CHECKUP MATERNAL HISTORY OF ASTHMA NULLIFIES DAY-CARE IMMUNITY.Byline: - Staff and Wire Services Children who attend day care as infants gain protection against asthma as they grow, but not if their mother has a history of breathing trouble. That's the conclusion of a new study by Boston researchers, who found that maternal, but not paternal, history of asthma undermines the benefits of day care on building up the immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. . In the new study, Dr. Juan Celedon, a lung specialist at Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is one of the graduate schools of Harvard University. It is a prestigious American medical school located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. , and his colleagues followed 453 boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. with at least one parent with a history of allergies, hay fever hay fever, seasonal allergy causing inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes. It is characterized by itching about the eyes and nose, sneezing, a profuse watery nasal discharge, and tearing of the eyes. or asthma. Of those, 238, or about half, had attended day care during their first year of life. For children whose mothers didn't have asthma, going to day care in the first year reduced their risk of later breathing problems by 70 percent. ``But for children whose mother had asthma and who went to day care, they were not protected,'' says Celedon. What accounts for the difference isn't clear. It might be the result of something genetic or something that happened while the baby was in the womb. Or, Celedon adds, it could reflect an environmental exposure shared by mother and child after birth. ALZHEIMER'S WARNING: Symptoms that mimic Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. could actually be a prelude to Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (ăls`hī'mərz, ôls–), degenerative disease of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex that leads to atrophy of the brain and senile dementia. , new research suggests. Muscle rigidity, difficulty walking and other motor problems are linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago found elderly people who had a rapid progression of these symptoms were eight times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those with no worsening of such symptoms. Seniors with slow to moderate progression of the symptoms had a two- to-five-times greater risk of developing Alzheimer's. EYE SEMINAR: The Braille Institute will host a free seminar on macular degeneration macular degeneration, eye disorder causing loss of central vision. The affected area, the macula, lies at the back of the retina and is the part that produces the sharpest vision. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday. Speakers will include doctors from the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Jules Stein Institute. A technology fair will highlight the latest devices, such as talking computers and braille note-takers. Macular degeneration affects more than 8 million people worldwide and is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 75. The event will be held in the Weingart Conference Center at the Braille Institute, 741 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles. Call (323) 663-1111 for more information or visit www.brailleinstitute.org. |
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