HEALTH BULLETIN .CO

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Checking work email at home can cause heart problems, anxiety and headaches warn experts

German study of 57,000 people found more than half worked out of hours

Researchers found they were more prone to headaches, insomnia, heart problems, fatigue, anxiety and muscular complaints

Calls for stricter rules to stop work invading valuable home life

Checking your work email at home or taking a call from the boss at weekends could be damaging your health, experts have warned.

A study of 57,000 people found that more than half worked outside their normal hours - a trend driven by the ease of accessing work documents on smartphones and computer tablets.

The researchers found that those who worked in the evenings and at weekends were more likely to complain of insomnia, headaches, fatigue, anxiety and stomach problems.

Muscular problems and cardiovascular issues were also linked to working outside of normal hours, the German researchers found.

Checking your work email at home, or taking a call from your boss at the weekend could be damaging your health, experts have warned. German researchers argued recreational time completely free of work is essential to help the body recuperate. File picture

The scientists, whose work is published in the journal Chronobiology International, call for far stricter rules to stop work invading people’s home life.

They said technological advances have created an ‘always-on’ culture which is ramping up pressure for people to be constantly available to work.

And they argued that recreational time completely free of work is essential to help the body recuperate.

The authors, from the Society for Labour, Industrial and Organizational Psychological Research in Oldenburg, Germany, based their findings on two major surveys of workers across Europe.

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They wrote: ‘Information and communication technologies, such as computers and smartphones... have the potential benefit and the potential inherent danger of making it possible for employees to be available any time and anywhere.

‘This changes not only our work organisation, but probably also our patterns of social participation and integration.’

They added: ‘Free time should be free time, otherwise it must be expected that it cannot fulfil functions of recovery and recuperation.’

Lead author Dr Anna Arlinghaus, a public health expert at the, said: ‘Our findings indicate that even a small amount of supplemental work beyond contractually agreed work hours can lead to health issues.

‘The correlation is very strong.’

Some large companies and even governments are beginning to raise concerns about the burden of mobile working.

Separate research, carried out by technology retailer Pixmania in 2012, found that access to a smartphone adds two hours to the working day.

The study found workers who checked their email at home were more prone to cardiovascular problems, headaches, anxiety, stomach problems and muscular complaints. File picture

More than 90 per cent of office workers have an email-enabled phone, with a third accessing them more than 20 times a day, the research found.

German car maker Daimler last month installed software on its 100,000 employees’ computers that automatically deletes emails if they are away on holiday.

Daimler spokesman Oliver Wihofszki said: ‘The idea behind it is to give people break and let them rest. Then they can come back to work with a fresh spirit.’

Managers at Deutsche Telekom agreed to stop sending emails to staff during evenings, weekends and holidays, while in 2011 Volkswagen announced company servers would stop routing emails to employees’ BlackBerrys in the evening.

France recently introduced rules which safeguard people working in the digital and consultancy sectors from work email outside office hours.

And the German government is looking at similar measures.

Dr Arlinghaus said: ‘Employers should start to look at how they can minimise their employees’ supplemental work.

‘It often needs to start at the top, with bosses taking the lead and attempting to change the culture at work.

'Not every country will implement regulations like France, so companies should look to make improvements of their own accord.’

Monday, September 22, 2014

Sorry chaps, it's expectant mums who are worst hit by flu: Pregnancy makes the immune system go haywire when fighting the virus

Cells from pregnant women showed hyperactive immune response to flu

White blood cells produced more cytokines and chemokines

Cytokines and chemokines help attract other immune cells to infection site

This could clog up the lungs with an influx of immune cells, experts said

Catching flu when pregnant heightens risk of pneumonia and death

Pregnant women urged to have flu jab to protect against this response

Studies planned to test pregnant women's responses to other viruses'

Mothers-to-be are worst hit by flu than other groups because pregnancy makes the immune system go into overdrive when fighting the virus.

It was previously thought immune responses were weakened by pregnancy to prevent the woman's body from rejecting her foetus.

But a new study is the first to examine the reactions of immune cells taken from pregnant women to influenza viruses, including the H1N1 strain that caused the 2009 flu pandemic.

Pregnant women are worse hit by flu than other groups because pregnancy triggers a stronger immune response to the virus, say researchers

Researcher Dr Catherine Blish, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Stanford University in the U.S. said: 'We now understand that severe influenza in pregnancy is a hyperinflammatory disease rather than a state of immunodeficiency.

'This means that treatment of flu in pregnancy might have more to do with modulating the immune response than worrying about viral replication.'

The researchers took immune cells from 21 pregnant and 29 healthy, non-pregnant women and exposed them to different flu viruses in the laboratory.

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Cells taken from women six weeks after they had given birth were also tested.

Pregnancy boosted the immune system's response to swine flu by affecting two types of white blood cell, natural killer (NK) and T-cells.

Compared with those from non-pregnant women, both cell types produced larger amounts of cytokines and chemokines, molecules that help attract other immune cells to the site of an infection.

This could lead to lungs becoming clogged up by an influx of immune cells, said Dr Blish.

FLU DURING PREGNANCY

There is good evidence that pregnant women have a higher chance of developing complications if they get flu, particularly in the later stages of pregnancy.

One of the most common complications of flu is bronchitis, a chest infection that can become serious and develop into pneumonia.

If you have flu while you're pregnant, it could mean the baby is born prematurely or has a low birthweight, and may even lead to stillbirth or death in the first week of life.

The flu vaccine is normally available from September until around January or February each year in the UK and is free for pregnant women.

Source: NHS Choices

Catching flu when pregnant, especially pandemic strains, is known to heighten the risk of pneumonia and death.

Both strains of flu also caused NK and T cells to be activated in a greater variety of ways in pregnant than nonpregnant women, the study found.

Researchers said the findings could lead to new treatment for pregnant mothers with flu.

Further studies are planned to test whether pregnant women's immune response would be similarly hyperactive with other viruses.

Professor Blish said she suspected 'this is peculiar to influenza' as having the virus during pregnancy quadruples a woman's risk for delivering her baby prematurely.

She said: 'I wonder if this is an inflammatory pathway that is normally activated later in pregnancy to prepare the body for birth, but that flu happens to overlap with the pathway and aberrantly activates it too early.'

She urged all women hoping to conceive or who are pregnant to ensure they had a flu jab 'to avoid this inflammatory response.'

The flu vaccine is normally available from September until around January or February each year in the UK and is free for pregnant women.

The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Pregnant women are being urged to have the flu jab to avoid the inflammatory response to the flu virus

Would YOU breastfeed a three-year-old? These women say yes and here's why...

Research found breastfeeding mothers often made to feel 'uncomfortable'

Extended breastfeeding isn't viewed as 'normal' in UK

But World Health Organisation recommend it up to two years and beyond

Jessica Daniels, 24, kept breastfeeding her two daughters

Helped her bond with them, was convenient, and good for their health

Jane Hodges, 46, said she has no regrets about extended breastfeeding

A survey published last week revealed that women who breastfeed their children beyond the age of 12 months are often made to feel 'uncomfortable' about their decision.

The research, published in Maternal & Child Nutrition, revealed extended breastfeeding wasn't seen as 'normal' and less than one per cent of UK mothers are still exclusively breastfeeding a six-month-old.

However, in other countries around the world, breastfeeding is commonplace well into a child's time as a toddler.

Close bond: Mother-of-two Jessica Daniels said she and her daughters have benefited from breastfeeding

In Canada, the government have run campaigns actively encouraging women to carry on breastfeeding with the slogan 'breastfeeding is not just for newborns'.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation recommend mothers carry on breastfeeding until a child is two and beyond (alongside introducing them to other foods).

They state: 'Breast milk is an important source of energy and nutrients in children aged six to 23 months. It can provide half or more of a child's energy needs between the ages of six and 12 months, and one third of energy needs between 12 and 24 months.'

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The health benefits of breastfeeding include protecting a child from serious illness and setting them up for a bright future - research has shown that children and adolescents that have been breastfed perform better in intelligence tests.

British mother, Jessica Daniels, has found extended breastfeeding extremely beneficial for both her and her two daughters.

The 24-year-old from Wigan breastfed her first daughter until she was aged three-and-a-half and is still breastfeeding her second daughter at 14 months.

She told MailOnline: 'I feel my children have benefited greatly from breastfeeding and from extended breastfeeding.

Jessica's eldest daughter breastfed till she was three-and-a-half

'My first daughter is strongly attached to me and we have a great bond. It also helped with bonding with her sister as they used to feed together. She didn't feel pushed out either because of this.'

She added that she takes comfort from the fact women who breastfeed are less likely to get breast and ovarian cancer, while it's often more convenient than bottle feeding.

She said: 'People are a little surprised (that I carried on breastfeeding) but mostly because I "must be exhausted". Quite the opposite, I find breastfeeding to be the lazy person's choice.'

Jane Hodges, 46, of Darlington, Co Durham, also breastfed her children until they were two.

She said: 'Both were picky eaters and refused to drink water or cows milk so they were at least getting some nutrition from my breast milk. Also it was wonderful for the bonding side of things. I don't regret it at all.'

In the Maternal & Child Nutrition study, many women revealed that, at certain times, they had been made to feel ashamed for breastfeeding.

Jessica said she was lucky to never experience any animosity when she was breastfeeding her toddlers in public.

Jane agreed but she said her actions still attracted "unsolicited advice".

She explains: 'People would say I was being indulgent and it was more about my needs than the kids.

'One friend even wagged her finger at my toddler while I was nursing her and said: "you're a big girl now. You're too old for that" which I found beyond irritating.

'After that, I got a little self-conscious breastfeeding in public once the kids got beyond about 18 months but refused to get pushed into stopping before my children were ready.'

Celebrities including Gwen Stefani and Salma Hayek are among those in the public eye who have continued to breastfeed their children beyond 12 months.

But despite such high profile support and the multiple health benefits, some women feel unable to carry on breastfeeding.

A campaign poster in Canada encouraged women to keep breastfeeding their toddlers

Dr Ruowei Li an epidemiologist at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, U.S. said women who want to breastfeed should be given more support.

She led a study, published this month, which found those who were breastfed as babies were far less likely to have ear, sinus or throat infections later in childhood.

She said the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for an infant's first six months, followed by continued breastfeeding until at least 12 months.

But she added: 'Mothers need to be supported by health care professionals, their workplaces and communities to follow APP recommendations on breastfeeding.'

Did you breastfeed your child beyond two years? Share your story with us by emailling femail@mailonline.co.uk

Iron deficiency during pregnancy 'increases the risk of having a child with autism'

Mothers of children with autism were more likely to report low iron intake

Risk due to low iron intake increased fivefold if the mother was 35 or over

Increased risk if the mother suffered obesity, hypertension or diabetes

Iron crucial for brain development of a growing foetus

NHS recommends 14.8mg a day for women

Doctors might recommend supplements for pregnant women deficient

An iron deficiency during pregnancy increases the risk of giving birth to a child with autism - with the risk increasing for older mothers.

Those who have children with autism are significantly less likely to report taking iron supplements before and during their pregnancies than the mothers of children who are developing normally, U.S. researchers found.

The risk of the child being born with autism - found to be associated with an iron deficiency - was five times greater when the mother was also 35 or older at the time of the child's birth.

It also increases if a mother suffers from a condition such as obesity, hypertension or diabetes.

There is an association between low intake of iron during pregnancy and the risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)- with the risk increasing fivefold for mothers aged 35 or older or who suffered from obesity, hypertension or diabetes, U.S. researchers found.

Iron deficiency, or anaemia as it is known, is a condition where a lack of iron in the body leads to a reduction in the number of red blood cells.

Iron is used to produce red blood cells, which help store and carry oxygen in the blood. If you have fewer red blood cells than is normal, your organs and tissues will not get as much oxygen as they usually would.

Researchers said that iron is crucial in the development of a foetus' brain, meaning a deficiency in this vitamin could lead to autism.

The study, from researchers at the University of California, was the first to examine the relationship between maternal iron intake and having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

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Previous research from the same University reported that taking supplementary folic acid was associated with a reduced risk for ASD.

Rebecca Schmidt, assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, said: 'The association between lower maternal iron intake and increased ASD risk was strongest during breastfeeding, after adjustment for folic acid intake.

She added: 'Further, the risk associated with low maternal iron intake was much greater when the mother was also older and had metabolic conditions during her pregnancy.'

HOW MUCH IRON DO WOMEN NEED?

Women with 14.8mg a day for women

If you are pregnant and you are short of iron, you’ll probably get very tired and may suffer from anaemia.

If the iron level in your blood becomes low, your GP or midwife will advise you to take iron supplements.

Good sources of iron include:

· dark-green leafy vegetables, such as watercress and curly kale

· iron-fortified cereals or bread

· brown rice

· pulses and beans

· nuts and seeds

· meat, fish and tofu

· eggs

· dried fruit, such as dried apricots, prunes and raisins

Although liver is a good source of iron, do not eat it if you are pregnant. This is because it is also rich in vitamin A, which can damage your unborn baby in large amounts.

Source: NHS Choices

The study looked at pairs of mothers and children who were enrolled in the Northern California-based Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study between 2002 and 2009.

This included mothers of children with autism and 346 mothers of children or of typical development, who weren't considered to have ASD.

The researchers examined maternal iron intake, including vitamins, other nutritional supplements, and breakfast cereals during the three months prior to the birth through the end of the women's pregnancies and breastfeeding.

Professor Schmidt said: 'Iron deficiency, and its resultant anaemia, is the most common nutrient deficiency, especially during pregnancy, affecting 40 to 50 per cent of women and their infants.

'Iron is crucial to early brain development, contributing to neurotransmitter production, myelination and immune function.

'All three of these pathways have been associated with autism.

'Iron deficiency is pretty common, and even more common among women with metabolic conditions.

'However we want to be cautious and wait until this study has been replicated.

'In the meantime the takeaway message for women is do what your doctor recommends.

'Take vitamins throughout pregnancy, and take the recommended daily dosage. If there are side effects, talk to your doctor about how to address them.'

For fertile women the most common causes of iron deficiency anaemia are heavy periods and the pregnancy itself, as their body needs extra iron for their baby.

Dark-green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, watercress and curly kale are good sources of iron

Pages

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Checking work email at home can cause heart problems, anxiety and headaches warn experts

More...

Monday, September 22, 2014

Sorry chaps, it's expectant mums who are worst hit by flu: Pregnancy makes the immune system go haywire when fighting the virus

More...

FLU DURING PREGNANCY

Would YOU breastfeed a three-year-old? These women say yes and here's why...

More...

Iron deficiency during pregnancy 'increases the risk of having a child with autism'

More...

HOW MUCH IRON DO WOMEN NEED?