Pregnancy food : A study warns of the danger of common food additives to the health of offspring

Scientists say eating a common additive in ultra-processed foods during pregnancy may increase the risk of health problems in the offspring.

A Spanish study of rats found that two common emulsifiers used to bind food chemicals led to physical and mental health problems, such as anxiety, in their offspring.

The study looked at two additives - carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate 80 - which are found in thousands of foods, including microwave meals, butter, sauces and ice cream, adding to a long list of health problems caused by eating too many ultra-processed foods, a staple of the diet. American food.

The researchers gave female mice water containing 1% emulsifiers, the maximum amount allowed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Typically, between 0.25% and 0.8% is added to food.

The mice continued to receive water during pregnancy and lactation. A control group was given water without emulsifiers.

They found that the offspring of the mice experienced unintentional weight loss and anxious behaviors at 10 weeks of age.

Male mice were more likely to lose weight, while female mice were more likely to experience anxiety. This is because the lozenges disrupted neural connections in the hypothalamus, the brain structure that acts as the body's control center.

The hypothalamus produces leptin, a hormone that causes the body to use up more energy, leading to weight loss.

Unintentional weight loss, when not controlled, can lead to serious health consequences, including malnutrition.

And while the mice in the study lost weight, the rising obesity rates suggest that additives in processed foods could cause the opposite effect in humans.

For example, a global comparative study published in the journal Obesity Reviews showed that an increase in an individual's consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages was associated with a higher body mass index (BMI).

"[Superprocessed foods] tend to be very high in sodium, things like sodium, sugar, refined carbohydrates in general, unhealthy fats, as well as preservatives," New York City-based registered dietitian Jessica Cording previously told the Daily Mail. . 

Although the health effects in the new study are mild, they add to a long list of complications that previous research has found.

For example, a 2022 study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that increasing consumption of super-processed foods by 10% can increase the risk of dementia.

Additionally, a large study in France found that the same increase in highly processed superfoods led to an increased risk of breast cancer.

Two studies conducted by researchers in Spain and France found an association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increased risk of premature death.

The authors of the new study said more research is needed to clarify how these effects in mice translate to how healthy they are in humans.

The study was published in the journal PLOS Biology.

Riyad : The first of its kind in the world A Saudi Arabia medical team succeeds in performing two operations on a child at the same time 

A Saudi medical team succeeded in performing two operations on a girl at the same time, in an incident that is the first of its kind in the world.

A medical team from the Security Forces Hospital in Riyadh ended the suffering of an 11-year-old girl, who suffers from a delay in speech and hearing impairment, by performing two operations at the same time, as the case was diagnosed with a bony blockage in the external canal in the ears.

The medical team was able to perform the operation by opening and widening the auditory canal, while restoring the external auditory canal and the eardrum, using prosthetic tissues from the patient's hand and cartilage from the pinna of the first ear.

An orthopedic hearing aid (OSIA) was implanted in the other ear at the same time, which is one of the latest technologies in the world, to improve hearing in both ears with two different techniques.

Parkinson's disease : Common bowel problems 'may be early warning sign

Certain bowel problems, such as constipation, difficulty swallowing, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), may be early warning signs that Parkinson's disease is coming, suggests a study published in the journal Gut.

Gastrointestinal symptoms are thought to precede the development of cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke, cerebral aneurysm, or Alzheimer's disease, and the new study now suggests that gut conditions may precede the development of Parkinson's disease as well.

People with Parkinson's disease were matched with people in the other groups for age, sex, race, ethnicity and length of diagnosis to compare the frequency of bowel conditions included in their electronic health record for an average of 6 years before their diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.

Next, the researchers tested the same hypothesis, but in a different way, by dividing all adults in the network who had been diagnosed with any of the 18 intestinal conditions into separate groups — one group for each condition of interest.

The researchers compared people in these groups with people without a specific bowel condition who were monitored through their medical records for 5 years to see how many people developed Parkinson's disease or other neurological disorders.

Both analyzes indicated that four gastrointestinal conditions were associated with an increased risk of a Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

Specifically, gastroparesis (delayed stomach emptying), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and constipation were associated with a more than double increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease in the five years prior to diagnosis, while IBS without diarrhea was associated with a 17% increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease. .

However, removing the appendix appears to be protective, which raises questions about its potential role in the pathological processes that lead to Parkinson's disease, say the researchers.

Neither inflammatory bowel disease nor vagotomy (removal of all or part of the vagus nerve to treat peptic ulcer) were associated with an increased risk.

Some other bowel problems, including functional dyspepsia (burning or fullness in the stomach for no apparent reason), irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea and fecal incontinence, were also more prevalent among people who had Parkinson's disease. But these conditions were also more prevalent before the onset of Alzheimer's disease or cerebrovascular disease.

It is indicated that this study was observational and, as such, the cause could not be determined.

However, the team concluded, "This study is the first to demonstrate substantial observational evidence that a clinical diagnosis of not only constipation, but also dysphagia, gastroparesis, and irritable bowel syndrome without diarrhea may specifically predict the development of Parkinson's disease."

They added: "These findings call for vigilance regarding gastrointestinal syndromes in patients at high risk of developing Parkinson's disease and highlight the need for further investigation of the gastrointestinal antecedents in Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular disease."