The Mets have vaulted to the top of the NL East standings by winning 10 of their last 11 games, including Friday’s 3-0 blanking of the Astros in the opener of this three-game series. New York currently sports a 2 1/2-game advantage on rival Philadelphia for first place in the division.

Johan Santana fired seven shutout innings last night to win his fifth consecutive decision, while Brian Schneider had a two-run homer to power the New York offense.

Santana (12-7) scattered eight hits and walked just one batter while striking out five. Recently-acquired Luis Ayala threw a perfect ninth to record his first save as a Met.

New York also welcomed Ryan Church back to the lineup for the outfielder’s first major league action since July 5. Church has played in only 58 games this year after experiencing recurring symptoms from a concussion sustained in May.

Roy Oswalt (11-9) went the distance for the Astros in a losing cause, with the ace right-hander allowing three early runs but just four hits over his eight- inning stint.

Ty Wigginton had two of Houston’s eight hits in the club’s fifth loss over its last seven games.

The Astros hope to fare better tonight against New York’s John Maine, but that may not be an easy task considering the way the right-hander has pitched as of late.

Since returning from a short stint on the disabled list, Maine has not allowed a run in consecutive five-inning outings against Washington and Pittsburgh. He yielded just one hit and fanned six to beat the Nationals on August 13, then gave up only two hits in a no-decision against the Pirates this past Monday.

The 27-year-old has also excelled in his three career encounters with Houston, having won every one of those tests and surrendering a mere four runs and 12 hits over a combined 23 innings.

Maine will be making his first start at Shea Stadium, where he’s 5-1 with a 3.99 earned run average in 10 games this year, since he downed the Phillies with seven innings of three-run ball on July 23.

Houston sends out the erratic Brandon Backe this evening. The oft-injured righty was shelled for 11 runs and three homers in an awful 5 2/3-inning showing during his most recent start, which came against Atlanta on August 16.

Prior to that poor effort, Backe held San Francisco to one run and four hits through seven frames to pick up a win on August 11. That came five days after he was battered for 11 runs and walked six batters while lasting just 3 1/3 innings in a loss at Wrigley Field.

Backe owns a 1-2 record with a 5.18 ERA in six career games (4 starts) against New York. He had a no-decision against the Mets in Houston on August 1, a game in which the 30-year-old surrendered three runs in six innings.

The Astros swept a three-game set from the Mets at Minute Maid Park earlier this month, but Houston has lost four straight and six of its last seven matchups at Shea Stadium.

Sports Network

No doping.

Simple as could be, that’s Usain Bolt explanation for his unprecedented, breakout performance at the Beijing Olympics.

“I’ve been tested four times (in China), before I even started running. These guys took urine tests and blood tests. After every event final, I’ve been tested,” the Jamaican said Saturday, one of his three gold medals dangling from a red ribbon around his neck. “I’ve been tested out of competition so many times I lost track.”

Bolt broke world records in winning the 100 meters (9.69 seconds), 200 meters (19.30) and 400-meter relay (37.10), something no man had done at an Olympics. None of the finals was even close, and Bolt began his celebration in the dash before it was done, stretching out his arms with palms up, then slapping his chest.

“I came out here prepared,” he said. “I worked hard — that’s all I can say. … I worked hard to get here. It wasn’t easy at all. It may look easy, but it was hard.”

Bolt wasn’t merely good — he was stunning. Too good to be true?

Don Anderson, head of Jamaica’s Beijing delegation, said about half the country’s athletes had been drug-tested since arriving in China.

“Therefore, all the records that have been broken by Usain Bolt and all the gold medals that have been won by (other Jamaicans) have come after extensive testing” by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Association of Athletics Federations, Anderson said. “That, as far as I am concerned, is more than adequate proof.”

Overall, Jamaica won five of the six golds, along with two silvers and a bronze, in the sprinting events.

“What I think almost amuses us is why some people in the world don’t feel that others can be that good. We have been good for a very long time,” said Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association. “We have some marvelous talent here and wouldn’t want anybody to suggest at all that this is not pure, raw talent that has been properly trained and properly coached and properly presented and reaping the rewards of all that hard work.”

The head of track and field’s governing body said Saturday that Bolt’s flashy personality and outsize performances make him exactly the right man to help the sport recover from a spate of doping scandals that have resulted in medals being stripped, records being revoked and a decrease in popularity.

“He is good and great for our sport,” IAAF president Lamine Diack said. “He can help to build up our sport.”

Diack also disagreed with IOC president Jacques Rogge, who said Thursday that Bolt should have cut out the “look at me” hotdogging at the end of the 100 final. Rogge also chastised Bolt for not shaking hands with the men he beat.

“I did not mind,” Diack said.

Asked about Rogge’s comments, Bolt said he spoke to opponents about his showboating, “and most of them were OK with it.”

“I won’t change that. And I don’t see any problem with it, because people enjoy watching me,” Bolt said. “I’ll stay the way I am. That’s my personality.”

Now it’s off to less-important meets for Bolt, who said he’ll run in Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, and Brussels, Belgium, before calling it a season. European meet organizers have offered more than $100,000 should Bolt win his races in new record times.

Other athletes can take some solace in this: Bolt said he definitely won’t add the long jump to his repertoire, a la Carl Lewis, and might only occasionally run the 400 meters, the race his coach tried to steer him to instead of the 100.

Diack said he ranks Bolt’s Olympics above Lewis’ four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Games — the 100, 200, 400 relay and long jump — because Lewis only broke one world record, in the relay.

“I’ll still train hard and just work hard to stay on top,” Bolt said, “because I’m on top now and I want to try to stay there as long as I can.” AP

Sanya Richards anchored the United States to a gold medal in the women’s 1,600-meter relay, ending a streak of relay woes for the Americans in Beijing. She took the baton in second place behind Russia’s Anastasia Kapachinskaya but overtook her late in the race and won in 3 minutes, 18.55 seconds. The other U.S. team runners were Mary Wineberg, Allyson Felix and Monique Henderson.

RELAY RERUN

Jeremy Wariner ran the anchor leg as the American won the men’s 1,600-meter relay in an Olympic record time. The win gave the U.S. a sweep in the men’s and women’s 1,600 relays. LaShawn Merritt, Angelo Taylor, David Neville and Wariner finished in 2 minutes, 55.39 seconds.

MEDALS

The United States has 106 total medals, with 33 golds, while China has 96 total medals, 49 of them gold.

YER OUT!

If baseball never returns to the Olympics, the United States can say it went out a winner. The Americans defeated Japan to win the bronze medal in the final Olympic baseball game until at least 2016. South Korea upset Cuba 3-2 for the gold.

DON’T SWEAT FOR ME, ARGENTINA

With temperatures on the field hitting 107 degrees and the referee twice stopping play because of the heat, Argentina defeated Nigeria to win the gold medal in soccer when Angel di Maria took a pass from Lionel Messi and lobbed it over the goalkeeper.

TAEKWONDON’T

Angel Matos of Cuba and his coach were banned for life after the taekwondo athlete kicked the referee in the face following his bronze-medal match disqualification against Kazakhstan’s Arman Chilmanov. Matos was declared the loser for taking too much injury time after hurting his leg. Matos angrily questioned the call, pushed a judge, then pushed and kicked referee Chakir Chelbat of Sweden. Matos then spat on the floor and was escorted out.

DOPING

Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov became the sixth athlete kicked out of the Beijing Olympics for doping, testing positive for the steroid nandrolone. Another Ukrainian, Lyudmila Blonska, was stripped of her heptathlon silver medal a day earlier after testing positive for a banned steroid.

CHINESE TAKEOUT

Matthew Mitcham of Australia earned four perfect 10s on his last dive to win the men’s 10-meter platform and prevent China from sweeping the Olympic diving gold medals. … Rakhim Chakhkiev of Russia won the heavyweight boxing gold medal, avenging a loss to Italy’s Clemente Russo at last year’s world championships. … U.S.-born Becky Hammon scored 22 points to help Russia beat host China 94-81 for the bronze medal in women’s basketball.

QUOTE

“I came out here ready. I came out here prepared. I worked hard — that’s all I can say. … I worked hard to get here. It wasn’t easy at all. It may look easy, but it was hard.” — Jamaica’s Usain Bolt on winning his three sprint gold medals.

SUNDAY’S SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS

The U.S. men’s basketball team faces Spain for the gold medal, 2:30 p.m. (2:30 a.m. EDT).

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Quintiles’ portion of the work will be conducted at its new 150-bed phase 1 trials unit in Overland Park, Kansas. That $48 million, 236,000-square-foot facility was dedicated in May 2007 and brought together 750 Quintiles employees previously employed at a phase 1 unit in Lenexa, Kansas, and operations related to later-phase trials at the former Marion Laboratories campus in south Kansas City.

The new facilityis one of Quintiles’ three phase 1 — or first-in-human — clinical trials units and its only one in North America. Quintiles is based in Durham.

According to the new federal contract, Quintiles and DynPort, based in Frederick, Md., will assess the safety of as many as four investigational drugs annually for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

As the prime contractor, DynPort will provide overall project management, clinical operations and management, quality assurance and co-development of protocols. DynPort is part of Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC), a $16.5 billion informational technology services company based in Falls Church, Va.

Quintiles, with annual revenue of more than $2 billion, is the world’s clinical research organization, . The Kansas City area is Quintiles’ second-largest U.S. operation, behind the Durham headquarters.

Trials conducted at Quintiles’ Overland Park facility through the new federal contract will include therapeutic candidates for a broad range of infectious diseases. Investigational products tested could include measures to protect against viral (other than HIV), bacterial, parasitic and fungal pathogens, including NIAID-priority biodefense pathogens and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

“Quintiles is pleased to expand our existing government contracting relationship with (DynPort),” Dr. Oren Cohen, senior vice president and managing director of Quintiles’ Public Health and Government Services business, said in a release. “The (Overland Park facility) provides an ideal setting to perform multiple, concurrent clinical trials.”

Source: bizjournals.com

H. pylori has been present in the human stomach probably since humans were humans. However, the germ began disappearing over the course of the 20th century with the introduction of antibiotics and cleaner water and homes, perhaps making children more susceptible to asthma, the study authors suggested.

“In our study we asked the question, is there any relationship between having H. pylori in the stomach and having asthma and other allergic disorders,” said lead researcher Dr. Martin J. Blaser, the Frederick H. King Professor of Internal Medicine and chairman of the department of medicine at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City.

“We found a strong inverse association between H. pylori and childhood asthma, childhood hay fever and childhood allergies,” added Blaser, who’s also a professor of microbiology and has studied H. pylori for more than two decades.

Blaser thinks that H. pylori may protect the body against asthma. “When children have H. pylori in their stomach, their immune system is different than if they don’t have H. pylori,” he said.

H. pylori has been disappearing especially since World War II, which is when the incidence of asthma began increasing, Blaser said.

For the study, Blaser and his colleague Yu Chen, an assistant professor of epidemiology, collected data on 7,412 children who participated in the 1999 to 2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey IV, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Among children in the survey, just 5.4 percent born in the 1990s tested positive for H. pylori. In addition, 11.3 percent of the children under 10 had taken antibiotics in the month before the survey.

Blaser and Chen found that among children 3 to 13 years of age, those who carried the stomach bug were 59 percent less likely to develop asthma than children without H. pylori. These children were also 40 percent less likely to suffer from hay fever and other allergies, such as eczema or rash.

Among children aged 3 to 19, the researchers found that those who harbored H. pylori reduced their risk of asthma by 25 percent.

“This is a new way of saying who’s at risk for asthma and who’s not,” Blaser said. “You can’t mess with Mother Nature. This bacterium that has been present forever in the human stomach has been disappearing, and that has consequences.”

Some of the consequences are good, however, Blaser noted. These include the decline of ulcers and decreases in stomach cancer among adults, he said. “But these are diseases of old age,” he said. “It is possible that H. pylori may be protective of children, but bad for old people.”

The study findings were published online July 15 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Clifford Bassett, medical director of Allergy and Asthma Care of New York in New York City, thinks the findings open a new window on doctors’ understanding of asthma and allergies.

“It appears this will add to our knowledge and research looking at incidence and prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in children and adults in an increasingly sanitized world,” he said. “The relevance of H. pylori as a potential risk in asthma is quite thought-provoking by any means.”

Sanofi and the school of medicine’s Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology will work jointly to discover and develop new ways of treating respiratory disease, focusing in particular on severe asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the French pharmaceutical company said in a statement.

helen.beresford@thomsonreuters.com

hem/jfr

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The drug, dimebon, has so far been trialled on only 183 patients, but it led to significant improvement in the understanding and behaviour of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, according to the research published in the Lancet medical journal.

Treatments for Alzheimer’s are badly needed. Those that exist are controversial; arguments rage over whether or not Aricept and similar drugs work well enough to be worth their high cost.

The dimebon trial took place in Russia, where the drug has dropped out of use in allergy treatment as newer drugs have been discovered. The 183 patients from 11 different sites were randomly divided into two groups and given either dimebon three times a day or a placebo.

The team, led by Dr Rachelle Doody from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, found those on the drug were better aware and able to carry out tasks. The improvements were maintained and even improved over 12 months, which no Alzheimer’s drugs have succeeded in doing so far.

A bigger trial, which will establish whether the drug really is a useful treatment for most people with Alzheimer’s, has been announced.

© Guardian News

Fauci said the trial of the newer vaccine was canceled because there was no indication that it would be any more promising than the earlier version; both used a relatively innocuous cold virus to deliver the drug.

That’s because it was only a few short years ago when doctors finally learned enough about her rare, debilitating condition to name it-Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes, or CAPS. And earlier this year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a medication to treat it.

Like Diana, people suffering from CAPS often avoid professional, family and social events that might expose them to cooling temperatures. Any temperature change, no matter how subtle, can trigger severe rash, fever, chills, joint pain, eye redness or pain and fatigue, rendering those with the condition unable to participate in normal, daily activities.

“I kept this all secret. Only my family and closest friends knew,” said Hunt, 62, a paralegal, recalling a lifetime of coping with a hereditary disease that was so elusive and unknown that it had no name. Diana would react to even a slight drop in temperature by breaking out in head-to-toe hives and experiencing pain in her joints so severe that she was unable to walk. Fever and chills would often follow. The only relief was to go to bed, under many blankets, often early in the afternoon, until symptoms started to resolve the next day.

There were lost school days as a child. Teachers even sent her home thinking she had the measles. She wore long-sleeved jackets while other teens wore strapless gowns. There were even awkward moments in the swimsuit competition at the Miss Indiana beauty pageant, where Diana wore her mother’s fur coat, until the moment she stepped on stage, hoping beyond hope that her skin would not break out immediately. Instead of celebrating her runner-up status at the conclusion of the contest, Diana had to retreat to bed under many blankets to warm up until her symptoms subsided.

Then, as a young mother in Detroit, she was trapped in an ice storm for five hours with a symptom-wrought, crying infant son who had inherited the condition. That was the final straw-she vowed to move to Florida, where she thought that life would surely be much easier for a family tortured by the cold.

“It turned out the air-conditioning was just as brutal for us,” said Hunt.

Her job as a paralegal in Tampa meant bringing a space heater into her office and dressing for court in a long skirt to cover her long underwear and boots. Every time she entered a room, she immediately searched for a seat far away from the air conditioner.

Several hundred people in the United States suffer from CAPS. In Diana’s family alone, it has affected her father, sister, two sons, and several uncles and cousins.

If you think that you or someone you know has CAPS, print out and complete the attached checklist of symptoms and bring it with you when you speak to your health care provider. The information can help your health care provider make an accurate diagnosis and understand what you are experiencing.

For more information on CAPS, visit www.capscommunity.com.

Preparing for the birth of a child is one of the most exciting times in a woman’s life. But it also can be confusing as well-meaning friends and family offer pregnancy advice on everything from what to eat to how much weight to gain.

If you’ve got a baby on the way, you can increase your odds of a healthy pregnancy by following these steps to keep yourself (and your unborn baby) in top condition:

nGet all essential vitamins and minerals every day. Take a prenatal vitamin each day as directed by your obstetrician. Women require more iron and folic acid when pregnant, and sometimes it’s hard to get enough by eating alone. A prenatal vitamin ensures you’re getting all the nutrients you need.

• Eat a healthy diet. Load up on fruits, vegetables, and whole-grains (such as whole-wheat breads). Eat plenty of calcium-rich foods (like non-fat or low-fat yogurt, milk, and broccoli) that your baby needs for strong bones and teeth. If you live in areas where fruits and vegetables aren’t in season, frozen vegetables are a good option. Avoid eating a lot of fatty foods (such as butter and fatty meats). Choose leaner foods when you can such as skim milk, chicken and turkey without the skin, and fish.

• Aim for a healthy weight gain. Research shows that women who gain more than the recommended amount during pregnancy have an elevated risk of obesity. On average, 25 to 30 pounds is a healthy weight gain over the 40 weeks of pregnancy. Check with your doctor to find out how much weight you should gain.

• Get enough sleep (seven to nine hours every night). Minor aches and pains, worry and frequent bathroom trips keep many pregnant women awake at night. To ensure the proper amount of sleep, be sure to eat large meals at least three hours before going to bed, engage in easy exercise (like walking) and avoid long naps during the day. Sleep on your left side and use pillows between your legs and under your belly to help you get comfortable.

• Get moving! Regular, low-impact exercise is good for you and your baby. Talk to your doctor about what type of exercise is safest, such as moderate walking, a pregnancy exercise class, swimming, etc.

• Buckle up. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that pregnant women use seat belts that have a lap belt and a shoulder strap (three-point restraint). Seat belt straps should never go across your belly. The lap strap should go under the belly, across the hips. The shoulder strap should go off to the side of your belly and between your breasts. If you are not driving, the back seat is the safest place to sit.

• Ask your doctor before taking any medicines. Prescription, over-the-counter, and herbal medicine can harm your baby. Talk to your doctor to find out which medications are safe to take during pregnancy.

• See your doctor regularly. Regular prenatal care can help keep you and your baby healthy, uncover potential problems should they occur and prevent difficulties during delivery.

• Don’t smoke tobacco.Smoking during pregnancy passes nicotine and cancer-causing drugs to your baby. Smoke also keeps your baby from getting needed nourishment and raises the risk of stillbirth and premature birth.

• Avoid raw or undercooked meat, fish and eggs. Don’t eat cooked fish that comes from polluted waters.

• Avoid sweets and junk food. Strive to eat food that is healthy and nutrient-rich. Sweets and junk food provide empty calories that don’t help your baby grow.

• Don’t drink alcohol. Drinking every day or drinking a lot of alcohol once in a while during pregnancy can harm your unborn baby.

• Don’t use illegal drugs. Tell your doctor if you are using drugs. Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, speed (amphetamines), barbiturates and LSD are very dangerous for you and your baby.

• Don’t clean or change a cat’s litter box. This could put you at risk for an infection called toxoplasmosis, which can harm an unborn fetus. Toxoplasmosis is caused by a parasite that cats can carry in their feces.

• Avoid hot baths, hot tubs or saunas. High temperatures can be harmful to your unborn baby, and can cause you to faint.

As you can see, taking good care of your baby begins long before childbirth. By staying as healthy as possible during pregnancy, you’re well on your way to delivering a healthy baby.

© Copyright 2008 Digital Chicago, Inc

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With Live-PR

Researchers from the University of Manitoba examined data from 135 babies between the ages of seven and 16 months. They found that 21.6 per cent of them had tooth enamel defects and 33.6 per cent had early childhood tooth decay.

Mothers of children with tooth decay had significantly lower vitamin D levels than mothers of children with healthy teeth.

As well, mothers of children who had enamel problems had slightly lower vitamin D levels during pregnancy than mothers of children without enamel problems.

The researchers found that having enamel defects significantly increased the risk of developing tooth decay.

The findings were presented Friday at the General Session of the International Association for Dental Research in Toronto.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from pregnant women in their second trimester. Only 10 per cent of them were deemed to have adequate levels of vitamin D, which is defined as 80 nanomoles per litre.

The mean vitamin D level among the women in the study was between 24.4 and 48.1 nanomoles per litre.

Women in the study who drank more milk and took pre-natal vitamins had higher vitamin D levels.

This is the first study to analyze vitamin D levels during pregnancy and how they might influence a baby’s early dental health.

© 2008 CTVglobemedia All Rights Reserved.

If you are currently pregnant, trying to get pregnant, would like to get pregnant in the future, or know someone who is pregnant (and would like to pass along some useful information), this article is for you.

Good nutrition is key to delivering a healthy baby. Paying special attention to your diet during pregnancy will not only benefit your baby, but will help you feel better throughout your pregnancy, help make delivery easier, and help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight.

Is it really eating for two?

If only it were true that you could double your intake of calories during pregnancy. In reality though, only 300 extra calories are needed during pregnancy. An increase of 300 calories isn’t much either. That amounts to 1 cup of skim milk and a slice of bread with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter. To top it off, the 300 additional calories per day aren’t needed until after the first trimester (the first 12 weeks during pregnancy).

Weight gain

The recommended amount of weight you should gain during your pregnancy depends on what your pre-pregnancy weight is.

Underweight women need to gain 28 to 40 pounds during the 9 months of pregnancy. Normal-weight women are encouraged to gain 25 to 35 pounds. Overweight women have better outcomes at lower weight gains of 15 to 25 pounds.

It is important to gain the recommended amount of weight when expecting, however, gaining too much weight can make for a more difficult delivery and, of course, makes it harder to lose those post-pregnancy pounds.

Daily goals

Eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you need.

Aim for 6 to 11 servings of grains a day. This includes items such as bread, cereal, rice, pasta, crackers and tortillas. Try to make at least half of the servings of whole grain.

Take a pre-natal vitamin daily to ensure adequate intake of vitamins and minerals. Often these vitamins are hard on the stomach, so taking them with a large meal is often more tolerable. Pre-natal vitamins also are high in iron, which is important during pregnancy. The Recommended Daily Allowance for iron during pregnancy is 27 milligrams. The best food sources of iron are enriched-grain products (such as cereal), lean meat, poultry, fish, and leafy green vegetables. Aim for 3 daily servings of foods high in iron.

Eat 2 to 4 servings of fruit daily. Fruit can be fresh, frozen or canned. Small amounts of fruit juice are allowed, but try to get your fruit servings from the fresh fruits, as they are higher in fiber.

Eat 4 or more servings of vegetables per day. Vegetables can be fresh, frozen or canned. Rinsing canned vegetables with water reduces sodium content.

Choose at least one good source of vitamin C every day, such as oranges, grapefruits, strawberries, honeydew melon, papaya, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, green peppers, tomatoes, and mustard greens. Pregnant women need 70 mg of vitamin C a day.

Choose at least one good source of folic acid every day. Folic acid is found in fortified cereals, leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, and dried beans and peas. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate found in supplements and fortified foods. Folate is a B vitamin that helps prevent neural tube defects and is important to consume even prior to conception and throughout the pregnancy.

Choose at least one source of vitamin A every other day. Good sources of vitamin A include carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, spinach, squash, turnip greens, apricots and cantaloupe. Avoid taking supplements of vitamin A, as excessive intake (>10,000 IU/day) may be associated with birth defects.

Consume 4 servings of calcium-rich foods or beverages daily. One cup of milk contains 300 milligrams of calcium. The best sources of calcium are dairy products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, cream soups and pudding. Choose low-fat calcium-rich foods to watch your fat intake. Calcium also is found in green vegetables (such as broccoli, spinach, and greens), dried peas, and beans. There are many foods that are calcium fortified.

If you have trouble getting enough calcium-rich foods, talk with your physician or dietitian about taking a calcium supplement.

Drink a large amount of water throughout your pregnancy. If you need some flavor in your water, add a squeeze of lemon or lime. Limit or avoid sugary drinks such as fruit juices, pop, and kool-aids.

Foods to avoid

Alcohol. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy has been linked to premature delivery, mental retardation, birth defects, and low birth-weight babies.

Caffeine. Limit caffeine to no more than 300 mg per day. An 8-ounce cup of coffee contains about 150 mg of caffeine. One 12-ounce can of soda contains about 30 to 60 mg of caffeine.

The use of saccharin is discouraged during pregnancy as it can cross the placenta and may remain in fetal tissues. The use of other artificial sweeteners such as Nutrasweet, Equal, and Splenda are considered acceptable during pregnancy in moderation.

Raw fish. Especially shellfish like oysters and clams.

Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish (also called white snapper), because they contain high levels of mercury. It is acceptable to eat up to 12 ounces a week of fish such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish.

Soft cheeses. Stay away from cheeses such as feta, brie, Camembert, blue-veined, and Mexican-style. These cheeses are unpasteurized and may cause Listeria infection.

Tips for handling

n Morning sickness

Morning sickness or nausea is quite common during the first trimester of pregnancy. To help curb the queasiness, try to eat as soon as you can in the morning (even before getting out of bed). Eat some crackers or toast or dry cereal. Then eat every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day. Nausea is worse if you have an empty stomach. Avoid fatty, fried and greasy foods.

n Constipation

Constipation frequently occurs during pregnancy. Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and other high-fiber foods that contain whole wheat. Also, drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. Being physically active (as advised by a physician) will help reduce and prevent problems with constipation.

n Heartburn

To help prevent heartburn during pregnancy, eat small, frequent meals. Avoid eating too much food at a time. Limit caffeine, spicy foods, and other foods that trigger your heartburn. Over-the-counter antacids, such as Tums, can be helpful in reducing heartburn symptoms.

Overall

To ensure healthy eating during pregnancy, eat a balanced low-fat diet from all the food groups, get plenty of fluids, and activity if you are able. Log onto mypyramid.gov and click on pregnancy and breastfeeding under “subjects” to learn about the special nutritional needs during your pregnancy.

For their study, Canadian researchers at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and Victoria measured the vitamin D levels of 206 women in their second trimester of pregnancy. In comments to Reuters Health, Dr. Robert Schroth, lead researcher from the University, explained that the second trimester of pregnancy “is when primary teeth begin to develop and calcify.” They found only 21 (10.5 percent) to have adequate levels of the vitamin. These levels were consistent with the women’s intake of milk and prenatal vitamins.

When the children born to the women in the study were approximately 16 months of age, their dental health was examined. The researchers found 21.6 percent of them to have enamel defects and 33.6 percent showed signs of tooth decay. Enamel defects during infancy significantly increases the likelihood of tooth decay developing during early childhood.

The mothers of the children with enamel defects had lower levels of vitamin D during pregnancy than the mothers of children who did not have enamel defects, although the difference in the mother’s vitamin D levels were considered not significantly different. However, the mothers of the children with signs of early-childhood tooth decay did have significantly lower levels of vitamin D during pregnancy than the mothers of children who did not have cavities.

The study is thought to be the first to document a link between a mother’s vitamin D intake during pregnancy and her child’s dental health. The Dairy Farmers of Canada, the Dentistry Canada Fund, the Manitoba Institute of Child Health, the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation, and the University of Manitoba funded the study. The findings were presented to the International Association for Dental Research during its 86th general session on July 4.

Vitamin D is found in supplements as well as many dietary sources such as fish, eggs, fortified milk, and cod liver oil. You can also spend ten to 15 minutes in the sun three times weekly, which is considered enough to produce the body’s requirement of vitamin D.

Copyright 2008 HealthNews.com.

“It is well known that women live longer than men. We have always assumed that these differences occur because men engage in riskier behaviors and have a greater burden of chronic diseases,” said Sachin Yende, M.D., study co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “Our study showed that men were more likely to die up to a year after pneumonia, despite adjusting for health behaviors and chronic conditions. Further, our findings indicate this may be linked to differences in immune response.”

The University of Pittsburgh researchers evaluated data from 1,136 men and 1,047 women with symptoms of pneumonia who were treated at 28 hospital emergency departments in the United States.

On average, men arrived at the emergency departments with poorer vital signs, were more likely to be smokers and had a greater variety of complicating health conditions. After hospitalization, men received timely antibiotic treatments more often than women and were twice as likely to be admitted immediately to intensive-care units.

“The gender disparity on aggressiveness of hospital care is appropriate, given that men tended to be significantly sicker than women,” said Michael Reade, D.Phil., first author, former fellow in Pitt’s Department of Critical Care Medicine, and assistant professor at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Investigators adjusted results for age, race, tobacco use, other demographic characteristics, chronic health conditions, health behaviors and levels of treatment. “Even so, men had a 30 percent higher risk of death, and the social factors we examined were not sufficient to explain the differences we observed.”

Using the patient data, Drs. Reade, Yende and their colleagues next examined a series of molecules important to the body’s immune response to infection, finding significant differences between men and women in levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, antithrombin III, Factor IX, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and D-dimer. By comparison between the genders, some concentrations were lower, while others were higher.

“No one had shown this before,” said Dr. Yende. “So these differences in immune response could explain at least some of the differences in survival.”

Gender differences in immune response to infection are an area of intensive research, with investigations into the role of X chromosomes, which encode genes for several important immune system mediators. “Some investigators have suggested that the immune response may differ because women have two copies of the X chromosome,” said Dr. Yende. “Sex hormones are another area of inquiry. It is tempting to speculate that in the future, medical treatment of pneumonia may be different for men and women.”

In addition to Drs. Yende and Reade, other authors are Gina D’Angelo, Ph.D., Eric Milbrandt, M.D., John Kellum, M.D., Amber Barnato, M.D., Florian Mayr, M.D., Lisa Weissfeld, Ph.D., and principal study investigator Derek Angus, M.D., all of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The study was funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health.