HEALTH NOTES
LOCKDOWN HAS MADE EXPECTANT MUMS FEEL MORE ANXIOUS
OVER half of pregnant women and new mums say lockdown has made them more anxious.
One in four were upset at not having their partner at scans, appointments and even their baby’s birth.
New research from Aptaclub found 54% had experienced anxiety, 50% were lonely and 34% missed face-to-face support from their midwife.
Only 7% said they had not been adversely affected.
BOOST FOR AUTISM RESEARCH
SCIENTISTS have found new genetic mutations linked to autism spectrum disorder.
They identified changes that affect brain development and impair memory and learning.
It should open up new avenues of research.
Prof Rolf Bodmer, of Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in California, said: “The first step toward helping children is to determine the cause of the condition.”
A SECRET TO BETTER SLEEP
SNUGGLING with your lover all night improves the dream stage of rest known as REM, a new study from Germany has revealed.
The rapid eye movement state is one of the most important parts of sleep.
Couples had less fragmented and longer undisturbed REM when sleeping together than when they slept alone, researchers found.
FEARS OVER IBD DEMENTIA LINK
INFLAMMATORY bowel disease carries a greater risk of developing dementia, experts fear, due to communication between the gut, bacteria and the central nervous system, known as the “gut-brain axis”.
Research in the journal Gut said dementia strikes seven years earlier in IBD patients.
Of those with IBD, 5.5% developed dementia compared to 1.5% not affected by IBD.