Scientists from the Mental Health Research Institute in Melbourne have linked a form of schizophrenia to a lack of a certain protein in the lining of the brain, this article reports. Until now, the only way to diagnose schizophrenia was through major symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal and deterioration in self-care.
“Now we can study a form of schizophrenia in isolation, it makes it much easier to see what is changed in the brains of subjects,” Professor Dean – the head of the 10 member research group - said. “This significant step forward is helping us unravel the potential causes so that we are able to develop better treatments.”
“With that level of diagnosis, it is quite likely there are a number of different diseases that come under the order of one disorder.”
The next phase of the research will involve working with a professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of Melbourne, Christos Pantelis, and his team using neuro-imaging to identify living people with this form of schizophrenia. Professor Dean acknowledged that they have a huge task ahead of them, but holds high hopes he and his team will find a marker to diagnose schizophrenia in the next two years.
The Illawarra Mercury has reported that disadvantaged teenage girls who fall pregnant often get their lives back on track as opposed to those who don’t. This includes quitting smoking, going back to school and getting a job. Professor Julie Quinlavan said it was a social misconception that teens make bad mothers.
“The economic data shows that they have a greater long-term outcome than their sister who doesn’t become a teen mum,” she said.
“From a societal or evolutionary point of view they might be doing the best thing for themselves.
“I know that’s controversial but that’s what the data tells us,” Prof Quinlivan said.
Quinlivan believes “a nationwode three- tiered model to support teen mums would increase positive outcomes.” This model includes a teen-specific antenatal clinic, home visits by a nurse until the child is the age of two and peri-preschool learning for the child.
Implementing the structures was an investment not only in human infrastructure, but also in jobs, Prof Quinlivan said.
“We talk about opportunity in times of recession, well this is an opportunity that will create employment while it’s being built and in future will create more employable young people,” she said.
Women who exercise while pregnant will produce children with higher IQ’s reports this article posted in The Australian.
Richard Nisbett, a psychologist and father of two, argues against the popular theory that ‘intelligence is 80 per cent inherited’ in his new book, Intelligence and How to Get It. It seems that mothers are the pivotal factor in their child’s brain development and “fathers, whether absent or doting, have relatively little influence over their offspring’s intelligence.”
“Children whose mother exercised 30 minutes a day score around eight points higher on standard IQ tests than children whose mothers were more sedentary,” he said. “Breastfeeding for up to nine months may increase IQ by as much as six points.”
Previous generations of mothers were encouraged to avoid doing much exercise after the first three months of pregnancy. The latest research suggests that using light weights, stretching and even running can be beneficial to some.
“Exercising large muscle groups increases the growth of neurons and adds to the blood supply of the brain,” he writes.
As Sydney mother-to-be Geaorgia Troy points out, “exercise is good for everything”. One could say that excercising in adulthood can increase a persons IQ aswell. Either way, Nisbett’s arguement for mothers to breasfeed and exercise should not to scorned at, and whether his argument is sufficiently backed up or not would most definitely benefit mother and baby both.
A transcript from radio program The Word Today on Monday May 4 has highlighted the rise of people seeking help for mental health problems as a result of the current economic climate. The Mental Health Care Council of Australia says spending on the Medicare rebate for mental health consultations has increased by 40%, meaning it has already exceeded its annual budget.
JENNIFER MACEY: Every month, psychologist Dr Leigh Hodder flies to Biloela and Emerald in regional Queensland to see patients suffering from depression and anxiety.
In the past few months she’s seen a big jump in the number of referrals from local GPs and Dr Hodder is blaming the global financial crisis that’s already led to thousands of job losses in some mining communities.
LEIGH HODDER: Particularly in the rural and remote areas because I deal with a lot of mining communities and as we know, they have shed at least 5,000 jobs up here in Queensland. You know with the farmers, when I first started seeing them it was primarily to do with the drought etc but now there is just so much financial pressure on everybody in those rural and remote areas.
I also see people in the city and their concerns are pretty much the same – redundancies, cutbacks, how are we going to pay for the groceries, how are we going to buy the kids their shoes and their books and all this sort of stuff.
So it is really hitting people quite hard.
The Mental Health Council of Australia’s CEO David Crosbie says the government has uinderestimated the costs of providing mental health through medicare.
DAVID CROSBIE: For the current financial year, the budget in the original estimate was about $108-million. What we expect the actual to be is well over $300-million – so three times as high as that and if it continues to grow the way it is, we would expect that expenditure, you know, within a couple of years will be over half a billion dollars on these three measures alone.
With the severe conditions that are in affect today it seems the Australian Government has not stepped up to meet the changing needs of the public. Jeff Cheverton, the CEO of Queensland Alliance which represents the mental health community sector in Queensland pointed out that Australia has very little health promotion compared to New Zealand and the UK. People are not being taught how to maintain their own mental health, something that may be a major detriment to Australian society in the future.
An article published in the New York Times tells of a husband in London who delivered his baby with the help of youtube videos. Marc and Jo Stephens knew that as a result of Ms Stephens prior speedy births, they would never make it to the hospital in time to deliver their fourth child.
“I watched a couple of clips on YouTube,” Mr. Stephens said.
He did not elaborate on what exactly he had discovered or which clips he had seen. But among the videos that appear when those words are entered are one in which a preternaturally calm woman who says she is a “certified professional midwife” uses a doll and a fake vagina to demonstrate how to deliver a baby in a taxi, including the part where you are meant to “place the baby on the mom,” the mom in this case being a limbless plastic torso.
An ambulance arrived after the birth of the couples son Gabriel to take them to hospital. Even though this bizarre circumstance brings forth questions on how much technology impacts our lives, no one can deny that it had a positive effect in this situation as the couple returned home from hospital several hours later.
The topic of ’designer’ babies brings forward a myriad of thoughts and debates. How will this impact the future of mankind? Is it immoral or just an inevitable outcome following “test tube” babies, donor eggs, sperm sorting and embryo selection? This article, posted on healthnews.com asks what is “acceptable” science and medicine and who get to decide?
Health headlines have grabbed hold of the ‘designer baby debate’ again after the Los Angeles Fertility Institute announced plans to allow an $18 000 opportunity to choose their babies gender, eye, hair, skin colour and otehr physical traits. The service will only be available to couples seeking in-vitro fertilisation. Five or six requests have already been made and the first “designer” baby is expected to be born next year.
Despite the firstly immoral impression of the service, the article introduces other sides of the issue which are also important to consider.
A recent survey of 999 people who sought genetic counseling conducted by researchers at the New York University of Medicine suggests the majority of people support the notion of building a better baby when it comes to eliminating serious disease. The survey found that 56 percent supported using prenatal genetic tests to counter blindness and 75 percent for mental retardation.
Yet the dangerous side of the coin is also brought to light by the rest of the percentages.
About 10 percent of respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, another 10 percent voted for improved height, and nearly 13 percent backed the approach to select for superior intelligence.
The clinics director, Jeff Steinberg, states that he wants to provide everything science gives him to his patients. Other doctors and fertility experts beg to differ however.
Dr Gillian Lockwood, a UK fertiity expert and member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ ethics commitee, told the BBC that she questions whether it is morally right to use science this way. “If it gets to the point where we can decide which gene or combination of genes are responsible for blue eyes or blonde hair, what are you going to do with all those embryos that turn out like me to be ginger with green eyes,” she said. Lockwood said Steinberg’s clinics could lead to “turning babies into commodities that you buy off the shelf”.
Immoral or not, this article suggests that ’designer babies’ will become apart of our futures – if we like it or not.
