Author: Mukul

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Nov 24, 2006 — NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who go to swimming pools on a regular basis may be at risk for developing hay fever in adulthood, German researchers report.

Dr. Y. Kohlhammer, from the GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health in Neuherberg, and colleagues speculate that the chlorination by-products at swimming pools may damage the lining of the lungs, allowing closer contact to allergens and increasing the risk of hay fever.

They surveyed 2,606 adults between 35 and 74 years of age. Personal interviews and questionnaires were used to gather detailed information about medical history and swimming pool attendance.

Subjects who attended a chlorinated swimming pool 3 to 11 times each year at school age were 74 percent more likely to develop hay fever than those who never attended a pool at school age, the findings indicate.

Recent exposure to a chlorinated swimming pool also increased the risk of hay fever. Subjects who reported exposure to a pool more than once a week for the last 12 months were 32 percent more likely to have hay fever than non-exposed individuals.

Lastly, subjects who reported any lifetime exposure to chlorinated swimming pools were 65 percent more likely to have hay fever than individuals with no exposure.

The associations with both recent and school-age pool attendance appeared to be dose-related, the authors point out.

The new findings are consistent with past research linking exposure to chlorinated swimming pools with lung “hyperpermeability,” as well as exercise-induced cough and higher asthma rates, the team notes in the journal Allergy.

“Hay fever is a disease with numerous potential influencing aspects, including lifestyle changes, environmental factors, allergen exposure and immunology. Contact with chlorination by-products might not be the leading reason for higher frequencies of hay fever, especially in adults, but might make up an important contribution to this multifactorial disease,” the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Allergy, November 2006.

LONDON: Future smokers may be programmed in the womb to take up the habit later in life, research published on Tuesday said.

Scientists in Australia have discovered that children of women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to become smokers than other youngsters. They suggest nicotine from cigarettes passes through the placenta and may act directly on the developing brain of the unborn child.

“Our findings suggest a direct effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on young adults’ development of regular smoking and provide yet another incentive to persuade pregnant women not to smoke and to discourage young women from ever taking it up,”Abdullah Al Mamun, of the University of Queensland, said in the study published in the journal Tobacco Control.

The researchers studied the smoking patterns of more than 3,000 mothers and their children who took part in a long-term study in Brisbane, Australia. Children of the 1,000 women who had smoked during pregnancy were three times more likely to start smoking by the age of 14 and twice as likely afterwards compared to other children.

The researchers said their results were consistent with findings of earlier studies into the impact of smoking during pregnancy on the child.

The charity Action on Smoking and Health welcomed the research, saying it stresses the importance of health education and of dissuading all women of child-bearing age from smoking.

“It does seem there is a pharmacological influence on the developing fetus which underlines yet again the importance of women stopping smoking as soon as they know they are pregnant,”a spokesperson said.

Source:The Times Of India

ZURICH: Fridge magnets and decorative jewellery could be a killer if you have a weak heart, experts warn. A strong type of magnet used in many new commercial products can interfere with pacemakers and implanted heart devices with deadly consequences.

Close contact—within about three cm—with a neodymium magnet is enough to destabilise these life-saving heart devices, Heart Rhythm journal reports. The authors suggest manufacturers include a health warning on products.

Ordinary iron or ferrite magnets, which are a dull grey colour with a low magnetic strength, are of little concern.

Very strong magnets made from neodymium-iron-boron, which are shiny and silver in colour, have only recently become available.

But because of their high magnetic field strength and low production costs, they are being used in computer hard drives, headphones and hi-fi speakers, as well as toys, jewellery and even clothes.

Researchers at the University Hospital of Zurich tested the effect of neodymium magnets in 70 heart patients—41 with pacemakers and 29 with implantable cardioverter defibrillators.

The small 8g magnets tested interfered with all of the patients’ devices, regardless of their make or type, when they were in a range of 3cm.

The researchers said larger neodymium magnets would be likely to cause interference at greater distances than this.

Although the devices worked normally again once the magnet was removed, the authors warned permanent damage might occur with prolonged exposure—if someone were to wear a magnetic name badge, for example.

Researcher Thomas Wolber said: “Physicians should caution patients about the risks associated with these magnets. We recommend the packaging includes information on the risks.”

Ian Asquith, director of Neodymium Magnets UK, a supplier of neodymium magnets to product manufacturers, said his company was aware of the risks and sends warnings out with every magnet.

Consumers were generally unaware, he said, and manufacturers had a responsibility to warn consumers of any risks.

“There is a real danger. These magnets are everywhere. They are in lots of badges, fridge magnets and phones. If you were on a busy bus and someone you are squashed up against had a magnet in their top pocket you could easily come within 3cm of it.

Source:The Times Of India