Birth order may raise the risk of first-born children developing diabetes or high blood pressure, a study has claimed.

It found that first-born children have greater difficulty absorbing sugars into the body and have higher daytime blood pressure than children who have older siblings.

The study conducted at the University of Auckland's Liggins Institute in New Zealand, measured fasting lipid and hormonal profiles, height, weight and body composition in 85 healthy kids between the ages of 4 and 11.
The 32 first-born children, who participated in the study had a 21 percent reduction in insulin sensitivity and a 4 mmHg increase in blood pressure.

The study found that the oldest and only children tended to be taller and slimmer than their later-born counterparts, even after the height and body mass index of their parents was taken into account.

The metabolic differences in younger siblings could be caused by physical changes in the mother's uterus during her first pregnancy. As a result of the changes, nutrient flow to the foetus tends to increase during subsequent pregnancies.

For this study, researchers focused on kids as puberty and adult lifestyle could affect insulin sensitivity.

The study will be published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

Consistent physical activity and healthier lifestyle changes beginning in a woman`s first trimester can prevent excessive weight gain in obese pregnant women, helping to avoid preterm delivery, hypertension and gestational diabetes, suggests a new study.

This randomized study may help physicians understand why it is important to offer more specific advice to obese women who are pregnant regarding the amount of weight they should gain during their pregnancy.

"Weight gain should be monitored related closely to the starting weight. If you start with normal BMI [defined by weight before pregnancy divided by height measured in squared meters] could increase 11-16 kilograms. But if you are obese, the expectation is that you should only gain 5-9 kilos-more or less just the weight of the pregnancy" said Dr. Fabio Facchinetti, referencing the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the United States.

Researchers from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia`s mother-infant department teamed up with their colleagues in the clinical diagnostic medicine and public health department to create a Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) Program.

The 33 women in the treatment group followed a regimen of 1500 kcal/day diet coupled with mild physical activity (30 minutes/day, 3 times/week). Twenty-eight women in the control group just received general advice from their OB/GYN. They only worked with single pregnancies and treatment began at 12 weeks.

Their research shows that of the obese subgroup of women [those in TLC group with BMI less than 30] who stuck with a proper diet and exercise, 77.8 percent were able to stay within the allotted weight gain limit, as opposed to only 30 percent from the control group. Additionally, the rate of, hypertension, preterm delivery and gestational diabetes was significantly lower in the TLC group.

"The diagnosis of gestational diabetes is done [by having the women drink] 75 grams of glucose and looking at the levels after one and two hours," said Facchinetti.

"In our study, we found [after monitoring the glucose levels] that 57 percent of obese women in the non-treatment group had diabetes whereas in the treatment group, it was only 21 percent. This is important because [the glucose test] was done at 16-18 weeks and, even if negative, repeated at 24 weeks. In other words, if the first evaluation occurred just 12 weeks after the treatment began, the small amount of time was enough to correct the body`s level of glucose," he added.

The study will be presented on February 15 at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine`s annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in San Francisco.

It may be possible to use a patient's own skin to repair the damage caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), which is currently incurable, say researchers.

Nerves struggle to communicate in MS as their insulating covering is attacked by the immune system - causing fatigue and damaging movement.

Animal tests, described in the journal Cell Stem Cell, have now used modified skin cells to repair the insulation.

Experts said there was an "urgent need" for such therapies.

Just like electrical wires, nerves have insulation - but instead of plastic, the body uses a protein called myelin.

However, diseases that result in damage to the myelin, including MS, leave the nerves exposed and electrical signals struggle to travel round the body.
Stem cells

A team of scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in the US, used advances in stem-cell research to attempt to repair the myelin.

They took a sample of human skin cells and converted it into stem cells, which are capable of becoming any other type of cell in the body.

The next step was to transform the stem cells into immature versions of cells in the brain that produce myelin.

When these cells had been injected into mice born without any myelin it had had a significant effect, said researchers.

Dr Steven Goldman told the BBC that "myelin was produced throughout the nervous system" and some mice had achieved "normal life spans".

He said: "In MS the underlying nerves fibres are still there, the objective is to re-myelinate them."

However, MS patients would still have the problem of their immune system attacking their myelin.

Any treatment would need to be used alongside other therapies to tame the immune system - or would need to be repeatedly performed.

Dr Goldman said he could see "no reason to be pessimistic" although further safety tests would be needed and the technique still needed to be refined before being used in people. He expects to begin trials within a couple of years.

Dr Emma Gray, from the MS Society, said: "Myelin repair therapies are urgently needed in MS and we're pleased to see researchers have been able to generate myelin making cells from human stem cells.

"This is still very early stage research, but with more development could one day be used to repair damage to myelin in people with MS. We look forward to seeing more research in this promising area."

Shoveling snow can take a toll on your body - particularly your heart.

The American Heart Association said the strenuous activity can actually increase your chances of having a heart attack.

And experts say there are some people who should never even pick up a shovel.

"People who have coronary artery disease should not perform strenuous shoveling of snow," said Dr. Marc Gillinov of the Cleveland Clinic. "It can trigger a heart attack. It's hard work."

Gillinov said the cold temperatures also contribute to your risk, because it can cause arteries to tighten and increase blood pressure.

Other heart attack factors include: high cholesterol, peripheral arterial disease and age.

If you think you are having a heart attack, or are experiencing shortness of breath, discomfort in your left arm or chest pain, you should seek medical attention immediately.

"A lot of people think it's got to be this sharp, knife-like pain," Gillinov said. "It could just be pressure. In fact, the most common description of heart-related chest pain is pressure. People might even say it feels like an elephant is sitting on (your) chest. If you're shoveling snow, and you get pressure in your chest; stop. That could be your heart."

And if you have heart attack risk factors, put down that shovel and stay inside.

Adding fruits and vegetables to the diet may help protect the kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with too much acid build-up, according to a study.

Western diets that are based in animal and grain products are highly acidic and can lead to metabolic acidosis, when too much acid builds up in the body.

This is particularly common in patients with CKD because the kidneys are responsible for removing acid through the urine. Metabolic acidosis can cause rapid breathing, confusion, and lethargy. Severe cases can lead to shock or death.

Alkali supplementation therapy such as bicarbonate is used to treat CKD patients with severe metabolic acidosis, but simply adding more fruits and vegetables-which contain alkali-to the diet might also help.

Nimrit Goraya, MD, Donald Wesson, MD (Texas A and M College of Medicine) and their colleagues tested this by randomizing 71 patients with hypertensive stage 4 CKD to receive added fruits and vegetables or an oral alkaline medication for one year. The treatments were dosed to decrease dietary acid by half.

They found that kidney function was similar between the two groups after one year.

One-year plasma total carbon dioxide (PTCO2) increased in both groups, which is consistent with a lessening of metabolic acidosis. PTCO2 was higher in patients receiving bicarbonate than in those receiving added fruits and vegetables.

Urine measurements of kidney injury were lower after one year in both groups.

Although fruits and vegetables are rich in potassium and might raise blood potassium to dangerous levels, levels did not increase in either group.

"We showed that by addition of alkali such as bicarbonate or alkali-inducing fruits and vegetables, patients had a favorable response by reduction of urinary kidney injury markers," said Dr. Wesson.

"Our study suggests that these interventions will help maintain kidney health in those with kidney disease," added Dr. Goraya.

The findings appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).