Vaccination, Asthma, Autism & Gastrointestinal Symptoms, MMR, Larium Alert, Diabetes, Klinefelter Syndrome, Cigarette Addiction, Post-Natal Depression, Ear Thermometers, Vigobatrin Warning, Down’s Syndrome, Acupuncture for Childbirth Pain, High Protein Diets, Lesbian Parenting, The Right to Have Children

TO VACCINATE OR NOT TO VACCINATE?

Vaccination was first introduced in the mid-19^th century against smallpox, a disfiguring and often fatal disease. Initially it was compulsory, leading to protests about the infringement of personal choice, but since 1898 enforced vaccination was replaced by a clause allowing parents to be conscientious objectors. Today there is still a vocal anti-vaccination lobby, but how do parents find out what is safe and also the dangers of not vaccinating in a society where many people have not seen children with polio or measles or whooping cough? At Tigerchild we try and provide detailed information on the disease itself, how the vaccine works and its known side effects so that parents can make an informed opinion, not one based on non-scientific chat. We have followed changes in the MMR safety debate weekly and discussed all the new scientific data as it is published. Read about the diseases and vaccines in our A-Z under 'Vaccines', or search This Week in Health for articles published this year. If you are interested, the British Medical Journal has an informative article on anti-vaccinationists.

MOULD ALERT FOR ASTHMATICS

A French team of scientists has examined over a thousand adults with asthma and found a strong correlation between an allergy to moulds and severe asthma. The allergy was assessed using skin prick tests – where a small piece of mould protein in solution is dropped onto the skin and a small nick is made in the skin. If there is an allergy, a red, hot patch develops similar to an insect bite and the degree of allergy is assessed by looking at the size of the reaction. It has long been known that mould allergies as well as allergies to house dust mite, animal fur and pollens can aggravate asthma but this is the first time that a measure of severity of the asthma has been compared to mould allergy. The skin prick tests assessed allergic reactions to a number of things including moulds, cat hair, house dust mite and pollens. They found that in mild asthma 10% of patients were sensitised to both moulds tested and that this rose to 22% in severe asthma. This research is interesting for several reasons – children and adults with asthma who also have mould allergies should be assessed regularly and treated well and they should also take particular care during times of dampness when mould counts are high. Interestingly many of the devices used to reduce the incidence of house dust mite allergy would also reduce moulds (drying bedding in the sun, reducing dust and dampness and having lots of wipe clean surfaces) and may account for their success. Read about asthma, its diagnosis and treatment and how to control house dust mite. Also see the article on airborne moulds and severity of asthma.

Also read about skin prick testing.

ASTHMA UPDATES

Also in this week’s papers: read about Covers to beat mites 'waste of time', and Pets ‘cut chance of children having asthma’. This says that children growing up in houses with cats and dogs are 50% less likely to get asthma than those in houses with no pets.

AUTISM AND GASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS

The precursor to the scares about MMR and autism started with the finding that a certain subgroup of patients with autism has bowel inflammation, causing pain and possibly malabsorbtion. A retrospective survey in this week’s British Medical Journal looks at children who were later diagnosed with autism and found that they were no more likely than other children to have defined gastrointestinal problems before the autism was diagnosed. This seems to suggest that either the autism and bowel complaints start simultaneously, or the bowel problems in autism are no commoner than in the general population. They also found ‘no temporal association between MMR vaccination and the onset of gut symptoms in children with autism’. Read the research at Relation of bowel disease to autism but particularly interesting are the rapid response emails that follow, with parents and health professionals pointing out that the methodology of the trial could be flawed and that gut disease may be more frequently missed in children with challenging behavioural problems.

MMR and THE MEDIA

This article funded by the NHS looks at how different papers reported the recent findings linking MMR vaccination to autism.

LARIUM ALERT

The anti-malarial drug Larium is in the news this week after it was blamed for causing the depression that killed a young student. It is a potent anti-malarial but has long been known to cause psychiatric problems in some people. Any one prescribed Larium should be carefully watched for signs of mood or behaviour changes. One report suggested that as many as one in two hundred people suffer depression or suicidal tendencies on the drug and it has been suggested that it should be reserved for the treatment, not prevention of malaria. Read Suicide warning on malaria pills after Cambridge student's death and Malaria drug blamed for student's 'suicide'. See also our section on malaria.

DIABETES BREAKTHROUGH

At a scientific meeting in Florida this week a Mexican doctor revealed that a patient had survived for a year without insulin injections after being given a transplant of pig’s islet cells. See Pig cells help diabetic girl. An innovative charity dedicated to funding research to find a cure for diabetes is Diabetes UK. For more on diabetes, see our Health a-Z.

TATTOOS FOR DIABETICS

The Financial Times reports this week that a company is developing tattoos and contact lenses that change colour depending on the wearer’s blood sugar. These could provide a safe, accurate and needle-free way of monitoring a diabetic’s blood sugar. Read Inside track - tattoo checks for diabetics.

KLINEFELTER SYNDROME

This is a genetic condition in men with an extra X chromosome and may affect up to one in 700 boys. It occurs sporadically and causes a lack of testosterone. Boys may develop breasts, be infertile or fail to develop facial hair. Read about Klinefelters syndrome and see the Klinefelter Organisation (KO).

ONE CIGARETTE CAN LEAD TO ADDICTION

…according to reports out this week. The article published in the journal Tobacco control suggests that the first cigarette may leave an imprint on a teenager leading to future addiction. Read For children one smoke can cause addiction study finds.

POST-NATAL DEPRESSION

Datamonitor, who produce research, have found that, scandalously, many mothers are not being treated for post-natal depression either because they don’t ask for help or because their GPs fail to recognise or treat it. Depression after birth can affect a mother’s ability to bond with her child and may also recur in later life or after other pregnancies, and it should always be taken seriously. Read Majority of depressed mothers go untreated and our section on post-natal depression.

EAR THERMOMETERS INACCURATE

Research from Liverpool University suggests that the increasingly popular ear thermometers could give inaccurate readings. They suggest that in situations where it is important that an accurate temperature is needed – for instance when deciding on treatment or in a very ill child, that more traditional measures are used. Read Ear thermometers 'may miss fever in young'.

VIGABATRIN WARNING

This anti-epilepsy drug has been found to cause tunnel vision according to a report in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. There is also a suggestion that withdrawing it as a treatment does not lead to increased fits.

ANTIOXIDANT VITAMINS AND DOWN’S SYNDROME

The Down’s Syndrome Association is funding research into antioxidants and folic acid in mental development growth and health in people with Down’s syndrome. See Medical Research from the Down's Syndrome Organisation.

ACUPUNCTURE TO CONTROL PAIN DURING BIRTH

The Daily Mail described recently how acupuncture can help control pain during labour. Read this discussion of the scientific facts behind the report, Acupuncture for childbirth pain.

HIGH PROTEIN DIET WARNING

Dr Atkins’ diet from the USA (which produces weight loss by eating a high protein diet) is getting a lot of press coverage – its safety is discussed online in this week’s British Medical Journal. Read High protein diet brings risk of kidney stones.

LESBIAN PARENTING

Another letter in the ongoing debate - read Lesbian parenting may make a difference.

MAKING BABIES – IS THERE A RIGHT TO HAVE CHILDREN?

Read a review of Mary Warnock’s thought-provoking book.