Scientists unfold reasons for weak memory and brain aging

Diet lacking in omega-3 fatty acids -- nutrients found in fish -- may weaken memory and also accelerate brain ageing, according to a new study.

"People with lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids had lower brain volumes that were equivalent to about two years of structural brain ageing," said study author Zaldy S. Tan, geriatrics researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Some 1,575 people with an average age of 67-years and free of dementia, underwent MRI brain scans. They were also given tests to measure mental function, body mass and the omega-3 fatty acid levels in their red blood cells, the journal Neurology reports. 

Researchers found that people whose docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acids compound) levels were among the bottom 25 percent of the participants had lower brain volume compared to people who had higher DHA levels, according to a statement. 

Similarly, participants with levels of all omega-3 fatty acids in the bottom 25 percent also scored lower on tests of visual memory and executive function, such as problem solving and multi-tasking and abstract thinking.

Mild dehydration could turn you cranky

Washington, Feb 19: Thirst makes us reach out for water, but even mild dehydration can leave us cranky, confused and fatigued.

Tests by a University of Connecticut (UConn) lab showed that it didn't matter if a person had just walked for 40 minutes or was sitting at rest - the adverse effects from mild dehydration were the same.

Mild dehydration is defined as an approximately 1.5 percent loss in normal water volume in the body, the British Journal of Nutrition reports.

The test results affirm the importance of staying properly hydrated at all times and not just during exercise, extreme heat or exertion, says Lawrence E. Armstrong, study co-author and professor of physiology at UConn's Neag School of Education.

"Our thirst sensation doesn't really appear until we are one (percent) or two percent dehydrated. By then, dehydration is already setting in and starting to impact how our mind and body perform," says Armstrong, an international expert on hydration, according to a UConn statement.

"Dehydration affects all people, and staying properly hydrated is just as important for those who work all day at a computer as it is for marathon runners, who can lose up to eight percent of their body weight as water when they compete," concludes Armstrong.

Vitamin C helps brain tumour therapy

Sydney:  Feeding brain cancer cells with vitamin C softens them up for radiation therapy and hastens their death.

Patries Herst from the University of Otago, with Melanie McConnell investigated how combining high dose vitamin C with radiation affected the survival of cancer cells isolated from brain tumours, and compared this with the survival of normal cells.

They found that a high dose of vitamin C by itself caused DNA damage and cell death which was much more pronounced, especially before radiation, the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine reports.

Herst says brain cancer patients have a poor prognosis because these tumours are aggressive and very resistant to radiation therapy.

"We found that high dose vitamin C makes it easier to kill these cells by radiation therapy," says Herst, according to an Otago statement.

She says there has long been a debate about the use of high dose vitamin C in the treatment of cancer. High dose vitamin C specifically kills a range of cancer cells in the lab and in animal models.

"If carefully designed clinical trials show that combining high dose vitamin C with radiation therapy improves patient survival, there may be merit in combining both treatments for radiation-resistant cancers, such as glioblastoma multiforme," says Herst.

IVF babies from frozen embryos healthier

London: IVF babies born from frozen embryos are heavier and healthier than those born from fresh embryos, a study has shown.

The study involved measuring the weight and length of gestation for 384 babies born after fresh embryo transfer and 108 born after frozen embryo transfer.

All the babies were single births, with no twin or triplet pregnancies included in the study. The proportion of low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kg) was lower for babies from frozen embryos at 3.7 percent, as compared to 10.7 percent for babies from fresh embryos.

Frozen embryo babies typically had a longer gestation period (0.65 weeks longer) than those born from fresh embryos, the research also found, the Daily Mail reports.

Lead researcher, Suzanne Cawood, deputy head of embryology at the Centre for Reproductive and Genetic Health, London, said: "For all assisted reproduction technologies, it is important that we ensure the procedures promote optimal health in the resulting children throughout their lives."

"Our study suggests that babies born from frozen embryos have a significantly longer gestation period and are significantly heavier at birth compared to babies from fresh embryos," said Cawood.

"This is important because prematurity and low birth weight are both risk factors for poorer health later in life and are linked to higher rates of behavioural and learning difficulties. This means that resulting babies may potentially be healthier if frozen embryos are transferred rather than fresh embryos," said Cawood.

In 2008, Danish scientists also found that babies born after frozen embryo transfer had higher birth weights than those born from fresh embryos. They suggested only top quality embryos survive the freezing and thawing process.

These findings were presented at the British Fertility Society Annual Meeting, Leeds.

Diabetic likely to deliver babies with defects

Diabetic women who become pregnant are four times more likely than other women to deliver babies with birth defects, which include heart disease and spina bifida, a study reveals.

Spina bifida is a defect in which the backbone and spinal canal do not close before birth. A newborn may have a sac sticking out of the mid to lower back.

These findings suggest that higher blood sugar levels in the mother raise the risk. This compares with a risk of one in 50 for women without diabetes, the journal Diabetologia reported.

The study, led by researchers at Newcastle University and the Regional Maternity Survey Office, is based on 401,149 pregnancies, including 1,677 pregnancies in women with diabetes, between 1996 and 2008 in England, according to the Daily Mail.

Researcher Ruth Bell said: "The good news is that, with expert help before and during pregnancy, most women with diabetes will have a healthy baby. The risk of problems can be reduced by taking extra care to have the best possible glucose control before becoming pregnant."

"Any reduction in high glucose levels is likely to improve the chances of a healthy baby," said Bell.

Previous research shows having diabetes increases the chance of birth defects, but this is one of the first studies to quantify the effect of glucose levels on risk.

Asthmatic women risk unborn child's health

Many pregnant asthmatic women, who may be remiss in using the right medication, may end up risking the health of their unborn child, a study reveals.

If asthma is not correctly managed during pregnancy it can result in premature births, low birth weights and even stillbirths, said postdoctoral researcher Annette Osei-Kumah from University of Adelaide.

Asthma is often worse during pregnancy due to different factors released from the placenta which cause inflammation in the mother's lung, said Osei-Kumah.

Previous studies reveal that during pregnancy, one-third of women report their asthma is worse, one-third maintain their asthma remains the same and another third report an improvement, said a university statement.

However, most women underestimate the effect of asthma during their pregnancy, said Osei-Kumah.

"Most women who said their asthma didn't change actually recorded poorer lung function when tested, and 55 percent experienced at least one asthma attack during pregnancy," she said.

There are sex-specific effects as well. Uncontrolled asthma invariably leads to low birth weights in female babies. Male babies, on the other hand, continue to grow normally but if a mother has an asthma attack during pregnancy they are less likely to survive.

Most women who are asthmatic stop using their medications during pregnancy due to fear of side-effects, but their concerns are unfounded, added Osei-Kumah.