July 7, 2012 Clippings

Infertility may make women mentally ill

Women who struggle with infertility but never go on to have children are likely to be hospitalised for mental health disorders, researchers have warned.

They also found a significantly higher risk for substance abuse among these women.

Brigitte Baldur-Feskov of the Danish CancerSociety Research Center in Copenhagen, and colleagues, analysed data from 98,737 Danishwomen who had seen a doctor about infertility between 1973 and 2003.

They determined hospital admissions for mental health disorders among these women over an average of 12.6 years, and discovered some concerning trends.

Of the total women analysed, 4677 were hospitalised with mental health problems. Of these, 2507 had not been successful in producing a child, compared with 2107 women who were able to have at least one child.

Baldur-Feskov's analysis, which excluded any women with previous diagnoses for mental health problems, also found a significantly higher risk for subsequent drug and alcohol abuse among women who did not go on to have children after an initial fertility consultation.

Of 571 women who were treated for drug and alcohol abuse, 195 had eventually been able to have children compared with 376 who were unsuccessful.

Because the study only looked at mental health problems severe enough to warranthospitalisation, Baldur-Feskov noted that these figures point to a larger problem.

"I think the tip of the iceberg is the most precise way to put it," New Scientist quoted her as saying.

As well as the higher risk for substance abuse, the team noted that women who did not go on to have children were 47 per cent more likely to be hospitalised for schizophrenia than those who gave birth.

The results were presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Istanbul.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

07.07.2012

India's diabetes problem linked to lifestyle

India and China will continue to have the largest number of diabetics in the world in the coming years due to rapid lifestyle shifts in these two countries, a leading health expert said here on Thursday.

With around 90 million diabetics, China last year outnumbered India, which has 61.3 million diabetics.

"China and India have the maximum number of diabetics. It is mainly because of their huge population size and rapidly changing lifestyle over the last two decades," said Jeane Claude Mbanya, president of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).

"The physical activities have reduced. Also, due to huge population size, there is higher probability of acquiring diabetes through certain genes," Mbanya said at a the fifth Asian consensus meeting on metabolic surgery.

The sedentary lifestyle resulting in obesity is linked to diabetes in over 80 percent of cases.

According to the Diabetes Atlas by the IDF, China had overtaken India as the 'Diabetes Capital of the World' last year. United States stands third in the list with over 23 million diabetics.

While bariatric surgery is the most suggested treatment mode for obese people, the IDF last year called for the surgery to be considered earlier in the treatment of eligible obese diabetic patients.

"In view of the recent IDF position statement on bariatric surgery, it makes a lot of sense to have all the international leaders to address the Asian audience on the benefits of diabetes resolution in the long term," said Muffazal Lakdawala, founder of the Centre for Obesity and Diabetes Surgery (CODS).

"The idea is to bring forth the current concepts in world wide research in metabolic surgery and to dispel the myths associated with it. Bariatric and metabolic surgery provides modification of the human digestive system," Lakdawala added on the inaugural day of the two-day conference.

Source: www.timesofindia.com

07.07.2012

You can do anything, but not everything

David Allen