Day Care Linked to Poor School Behavior
Preschoolers who spent a year or more in a day care center were more likely to be disruptive in class when they started school, and this effect persisted through the sixth grade, according to a large U.S. study released Monday.
The long-term study compared 1,300 pre-school children in various settings, including attending a large day care center, staying home with a parent, and being looked after by a nanny or a relative, The New York Times reported.
When the children were in school, their teachers rated them on such disruptive behaviors as interrupting class, teasing and bullying. Every year spent in a day care center for at least 10 hours a week was associated with a 1 percent higher score on a standardized assessment of behavior problems, the study found.
This was true regardless of the child's sex or family income, and regardless of the quality of the day care center, the Times reported. The study did not examine why time in day care could lead to poor behavior in school.
More than two million American preschoolers attend day care. Disruptive behavior by these children when they start school likely contributes to the load on teachers who must manage large classrooms, the study authors said.
The U.S. government-financed Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development did find that children who spent time in high-quality day care centers had higher vocabulary scores in elementary school, The Times reported.
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Report Describes 'Semi-Identical' Twins
The world's only known "semi-identical" twins are described in a study published online Monday by the journal Nature.
Geneticists said the twins, born in the United States, almost certainly resulted from two sperm cells that fused with a single egg, Agence France Presse reported. While a double fertilization of an egg is rare, this is the first known case that resulted in live birth.
"Their similarity is somewhere between identical and fraternal twins," said study lead author Vivienne Souter.
One of the twins is a hermaphrodite (both male and female genitalia) while the other twin is a boy with normally developed sexual organs. The twins, whose identity and current location were not revealed, have almost no hope of survival, AFP reported.
Fraternal twins occur when two eggs are fertilized by separate sperm. Each egg becomes an embryo. Identical twins occur when one egg is fertilized by a single sperm. The egg later splits and results in two distinct -- but genetically alike -- humans.
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Mediterranean Diet Benefits Heart Attack Patients
Heart attack patients can benefit from eating a Mediterranean-style diet, which features fish, olive oil and other sources of healthy fats, says a U.S. study presented at the American College of Cardiology's conference in New Orleans.
The study included 101 people who'd had a heart attack in the six weeks prior to the start of the study. The patients were divided into two groups. One group followed the low-fat American Heart Association Step II diet, while the other group was put on a Mediterranean diet, Agence France Presse reported.
Both groups of patients were instructed to limit cholesterol intake to no more than 200 milligrams a day and to limit saturated fat intake to no more than 7 percent of total calories.
After an average of about four years, both groups had similar combined rates of death, repeat heart attack, stroke, unstable chest pain, or hospitalization for heart failure, AFP reported.
When compared to heart attack patients who received no dietary counseling, those in the two intervention groups were about two-thirds less likely to suffer cardiovascular complications.
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Organic Kiwi Fruit Healthier
Organic kiwi fruit contains much higher levels of compounds believed to offer health benefits, says a University of California, Davis study.
Researchers grew two identical plots of kiwi fruit. One plot was grown organically and one received the standard mix of herbicides, pesticides and chemical fertilizer, Agence France Presse reported.
When mature, the organic kiwi fruit had 18 percent and 27 percent higher levels, respectively, of polyphenols and antioxidant activity. The organic fruit also had higher levels of vitamin C. The study was published in the journal Chemistry & Industry.
Polyphenols are believed to reduce cholesterol and improve blood circulation. Some research has suggested that polyphenols may also help prevent some kinds of cancer, AFP reported. Antioxidants are believed to neutralize free radicals that can damage cells, resulting in poor health and disease.
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Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Has Spread Into Hip
Elizabeth Edwards' breast cancer has spread to her right hip, she revealed during an interview broadcast Sunday night on the television news program "60 Minutes."
The interview was shown three days after it was announced that Edwards' breast cancer, first diagnosed in 2004, had returned in an incurable form that had spread to her ribs, The New York Times reported.
During the "60 Minutes" interview, Edwards, 57, was asked if the cancer was present in any other areas of her body, in addition to her ribs.
"There are a couple of hot spots, on the bone scan, in my right hip, for example," she replied. She did not mention any other areas that might also have cancer, The Times reported.
The Edwards said the cancer would not stop John Edwards' campaign to win the Democratic presidential nomination. The candidate also challenged suggestions by some critics that he would exploit his wife's cancer to win votes.
"First of all, there's not a single person in America that should vote for me because Elizabeth has cancer. Not a one," he said. "If you're considering doing it, don't do it. Do not vote for us because you feel some sympathy or compassion for us. That would be an enormous mistake."
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Outpatient Use of Natrecor Offers No Benefits: Study
Giving once- or twice-weekly outpatient injections of the heart failure drug Natrecor does not reduce the risk of death or hospitalization for heart or kidney problems, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans.
Natrecor is approved in the U.S. for treatment of severely ill, hospitalized heart failure patients. However, at one point it was widely used off-label by doctors who gave weekly injections to less sick heart failure patients in the belief that the drug would offer these patients long-term benefits, Forbes reported.
The new study of 920 people found that this outpatient use of Natrecor provided absolutely no benefit. The finding should halt the practice of giving once- or twice-weekly Natrecor to outpatients, said researcher Clyde W. Yancy, medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute in Dallas.
Previous research suggested that Natrecor harmed the kidneys and increased the risk of death. But Yancy said this new study found no major evidence of an association between the drug and kidney problems, increased risk of death, or other safety issues, Forbes reported.
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