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Whooping Cough Epidemic Declared In Washington State

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SEATTLE — Washington state's worst outbreak of whooping cough in decades has prompted health officials to declare an epidemic, seek help from federal experts and urge residents to get vaccinated amid worry that cases of the highly contagious disease could spike much higher.

It's the first state to declare a whooping cough, or pertussis, epidemic since 2010, when California had more than 9,000 cases, including 10 deaths. Washington has had 10 times the cases reported in 2011, and so has Wisconsin with nearly 2,000 cases this year, though that state has not declared an epidemic.

California responded to its crisis two years ago with a public information campaign, readily available vaccines and a new law requiring a booster shot for middle- and high-school students. Doctors were urged to spot whooping cough early, send infected babies to the hospital and promptly treat those diagnosed. In 2011, the number of cases there dropped significantly.

In Washington, about 1,280 cases have been reported in 2012, and officials believe the state could see as many as 3,000 cases by year's end. Health Secretary Mary Selecky declared the epidemic April 3, and since then officials have bought up the vaccine and made it available for free for people who don't have insurance.

State officials have asked hospitals to vaccinate every adult who goes home with a new baby, and urged businesses to encourage their employees to get the adult booster shot. Washington already requires a booster shot for middle- and high-school students.

Last week, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced the state is putting $90,000 into a public awareness campaign and diverting some federal money to pay for 27,000 doses of vaccine. The state has also asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to send a special team of investigators and an epidemiologist to the Washington.

State epidemic declarations are up to the states; there are no federal regulations for such decisions. Selecky said this is the first time in her 13 years on the job she has declared a state epidemic, but felt she needed to take action to stop the disease from spreading further.

"When we've looked historically, we've seen nothing like this," she said. "We're taking this very seriously."

Adults and teens need booster shots so they don't give pertussis to the babies in their lives, said CDC spokeswoman Alison Patti

"We want to create a cocoon of protection around them," she said. "We're really worried about keeping babies safe."

Pertussis is known as whooping cough because of the "whooping" sound people often make while gasping for air after a coughing fit. A highly contagious bacterial disease, it starts off like a cold but leads to severe coughing that can last for weeks. In rare cases, it can be fatal.

Until routine child vaccination became widespread in the 1940s, pertussis caused thousands of fatalities each year in the United States. While deaths are uncommon today, they still occur: In recent weeks, infants in New Mexico and Idaho have died from the disease.

Because the adult booster for pertussis – called Tdap for tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis – has only been available since 2005, fewer than one in 10 adults have gotten the shot and most don't even know they need it. The numbers are better for teens: about 70 percent have received a booster shot. Most people do not find out they even need a booster until they go to the doctor for a tetanus shot, Patti said.

Patti emphasized that pertussis isn't spreading because of an anti-vaccine movement. Among possible reasons for the recent spike are that diagnoses in teens and adults are getting better and doctors are doing a better job with reporting, she added

Health officials say the disease tends to return in three-to-five-year cycles.

"The incidents tend to oscillate," said Herbert Hethcote, a professor emeritus from the University of Iowa who is a specialist in mathematical modeling of the spread of infectious diseases,

He said the growth of pertussis in Washington state has followed a pattern: As the population ages, the immunity level goes down because the vaccine is wearing off. The disease spreads and the cases grow until more people get the vaccine and the numbers go down again.

Hethcote said his daughter had whooping cough as an adult during the last spike of cases in Washington, four or five years ago. She coughed so hard she broke a rib and was sick for more than a month, he recalls. She never found out how she caught it but the experience raised awareness in his family that pertussis is not just a children's disease.


Romanian Baby Born With Stunted Intestines Dies

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BUCHAREST, Romania — A Romanian baby born with virtually no intestines who confounded doctors by tenaciously clinging to life and captured international attention and offers of medical help, died on Thursday. He was nine months old.

In April, following an Associated Press article, people in Europe and the United States began offering funds and medical expertise to help Baby Andrei get a complicated intestine transplant and discussions about arranging the procedure were ongoing.

But Dr. Catalin Cirstoveanu, the Romanian pediatrician in charge of the baby's care, said the attempts were too slow for the boy, who spent most of his life in the intensive care unit of the Marie Curie Hospital in Bucharest. Andrei's condition deteriorated after an operation 10 days ago, the doctor said.

"He fought for nine months, but it was too late for him," said his mother Cristina Mistreanu, 15. "We hoped a lot that the doctors would come from the U.S. to operate on him, but now there is no hope left."

Andrei's alert gaze and keen interest in the world around him appeared at odds with his frail, shrunken frame of just 2.8 kilograms (6.16 pounds). He grew less than one kilogram (2.2 pounds) since being born premature on July 27 in the small town of Tecuci to teen age Roma parents.

Cirstoveanu warned that the baby needed a transplant imminently. As his health was declining in recent days, Andrei had the surgery on his 10 centimeters (4 inches) of intestines. A baby of his age normally has three meters (yards).

"He was no longer vivacious; he was apathetic; he got an infection; there were complications," he said. "It was impossible to tie the intestine and he couldn't eat. His liver was damaged."

Cirstoveanu had been in discussions with doctors in the U.S. to get Andrei a transplant, coordinating with Elaine McEwen, who heads Nobody's Children, a children's charity that has brought over children from Romania, Bosnia and Venezuela for surgery not available in their home countries.

Those who cared for Andrei in his short life said he was an inspiration.

"I will use this experience," Cirstoveanu said. "Andrei was a teacher for us, for this kind of complicated surgery."

"He had such a fighting spirit," McEwen said by phone from Windham, New Hampshire. "Andrei's life was not in vain. Something good will come out of this."

FDA Panel Backs Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug

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By Anna Yukhananov
SILVER SPRING, Md., May 9 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc won support from a U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday for its arthritis drug, which the world's top drugmaker hopes will give it a major boost after a wave of patent expiries.
A panel of outside experts to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 8-2 to recommend approval of tofacitinib, a treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have not had success with at least one other drug for the disease.
Analysts see tofacitinib as a potential blockbuster, with peak sales of $2 billion to $3 billion a year, if its benefits are deemed to outweigh the risks. It could also help revive faith in Pfizer's research prowess. The company has not produced a major new medicine from its own labs since impotence treatment Viagra more than a decade ago.
Pfizer shares, which rose as much as 2.6 percent after the vote, closed 1.1 percent higher at $22.45.
The FDA usually follows panel recommendations, although it is not required to do so, and a final decision is expected in August.
If approved, the likely cheaper pill would compete with widely used injectable medicines, including Abbott Laboratories Inc's $8 billion-a-year biologic drug, Humira.
"I think the data for efficacy is compelling and it's at least as good as other biologic agents," said Dr. Maria Suarez-Almazor, panel member and section chief in rheumatology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
However, most panelists said the drug should only be used once patients had tried at least several other drugs for the disease, not just one. They expressed concern about some of its side effects, such as infections and malignancies, or cancerous cells that can spread.
"There are enough safety signals that are concerning ... so I wouldn't be comfortable starting one of my patients right after one (rheumatoid drug) failure," Dr. Suarez-Almazor said.
In a review earlier this week, FDA staff said tofacitinib may have a higher risk of serious infections such as pneumonia and a possible link to malignancies, which may get worse with higher doses or longer exposure to the drug. Panelists called on Pfizer to study the drug's safety post-approval.
Most analysts said the panel's vote meant the drug was likely to be approved, although doctors were unlikely to prescribe it to patients unless they had tried several other options, limiting initial sales.

LUCRATIVE FIELD
Rheumatoid arthritis and related diseases have been one of the most lucrative areas for drugmakers, with more than $20 billion in annual sales.
An estimated 1.3 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, according to the Arthritis Foundation. About 1 percent of the world's adult population has the disease.
Besides Humira, other treatments include Enbrel, made by Amgen Inc, and Johnson & Johnson's Remicade. All of these are costly, injectable drugs that block a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) that is tied to inflammation.
Pfizer's treatment is a traditional chemical pill that works by blocking signals that activate immune and inflammatory responses in the body. It is the first in a new class of drugs called JAK inhibitors.
Analysts and doctors have said about 30 percent to 40 percent of patients with rheumatoid arthritis do not respond to available drugs, meaning there is room for other options.
Tofacitinib's most attractive feature over older drugs may be its dosing. Patients take it twice a day in tablet form, rather than having to inject themselves every other week, as with Abbott's Humira.
Pfizer is also studying the drug for other conditions, including inflammatory bowel diseases, psoriasis and dry eye.
"The (rheumatoid arthritis) patient population needs additional treatment options and Pfizer looks forward to working with the FDA on next steps," Dr. Yvonne Greenstreet, senior vice president and the head of Medicines Development Group for Pfizer Specialty Care, said in a statement. (Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Matthew Lewis and Andre Grenon)

7 Fitness Items That Cost More for Women

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By Charlotte Andersen for Shape.com

Is it worth paying for pink? We break it down for you.

For more on fitness and exercise, click here.

Republicans, Democrats Or Independents: Who's The Healthiest?

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Democrats say their well-being is higher than Republicans' and Independents', but the well-being of Republicans is actually the highest of them all, according to a new Gallup study.

The results are based on the responses to six measures of well-being, including life evaluation, emotional health, health behaviors, physical health, work environment and basic access. Four-hundred thousand people answered questions for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

Among the findings:

- Republicans scored higher than Democrats on five of the six measures, including: emotional health, health behaviors, physical health, work environment and basic access. However, Democrats scored slightly higher on the "life evaluation" measure.

- Republicans scored higher on all six measures of well-being than Independents.

- Democrats scored higher than Independents on four of the six measures of well-being: emotional health, health behaviors, basic access and life evaluation. However, Independents scored higher than Democrats on the physical health and work environment measures of well-being.

Even after the researchers took into account other influencing factors like race, age, location in the country, marital and child status and socioeconomic status, they found that the differences were still there, though "on a muted basis," according to the report.

The Gallup researchers speculated that Republicans may have a higher general well-being score than the Democrats and Independents because they tend to be more religious than the other two affiliations.

Republicans are more religious in general than independents or Democrats, and Gallup has shown in previous analyses that religiosity has a significantly positive relationship to well-being.

In 2009, a study in the International Journal of Epidemiology showed that Democrats are more likely to report poor health than Republicans.

The study, conducted by Harvard School of Public Health researchers, included data from the General Social Surveys from 1972 to 2006. The researchers found that the likelihood of Republicans reporting poor health was 26 percent lower than Democrats, while the likelihood of Republicans smoking was 15 percent lower than Democrats.

Truvada: FDA Panel Backs First Pill To Block HIV Infection

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SILVER SPRING, Md. — The first drug shown to prevent HIV infection won the endorsement of a panel of federal advisers Thursday, clearing the way for a landmark approval in the 30-year fight against the virus that causes AIDS.

In a series of votes, a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended approval of the daily pill Truvada for healthy people who are at high risk of contracting HIV, including gay and bisexual men and heterosexual couples with one HIV-positive partner.

The FDA is not required to follow the panel's advice, though it usually does. A final decision is expected by June 15.

Gilead Sciences Inc., based in Foster City, Calif., has marketed Truvada since 2004 as a treatment for people who are infected with the virus. The medication is a combination of two older HIV drugs, Emtriva and Viread. Doctors usually prescribe it as part of a drug cocktail to repress the virus.

While panelists ultimately backed Truvada for prevention, Thursday's 12-hour meeting highlighted a number of concerns created by the first drug to prevent HIV. In particular, the panel debated whether Truvada might lead to reduced use of condoms, the most reliable defense against HIV. The experts also questioned the drug's effectiveness in women, who have shown much lower rates of protection in studies.

Panelists struggled to outline steps that would ensure patients take the pill every day. In clinical trials, patients who didn't take their medication diligently were not protected, and patients in the real world are even more likely to forget than those in studies.

"The trouble is adherence, but I don't think it's our charge to judge whether people will take the medicine," said Dr. Tom Giordano of Baylor College of Medicine, who voted in favor of the drug. "I think our charge is to judge whether it works when it's taken and whether the risks outweigh the benefits."

Panelists stressed that people should be tested to make sure they don't have HIV before starting therapy with Truvada. Patients who already have the virus and begin taking Truvada could develop a resistance to the drug, making their disease even more difficult to treat. The experts grappled with how to protect patients while avoiding hurdles that could discourage them from seeking treatment.

"If we put up too many hoops to jump through, there will be people who don't make it through those hoops," said Daniel Raymond, the panel's patient representative.

Truvada first made headlines in 2010, when government researchers showed it could prevent people from contracting HIV. A three-year study found that daily doses cut the risk of infection in healthy gay and bisexual men by 42 percent, when accompanied by condoms and counseling. Last year another study found that Truvada reduced infection by 75 percent in heterosexual couples in which one partner was infected with HIV and the other was not.

Because Truvada is on the market to manage HIV, some doctors already prescribe it as a preventive measure. FDA approval would allow Gilead Sciences to formally market its drug for that use.

But Truvada's groundbreaking preventive ability has exposed stark disagreements on prevention among those in the HIV community. While Truvada's supporters say the drug is an important new option, critics worry that the drug could give users a false sense of security, and encourage risky behavior.

During the meeting's public comment period, FDA panelists heard from more than two dozen doctors, nurses and patients who said patients would not take the drug as recommended – every day, in addition to using condoms.

"Truvada needs to be taken every day, 100 percent of the time, and my experience as a registered nurse tells me that won't happen," Karen Haughey told the panel. "In my eight years, not one patient that I've cared for has been 100 percent adherent."

Other speakers worried that wide scale use of Truvada would divert limited funding from more cost-effective options. Truvada sells for about $900 a month, or just under $11,000 per year. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which opposes approval of Truvada, estimates that 20 HIV-positive patients could be treated for the cost of treating one patient with preventive Truvada.

"Truvada for prevention will squeeze already-constrained health care resources that can be better spent on cheaper and more effective prevention therapies," the group states in a petition to the FDA.

The FDA is legally barred from considering cost when reviewing drugs. Medicare and Medicaid, the nation's largest health insurance plans, generally cover all drugs approved by the FDA and many large insurers take their cues for coverage from the government plans.

An estimated 1.2 million Americans have HIV, which develops into AIDS unless treated with antiviral drugs. AIDS causes the body's immune system to breakdown, leading to infections which are eventually fatal. Gay and bisexual men account for the majority of cases – nearly two-thirds.

The number of new HIV infections in the U.S. has held steady for 15 years at about 50,000 per year. But with no vaccine in sight and an estimated 240,000 HIV carriers unaware of their status, doctors and patients say new methods are needed to fight the spread of the virus.

Nick Literski, a federal worker in Seattle, has been taking Truvada for HIV prevention for more than a year. His partner is HIV-infected and his doctor prescribes the drug as a precautionary measure, even though it is not yet FDA-approved for that use. Literski pays a $40 monthly co-pay for the once-daily pill.

FDA approval of the drug for prevention would be "a huge step forward" in the fight against AIDS, he said in an interview Thursday. But he said rejection would be devastating, threatening gay relationships like his that involve one partner who is HIV infected and one who isn't.

"Many HIV-positive men end up ending their relationships with HIV-negative men out of fear of infecting their partner," Literski said, and he worried about that happening to him before he started using Truvada.

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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner contributed to this story from Chicago

Is 'Social Jet Lag' Harming Your Health?

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By Amanda Gardner

Do you wake up to the sound of an alarm each weekday? That may be a sign that your body clock doesn't agree with your daily schedule, a situation that over time may open the door to weight gain and other health problems.

Researchers in Europe have coined the term "social jet lag" to describe the all-too common practice of following a different sleep schedule on weekdays versus the weekend. Our circadian rhythms are out of sync with our hectic work schedules, the theory goes, so each weekend we're effectively flying back and forth between time zones without ever leaving the ground.


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Social jet lag is "the discrepancy between what our body clock wants us to do and what our social clock wants us to do," says Till Roenneberg, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Munich's Institute of Medical Psychology, in Germany. "It almost looks as if people on a Friday evening fly from Paris to New York, and on Monday morning they fly back again."

This weekly disruption is more than just a nuisance. In a new study published today in the journal Current Biology, Roenneberg and his colleagues surveyed the sleep habits of more than 65,000 adults and found that people with different weekday and weekend sleep schedules had triple the odds of being overweight.

What's more, the body mass index (BMI) of overweight people tended to rise as the gap between their weekday and weekend "time zones" widened.

The findings echo previous research linking higher BMI to sleep deprivation and irregular sleep schedules. In particular, numerous studies have found an increased risk of obesity -- as well as chronic diseases such as diabetes -- among shift workers. Social jet lag may be harmful in the same way, says David J. Earnest, Ph.D., a neurobiologist and body-clock expert at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, in Bryan.

"The schedules we keep on the weekend are much different than those we keep during the week," Earnest says. "This potentially has ramifications for disrupting circadian rhythms and translating into the same sorts of things associated with shift work, such as an increased risk for cancer and diabetes and so on."

Some of the proposed explanations for the link between shift work and obesity, such as irregular meal times and metabolism disruptions at the cellular level, may help explain the social jet lag findings as well, Roenneberg says.

"With social jet lag, we're forced to eat at times when the body doesn't want to eat, or isn't prepared for digesting food properly," he says. "All these things coming together might influence the way you digest food and how you incorporate it into your body fat. The result is that you become overweight or obese."

Most people experience at least some social jet lag. Two-thirds of the study participants reported at least one hour's difference in their average weekday and weekend sleep schedules, and more than 10 percent reported three-plus hours.

Paying more attention to our body clocks may be good for the economy as well as our health, Roennenberg suggests. Rather than bending early birds and night owls to the same work schedule, why not encourage personalized schedules based on each individual's circadian rhythms? The result would be a better-rested, healthier, and doubtless more productive workforce, Roennenberg says.

"Living against our body clocks is detrimental for our health," says Roenneberg, who spoke to Health.com from Munich at 11 p.m. local time, just before heading to bed. "On an epidemiological level, we pay an enormous price for not being within our natural clocks."

These Sports Help Promote Bone Health For Men

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There is a common conception that osteoporosis only affects older women. For that reason, much of the preventive measures to protect against the condition -- things like weight lifting or consuming sufficient levels of calcium – are targeted to women. But osteoporosis, which is characterized by weakening bones due to thinning and increased porousness of bone tissue, affects about 20 percent of men over the age of 65.

Now, a new study reveals that young men can also use exercise to substantially increase their bone mass, which may in turn protect against osteoporosis later in life.

"Men who increased their load-bearing activity from age 19 to 24 not only developed more bone, but also had larger bones compared to men who were sedentary during the same period," said senior study author Dr. Mattias Lorentzon of the University of Gothenburg, in a statement.

In the largest study of its kind, Lorentzon and his team followed 833 Swedish men, who were 18- to 20-years old at recruitment, for a five year period. The researchers initially measured bone mass using scans and asked the study participants about their exercise habits. Then, after five years, they again completed bone scans and followed up about study habits.

They found that men who participated in load-bearing sports continuously during the entire period -- or who took up a load-bearing sport habit during the five year study -- faired better than those who were either sedentary from the start or who grew sedentary during the course of study. Those who participated in low-impact sports like swimming and bicycling saw other health benefits, but didn't have comparable bone-building results to the group of load-bearing athletes.

The term “load-bearing” refers to high impact sports that include quick starts and stops, jumping and other activities that require the body to bear weight down on the bones. That sort of movement forces young bodies to generate new bone tissue, increasing bone mass, said the researchers. They found that basketball and volleyball were the most strongly associated with increased bone mass, followed closely by tennis and soccer.

The greater the amount of exercise, the more substantial the results. For every added hour of physical activity per week, the study participants enjoyed an increase in bone mass. For example, reported the researchers, those who completed four or more hours of load-bearing exercise per week had a 1.3 percent increase in hip bone mass. By contrast, sedentary counterparts had a 2.1 percent decrease in mass.

The study was published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.


Schoolgirl's Organ Donor Saves Eight Lives

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The organ donor of a west country schoolgirl has saved the lives of eight people, reports The Sun.

The 13-year-old girl, who was killed by a brain haemorrhage while preparing for her mum's 38th birthday party, had always told her parents she wished to donate.

Jemima Layzell's heart went to a boy of five, her lungs were given to a 14-year-old, while her liver was shared by boys aged ten months and five, and a boy of three received her small bowel, says The Sun.

Her parents, Harvey, 43, and Sophy, 38, from Horton, Somerset, said: "Jemima's generosity will always be remembered."

"Jemima was lovely; clever, funny, compassionate and creative," reports The Telegraph.

"She was a brilliant artist but planned to be an author and left many poems, songs, stories and also serious thoughts about her life and the world's problems and delights.

"She also thought about and discussed death and said of her wish to be an organ donor when she died."

A memorial service for the teenager, who died after four days in hospital, will be held at Taunton School on May 21.

Children Wait 20 Months 'On Average' To Move In With Adoptive Parents

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Children in care in England are forced to wait an average of 20 months to move in with adoptive parents, according to new figures.

Children's Minister Tim Loughton said the first-ever local authority scorecards were a "trigger for urgent, detailed discussions" to speed up the process.

It is part of an action plan for adoption which includes proposals to reduce the length of the approval process for would-be adopters to six months.

Council leaders and children's services professionals condemned the scorecards and warned they have the potential to cause "unnecessary and avoidable concern in communities where there shouldn't be any".

The figures show that 80 local authorities met the interim thresholds of 21 months from entering care to adoption and matching a child to a family within seven months of a court order.

But 72 councils did not meet one or both of these thresholds which will be lowered to 14 months and four months respectively within four years.

Children in care in Hackney, east London wait the longest in the country to move in with adoptive parents, at two years and nine months on average.

Merton, south London has the second longest time, at two years and eight months, and Liverpool is third at two-and-a-half years.

Loughton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme there had been a need to "overhaul" the whole adoption system, "not just tinker around".

He said the delay was "the most damaging thing for a child who comes into care, before they eventually find a safe, stable, loving home, with an adoptive family if that's the best destination for them".

Loughton said the adoption scorecards could "cast a spotlight" on the extent of the job to do in adoption and was "not about targets".

He added: "I am not going to introduce targets, that can have some very perverse consequences as the previous Government found.

"What the adoption scorecard does is to give complete transparency of information, it shows those aspects of the whole system that are working well in certain authorities and those that aren't."

He earlier described the scorecards as "not the be-all and end-all" but said more areas needed to strike a better balance between quality placements and the risk of long-term damage to children by leaving them with uncertain futures.

The scorecards feature three key indicators relating to authorities' performance on adoption:

The average time it takes for a child to be moved in with an adoptive family

The proportion of children waiting longer than they should, including those still in care

The average time it takes an authority to match a child with a family after a court has decided that adoption is the right course.

But council leaders and children's services professionals said local authorities could not risk shifting their focus from the quality of placements to speed.

The Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Children's Services and the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives released a joint statement which said: "Councils are passionate about helping children and take their responsibilities towards those in their care extremely seriously.

"The adoption scorecards have the potential to cause unnecessary and avoidable concern in communities where there shouldn't be any, and may put prospective adopters off. Children waiting for adoption will not benefit from government struggling to get its act together.

"The data fails to provide a sound basis for comparison across local authority areas. For example, one council's Ofsted-rated outstanding adoption service looks like a poor performer in the scorecard. This is simply not credible."

Is 'Social Jetlag' Making You Fat?

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If you’re constantly tired, perhaps your body is following the wrong clock.

Researchers at LMU University in Munich, Germany have suggested that ignoring the 24-hour circadian clock (during which sunlight helps regulate our natural rhythms) in favour of your social calendar, is likely to result in health problems.

The pressures of early starts, social commitments and work, could be contributing to the poor health of up to 80% of people in Western countries, says chronobiologist Professor Till Toenneberg, who defines the problem as "social jetlag”.

Individuals who get too little sleep, due to their busy lifestyles, have an increased body-mass index (BMI), found the LMU team.

See Also: ‘Sleep Diet’ Best For People With Fat Genes

In a statement, the researchers indicate that a person whose lifestyle conflicts with their internal physiological rhythms is at greater risk of developing serious metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.

"The ongoing debate on the usefulness of daylight-saving time (DST) should take note of our findings," remarks Roenneberg, in a statement.

"Just like conventional school and work schedules, DST disrupts our biological clock and subjects us to more social jetlag with all its consequences."

'I Am 'Not' Mom Enough', Responds Lisa Belkin

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Senior Huffington Post columnist Lisa Belkin gets angry at the 'simplistic, unrepresentative, staged photograph' featured on the front cover of TIME magazine this month.

"The breastfeeding conversation is not titillating," she writes. "The TIME cover is."

Should A Mother Breastfeed Her Three-Year-Old Son?

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The image of slim blonde 26-year-old Californian mom Jamie Lynne Grumet, breastfeeding her three-year-old son on the front cover of TIME magazine, has sparked controversy on both sides of the pond.

In recent years, debates in the US about weaning have become more polarised as women continue to breastfeed their children throughout their early years, as part of trend known as 'attachment parenting'.

In Britain, politicians suggest parents refer to World Heart Organisation guidelines that suggest that exclusive breastfeeding for six months is best for babies, reported The Guardian last year.

However, in America more extreme parenting styles involving baby-wearing, extended breastfeeding and co-sleeping are more widely accepted.

Most recently, French feminist Elisabeth Badinter commented on the growth of this kind of 'attachment parenting' in her new book The Conflict: How Modern Motherhood Sets Back The Cause Of Women, commenting that this over-intensive parenting style was setting the movement back decades.

In response to the provocative TIME magazine cover, senior Huffington Post columnist Lisa Belkin blogged angrily that the 'simplistic, unrepresentative, staged photograph' featured in the publication this month undermined a complex debate.

"The breastfeeding conversation is not titillating. The TIME cover is," she writes.

"Breastfeeding is not a macho test of motherhood, with the winner being the one who nurses the longest. In fact there ARE no macho tests of motherhood. Motherhood is - should be - a village, where we explore each other's choices, learn from them, respect them, and then go off and make our own."

In an interview with the Today Show following the magazine's publication, Grumet told the show's host, Savannah Guthrie, she plans to keep nursing son Aram for another year.

He's "self-weaning," Grumet said. "But personally I'm hoping our fourth year, just for me, is probably going to be our final."

Foods That Work Better Together Than Apart

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We all know there are foods that taste delicious together -- say, peanut butter and chocolate, French fries and ketchup, or chips and salsa. But despite the yumminess of these snacks, they don't do much for our bodies -- so wouldn't it be incredible if we could get healthier just by eating certain things together?

Luckily, science seems to have figured out just that with the concept of 'food synergy,' which posits that particular nutrients can work better in our bodies alongside each other. While its basis is pure biology -- a wide variety of whole foods will offer more benefits than a singular type of nutrient -- recent studies showing just how and where these enhancements help us only adds impact to the pairings.

So what can you put on a plate to spur your body along in absorbing antioxidants, calcium and vitamins? Read on:

Fish And Garlic
We all know fish can be a healthy protein alternative, but adding garlic to it can make it even better -- and not just in flavour. A study at the University of Guelph in Ontario found that, while LDL cholesterol levels dropped while subjects took garlic, and fish oil capsules reduced triglycerides (though raised LDL), when the two were combined, both triglycerides and LDL were lowered. Just keep a mint or two around for after the meal.

Orange Juice And Oats
It's the breakfast of champions, particularly for those who want to lower their risk of heart attacks. The Vitamin C in orange juice works with the phenolic acid in oatmeal (which should always be whole oats, not processed) to help protect against the LDL cholesterol that can build up in arteries, as reported in The Journal of Nutrition.

Apple And Chocolate
Sure, it sounds too good to be true to be able to include chocolate in this list, but apples (with the skin on) often contain quercetin, an anti-inflammatory flavonoid that helps protect against things like allergies and heart attacks. Dark chocolate, on the other hand, contains catechin, which is an antioxidant that helps protect against hardening arteries. Put the two together, which was found by a study at the University of Singapore to be a dish that helps declog arteries and thin out platelets, a combination great for the heart -- in limited quantities, of course.

Lemon And Green Tea
Green tea contains a huge amount of catechins, those antioxidants that have been shown to help combat cancer. It was found at Purdue University that when Vitamin C is added, in the form of a squeeze of a lemon slice or just some citrus juice, it actually increases the amount of catechins the body can absorb. In fact, it's the lemon's acidity that helps the catechins work in the body at all.

Brussels Sprouts And Oil
Cooking up those Brussels sprouts with some olive oil could help your vision for years to come. The lutein contained in Brussels sprouts protect the eyes, and when combined with a small amount of fat (as possessed by olive oil), it can be better absorbed by the body.

Grapefruit And Avocado
Lycopene, which is contained in grapefruit, has been linked in various studies to helping with heart disease, cancer, diabetes and osteoporosis -- but it is best absorbed by the intestines when eaten with a bit of fat, so why not combine it with a 'good' fat like the unsaturated kind found in avocado.

Salmon And Broccoli
Your body needs high levels of Vitamin D in order to absorb calcium, so putting together some steamed broccoli and salmon is the perfect answer to that problem. Salmon, particularly wild-caught fish, have the vitamin side of things to take in broccoli's bioavailable calcium to help bones, teeth, and blood vessels, among other functions.

Tomatoes And Greens
Like grapefruit, tomatoes contain vast amounts of lycopene, known to help fight cancer -- and in a 2007 study at the University of Illinois, it was found that when tomatoes were taken with broccoli, it helped reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Researchers specifically suggested chopping and heating the two to make the cancer-fighting properties more bioavailable.

Flax And Soybeans
Soybeans can be found everywhere these days and are known as a healthy protein, but they also raise concerns for their effects on breast cancer tumour growth. However, recent research from the University of Toronto has found that lignans in flaxseed can help mitigate any effects soy may have on postmenopausal breast cancer growth, so eating the two together is a great idea.

Beet Roots And Chickpeas
Chickpeas have a great amount of vitamin B6 in them, and that actually helps the body absorb the magnesium found in beet greens -- two essential nutrients that work wonders for the body, both of which help with symptoms of PMS and ADHD.

FDA Advisers Recommend Approving Weight Loss Drug

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TRENTON, N.J. -- Advisers to government health regulators late Thursday recommended that they approve sales of what would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in the U.S. in more than a decade, despite concerns over cardiac risks.

Shares of the drug's creator, Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., nearly doubled, jumping from $3.66 to $7.15 in after-hours trading after trading was temporarily halted.

A panel of expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 18-4 to recommend approval of Arena's lorcaserin, concluded that its benefits "outweigh the potential risks when used long term" in overweight and obese people. One panel member abstained from voting.

"We will continue to work with the FDA as the agency completes its review," Arena CEO Jack Lief said in a statement.

The company noted that the FDA has set a target date of June 27 for deciding whether to approve sales of the drug. It's intended for people who are obese or for people who are overweight and have at least one weight-related health problem, such as high blood pressure.

The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its advisory panels, but generally does so.

Lorcaserin is one of three experimental weight-loss drugs whose developers have been trying for a second time to win approval, after the FDA shot them all down in 2010 or early 2011 because of serious potential side effects.

The panel's vote Thursday comes two days after federal health regulators gave a surprisingly favorable assessment of lorcaserin. When the agency turned the drug down in 2010, its scientists raised concerns about health issues including tumors that developed in laboratory animals tested with the drug.

In the interim, the San Diego company again applied for approval, submitting additional data in hopes of swaying the agency to a favorable decision.

A review of all the research studies by FDA staff, posted online Tuesday, stated that new analysis Arena submitted suggests there's only a "negligible risk" of tumors in people taking the drug. However, questions remain about it possibly increasing risk of high blood pressure in diabetics or damaging heart valves, a life-threatening side effect that has been an issue with some earlier weight-loss pills.

Earlier this year, rival Vivus Inc. won a surprising endorsement from an FDA panel for its diet drug, Qnexa. That move raised expectations for both Arena and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., the third company racing to get the first new diet drug into drugstores.

But a month ago, Vivus said that the FDA had pushed back its target date for a final decision on Qnexa from April 17 until July 17. The agency said it needed more time to consider a new drug safety plan submitted by Vivus.

While patients and doctors are eager for new options to fight obesity, none of these drugs enable patients to magically shed pounds.

Research showed that study subjects taking lorcaserin had modest weight loss, on average losing just 3.1 percent of starting body weight over a year. More than 37 percent of patients lost 5 percent of their weight or more, which is enough to meet FDA standards for effectiveness. By comparison, average weight loss with Qnexa was 11 percent, with more than 83 percent of patients losing 5 percent of their weight or more.

Following announcement of the advisory panel vote, Arena said it had expanded its marketing and supply agreement with partner Eisai Inc., a large drugmaker based in Japan, beyond the United States. If lorcaserin ultimately is approved, Eisai will also handle exclusive marketing and distribution of the drug in most of North and South America.

In trading Thursday before the decision was announced, Arena shares rose 24 cents, or 7 percent, to $3.66. Shares of Orexigen added 15 percent, or 50 cents, to $3.85 in late trading.

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Alzheimer's Research Fraud Case Set For Trial

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By Toni Clarke
BOSTON, May 10 (Reuters) - Two Harvard teaching hospitals and a prominent Alzheimer's disease researcher accused of using falsified data to obtain a government research grant are set to stand trial after a federal appeals court said this week that a lower court erred when it dismissed the case.
The lawsuit accuses Marilyn Albert, a former professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she was conducting research, of submitting a grant application based on manipulated data.
The data showed results from a trial were scientifically significant when in fact they were not, according to the lawsuit.
Brigham and Women's Hospital, which collaborated on the research, is also a defendant in the case. The lawsuit was brought in 2006 under the False Claims Act, a 150-year-old federal law designed to recover government funds appropriated through fraud.
This is the first time a lawsuit dealing with alleged scientific fraud has been allowed to progress to trial under the False Claims Act, according to Michael Kohn, a lawyer with Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto in Washington, D.C.
Kohn represents the whistle-blower in the case, Kenneth Jones, a former statistician at Massachusetts General Hospital, who filed suit in 2006 c l aiming the defendants violated the act by including false statements in a $15 million grant application to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The case was dismissed in the lower court three days before it was due to go to trial. Barring settlement, a new trial could begin later this year in U.S. District Court in Boston, Kohn said.
If the defendants are found guilty, they could pay as much as $45 million to the U.S. government. B y law, whistle-blowers in such cases receive 15 percent to 30 percent of funds recovered.
Albert, who is now director of the Division of Cognitive Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, declined to comment except to say in an email: "I am confident that there was no misconduct involved."
Both hospitals said they are confident the researchers acted appropriately and according to the highest standards of scientific integrity.
"While it is disappointing that additional time and resources will have to be devoted to defending the institution and its investigators, the MGH remains confident that the resolution of the case will show that the allegations are without merit," Massachusetts General said in a statement.
Brigham and Women's responded with an identical statement .

INFLUENTIAL RESEARCH
Albert's research was part of an ongoing investigation into the structure of the brain as it progresses toward Alzheimer's disease. She specifically hoped to show that it might be possible to predict, years in advance, who might be destined to develop the disease, based on measurements taken over time of certain regions of the brain.
The results of the trial were published in the scientific journal Annals of Neurology in April 2000 and, according to Jones, proved extremely influential.
"The data appeared to confirm what had been suspected by some very prominent scientists, which is that Alzheimer's disease is associated with decreased blood flow to the brain," Jones said in an interview on Thursday. "The MRIs showed the volume of certain parts of the brain was decreasing in the people who were sick."
There are multiple theories about the cause of Alzheimer's disease.
In March 2001, Jones discovered what he believed to be anomalies in the research, specifically in data produced by one of the researchers, Ronald Killiany. The lawsuit alleges that Killiany revised his initial MRI measurements to prove the hypothesis of the trial.
Killiany, now an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine, did not return a phone call or email seeking comment. Kohn said he was not named as a defendant. In retrospect, Kohn said, "He probably should have been."
Jones took his concerns to Albert, who authorized an investigation into the matter by Killiany's boss, Mark Moss. She declined to appoint an independent investigator, as requested by Jones, according to the lawsuit.
Moss concluded that Killiany's second set of measurements was more accurate than the initial set. Albert accepted Moss's conclusion and proceeded to apply for an NIH grant in November 2001, according to the lawsuit.
The defense argued before the appeals court that it would not have been unusual or inappropriate for Killiany to re-measure patient brain scans as long as he remained blind to the clinical status of the participants, and that this was a matter for scientific debate.
This argument was accepted when the case was initially heard by the lower court in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. On that basis, it dismissed the case in October 2010. Kohn said the court ruled that scientific fraud could not be brought under the False Claims Act, since the case related to a scientific dispute, not fraud.
The appeals court, however, rejected the argument, saying, "We disagree that the creation of the data in question was necessarily a matter of scientific judgment."
The court noted that the lower court's determination "misses the point that the various results produced in this case were obtained by one scientist purportedly using the same protocol."
The government's Office of Research Integrity declined to say whether it is investigating the case.
Jones said he hopes the trial will shed light on the issue of scientific misconduct.
"My interest is in correcting the science and bringing this academic cheating to light," he said, "and maybe sending a message saying, 'You're being watched, and you shouldn't do it.'"
The case is: U.S. ex rel. Jones v. Brigham and Women's Hospital, et al, 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No: 10-2301.
(Editing by Michele Gershberg and Douglas Royalty)

'I Have Grown Mentally And Emotionally Throughout This Journey'

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Got a success story of your own? Send it to us at success.stories@huffingtonpost.com and you could be featured on the site!

Name: Ellen Olstein
Age: 33
Height: 5'6"
Before Weight: 247 pounds

How I Gained It: I was never a "skinny" person. As a child, I always carried a bit of extra weight on my frame compared to the other children in my neighborhood and at the small, Catholic school that I attended. I was always very conscious of the fact that I was "heavier" than the other girls, and this realization bothered me a great deal until I went to college.

During my college years, I lost a bit of weight, but not through healthy means. I ate sporadically, never got enough sleep and generally kept very odd hours. I also worked, attended classes as a full-time student and was a tireless social butterfly. Thanks to this busy lifestyle, combined with still having the metabolism of a young adult, I was able to maintain a fairly healthy weight of approximately 150 pounds throughout my college career. It wasn't until I graduated with my bachelor's degree in May 2000 and began working at my first full-time desk job that I began to pack on the pounds.

After college, I continued to eat like a college student. I never cooked or prepared homemade meals. I ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I watched my waistline quickly expand past the "regular" women's clothing section and into the plus-sizes. As I continued to gain weight, I repeatedly asked myself how I could've let myself go in such a way. I would regularly beat myself up about the excessive amount of weight that I gained, but would never take the necessary steps to improve my situation and try to lose it. I continued to eat my favorite foods, which included gyros, French fries and pizza. I joined a gym located only one block away from my apartment, but I rarely went. When I would go, I would quickly become frustrated and would end my workout prematurely.

Breaking Point: My husband and I moved to Philadelphia in 2005 when I luckily found a new job in the Center City area. We had been trying to move from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia for a two-year period of time, and I decided to use the opportunity as a new beginning not only career-wise, but also health-wise.

How I Lost It: Before making the move to Philly, I immediately got rid of my car. I decided that I would take public transit everywhere that I needed to go in the city. This led to the habit of walking. At first, walking for even 30 minutes was incredibly difficult. My feet would swell, and I hated the feeling of "huffing and puffing" everywhere I had to go. However, after only a few months of walking, I found myself enjoying the act of walking anywhere that was within walking distance. After one year of this newfound habit, I bought a bike and used it as my main form of transportation for one full year. I lost 20 pounds during that year of cycling my way to-and-from work, the grocery store and anywhere else that I needed to or felt like going.

The following year, inspired by my husband, I joined a neighborhood gym and immediately fell in love with it. I discovered that the gym was a place where I could constantly challenge myself, and I continue to view it in this positive way. These days, I am constantly looking for new ways to raise the bar. I have become addicted to Spinning, and take three classes per week. I have also started taking a boot camp class once a week. On Sundays, I take my morning three-mile run into the city. Every single day, I try to do something that gets me up and moving. I still have a desk job, but I am constantly dreaming about exercise. I look forward to my regular gym trips.

Additionally, I have done a great deal of online research about diet and nutrition. I am a pescatarian, and I believe that eating a healthy, balanced diet is best. My favorite foods now include fruit, vegetables, salmon, whole grain breads, Greek yogurt and dark chocolate (in moderation, of course). I have learned that you can still love food while getting and staying healthy. I absolutely love to cook these days, and I look forward to coming home and making a wholesome meal after work. Some regular dinner staples in our house are tofu-and- veggie stir-fry dishes and vegetarian tacos and various other Mexican dishes. For breakfast, I make myself a homemade smoothie or an English muffin with sliced hard-boiled egg or peanut butter. I make sure that lunch is my biggest meal of the day and dinner is my smallest. I also count my calories using the Lose It! app for my IPhone.

Losing weight is one of the most difficult endeavors that I have ever taken on in my life. As a woman, I feel that I am constantly being judged by my weight and my looks. However, it is important to remember that I am the same loving, caring, friendly person that I was when I was 247 pounds. The difference is that I have grown mentally and emotionally throughout this journey. I love the mind/body connection that is associated with weight loss and physical exertion. For years, as far back as my childhood, I was made to feel that I was never "good enough" or worthy of respect and happiness. Pushing myself and dedicating every ounce of my being to my weight loss journey has proven those assumptions and negative thoughts wrong. My goal is to lose 15 more pounds, and I hope to one day become a certified Spin instructor. I want to inspire others to put their health first, and to communicate the message that they are also worthy of self-respect and happiness.

After Weight: 165 pounds
2012-05-08-ellen2.jpg

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Attention Getter: They Draw And Cook (PHOTOS)

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There's great food art, and there's art in a great recipe -- so could there be anything more magical than when the two come together?

They Draw and Cook, a two-year-old website run by brother-and-sister team Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell, features the work of more than 900 artists from 80 countries to make hunting for recipes at 3 p.m. for that night's dinner a whole lot more fun.

Launched as a vehicle for their own drawings, along with a few friends' work, the siblings couldn't have anticipated the massive appeal of their project -- the site is now the Internet's largest collection of illustrated drawings.

The recipes run the gamut from average (spaghetti) to unique (moose meatballs), but each option is so gorgeously detailed that it's veritably impossible not to get lost in the site for hours.

Considering the recent backlash around the social media world's love of food photographs, They Draw and Cook may be just the antidote people need to get back into looking at food. And when you decide you really, really love one of the pieces (like say, this one for Besan Cheela), you can go ahead and order a print for your house. Is there anything not to love about art that provides a recipe too?

SEE: Check out some of the gorgeous illustrations and recipes from They Draw and Cook:

FDA Delays Rules Meant To Ease Sunscreen Confusion

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WASHINGTON — Sunscreen confusion won't be over before summer after all. The government is bowing to industry requests for more time to make clear how much protection their lotions really offer.

The Food and Drug Administration ordered changes to sunscreens last summer but gave their makers a year – until this June – to get revised bottles on the shelf.

The changes aimed to finally distinguish which brands protected against both sunburn-causing ultraviolet B rays and the deeper-penetrating ultraviolet A linked to skin cancer and premature aging. They also couldn't claim to be waterproof or sweatproof, only water- or sweat-resistant – so that people know sunscreens have to be reapplied frequently.

But sunscreen manufacturers said they were having a hard time meeting the deadline. And Friday, the FDA said it would give major sunscreen makers another six months to make the changes – until December, beyond sunbathing season in most of the country. Smaller companies will have even longer, until December 2013.

"The FDA took a major step backwards today and as a result, more consumers will likely get burned this summer," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who had long urged the FDA to tighten its regulation of sunscreens. The regulations had been in limbo for years.

But FDA officials worried that holding companies to the original deadline might lead to a temporary shortage of some types of sunscreen this summer, spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in an email.

Still, the FDA said companies could go ahead and put the new relabeled bottles on store shelves as soon as they're ready – and encouraged them not to waste time.

There is a mix already in stores, as some companies have found it easier to re-label certain brands and bottles than others, said Farah Ahmed of the industry's Personal Care Products Council.

But neither she nor the FDA could estimate how many of the new consumer-friendly sunscreens have made it to the market so far.

Ahmed, who chairs the council's sunscreen task force, said sunscreens aren't having to be reformulated as a result of new testing requirements from the FDA's pending rules. The real problem was the time it takes to revise package labeling, especially on smaller packages that now will have to fit extra information about just what protection is offered, she said.

So what should consumers look for today?

_You want protection against both UVA and UVB rays, explained Dr. Joshua Zeichner, a dermatologist at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. Once the new rules are in place, any sunscreen labeled "broad spectrum" will offer both, but until then, there's no guarantee behind that wording.

To check for UVA protection now, look on the ingredient list for any of these names: zinc, titanium, avobenzone or ecamsule. Zeichner said.

_Once the new rules are in place, sunscreens with less than an SPF of 15 or that aren't "broad spectrum" will have to carry a warning label: "This product has been shown only to help prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early skin aging."

_Zeichner advises using a sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.

_If it still says "waterproof," it was bottled under the old rules. Once the new rules are in place, the sunscreens will have to say how long they're water-resistant.

_A good rule of thumb is to apply about a shot-glass full of sunscreen and to reapply often, Zeichner said

And experts say to avoid direct sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or to cover up. Even if you're conscientious about sunscreen, it's easy to miss a spot.

Could We Soon Have A Blood Test To Predict Postpartum Depression?

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A future blood test might be able to predict which women will go on to develop depression after having a baby, new research suggests.

Researchers from Warwick Medical School found that women who develop postnatal, or postpartum, depression are more likely to have two kinds of genetic variants.

"Current screening policies rely on the opportunistic finding of PND cases using screening tools such as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS), but such tests cannot identify women at risk, ahead of them developing the condition," study researcher Dimitris Grammatopoulos, professor of molecular medicine at the University of Warwick, said in a statement.

But if this finding did eventually lead to a test that tells which women would develop depression before it happened, it could lead to earlier treatment for postnatal depression, researchers said.

The study, presented at the International Congress of Endocrinology/European Congress of Endocrinology, included 200 women who were pregnant. Researchers tested them for depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score once before they had their baby, and again two to eight weeks after they had their baby.

The researchers found that women who went on to develop postnatal depression were also more likely to have gene variants of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and the corticotrophin-releasing hormone receptor-1 gene. These receptors are responsible for what goes on in the hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, which responds to stress.

Postnatal depression is more severe than just having the "baby blues" after giving birth, researchers noted. Symptoms include feeling irritable, withdrawn, agitated and worthless; feeling negative about the baby; disrupted sleep or irregular eating habits; problems concentration and working; suicidal thoughts; and feeling afraid to be alone with the baby or feeling inadequate at caring for the baby, according to the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia.

Treatments for postnatal depression may include taking antidepressants (there are certain kinds that won't be a risk to the baby if you are breastfeeding), going through counseling or undergoing hormone therapy, according to the Mayo Clinic.

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