta encapsulation service), was no different from those women who consumed the same amount of beef placebo. (more…)
Author Interviews, CDC, OBGYNE / 04.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Cynthia Ferre MA PhD Division of Reproductive Health National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion CDC MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Reductions in births to teens and preterm birth rates are two recent public health successes in the United States. To date, however, we haven’t had data to indicate whether these two declines are associated. So, we used age-specific data on trends in births overall and in preterm births to determine the effects of changes in maternal age on preterm birth. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies / 02.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Malini B. DeSilva, MD, MPH Clinician Investigator HealthPartners Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This is a retrospective study of more than 324,000 live births at seven Vaccine Safety Datalink sites between 2007 and 2013 which showed that the Tdap vaccine in pregnant mothers was not associated with increased risk for microcephaly or other major birth defects in their offspring. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, JAMA, OBGYNE, Stroke / 24.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eliza Miller, M.D. Vascular Neurology Fellow New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center We collaborated with researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital and with the New York State Department of Health. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Prior research has found that older women of childbearing age are at higher risk of stroke during pregnancy and postpartum than younger women. We hypothesized that their increased stroke risk might not be due to pregnancy-related factors, but just due to the fact that stroke risk increases with age for all people. We used billing data from New York State hospitals to calculate incidence risk ratios for four age groups: 12-24, 25-34, 35-44 and 45-55. In each age group, we compared the incidence of stroke in women who were pregnant or postpartum to the incidence of stroke in women of the same age who were not pregnant. As in prior studies, we found that the incidence of pregnancy-associated stroke was higher in older women compared to younger women (about 47/100,000 deliveries in the oldest group, versus 14/100,000 deliveries in the youngest group). However, the incidence ratios showed that pregnancy increased stroke risk significantly in women under 35, but did not appear to increase stroke risk in women over 35. In the youngest group (age 12-24), pregnancy more than doubled the risk of stroke, and in the 25-34 age group, pregnancy increased stroke risk by 60%. In women aged 35 and older, pregnancy did not increase stroke risk. Women who had pregnancy-related strokes tended to have fewer traditional vascular risk factors like hypertension and diabetes, compared to same-aged women with non-pregnancy related strokes. (more…)
Author Interviews, Endocrinology, Fertility, OBGYNE / 21.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kavita Vedhara FAcSS Professor of Health Psychology Division of Primary Care School of Medicine University Park,Nottingham MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There has been a longstanding interest in the role of the hormone cortisol in fertility, because of its potential to affect the functioning of the biological systems that influence both conception and pregnancy. This interest has extended to IVF, with researchers exploring the relationship between levels of the hormone and pregnancy since the advent of the treatment in the late 1970s. However, a recent review showed that the relationship between cortisol and pregnancy in IVF was unclear. A number of reasons were highlighted for this, including that all of the studies to date had relied on short-term measures of the hormone measured in blood, saliva, urine and sometimes follicular fluid. Such measures can only capture hormone levels over a matter of minutes and hours. Such ‘snapshots’ are unable to give us an accurate picture of the levels of hormone over longer periods of time. This is important because any clinically relevant effects of cortisol on fertility are only likely to occur in the context of long-term changes in the hormone. In recent years it has become possible to measure long-term levels of cortisol in hair. Cortisol is deposited in the hair shaft and because human hair grows, on average, 1cm per month, a 3cm sample of hair closest to the scalp can tell us about levels of cortisol in the previous 3 months. We used the development of this technique to examine whether long term levels of cortisol (as measured in hair), or short term levels of cortisol (as measured in saliva) could predict whether or not women going through IVF would become pregnant. If you are trying to obtain a perfect cortisol balance, I use this product that helps to do just that. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 14.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Chung-Yi Li Department of Public Health College of Medicine National Cheng Kung University Tainan Taiwan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Congenital heart disease is the leading congenital malformation that causes perinatal and infant deaths. However, little information is available about the risk factors, especially modifiable environmental and behavioral factors that may have posed adverse effects on fetal cardiac development. We conducted a nationwide population-based study in Taiwan to further evaluate the potential role of maternal chronic diseases in the risk of developing congenital heart disease in offspring. We found that children of women with several kinds of chronic disease were at elevated risk for congenital heart disease; these diseases included type 1 and type 2 diabetes, hypertension, congenital heart defects, anemia, connective tissue disorders, epilepsy, and mood disorders. (more…)
Author Interviews, Columbia, JAMA, Mental Health Research, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 13.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alan S. Brown, M.D., M.P.H. Professor of Psychiatry and Epidemiology Columbia University Medical Center Director, Program in Birth Cohort Studies, Division of Epidemiology New York State Psychiatric Institute  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy has been increasing.  A previous study from a team that I led in a national birth cohort in Finland showed that mother’s use of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant is related to an increased risk of depression in offspring.  We sought to evaluate whether these medications also increased risk of speech/language, scholastic, and motor outcomes in offspring.  We found an increased risk (37% higher risk) of speech/language disorders in offspring of mothers exposed to SSRIs in pregnancy compared to mothers who were depressed during pregnancy but did not take an SSRI during pregnancy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, OBGYNE / 12.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Kari Bø PhD Norwegian School of Sport Sciences Oslo, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background is that more and more female elite athletes continue to exercise into their 30s and beyond and more want to become pregnant and some to continue to compete at the same level after giving birth. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: To date there is little scientific knowledge on elite athletes and others who perform strenuous exercise (eg women in the military) during pregnancy and after childbirth and we therefore have to be cautious when recommending intensity levels of both endurance and strength training exercise. However, given the knowledge we have now.
  • Elite athletes planning pregnancy may consider reducing high impact training routines in the week after ovulation and refraining from repetitive heavy lifting regimens during the first trimester as some evidence suggests increased miscarriage risk.
  • There is little risk of abnormal fetal heart rate response when elite athletes exercise at <90% of their maximal heart rates in the second and third trimesters.
  • Baby birthweights of exercising women are less likely to be excessively large (>4000g) and not at increased risk of being excessively small (<2500g).
  • Exercise does not increase the risk of preterm birth.
  • Exercise during pregnancy does not increase the risk of induction of labour, epidural anesthesia, episiotomy or perineal tears, forceps or vacuum deliveries.
  • There is some encouraging evidence that the first stage of labour (before full dilatation) is shorter in exercising women.
  • There is also some encouraging evidence that exercise throughout pregnancy may reduce the need for caesarean section.
(more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 28.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Sarah El-Heis MBBS, MRCP (London) Clinical Research Fellow MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton Southampton General Hospital Southampton MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Atopic eczema is a common, multifactorial and potentially distressing skin condition. Evidence that it partly originates in utero is increasing with some studies suggesting links with aspects of maternal diet during pregnancy. Nicotinamide is a naturally occurring nutrient that is maintained through the dietary intakes of vitamin B3 and tryptophan. As a topical treatment it has been used in the management of some skin conditions including atopic eczema, and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, to stabilise mast cells and to alter lipids in the outer layers of the skin. The objective of our study was to examine the link between maternal serum concentrations of nicotinamide and related tryptophan metabolites to the risk of atopic eczema in the offspring. We found that maternal late pregnancy concentrations of nicotinamide and related metabolite concentrations were not associated with offspring atopic eczema at age 6 months. Higher maternal serum concentrations of nicotinamide and anthranilic acid were, however, associated with a 30% lower risk of eczema at age 12 months. (more…)