Aurora magazine

Pregnant women who suffer from asthma experience multiple complications, which also affect children. Asthma is linked to a higher rate of cases of hypertension, with a consequent increase in the chances of preeclampsia. In addition, children are more likely to be born with congenital and underweight abnormalities.

This was stated in a study conducted on over 100,000 pregnancies, published in the European Respiratory Journal. Dr. Kawsari Abdullah's team analyzed the 103,424 pregnancies of 57,524 women. All the women involved suffered from asthma and gave birth between 2003 and 2012. Of these, 2,663 women suffered from severe symptoms while pregnant, that is, they found themselves out of breath and panting.

The women in question turned to their doctors at least five times and / or at least once to the hospital. About 8-13% of pregnant women worldwide suffer from chronic asthma. Still, it is an uncontrolled disease. The study aimed to analyze the phenomenon, also taking into account any risk factors. Age, lifestyle, place of residence can in fact influence the severity of asthma and related disorders. Scientists compared the problems of women who were keeping asthma under control and those of women with severe symptoms.

The second group reported 30% more likely to suffer from preeclampsia and 17% to suffer from hypertension. Their children had a 14% higher chance of being born underweight and / or prematurely. In addition, they were 21% more likely to be born with congenital anomalies.

Source: eurekalert.org

Daily use of marijuana during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight. Furthermore, children are less resistant to infections, receive lower levels of oxygen and suffer other negative consequences. Yet another proof of cannabis damage in pregnancy comes from a study by the University of Nevada.

The team analyzed data from 450 pregnant women who used marijuana daily. From what has emerged, there is a correlation between this and the weight of the child at the time of delivery. Children are in fact smaller, which puts them at risk both during pregnancy and afterwards. This can have negative consequences even in the long run, long after the birth. Scholars have looked for possible causes.

According to the doctors, marijuana increases the vascular resistance of the placenta, especially in the second and third trimesters. This reduces the influx of oxygen reaching the child, reducing the speed of development. Furthermore, the consumption of marijuana exposes to a series of other chemical substances, among which those contained in the tobacco used to smoke it.

The researchers suspect that much of the damage comes from the smoke itself. Further studies will be needed to understand the negative impacts on daily marijuana use during pregnancy. Nevertheless, it now seems clear that the use of the substance should be discouraged during gestation. Yet almost 16% of women use it over the nine months.

Source: unlv.edu

Infants exposed to prenatal opioids should be identified as early as possible. This allows in fact to prevent at least part of the problems they will encounter, providing them with better treatments. This is what researchers at Marshall University say, in collaboration with Marshall Health, Cabell Huntington Hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers focused on the combined effects of opioids and gabapentin.

The latter is a drug used to relieve pain caused by nerves and epilepsy. It is also used to treat opioid addiction, but many people use it poorly. This also occurs among pregnant women, with everything that follows for children. Children exposed to opioids in the prenatal phase often experience real withdrawal symptoms. However, the two substances make the symptoms atypical: uncontrolled eye movements; shots in arms and legs; lingual thrusts; involuntary muscle contractions. All this makes it much more difficult to identify the problem in time and, consequently, to deal with it immediately in the necessary ways.

The researchers then analyzed the benefits of total toxicological screening. The questionnaires completed by the mothers are almost always partial. Standard neonatal tests, on the other hand, focus only on certain substances and neglect all others. Under these conditions, it can take up to 20 days before the start of the treatments, which include an hospitalization of 58 days on average. With total toxicological screening, however, only 14 pass and the infants remain in the hospital about 48 days.

Source: jcesom.marshall.edu

A team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute used genetic editing techniques to improve the diagnosis of dengue fever. The researchers used nanotechnology to mount some DNA fragments, so as to make a star shape. This star acts as a trap for the dengue virus, which remains trapped between the arms. Once captured, the virus is expelled naturally and can be analyzed.

The new technique has proved effective for the moment. According to one of the authors of the study, the test could be 100 times more sensitive than current diagnostic tests. It makes it possible to identify the virus from the first day of infection. Above all, scientists believe they can use the same technique to identify other viruses. Because?

To spread, viruses enter cells and replace their own DNA with the original one. In 2016, doctors Robert Linhardt and Jonathan Dordick made a synthetic polymer that matches a sialic acid sequence. In fact, the virus must bind to acid to spread to the lungs. The polymer then manages to intercept it and prevent it from spreading. Treatment has reduced the mortality rate in guinea pigs to a quarter.

Polymers have a defect: sometimes they are toxic to the body. The scientists then looked for a safer variant of this tool. To do this, they used nanotechnology to modify the structure of DNA, looking for a form compatible with that of dengue virus. The star obtained binds to the virus and becomes fluorescent, perfectly visible in blood tests.

Source: phys.org