Latest research

WOMEN who drink alcohol during pregnancy may put their babies at risk of “psychological problems” due to brain and nervous system development issues.

More detailed MRI scans of foetuses in the womb show that a mother’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy has an even bigger impact on their future child than previously believed.

The latest annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America has heard that Polish scientists made the discovery by using three different MRI scans on 200 children who had been exposed to alcohol before birth — and 30 whose mother’s did not drink during pregnancy.

The research team found that in alcohol-affected children, their corpus callosum group of nerve fibres were damaged — meaning the left and right sides of their brain did not interact as they should.

Specifically, these nerve fibres was significantly thinner in the alcohol-affected group. The Krakow-based research team said this alteration is “strongly associated with psychological problems in children”.

¦ SOURCE: Radiological Society of North America

It’s a fact

The average human body has up to 60,000 miles of bloodvessels

NOTE: Green tea helps prevent diabetes by slowing the rise of the blood sugar levels after eating.

In the news online

ALZHEIMER’S BREAKTHROUGH

Leading psoriasis drugs may hold the key to combating the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

The potential breakthrough was found during tests on lab mice for an improved treatment for the skin disease. A side-effect of this medicine was that short-term memory in the mice improved significantly, while the build-up of proteins linked to the destruction of brain cells in Alzheimer’s reduced.

“Now, the goal is to bring the new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer patients quickly,” the study’s authors at the University of Zurich said.

¦ SOURCE: Nature Medicine

COFFEE BOOST

If you’ve sped through the words on this page, you may have that last cup of coffee to thank — a new study claims caffeine helps the brain process sentences faster.

“Caffeine may either strengthen connections to regions where positive information and positive feedback are processed so this information is more easily available during the process of word recognition. Or caffeine may simply facilitate the decision process,” said the Ruhr University team.

¦ SOURCE: PLOS One

ULTRASOUND DISCOVERY

Ultrasounds scans showing foetuses “yawning” while in the womb could help ensure they are developing properly before birth.

Scientists at the Durham and Lancaster universities made the claim after examining scans at different stages of pregnancy. While it is unclear why unborn babies ‘yawn’, the study said the reaction may be linked to the maturation of the central nervous systems.

¦ SOURCE: Durham and Lancaster universities