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Study Links Depressive Mood, Racial Disparities In Preterm Birth
Women who have depression symptoms prior to becoming pregnant are at an increased risk for having preterm births, with the risk twice as high for black women as for white women, according to a study in the Journal of Women"s Health, Reuters reports. For the study, Amelia Gavin of the University of Washington and colleagues examined the links between race, preterm birth and pre-pregnancy depressive mood among 555 women. The study used data collected from 1990-1996 as part of a larger, long-term investigation of heart disease risk.Researchers determined that 18.1% of the 249 black women in the study gave birth prior to 37 weeks" gestation, compared with 8.5% of the 306 white women in the study. The study also found that 9.4% of black women had pre-pregnancy symptoms of depressive mood, compared with 7.2% of white women. After researchers accounted for other factors associated with preterm birth, such as body weight and sociodemographic characteristics, black women"s risk remained more than twice that of white women.Gavin said, "The black-white disparity in preterm birth may be in part a consequence of different exposures to depressive mood prior to pregnancy." She said, "Reproductive outcomes must be viewed in light of women"s health over the entire life-course, as well as during pregnancy," adding that the study"s results suggest that "the experience of cumulative health disadvantages or "weathering"" might play a role in increased risk for preterm birth (Hendry, Reuters, 6/25).
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Encouraging Heart Failure Patients To Enjoy Their Food -- Even If It's Not As Salty As Before
The individualised management programme of France"s "Réseau Respecti-coeur" makes quality of life the first objective for heart failure patients, and one of the network"s dieticians, Mme Hélène Guibert, explained that the heart-healthy eating recommended in the programme need not be a of frustration or misery - even for a Frenchman. "For many old people," she told Heart Failure Congress 2009, "meals are important occasions, and it"s our aim to bring together at these times health and pleasure."1,2
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Increased HIV Risk To Black Gay Men
Black gay men have less choice when it comes to sexual partners than other groups and, as a result, their sexual networks are closely knit. These tightly interconnected networks make the rapid spread of HIV more likely. In a study1) looking at social and sexual mixing between ethnic groups in men who have sex with men, H. Fisher Raymond and Willi McFarland, from the San Francisco Department of Public Health in the US, show that social barriers faced by Black gay men may have a serious impact on their health and well-being. Their findings are published in Springer"s journal AIDS and Behavior.
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Immune Genes Adapt To Parasites

Thank parasites for making some of our immune proteins into the inflammatory defenders they are today, according to a population genetics study that will appear in the June 8 issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine (online May 25). The study, conducted by a team of researchers in Italy, also suggests that you might blame parasites for sculpting some of those genes into risk factors for intestinal disorders. Parasite-driven selection leaves a footprint on our DNA in the form of mutations known as "single nucleotide polymorphisms" (SNPs). Making sure that genetic variation (in the form of multiple SNPs) is maintained within certain immune genes over time helps ensure that the host can fend off different infections in different environments. In the new study, Matteo Fumagalli and colleagues sift through 1,052 SNPs in genes that code for immune proteins called interleukins from roughly 1000 people worldwide. Of 91 genes assessed, 44 bore signatures of evolutionary selection, meaning that the genetic variation was neither due to chance nor to the migration of populations over time. And some of that variation correlated with the diversity of parasites that live alongside humans. The data suggests that having lots of different parasites around has shaped the evolution of our interleukin genes. In general, parasitic worms appear to have had a more powerful influence on certain interleukin genes than smaller microbes such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. That isn"t surprising, says senior author Manuela Sironi, because worms typically evolve slower than bacteria or viruses, giving their human hosts time to adapt in response. Some of the genes that were shaped by worm diversity made perfect sense, as the proteins they encode help generate the precise type of immune response required to rid the body of worms. Other genes, however, seemed to be influenced more by the diversity of viruses, bacteria, and fungi than by that of worms. SNPs in some of these genes are known risk alleles for inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn"s and celiac disease. These "risky" alleles were probably maintained during evolution because they promote the kind of immune response needed to fend off viruses and bacteria. But this type of response also contributes to inflammatory bowel diseases. Fumagalli, M., et al. 2009. J. Exp. Med. doi: 10.1084/jem.20082779 Amy Maxmen Rockefeller University Press


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