BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: children

Is Air Pollution Exposure In Childhood Linked To Schizophrenia?

Research has shown that pollution affects physical health, but does air pollution also affect our psychological health? A study, which combines genetic data from iPSYCH with air pollution data from the Department of Environmental Science, reveals that children who are exposed to a high level of air pollution while growing up have an increased risk of developing schizophrenia.

“The study shows that the higher the level of air pollution, the higher the risk of schizophrenia. For each 10 ?g/m3 (concentration of air pollution per cubic metre) increase in the daily average, the risk of schizophrenia increases by approximately twenty per cent. Children who are exposed to an average daily level above 25 ?g/m3 have an approx. sixty per cent greater risk of developing schizophrenia compared to those who are exposed to less than 10 ?g/m3,” explains Senior Researcher Henriette Thisted Horsdal, who is behind the study.

To put this research into perspective, the lifetime risk of developing schizophrenia is approximately two percent, which is equal to two out of a hundred people developing schizophrenia in one’s life. For people exposed to the lowest level of air pollution, the lifetime risk is just under two percent. The lifetime risk for people exposed to the highest level of air pollution is approximately three percent.

“The risk of developing schizophrenia is also higher if you have a higher genetic liability for the disease. Our data shows that these associations are independent of each other. The association between air pollution and schizophrenia cannot be explained by a higher genetic liability in people who grow up in areas with high levels of air pollution,” says Henriette Thisted Horsdal about the study, which is the first of its kind to combine air pollution and genetics in relation to the risk of developing schizophrenia.

The study included 23,355 people in total. Out of those people, 3,531 developed schizophrenia. Through the results of this research one can see that there is an increased risk of schizophrenia when the level of air pollution during childhood increases; however, the researches cannot comment on the cause. Instead, the researched emphasize that further studies are needed before they can identify the cause of this association.

Schizophrenia is thought to mainly be a result of genetics, brain chemistry, substance use, and exposure to viruses or malnutrition before birth. So, I think it is very interesting that exposure to air pollution during childhood may be a cause as well. Additionally, I hope that these findings and further studies become very useful to schizophrenia research and prevention, as schizophrenia is a very serious mental illness and there is no cure.

 

Are Antibiotics Truly Good?

Antibiotics are also known as antibacterials. They can destroy or slow down the growth of bacteria in the body. They’re used to fight against certain infections that attack the immune system. Although the use of antibiotics can save a person’s life, the use of them can have repercussions. Most gut bacteria can recover quickly from the use of antibiotics, however there can be long-lasting effects. The changes it makes isn’t necessarily harmful, but that isn’t always the case. 

 

The gut microbiome, has roughly 10 trillion to 100 trillion bacteria and other microorganisms that live in the digestive tract, contributes to health by synthesizing vitamins, metabolizing drugs and fighting pathogens. Anything that disrupts the balance of microorganisms, such as antibiotics, which can kill both “good” and “bad” bacteria, has the potential to cause disease.” 

Research done in a 2016 study shows that being exposed to antibiotics as an infant can alter the gut microbiome in a baby and “weaken the immune response for years to come.” The duration of breastfeeding reduces the frequency of infections, and the risk of being overweight. Conclusions of the study conveyed antibiotic use in a child during the breastfeeding period could weaken the beneficial effects of long term breastfeeding. In addition, the results suggest that intestinal microbiota is affected by the long term metabolic benefits breastfeeding has. 

Antibiotics are the most common type of medicine prescribed to young children in the Western world. As mentioned previously, antibiotics can dramatically alter the gut microbial composition. Research shows, “…the gut microbiota plays crucial roles in immunity, metabolism and endocrinology, the effects of antibiotics on the microbiota may lead to further health complications.” Exposure to environmental microorganisms and parasites is important for healthy development and maintenance of the immune system. In Western countries contact with microorganisms has significantly decreased over the recent decades. “ As antibiotics are a factor that reduces exposure to microorganisms and disrupts the body’s natural microbiota, this… may help explain the observed effects of antibiotics on the immune system.”

“Since infancy is a crucial time for microbial establishment, it is necessary to evaluate the influence of antibiotics given quite liberally during this period. Antibiotic treatment given to both infants and toddlers has already been shown to strongly affect microbiome composition. In an attempt to understand the effects of antibiotics on the microbiome, both human reports and experiments in animal models have been employed”.

Although, antibiotics are a powerful source of medication that can fight off infections and save lives when used properly, it is essential to not overuse or become too reliant on them. Overuse contributes to the resistance to fighting bacterial infections, and hurts the body’s natural microbiota.

 

Video Games: Can They Be Beneficial to a Child’s Learning and Development?

We’re told that video games are the downfall of today’s youth, but is it possible that there are video games that can help advance today’s youth? Well, researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to test exactly that, and thus Project: EVO was born.

They used a fairly new branch of medicine known as “digital medicine.” According to DW Shaffer at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, “…”digital medicine” [is medicine] that is potentially more precise, more effective, more experimental, more widely distributed, and more egalitarian than current medical practice. Critical steps in the creation of digital medicine are careful analysis of the impact of new technologies and coordinated efforts to direct technological development towards creating a new paradigm of medical care.” The researchers set out to prove whether or not digital medicine could be used as an investigational treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and co-occurring attention/deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

It is statistically proven that as many as 50 percent of children on the autism spectrum experience symptoms of ADHD, with about 30 percent of said children receiving a secondary diagnosis of ADHD. ADHD medications are far less effective, however, in children with both disorders than in those with only ADHD, which led researchers to conduct a study exploring alternative treatments.

The study included 19 children aged 9-13 who had each been diagnosed on the spectrum and experienced co-occurring ADHD symptoms. The care givers of each child, were asked to submit reports of his/her child’s ADHD symptoms, as well as his/her child’s ability to both plan and carry out specific tasks. Participants in the study were given either the Project: EVO treatment, which is delivered via an action video game experience, or an educational activity involving pattern recognition. The researchers were using the TOVA API score, an FDA-cleared objective, to measure each child’s attention.

“Our study showed that children engaged with the Project: EVO treatment for the recommended amount of time, and that parents and children reported high rates of satisfaction with the treatment,” Benjamin Yerys, Ph.D., a child psychologist at CHOP’s Center for Autism Research (CAR) and first and corresponding author on the study. “Based on the promising study results, we look forward to continuing to evaluate the potential for Project: EVO as a new treatment option for children with ASD and ADHD.”

The overall conclusion of the study, found that children engaged with the treatment for 95% of the recommended treatment sessions. The study also found that upon using Project: EVO, children showed improved attention both quantitatively (on the TOVA API score) and qualitatively, with a noticeable reduction of ADHD symptoms. Both parents and children deemed Project: EVO a worthwhile approach for treatment. Though the sample size of the study was small, the study showed that using Project: EVO was both feasible and acceptable; with potentially therapeutic effects.

Weird ways a child can get hurt

When I was over at my cousins’ house I noticed how protective my uncle and aunt were. Everything seemed to be childproof. Nicole, my two year old cousin, is surrounded by gates and rubber corners. I was under the impression that no matter what a parent does there is always something that can hurt their kids. So when I found “Weird ways Kids can get Hurt” I had to write about it.

File:Catch-A-Wave.JPG

By J.Smith

 

 Bouncy Castles. These tend to be at every little kids party and they seems pretty harmless, but A 2012 report in the journal Pediatrics estimated that nearly 65,000 children were treated in U.S. emergency rooms for Bouncy Castle injuries.

Circular Lithium Batteries. These batteries are being used in everything from children toys to tv remotes. These batteries are the perfect size to get lodged in your kids throat where they can burn through ones esophagus in less then 2 hours. 84% of battery related injuries come from kids  who swallowed them.

Car Seats. Many parents get these for their children as they should, but most parents don’t know that these car seats, when exposed to bear skin can cause a rash from the nylon foam in the seats.

Laundry-detergent pods. These detergents are contained in see-through bags with bright colors and can easily be mistaken for candy. Nearly half of reported injuries from detergent come from children under 5.

Shopping Cart Injuries. Over 23,000 visits to the emergency room, the result of kids playing with or on shopping carts. These carts weren’t designed to hold kids…

These are only a few of many things that tend to hurt children.

Epigenetics, Dads, and Obesity

 

By Ynse. Photo from Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/ynse/1531699476/

 

It turns out that kids with obese fathers have unique epigenetic changes that can affect their health… for the worse.

According to a recent study, “children with obese fathers have different epigenetic markings on the gene for insulin-type growth factor 2 (IGF2) than children with fathers of normal weight.”

Children with obese fathers have less methylation on a specific region of the IGF2 gene. Sadly, this occurrence is linked with many types of cancers such as ovarian cancer.

However, it is too soon to tell if these epigenetic changes are directly linked to the children’s’ health.

According to the biologist Gudrun Moore, “it is tempting to over-emphasize the role of a small number of parent-of-origin expressing genes and to speculate about the effects of modest variation in methylation, but we must not be too hasty to blame either parent for their offspring’s health outcomes.”

However, other researchers are sure that that your parent’s environment and habits affect children’s health.

According to Michael Skinner, this research “suggests that environmental epigenetics might be the mechanism for these effects.”

Maybe now both the mother and father have to be careful about what they eat during the pregnancy. Sorry Dads-to-be, you are going to have to eat healthy now!

For more information on epigenetics and health, you can visit these links.

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21565573-some-effects-smoking-may-be-passed-grandmother

http://healthletter.mayoclinic.com/editorial/editorial.cfm/i/249/t/Understanding%20epigenetics/

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ynse/1531699476/

Your child isn’t nuts, he just can’t eat them!

Have you ever been immunized? If you are reading this, live in the United States, and attended any form of schooling of course the answer is yes! You have taken precautions to ensure that you do not get sick from things like the Flu or Chicken Pox. Just like you wouldn’t want to get sick from the flu, you shouldn’t want to get sick from allergies!  As a young woman who has intolerances to gluten, corn, soy, lactose and a tree nut allergy, I know allergies should not be taken lightly. Parents are beginning to diagnose food allergies and do not bother to inform their child’s physician.

Photo by Hannah W.

According to a study done by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the official publication of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

  • 70 percent report receiving a physician’s diagnosis for their child’s food allergy
  • Lower income and minority households were more likely to have a child with an undiagnosed food allergy.
  • Of the physician-diagnosed children, 32 percent did not receive diagnostic testing — such as a blood, skin or oral food challenge test.
  • A skin test was the most popular diagnostic test with 46 percent. A blood test was second with 39 percent.
  • Only 1 in 5 of reported that their child received an oral food challenge test — the gold standard of food allergy diagnose

Parents, for the most part, do not have the degrees or the smarts to fully treat their children’s allergies and keep their children safe without knowing the gravity of the allergies.

Here are key findings on the kind of reactions children had to the top nine food allergies, which are: egg, finfish, milk, peanut, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nut and wheat:

  • Cutaneous symptoms, such as hives, puffy eyes or lips, and eczema occurred in 80 percent of food-induced anaphylactic reactions.
  • During severe, life-threatening reactions, hives only occurred in 40 percent of the cases and puffy eyes or lips in 34 percent of the cases
The findings show us that 20% of the time, it is not obvious that a child is in a life threatening situation due to food. That is why you need to 20% of the time anaphylaxis occurs.  If you have a young child, they also may not be able to communicate how they are feeling so it is important to be informed and stay safe. If you, or someone you know have discovered any food allergy or have had hives, puffy eyes, puffy lips, or eczema but don’t know the reason visit a doctor! There is no reason to not be safe and informed about your allergies.
To learn more about food allergies please visit this website.
Help yourself and your loved ones- get tested for food allergies!

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