News briefs: July 20, 2021

News briefs: July 20, 2021

No need to wait for bub

New research has questioned existing health advice that mums wait a minimum of two years after giving birth to become pregnant again to reduce the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm and small-for-gestational age births.

The research, led by Curtain University, found the World Health Organisation recommendation to wait 24 months may be unnecessarily long in high-income countries such as Australia, Finland, Norway and the US.

It compared about three million births from 1.2 million women with at least three children and discovered the risk of adverse birth outcomes of less than six months was no greater than those born after 18-23 months.

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Foods best for our gut

Fermented food is better for your gut than high-fibre food, researchers say.

Stanford University analysed the effects of the two diets on the gut microbiome and immune system in 36 healthy adults.

They found that fermented foods could boost gut microbial diversity and decrease inflammations.

Eating foods such as yoghurt, fermented cottage cheese and fermented vegetables increases overall microbial diversity.

“Fermented foods may be valuable in countering the decreased microbiome diversity and increased inflammation pervasive in industrialised society,” the researchers said.

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Crime fear for elderly

Older people in richer neighbourhoods are considerably more fearful than younger people in better-off neighbourhoods with low levels of crime, researchers from Australia and Germany have discovered.

However, the researchers from Monash University and the University of Freiburg also found older people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods were not significantly affected by a fear of crime compared to younger populations.

Researchers say the findings have important implications for governments and policy makers in addressing the needs of older community members.

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Booze biff

The alcohol industry continues to trot out a six-year-old report suggesting macho Aussie culture is to blame for violence, rather than booze, in submissions to government.

A University of York study into the 2015 alcohol industry-backed report found it had not made a valuable contribution to scientific literature but was still being cited.

“Policymakers may need support in distinguishing scientific controversies that are genuine from those that are manufactured,” it read.

“Researchers need to be careful in public debates to avoid giving the impression of a scientific dispute when none exists.”

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Markets spooked over virus

Concerns over the fast-spreading Covid Delta variant caused another rough day for global markets as Asian equities extended losses on Tuesday.

Investors have been rattled in recent weeks by data showing the highly transmissible virus surging across the world, forcing some governments to reimpose containment measures.

Even countries with elevated vaccination rates have seen a big increase in new cases, though observers point out that hospitalisations and deaths are being kept down thanks to the jabs.

The selling has also been blamed on lingering worries about possible central bank policy tightening as the economy recovers.

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Children overlooked

Children with mental disorders have more trouble accessing health services in higher-income countries, according to new research.

Simon Fraser University and Vancouver British Columbia researchers analysed data from 14 studies in 11 countries published between 2003 and 2020.

Studies included 61,545 children aged 18 years or younger, and the analysis showed overall prevalence of childhood mental disorder was 12.7 per cent.

Only 44.2 per cent of children with mental disorders received any services for these conditions, with children in higher-income countries worse off, researchers found.

Originally published as News briefs: July 20, 2021