India in Top 5 countries with highest number of preterm infants
India, Pakistan, Nigeria, China and Ethiopia together accounted for 45 percent of all infants born early —before 37 weeks of pregnancy — in 2020, according to a report released last month by the WHO, Unicef and PMNCH, the world`s largest alliance for women, children, and adolescents. The report titled Born Too Soon: A Decade of Action on Preterm Birth describes the incidence of premature birth as a “silent emergency”. It estimates that 13.4 million infants were born prematurely in 2020, with nearly 1 million dying from preterm complications.
“Ensuring quality care for these tiniest, most vulnerable babies and their families is imperative for improving child health and survival. Progress is also needed to help prevent preterm births — this means every woman must be able to access quality health services before and during pregnancy to identify and manage risks,” says Anshu Banerjee, director for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO.
The report states that preterm birth is now the leading cause of child deaths, accounting for more than one in five of all deaths of children under five years.
Mobile phone use linked to high blood pressure
Spending 30 minutes or more on a mobile phone per week is linked to a 12 percent increased risk of developing high blood pressure or hypertension, says a research study published in the European Heart Journal — Digital Health (May). The study examined data from the UK Biobank which included 212,046 adults aged 37 to 73 years without hypertension. Over a median follow-up of 12 years, 13,984 participants developed hypertension.
The study found that those who talked on their mobile phone for 30 minutes or more per week had a 12 percent greater likelihood of new-onset high blood pressure than participants who spent less than 30 minutes on phone calls. The results were similar for women and men. Weekly usage time of 30-59 minutes, 1-3 hours, 4-6 hours, and more than 6 hours was associated with an 8 percent, 13 percent, 16 percent, and 25 percent increased risk of high blood pressure, respectively.
“The number of minutes that people talk on their cellphone appears to matter for heart health, with more minutes adding up to greater risk,” says study author Xianhui Qin, a professor at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, adding that the more time participants spent talking on the phone, the higher their risk of developing hypertension.
Scientists warn against excessive use of disinfectants
Acritical review, published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology (May), has warned against the increased and unnecessary use of antimicrobial chemicals in products such as sanitisers, wipes and disinfectant solutions because of the Covid pandemic. The review authored by over two dozen scientists, says that quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), which are increasingly marketed and used in home, healthcare, education, and workplace settings, lead to health problems, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental harm.
“Disinfectant wipes containing QACs are often used on children’s school desks, hospital exam tables, and in homes where they remain on these surfaces and in the air. Our review suggests disinfecting with these chemicals in many cases is unhelpful or even harmful. We recommend regular cleaning with soap and water and disinfecting only as needed with safer products,” says Courtney Carignan, a co-author and assistant professor at Michigan State University.
Several studies have found correlation between QACs and asthma, dermatitis, inflammation and antimicrobial resistance.
Maternal PCOS can cause obesity in male children
Male children of women diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are up to twice as likely to develop obesity as their peers, says a study published in Cell Reports Medicine (May), which surveyed 467,275 male infants born in Sweden between July 2006 and December 2015. Of them, 9,828 were born to a mother with PCOS — and 147 of those boys were eventually diagnosed with obesity.
About 2 in 100 Swedish boys born to mothers with PCOS became obese during childhood, compared with about 1 in 100 for boys whose mothers did not have PCOS. The risk was higher among male children of women who had PCOS and a body mass index (BMI) greater than 25 and highest among the sons of women who both had PCOS and did not take metformin during pregnancy. PCOS affects one in five women worldwide.
