24 February 2020
MONDAY, Feb. 24, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- About one-third of boys and 10% of girls in rural U.S. communities have carried a handgun, a new study finds. Many started carrying as early as sixth grade.
This study "provides evidence that youth handgun carrying in these settings is not uncommon," said lead author Dr. Ali Rowhani-Rahbar. He is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health.
Rowhani-Rahbar and his team found that this practice was consistently associated with gun-positive attitudes and having friends who carry handguns.
"Youth handgun carrying and firearm violence are often presented as an exclusively inner-city problem," Rowhani-Rahbar said in a university news release.
"However, that focus should not come at the cost of...
21 February 2020
FRIDAY, Feb. 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Listen up, guys: A healthy diet is good for your brain and heart, and also your sperm, new research suggests.
In a study of more than 2,900 Danish men, median age 19, those whose diet was rich in fish, chicken, vegetables, fruit and water had higher sperm counts than those who ate a "Western" diet rich in pizza, French fries, processed and red meats, snacks, refined grains, sugary beverages and sweets, researchers found.
"Because following a generally healthy diet pattern is a modifiable behavior, our results suggest the possibility of using dietary intervention as a possible approach to improve sperm quality of men in reproductive age," said lead study author Feiby Nassan. She's a postdoctoral research associate at Harvard T.H. Chan School...
19 February 2020
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- In what doctors call a breakthrough, a cancer patient in France gave birth to the first baby conceived from an immature egg that was matured in the laboratory, frozen, then later thawed and fertilized.
"We were delighted that the patient became pregnant without any difficulty and successfully delivered a healthy baby at term," said team leader Michaël Grynberg, head of reproductive medicine and fertility preservation at Antoine Béclère University Hospital, near Paris.
Loss of fertility is always a potential hazard after chemotherapy and radiation treatments for younger female cancer patients. In such cases, doctors typically induce "ovarian stimulation" to produce and harvest mature eggs from ovaries so that they can be frozen for...
19 February 2020
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 19, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Young boys whose mothers were exposed to chemicals known as phthalates while pregnant may face an increased risk for developing behaviors associated with autism, a new study warns.
Phthalates are chemicals found in many household products, including cosmetics and plastics.
The study didn't identify a heightened risk for autism per se among boys, but rather a "small" increase in the chance for developing certain autism-related traits by age 3 or 4. These include social impairment, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, said study lead author Youssef Oulhote. This elevated risk was not seen in girls.
But it appears that folic acid supplements while pregnant offer protection against this risk, said Oulhote, an assistant professor of...