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Mediterranean diet in pregnant women staves off allergies in their children

Greek researchers found that women who ate a Mediterranean diet during pregnancy were at a lower risk of having children who develop asthma and allergies, according to Reuters Health.

The traditional Mediterranean diet includes many plant-based foods, like vegetables, fruits, whole grain breads and cereals, legumes and nuts, as well as olive oil and fish.

The diet contains a moderate amount of dairy and eggs, a small amount of white meat and a very small amount of red meat.

Dr. Leda Chatzi, of the University of Crete in Greece, followed 460 mother/child pairs from pregnancy until the children were 6, and found that children whose mothers ate few foods on a traditional Mediterranean diet during pregnancy were at a higher risk of developing asthma and allergies than the children of women who ate many foods on a traditional Mediterranean diet during pregnancy diet.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is high in antioxidants and healthy omega-3 fats from fish, and researchers believe those elements together may affect fetal development in a way that reduces the risk of allergies later in life.

Chatzi and colleagues told Reuters Health that further research is needed to understand the exact biological mechanisms that are involved in the diet and fetal risk of allergies.

REPORTING SYMPTOMS AND A BLOOD TEST TOGETHER INCREASE OVARIAN CANCER DETECTION

A blood test to detect a tumor marker coupled with a woman's report of new-onset symptoms increase the detection of early-stage ovarian cancer by 20 percent, according to HealthDay News.

Either test alone only uncovered about 60 percent of early-stage ovarian cancers in a high-risk group of women, but the two techniques together uncovered 80 percent of them, according to a study published in the online version of the journal Cancer.

The American Cancer Society reports that more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year, and more than 15,000 die every year from the disease. Only about 20 percent of ovarian cancers are caught in the earlier, most curable stages, according to the study's lead author, M. Robyn Anderson, an associate member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, HealthDay News reports.

Anderson's colleague, Dr. Barbara Goff, director of gynecologic oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, published the ovarian cancer symptom-screening index tool in 2006 to help woman and doctors clarify which women could have an increased risk of ovarian cancer, according to HelathDay News.

Symptoms identified include pelvic or abdominal pain, bloating, increased abdominal size, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly. These must occur more than 12 times a month and begun within the past year.

The study examined the symptom-screening index and a blood test that detects CA 125, a protein that is usually elevated in women with ovarian cancer.

Overall, the two methods correctly identified nearly 90 percent of ovarian cancers -- 80.6 percent of early-stage cancers and 95.1 percent of later-stage cancers.

WARD OFF DEMENTIA BY MAINTAINING SOCIAL NETWORKS

A recent study of more than 2,200 women ages 78 and older suggests that the key to keeping a healthy mind in old age is to remain socially active, according to a HealthDay News study.

Dr. Valerie C. Crooks and colleagues at the Department of Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, followed the women for four years and found that women with large social networks decreased their risk of getting dementia by 26 percent.

Researchers conducted telephone interviews with the women and tested their cognitive status by phone and by reviewing their medical records. They asked the women what their social interactions were like with spouses or family members and friends and how often they interacted with how many people.

The scientists asked the women how many people they had to talk to about personal issues and how many people they felt they could rely on.

The women's marital status did not reduce or increase their risk of dementia, but their overall number of social interactions did.

"Those with daily contact or more had a lower risk of dementia," Crooks told HealthDay News.

Contact could be in person, by telephone or even by e-mail.

She couldn't point to a certain number of friends and family members that would be sufficient to make a social circle protective.

Finally, Crooks said the association between social networks and a reduced risk of dementia does not necessarily point to a cause-and-effect relationship.

But other recent studies have suggested that social contact is generally protective of cognitive functioning, Crooks told HealthDay News.

The study was published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

TEAM DISCOVERS NEW INHIBITORS OF ESTROGEN-DEPENDENT BREAST CANCER CELLS

Researchers have discovered a new family of agents that inhibit the growth of estrogen dependent breast cancer cells.

The finding, described in June at a meeting of the Endocrine Society, has opened an avenue of research into new drugs to combat estrogen-dependent breast cancers, according to a University of Illinois press release.

"This cell-based study is exciting because it suggests these compounds are likely to be effective in tumors that remain dependent on estrogen for growth but are resistant to current therapies," said principal investigator David J. Shapiro, a professor of biochemistry in the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Illinois.

Although multiple factors contribute to the development of breast cancer, estrogens play a key role in the growth of many tumors. More than 80 percent of breast cancer tumors in women over age 45 are activated by estrogen by way of a protein called an estrogen receptor. When estrogen binds to the receptor, this "estrogen-receptor complex" latches on to DNA and prompts it to transcribe the RNA blueprints for new proteins that promote cell growth, migration and division.

Therapies for estrogen-receptor-positive (ER-positive) breast cancers include drugs, such as tamoxifen, that interfere with estrogen's ability to bind to the estrogen receptor. Over time, however, ER-positive breast cancer tumors become resistant to tamoxifen. In some tumors, tamoxifen even stimulates tumor growth.

The collaboration included researchers from the University of Colorado, the University of Illinois, and the University of North Carolina.