What the scientists are saying…

Pregnancy depression on rise Today’s expectant mothers are far more likely to be depressed than their mothers were during pregnancy – a result, scientists believe, of the combined strains of work and social media. Between 1990 and 1992, researchers at the University of Bristol recruited 2,390 pregnant women aged between 19 and 24, and quizzed them about their moods and feelings. They repeated the procedure between 2012 and 2016 with 180 pregnant women in the same age group, who were either daughters of the women in the first cohort or the partners of their sons. Among the first generation, 17% exhibited symptoms of depression or anxiety; among the second, 25% did. “Pregnancy is getting harder,” Dr Rebecca Pearson told The Daily Telegraph. Dual-income households are more common today, and more women are working very close to their due dates, compounding the physical and psychological stresses of pregnancy. Another factor, she said, may be the “compare and compete” culture of social media, which risks giving pregnant women the false impression that their peers are coping better than they are.

Omega-3 a “waste of money” If you take omega-3 supplements believing they will help keep heart attacks and strokes at bay, you are almost certainly wasting your money, scientists have claimed. The belief that long-chain omega-3 fats – found in nuts, certain vegetables and, most famously, oily fish – protect against cardiovascular diseases originated in the 1980s and 1990s, when a few trials produced positive results. But when a team recently conducted a comprehensive review of the evidence, they found that those studies were anomalous. The researchers, from the Cochrane Library, analysed 79 randomised trials involving a total of 112,000 people. Most of the trials compared those taking daily omega-3 capsules with others on a normal diet, while a few looked specifically at the effects of eating extra oily fish. “We can be confident in the findings of this review, which go against the popular belief that long-chain omega-3 supplements protect the heart,” said Dr Lee Hooper, the chief researcher, of the University of East Anglia. Dr Hooper told The Guardian that eating oily fish is still probably a good idea – largely because it contains so many other valuable nutrients – but that those who take omega-3 supplements would be better off spending their money on vegetables.

Horses snort when they’re happy When a horse snorts, does it mean something – or is it merely clearing its nose? Having analysed the contexts in which horses snort, researchers in France claim to have the answer: they believe snorts are an expression of positive feeling. The team analysed the snorts of 48 horses that were privately owned or belonged to riding schools. They found that horses snorted more frequently during relaxing activities, and that the horses that spent more time out of doors snorted the most. The team also analysed the animals’ ear positions (backwards-pointing ears are associated with negative states) and found that, when snorting, they generally pointed forwards. The researchers, who published their findings in Plos One, believe the study could help boost equine welfare by providing an “acoustic indicator” of whether or not horses are contented.

Can oranges prevent blindness? It’s well known to be a myth that eating carrots helps you see in the dark, but oranges really might be good for your eyes, says the Daily Mail. Drawing on data from an epidemiological study involving nearly 3,000 adults with a mean age of 49, researchers in Australia looked at the consumption of various foods and its relationship to the incidence of macular degeneration, the most common form of sight loss among the elderly. Most foods appeared to make no difference, but oranges were an exception: eating one a day was associated with a 60% reduced risk of developing the condition over the 15-year study period, and even one a week appeared to bring “significant benefits”. Oranges are rich in antioxidants with antiinflammatory properties, which could help ward off macular degeneration. However, this type of study can only show a correlation, and it’s unclear why other foods containing flavonoids, such as apples, don’t seem to have the same impact.