A weekly round-up of news affecting your health
MORNING SICKNESS
Scientists have identified two genes that play a key role in extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
Most women experience some morning sickness during pregnancy, but about two per cent of pregnant women experience a more severe form of nausea and vomiting, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, which Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, endured in her pregnancies.
Sometimes the symptoms are so serious that hospitalisation is required.
A new study led by researchers at UCLA and published in the journal Nature Communications has identified two genes associated with hyperemesis gravidarum, whose cause has not been determined in previous studies.
The genes, known as GDF15 and IGFBP7, are both involved in the development of the placenta and play important roles in early pregnancy and appetite regulation.
"It has long been assumed that the pregnancy hormones, human chorionic gonadotropin or estrogen, were the likely culprits of extreme nausea and vomiting, but our study found no evidence to support this," said study author Marlena Fejzo.
With no currently available medications to treat the condition, it's hoped the findings will eventually result in an effective drug treatment.
"It is my hope that one day a medication that affects this pathway will be used to successfully treat and possibly cure hyperemesis gravidarum," Ms Fejzo said.
TAI CHI AND PAIN
The ancient martial art of tai chi has similar or greater benefits than aerobic exercise for people with the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia, a trial has shown.
The trial findings, published in The British Medical Journal, suggest tai chi is an important alternative strategy for patients suffering chronic pain.
"Tai chi mind-body treatment results in similar or greater improvement in symptoms than aerobic exercise, the current most commonly prescribed non-drug treatment, for a variety of outcomes for patients with fibromyalgia," write the authors.
Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that causes widespread body pain. It may also lead to extreme tiredness, muscle stiffness, difficulty sleeping and depression. It affects around two to four per cent of the adult population worldwide.
For the trial, US researchers identified 226 adults with fibromyalgia who had not participated in tai chi or other similar types of complementary and alternative medicine within the past six months. The average age of participants was 52 years and they had lived with body pain for an average of nine years.
At the start, participants completed the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQR), which scores physical and psychological symptoms such as pain intensity, physical function, fatigue, depression, anxiety, and overall wellbeing.
Participants were then randomly assigned to either supervised aerobic exercise twice weekly for 24 weeks or to one of four tai chi interventions: 12 or 24 weeks of supervised tai chi completed once or twice weekly.
FIQR scores had improved in all five treatment groups at each assessment, but the combined tai chi groups improved significantly more than the aerobic exercise group at 24 weeks.
Those who received tai chi for 24 weeks showed greater improvements than those who received it for 12 weeks, but there was no significant increase in benefit for those who received tai chi twice weekly compared with once weekly.
MEDITERRANEAN DIET
The Mediterranean diet appears to be particularly good for older women after menopause.
A study of 103 healthy women from southern Brazil with an average age of 55, presented at the Endocrine Society's 100th annual meeting in Chicago, found adherence to the diet led to higher bone mass and muscle mass in post-menopusal women, who are prone to osteoporosis - a bone-thinning disease - and bone fractures.
"We found that the Mediterranean diet could be a useful non-medical strategy for the prevention of osteoporosis and fractures in post-menopausal women," said lead investigator Thais Rasia Silva at Universidade Federal do rio Grande uo Sul in Brazil.
The diet involves a high intake of fruits and vegetables, grains, potatoes, olive oil and seeds; moderately high fish intake and low saturated fat. Regular but moderate drinking of red wine is also allowed.
"Postmenopausal women, especially those with low bone mass, should ask their doctor whether they might benefit from consuming this dietary pattern," said Ms Silva.
