What a Baby Eats

Your mother's diet at the time of your conception has an impact on the rest of your life.
An analsyis of data on births and deaths in Keneba in The Gambia since the 1940s reveals that those adults who were conceived in January (dry season - grains form a major part of the diet) and born in September were seven times more likely to die in any given year than those conceived in September (rainy season - less grains available but more green leafy vegetables) and born in June. But the effects while profound don't appear immediately; up to age 15 children show no noticeable difference.


Dutch Famine study. "At the end of World War Two, the Germans blockaded parts of the Netherlands in retaliation against a rail strike called by the Dutch government. For several months people lived on starvation diets until the Allies liberated Europe; thousands died. The Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study followed the health of babies of pregnant women caught up in the famine, finding that if you were a young embryo at the time of the famine then you were twice as likely to develop heart disease in later life, and also far more prone to schizophrenia, obesity, diabetes, cancer and stress-related illnesses. The effects persist into the next generation - the children and the grandchildren of a woman caught up in the famine went on to have worse health in later life.

Experiments in animals show it is possible to make the genes in an embryo more active, or turn them off entirely, simply by varying their mother's diet. So eating a diet rich in leafy greens will permanently change how active some of the child's genes are due to a process called methylation; researchers in The Gambia found that babies conceived in the wet season have very different levels of activity of a particular gene that's important for regulating the immune system. Matt Silver, part of the MRC team, says: "Variation in methylation state in this gene could affect your ability to fight viral infections and it may also affect your chances of survival from cancers such as leukaemia and lung cancer."

Read full article at: 

The amazing significance of what a mother-to-be eats by Michael Mosley

BBC News Magazine, 14 September 2015

Eczema Care

Eczema is made worse by chemicals and harsh weather conditions, as dryness and cracks in the skin make it easier for bacteria to get in. Here are some tips to help manage the condition, in addition to any topical steroid creams you may be prescribed.

• The best way to prevent against flare-ups is regular use of unscented moisturisers.
• Pharmacies sell the same ones your doctor prescribes.
• You don't need to slather them on.
• Ideally smooth in the same direction as body hair growth 3 or 4 times a day, as they only work for a few hours.
• E45 is effective but contains lanolin, which some people are sensitive to.
• Non-lanolin alternatives are Cetraben lotion, Cetaphil lotion and Aveeno products.
• A natural alternative to steroids is Cardiospermum (ballon vine), which is an effective anti-inflammatory. Currently (March 2017) Cardiospermum gel is only available from skinshop.co.uk.
• Washing with soap can also affect the skin; use aqueous cream instead and avoid bubbles completely.

Articles in Good Housekeeping, July 2014 and April 2015.

Improving Your Memory

Past memory: this is our store of memories we have already laid down, our recollections of past experiences.

Present memory: this is our ‘working’ memory, our short term memory, the ability to juggle the tasks we have to do daily.

Future memory: this is prospective memory, ‘remembering to remember’; this is remembering to do things in the future like post a letter on the way to work, remember to take your warfarin at 6pm, remembering to pick the children up from school.

In a Northumbria University study looking at the effects of aromatherapy oils on prospective memory, volunteers took a test in a room scented with either rosemary oil, lavender oil or no scent. Rosemary oil improved results over the control group by 10%, while lavender oil (known to have a sedative effect) showed a decrease against the control group.

Listening to music before revising. - see blog post on Music and Revision.

BBC2 Trust Me, I'm a Doctor, July 2015 Aromatherapy and Memory

A study of 30 volunteers aged between 50 and 90 who had a number of things in common: all fairly sedentary, didn’t regularly do crosswords or Sudoku, and were not artist or painters. Their mental abilities were tested at the beginning of the study, then they all were asked to do something extra for 3 hours every week over 8 weeks. Split into three groups, 1 did Suduko and other puzzles, 2 walked every day and 3 had a daily life drawing class. They also wore an activity monitor.

While cognitive test scores improved in all three groups, the art group had the highest average improvement in their scores. Learning life-drawing was a new mental challenge for our novice artists. Research suggests that the 'new' aspect of the activity is key - learning a new skill seems to be more effective than practising an existing one. Also data from the activity monitors showed that across all three groups, the volunteers who were the most active showed the greatest improvement in the mental tests. Life drawing was done standing up, so the art group activity levels were higher than previously.

The puzzle group tended to see improvements in problem solving.

The exercise group saw less variation in their improvements across the cognitive tasks. It’s thought that the increased blood flow during exercise helps to improve general brain function by maintaining a healthy supply of blood, oxygen and glucose to the brain.

BBC2 Trust me, I'm a Doctor, July 2015 Keeping your Mind Sharp

Music and Revision

People often think they revise better when listening to music they like, but a 2010 study at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff suggests that music may actually work against you if you are trying to memorize an ordered list, such as facts, numbers, elements of the periodic table.

The study looked at the ability to recall information in the presence of different sounds: (a) quiet, (b) music that they'd said they liked, (c) music that they'd said they didn't like, (d) a voice repeating the number three, and (e) a voice reciting random single-digit numbers.

Participants performed worst while listening to music, regardless of whether they liked that music, and to the speech of random numbers, and best in the quiet and while listening to the repeated "three."

Music may impair cognitive abilities because if you're trying to memorize things in order, you may get thrown off by the changing words and notes in your chosen song.

However, other studies have found benefits to listening to music you like before performing a task. The explanation may be that when you hear something you like, it heightens your arousal and mood, which improves performance.

So it may be best to listen to music beforehand, then revise in quiet.

Full report in September 2010 issue of Applied Clinical Psychology.

The Chart Blogs, Music may harm your studying, 27 June 2010

Cleaning Stainless Steel Sinks

Use soda water to clean your stainless steel sink. Pour some on a soft sponge and rub away. Rinse off the grime and there is a sparkling sink.

From Classic Household Hints by Susan Waggoner via Ruby's Musings blog.