Tag Archive for 'autism'

Weekly Highlights (4/3/2012) – FDA Says No to BPA Ban and GMO Labeling

Published on April 3, 2012 in News. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to this week’s highlights, our weekly post that recaps important health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week and other great finds we’ve come across in our internet travels.  If you see anything you think we should feature, please send it to jasmine@purebebe.com. Thanks, and we hope your week is off to a great start!   - Jasmine

In the News:

Ban on BPA? FDA Says No - In a truly disappointing but not surprising decision, the FDA will not place a ban on BPA in food packaging, citing a lack of sufficient scientific evidence to support the ban.

Despite the FDA decision, the FDA has not changed its position that it holds “some concern” over the effects of BPA in children, and the government is currently funding $30 million to conduct additional studies.

FDA Responds to GMO Label Petition - In yet another truly disappointing and, again, not surprising decision, the FDA has decided it needs more time to consider labeling of genetically-modified foods.

While no one should be surprised by the decision, much controversy has arisen over the petition as the FDA has severely discounted the number of responses it received. While the Just Label It organizers say the petition garnered over a million signatures, more than any petition submitted to the FDA in history, the FDA says it has officially received a measly 394.

Some say the FDA has deleted signatures, however I suspect that is not the case. The FDA’s official rules require signatures to be submitted individually via their regulations.gov website in order to be counted. Because the website is difficult to navigate, Just Label It organizers collected and accumulated signatures on their website before submitting them to the FDA.

While each submission may have contained over thousands of signatures, each submission counts as just 1. Ultimately, it is just semantics. The FDA has to understand that there is overwhelming support for labeling GMOs. The question is just if and when they will act.

Alicia Silverstone Premasticates Her Child’s Food - Not long after celebrity Alicia Silverstone posted the video below to her blog, intense criticism ensued for her method of feeding her child.

While I admit I was a bit puzzled when I saw the video myself, I was more intrigued when I discovered that the idea of premastication is actually used in some cultures to promote infant health as it gives baby access to nutrients from foods they cannot chew and promotes immunity through antibodies received in the mother’s saliva.

While some experts express concern over the possibility of spreading disease such as HIV and tooth decay, it depends in large part on the health of the mother and child. And other experts have expressed more concern that the practice is dwindling in some poorer societies where it may be critical to the child’s health.

Hmm, you learn something new every day.

New Research:

CDC: New High in Autism Rates
The CDC’s latest analysis reports that about 1 in 88 children in the U.S. experience autism or a related disorder, nearly double the rate 10 years ago with cases in boys outnumbering girls 5 to 1.

The report analyzed data from 2008 in 14 states, and found rates much higher in some states like Utah; however, increased awareness and access to services are cited as likely factors in those states.

In fact, increased awareness and better diagnoses are cited as major factors in general for the rise, but recent research also points to environmental factors as a possible contributor.

Pinpointing the environmental culprit, however, seems next to impossible when we’re exposed to a veritable soup of chemicals daily. Two large studies funded by the National Institutes of Health are hoping to do just that, though, by examining everything from what mother eats during pregnancy to toxins in the home.

Ultimately, earlier diagnosis is needed. The earlier a child is diagnosed and gets help, the better their chances are for reaching their full potential.

Babies Take Longer to Come Out Than They Did in Grandma’s Day
A comparison of nearly 140,000 births found that first-time mothers today labor longer than they did fifty years ago, about 2 1/2 hours on average. The reason for longer labor is not entirely clear, but today’s mothers are older, delivering larger babies,  and more likely to use epidural anesthesia. Epidurals can prolong labor anywhere from 40 to 90 minutes.

The more striking implication is that OB’s today may be rushing to C-sections based on an out-of-date expectation as to how long a “normal” labor should take. OB’s today still rely on a definition of normal labor that was defined back in the 50′s.

Good Reads:

Weekend Detox For Your Home from Houzz - Some easy steps you can take to green your home and improve your health. Now that spring is in the air, I love the idea of completely unplugging on a Friday night after a long week at work and getting outside, and then waking up Saturday to open the windows and freshen the air.

Pinterest-Worthy Finds:

I came across this image this week as I am working to rearrange and redecorate my family’s home office/playroom. I love this arrangement that creates a fantastic workspace for the entire family. These stools are a little high for young ones, but the concept still applies. As our family grows, I want us to have a place where we can all be together as we do homework, pay bills, blog, etc.

I’m sure something like this could be a reasonable DIY project - cube bookshelves could be used to form the bases. I’d probably choose to use planks of wood for the surface and sand them down as opposed to plywood or other large particle board which often uses formaldehyde-based adhesives to bind.

If you’d like to follow us on Pinterest, find us here.

Recalls, March 27 – April 3:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls

No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

 

Weekly Highlights (1/23/2012)

Published on January 23, 2012 in News. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! My apologies for missing the highlights last week. January is a hectic month for me, so after work and family there hasn’t been much time left over. Because we missed last week, you’ll see a little more in this week’s highlights, our weekly post that recaps important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week and other great finds we’ve come across in our internet travels.

Enjoy!
Jasmine

In the News:

Mom Claims in Viral Blog That Disabled Child Denied Transplant – Given patient confidentiality laws, it’s not possible to have the whole story, but I sincerely hope this child is able to get the kidney she will need. Heartbreaking.

FDA Halts Imports of Orange Juice: Is It Safe to Drink? - The FDA has halted all imports of orange juice after The Coca Cola Company, maker of Minute Maid and Simply Orange, notified that some Brazilian growers had sprayed their trees with a fungicide that is illegal in the U.S. The FDA is not issuing a recall citing no safety concerns over consumption at low levels, but they are now inspecting all imported juices.

A Specialists’ Debate on Autism Has Many Worried Observers - The standard reference manual for mental disorders is under revision, and many are worried that changes in the definition of autism, aspergers, and other disorders may limit or take away services available to those who currently qualify.

Connecticut Lawmakers Consider Ban on Flame Retardants in Baby Products -  Citing a new report which found flame retardants in 17 of 20 baby products, Connecticut lawmakers consider ban.

LEGO Petitioned to Stop Gender-Based Marketing - After LEGO introduced a girlified version of LEGOs for girls featuring taller, skinnier, more accessory-friendly characters, backlash ensues with a petition to end gender-based marketing. My girls happily play with the standard LEGOs, as I’m sure do many others. This is the last thing our girls need. Sign the petition, if you like, here. The petition has reached almost 50,000.

New Research:

Babies Learn to Talk by Reading Lips
Ever noticed your baby studying your mouth when you speak? New research suggests that babies’ attention focuses on the mouth between about 6-12 months as they turn their attention to speech development in order to learn how to shape their lips and form sounds. Around the age of 1, their gaze comes back to the eyes, unless they are learning a foreign language in which case they will continue to focus on the mouth. Fascinating!

Parabens Found in 99% of Breast Cancer Tumors
A study of breast cancer tissue samples taken from 40 women undergoing mastectomies between 2005 and 2008 in England found that 99% of the samples contained at least one paraben and 60% of samples contained five. The study does not draw conclusions about cause and effect but does highlight the need for further study.

Plasticizer (Phthalate) Increases Miscarriage Risk
In the first study to examine phthalate exposure and miscarriage in humans, scientists in Denmark found that women exposed near the time of conception to relatively common levels of a particular phthalate are more likely to experience early miscarriage compared to women with lower exposures. Only exposures around conception, and not in the prior month, were linked to miscarriage. Couples attempting to get pregnant between 1992 and 1994 contributed urine samples, and scientists tested samples taken shortly before ovulation for phthalate levels and after ovulation for confirmed pregnancies and losses. The samples were tested in 2009?? Regardless, further research is necessary to confirm the conclusions, but animal/rodent studies have shown similar associations.

Eating Mercury-Tainted Fish Affects Stress Hormones in Children
A new study of 100 children, aged 9 to 11, found that higher mercury levels in the children’s blood was significantly associated with lower cortisol levels. Cortisol is released in response to stress and is important for metabolism, immune responses, and blood pressure. Lower cortisol levels and responses can contribute to chronic stress. The children’s fish eating habits were monitored, and the fish eaters had almost three times higher the level of mercury of the non-fish eaters. Consider this guide to fish and mercury levels from the Natural Resources Defense Council for limiting your child’s mercury consumption.

Fantastic Finds:

Baby Sleep Positions from Howtobeadad.com – Too funny. Booby trap, H is for Hell, and Snow Angels are familiar territory in our home. How about you?

Friendly Fire from Momastery.com - I can’t get enough of Glennon Melton. She is one amazing woman, and I wish I could shout this message from the rooftops. Every woman should read this!

The Never Before Told, Super Secret Ingredient for Raising an Amazing Daughter from Lisa Kaplin at BuffaloGrovePatch - Be the woman you want your daughter to be. Well said.

Recalls, January 10 – January 22:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls

No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

If there’s anything you see and think we should feature, please send it our way to jasmine@purebebe.com. We hope your week is off to a great start!

XOXO, Jasmine & Heather

Weekly Highlights (11/8/2011)

Published on November 8, 2011 in News. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to “Weekly Highlights”, our weekly post that recaps important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week and other great reads we’ve come across in our internet travels.

In the News:

Cell Towers Going up in School District Despite Parent Objections - Is this the beginning of a new trend? School districts in the market for new sources of revenue signing contracts with cellphone businesses to put up towers on school campuses. Is this really a good idea?

Group Urges Johnson & Johnson Boycott Over Baby Shampoo Chemicals - The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been campaigning J&J for over 2 years now to remove two controversial chemicals from its baby shampoo formulation – Quaternium-15, a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, and 1,4-dioxane, a byproduct of a process for making chemicals more soluble and gentler on the skin. J&J already makes a safer alternative for other countries, so why the double standard for the U.S.? Time to ratchet up the pressure.

Parents Order Chicken Pox Lollipops Over the Internet – Well, “pox parties” are out, and now “pox pops” are in? Moms in a Facebook group have been found offering to send lollipops that have been infected with chicken pox by mail. Aside from being illegal, doctors say it’s not likely to work as the virus would not survive; however, other more dangerous disease germs just might. And requests were also found on the FB page for measles, mumps, or rubella. Really??

New Research:

The Prevalence Puzzle: Autism Counts
Are increasing rates of autism due to increased awareness and shifting diagnoses or increasing exposure to toxins and genetic factors? This article provides an excellent summation of some of the key research addressing this question and the direction that autism research is moving.

Second Thoughts on Medicines for Babies Who Spit Up
Prescriptions for acid reflux medications are on the rise, with 11- and 16- fold increases documented in some medications. Dr. Hassall, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Sutter Pacific Medical Foundation in San Francisco, is concerned that these medications are being over-prescribed. Some studies have shown that these medications work no better than placebos in treating infants with reflux because many of these children don’t truly have reflux. In many cases, the symptoms may just be part of normal infant development. Before attempting prescription drugs, he suggests changes in maternal diet for breastfeeding mothers, namely elimination of dairy, soy, and/or wheat, or hypoallergenic formulas for bottle-fed infants.

Good Reads:

Top Doc Reveals 8 Fertility Misconceptions from CNN Health - Some of the more common mistakes and misconceptions couples may have about fertility. I learned a few things about IVF and infertility I hadn’t known before.

Recalls, November 1 – November 7:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls
No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

If there’s anything you see and think we should feature, please send it our way to jasmine@purebebe.com. We hope your week is off to a great start!

XOXO,
Jasmine & Heather

Weekly Highlights (10/25/2011)

Published on October 25, 2011 in News. 10 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to “Weekly Highlights”, our weekly post that recaps important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week and other great reads we’ve come across in our internet travels.

In the News:

Toddler Flees First Day of Preschool, Walks Home - After just a few hours of his first day of preschool, 3 year old Alfie Aldridge ditched his teachers, scaled a 3 foot wall, crossed a busy street, and walked home. Fortunately for Alfie, his mother was home, and when she confronted the school’s teachers, they had no idea he’d been missing. I’d be outraged. This is certainly an opportunity to teach Alfie a lesson about not leaving the sight of an adult, but the school is definitely at fault. There should be precautions in place (i.e. ratios, headcounts) to ensure such things don’t happen.

Childbirth as Performance Art - A performance artist is planning to give birth to her first child in front of a live audience in a Brooklyn gallery. With her due date just a month away, she has begun creating the environment of a birthing room for her display. Her natural birth will be an exhibition for 15 invited guests, selected from visitors to the gallery who have shown interest. In addition to “The Birth of Baby X”, she has previously done exhibitions re-enacting other aspects of her life including the loss of her virginity. Wow. For me, childbirth is a very personal experience and not something I want to share outside of my family. I wonder what is more important to her – the experience or the performance? What do you think of this woman’s “exhibition”?

Controversial Hormone Therapy Given to Pre-Teen Transgender Child - An 11 year old boy who has expressed interest in being a girl is being given hormone blockers by his parents in order to delay puberty and give the child more time to decide. I wholeheartedly disagree with the parents in disrupting the body’s natural course and subjecting their child to this procedure. There are options available to this child when he reaches a mature enough age to make the decision for himself.

Woman Born Without a Womb Will Receive a Transplant from Her Mother – After being born without a womb, two failed surrogacies, and years waiting for an adoption, an Australian woman will receive a womb transplant from her mother after which she will attempt a pregnancy through IVF. Absolutely amazing. This seems incredibly risky for both, but I’m sure they are aware of the risks and sincerely hope that it goes well for them both.

New Research:

Study Links BPA Exposure in the Womb with Behavior Problems in Toddler Girls
After tracking 244 Cincinnati-area mothers and their 3 year olds, the study concluded that mothers with high levels of BPA in their urine were more likely to report hyperactive, aggressive children. The results were found in girls but not boys. The study’s author suspects that the chemical leads to more testosterone in girls, affecting how their organs develop and their later behavior. This report is the first to link a young girl’s emotional behavior with BPA exposure in the womb, and while it is consistent with other finds that imply BPA affects brain development in animal research the authors caution that the results could have been skewed by the eating habits of the mothers. Those who ate more packaged foods were likely to have higher BPA exposure and eat a less nutrient-rich diet in general. 

Autism Diagnoses Growing by 10 to 17 Percent Per Year
The rate of occurrence of an autism spectrum disorder is now 1 in 110, based on the most recently published estimates of the CDC. Boys are 4 to 5 times more likely than girls to be diagnosed, and with a 10 to 17 percent increase each year, it is the country’s fastest growing developmental disability. Both genetics and the environment are suspected as factors, but isolating environmental causes is extremely difficult given the number of environmental toxins children are exposed to that were not a factor years ago. The main culprit in the increase, though, is suspected to be earlier and more diagnoses.

Good Reads:

You Really Need to Wash Your Food and Your Hands from The Huffington Post – How to properly wash your hands – Sing the ABCs twice and then wash a little more. My kids and I alternate ABCs and Happy Birthday – they like asking Mommy to sing while they wash their hands. P.S. We do the same while brushing our teeth.

Sibling and Family Halloween Costumes from The Huffington Post – Photos from around the web of theme-coordinated costumes for siblings and families. What will you and yours be doing for Halloween this year?

Nightmares Fear Factory’s Photostream from Flickr – This photostream from a haunted house in Canada captures the reactions of its guests during a seriously frightening moment providing pure entertainment for the rest of us. Here are  some of my favorites: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 I think that last one must have burst an ear drum.

Recalls, October 19 – October 25:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls
No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

If there’s anything you see and think we should feature, please send it our way to jasmine@purebebe.com. We hope your week is off to a great start! XOXO, Jasmine & Heather

Weekly Highlights (9/19/11)

Published on September 19, 2011 in News. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to “Weekly Highlights”, our weekly post that recaps important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week and other great reads we’ve come across in our internet travels.

In the News:

In Pittsburgh, Public Art Doubles as a Sanctuary for Breast-Feeding Moms - The “milk truck”, a converted ice cream truck complete with a 3 ft fiberglass boob on top created as part of an art exhibition, will make its rounds in Pittsburgh providing a place for women to breastfeed and pump.

Remote Controls Aren’t Toys: Lithium Batteries Prove Deadly to Kids - Kids love adult electronic devices, but unfortunately, most do not have child-resistant battery compartments. In 2010, 3,400 children swallowed lithium batteries, and the number of critical injuries has quadrupled in the past five years. One mom shares her story.

One Sperm Donor, 150 Offspring - Websites connecting donor siblings are highlighting concerns about ethics and regulation in the fertility industry. There is no limit on how many children a donor can father in the U.S., and some are finding they have 50, 70, or 100+ raising concerns over incomplete health history, spread of genetic diseases, accidental incest between donor siblings, to name a few.

Judge Blocks Florida Law Curbing Doctors’ Questions About Guns - A federal judge in Florida blocked a state law that would have prevented doctors from asking about guns in the home and discussing the risks with their patients.

New Research:

BPA, Methylparaben Block Breast Cancer Drugs
In a study performed by researchers in California, BPA and methylparaben not only caused noncancerous breast cancer cells to start behaving like cancer cells, but they also interfered with the treatment. When tamoxifen, a drug designed to prevent or treat cancer, was introduced to cells exposed to the two chemicals, they continued to grow.

IUDs Lower Cervical Cancer Risk
For reasons that aren’t fully understood, IUDs have been associated with a lower risk of cervical cancer. In a study funded by the WHO and several other government and philanthropic organizations, an analysis of data from 20,000 women from around the world found that women who use IUDs are roughly half as likely to develop cervical cancer as women who have never used one.  An editorial accompanying the study notes, however, that HPV testing and Pap smears already reduce risk by 80 to 90%.

Antidepressants Associated with Autism
Mothers who took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – the most commonly prescribed antidepressants – during the year before delivery or during the first trimester of pregnancy were at increased risk to have a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The risk of autism doubled in those whose mothers took SSRIs during the year before pregnancy and quadrupled for those who took them during the first trimester of pregnancy. This study provides the first look at the relationship between SSRI use and autism risk.

More Accidental Drug Poisonings in Children
The growing use of prescription drugs by adults has led to more accidental drug poisonings in children. A review of national poison control data on children under 5 who visited the ER between 2001 and 2008 for accidental drug poisoning found that the number of poisonings increased 22 percent over the time period. The authors of the study said the best solution would be to design new packages for both adult and pediatric drugs that would not only be difficult to open but also make it more difficult for a young child to ingest large quantities.

Back Off, Mom. Parents Who Hover Impede Kids’ Activity
Researchers observing how children play in parks found that children whose parents hung around monitoring them closely were only about half as likely to engage in high levels of physical activity as kids whose parents granted more freedom. The study was intended to help park designers create parks that better entice kids to run around and play, but the researchers found some interesting things along the way.

Good Reads:

A Very Personal and Important Message from Confessions of a Dr. Mom - A personal plea to drivers everywhere to put down your cell phones.

The 5 Saltiest Meals of 2011 at FoodFacts.com - The sodium equivalents are mind-boggling. Makes you think twice about what might be on your restaurant plate.

Recalls, September 13 – September 19:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls
No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

We’d love your feedback! If there is anything you’d like us to add or change, we’d love to hear it! If there’s anything you see and think we should feature, please send it our way to purebebeblog@gmail.com. We hope your week is off to a great start!

XOXO,

Jasmine & Heather

Weekly Highlights (8/29/2011)

Published on August 29, 2011 in News. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Welcome to “Weekly Highlights”, our weekly post that recaps important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the previous week but also give us an avenue to share some of the other great reads we’ve come across in our internet travels.

In the News:

Washington State to Require Chemical Reporting for Toys! - A new law took effect this week in Washington which will now require manufacturers of toys, cosmetics, jewelry, and baby products to report when their products contain certain harmful chemicals – from a list of 66 chemicals identified as unsafe. Let’s hope this will spur action in other states, or better yet at the federal level.

Is Gender Selection of a Fetus Ethical? – A new maternal blood test can determine a fetus’ sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy. The test is not yet available but has sparked a heated ethical debate. Would parents use this to perform sex-selective abortions??

On Food Safety, a Long List but Little Money – The FDA is facing an uphill battle to implement the food safety law passed last year on limited funding. While I have my issues with the FDA, I do think we need to find a way to allocate resources so they can fulfill the responsibilities they’ve been given to keep our food safe.

Food Safety in China, and the Risk to the U.S. - Another food safety crisis in China (reported by the AP here). In the second vinegar scandal this month, vinegar contaminated with antifreeze has killed 11 and sickened 120 in China. This article highlights the continuous spate of scandals in China and the risk they pose to us as imports from China are increasing in the U.S. and the FDA is struggling to keep up. What are we to do? Buy fresh, buy local as much as we can.

The Color of Controversy - A pretty good summation of the history of food dyes, related health studies, and controversies.

Patience, Mom: More Hospitals Say No to Scheduled Delivery Before 39 Weeks – A number of hospitals are now prohibiting scheduled C-sections and inductions before 39 weeks of pregnancy unless medically necessary in light of recent research showing that babies experience a lot of critical development during their final weeks in utero, and mortality rates are cut in half by waiting until 39 weeks versus 37.

New Research:

Global Rates of Obesity Doubled in 30 Years
Three new studies published recently in The Lancet, a British medical journal, say that rates of obesity have doubled worldwide, even as blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped. People in the Pacific Islands are the heaviest, but among developed countries Americans are the fattest.

New Report Finds Few Adverse Events Linked to Immunizations
A panel of scientists assembled by the Institute of Medicine says there are relatively few health problems caused by most commonly recommended vaccines. The IOM included experts in pediatrics, immunology, neurology, epidemiology, and statistics. The review of more than 1,000 peer-reviewed studies represents the most comprehensive review of the available literature on the potential side effects for eight vaccines – MMR, chicken pox, influenz, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, HPV, DTAP, and meningococcus. The article describes some of the conclusions drawn by the panel.

Could the Way We Mate and Marry Boost Rates of Autism?
An interesting theory as to why autism rates are on the rise – people with certain traits are increasingly meeting and marrying and having children more likely to be on the spectrum. Cited reasoning: The recent surge in autism rates has coincided with certain social changes, such as an unprecedented movement of women into math and science professions and the dotcom boom making more technically-minded people more sought after as mates. The theory is still largely speculation, but interesting nonetheless.

What Makes Some Preschools Better than Others?
A Vanderbilt University professor suggests that preschool teachers who engage children and use rich and varied vocabulary influence the children’s vocabulary and reading abilities later on.

Kids with Nut Allergies Feel Teased, Excluded
A study in the UK in which 26 families dealing with nut allergies were interviewed found that they routinely encountered skepticism and hostility over their children’s allergies.

Good Reads:

8 Month Old Gets a Cochlear Implant from YouTube - Heartwarming, tear-inspiring video of a child hearing his mother’s voice after a cochlear implant.

When Kids Bring Up Same-Sex Marriage from CNN Living - Several parents share their thoughts on how they address questions about same-sex marriage with their children.

Monsanto’s 5 Most Dubious Contributions to the Planet from TakePart.com – Before bovine growth hormone and GM seeds, there was Agent Orange and styrofoam.

Recalls, August 23 – August 29:

CPSC Child Product Recalls

Child Safety Seat Recalls
No child safety seat recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

We’d love your feedback! If there is anything you’d like us to add or change, we’d love to hear it! If there’s anything you see and think we should feature, please send it our way to purebebeblog@gmail.com. We hope your week is off to a great start!

XOXO,

Jasmine & Heather

Weekly Highlights (7/17/11)

Published on July 17, 2011 in News. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

We’re adding a new feature to Purebebe this weekend that we hope you’ll enjoy.

Photo source

Welcome to our first edition of “Weekly Highlights”, a weekend post that will recap important child health and safety news, research, and recalls from the week but also give us an avenue to share some of the other great reads we’ve come across in our internet travels.

So happy weekend reading, and please let us know what you think!

In the News:

CPSC Announces New, Lower Limit for Lead in Children’s Products - 100 ppm. Hooray!

Senator Dianne Feinstein urges BPA regulation –  Last month, China banned BPA from baby bottles. CNN Opinion piece from Senator Feinstein urging US to step up.

Filth in Fast-Food Playlands – Makes me grateful we don’t frequent fast food chains.

Roundup pesticide used on genetically-modified crops linked to birth defects – Evidence that buying organic and using unprocessed, whole foods is the way to go.

Lawsuit ties tainted wipes to one twin’s brain damage - Lawsuit aims to change FDA inspection and enforcement practices for medical products.

Recalled alcohol wipes may still be in use – You may want to check your first aid kit or medicine cabinet. The alcohol wipes noted in the lawsuit above may still be out there.

New Research:

A Balanced Diet + Prenatal Exposure to BPA = Fatter, Sicker Rats
Rat pups exposed to the reference dose of BPA, that which the EPA considers safe, through their mothers while in the womb and nursing – but fed a balanced diet as they grew – were fatter and had a suite of metabolic problems later in life when compared to unexposed rats. The effects were even worse on pups fed a high fat diet.

Even BPA-Free Plastic is Not Always Safe
Lab tests were conducted on more than 20 top-brand baby bottles along with 450 plastic food and beverage-packages. Nearly all leached endocrine disrupting chemicals, even though many were BPA-free. It is possible to make estrogenic-activity free plastic, but we need urge manufacturers to do so and label them as such. In the meantime, my $ is on glass.

Birth Defects Linked for First Time to Smoking in Pregnancy
Smoking in pregnancy has been linked to miscarriages, premature birth, and low birth weight, but new research now links specific birth defects such as clubfoot, missing limbs, and deformed limbs.

Prenatal Vitamins Lower Autism Risk
A study of mom/child pairs in California found that taking prenatal vitamins around the time of conception decreased autism risk by half. Results indicate that proper prenatal nutrition may be especially important for susceptible individuals.

New Study Implicates Environmental Factors in Autism
A study of autism rates in identical and fraternal twins in California found that rates were higher in identical twins than fraternal twins. Mathematical modeling and analysis of the study’s results suggested that only 38% of the cases could be attributed to genetics and that 58% were attributable to shared environmental factors, most likely from the womb given that the rate of autism in two siblings who are not twins is much lower than that of twins.

Good Reads:

Got 15 Minutes? Whole Food To-Go Lunches for Impromptu Summer Fun from Simple Organic
What Life is Like with 4 Kids from Suburban Daddy
Once Upon a Time from How the Hell Did I End up Here?

Recalls, July 10 – 16:

CPSC Child Product Recalls
No product recall announcements this week.

Child Safety Seat Recalls
No product recall announcements this week.

USDA/FDA Recalls

We’d love your feedback! What did you like? If there is anything you’d like us to add or change, we’d love to hear it!

Have a lovely weekend!

XOXO,
Jasmine & Heather


Death of a Hypothesis: No Link Found Between Autism and Vaccines

Published on September 7, 2010 in Health & Safety. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

Baby Receiving Rotavirus Vaccine - Courtesy of Dr. Nixon, Flickr

On August 27th this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a ruling that that there is no link between vaccines and autism. The ruling represented one of 5,000+ cases that have been filed under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986 claiming “a link between childhood vaccines and autism.” The family that petitioned the court sought compensation on behalf of their 15 month old daughter named Michelle, whom they alleged suffered from various medical conditions, including autism, after receiving the MMR vaccine.

Earlier this year in February, the respected medical journal the Lancet, retracted a 1998 paper largely written by British gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who made the initial link between the measles, mumps and rubella (“MMR”) vaccine and autism. According to this article, “Wakefield had a case study of eight children who had received the MMR and then developed symptoms of autism.” The Lancet retracted the study because they found that Wakefield acted “dishonestly and irresponsibly.” Wakefield’s questionable research tactics included subjecting children in the study to invasive medical procedures including colonoscopies and MRI scans. He also paid children at his own son’s birthday party to draw their blood for “medical purposes.” Additionally, Wakefield neglected to disclose key facts, including that he had been paid as a consultant by two attorneys that represented parents who believed that their children had been harmed by the MMR vaccine. In May this year, Wakefield was banned from practicing medicine in the United Kingdom.

Since Wakefield’s claim, 18 controlled epidemiological studies have been conducted to investigate the possible connection between autism and vaccines. According to Alison Singer, founder of the Autism Science Foundation, “they have all come back showing the same thing…There is no link between vaccines and autism.”

Because of Wakefield’s autism-vaccine theory, thousands of parents have refused to vaccinate their children in England and across the Unites States. This has led to several outbreaks of disease. Unfortunately, victims of vaccine-preventable disease are in no short supply. You can read about several victims, from infants to teenagers here.

Amy Pisani, Executive Director of Every Child by Two, an advocacy group that’s dedicated to getting every child vaccinated by the age of two, nearly lost her 13 month old son when he came down with the flu. He ended up in the hospital on oxygen and required hourly nebulizer treatments. She says “Parents don’t understand how serious the flu can be. With my friends who have children, some of them do vaccinate; some of them don’t. Some of them think, ‘Well, you know, we’ve all gotten the flu before,’ and then I say, ‘But, 150 children die at least every year of the flu.’ I think many people think that those are children who are very ill to begin with. They don’t realize that they’re children who were perfectly healthy one day, and the next day they go into the hospital and it’s just too late.”

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References:
CNN, Medical journal retracts study linking autism to vaccine
AAP – American Academy of Pediatrics, Immunizations
CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Autism Science Foundation

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Is Our Food Making Us Sick? The “Unhealthy Truth” About the U.S. Food Industry

Published on August 1, 2010 in Food, Health & Safety and Organic. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Fruits and Vegetables - Courtesy of Carol Moshier, Flickr

I have never thought too much about the safety of the food that our family consumes, except that I like to buy organic whenever possible to avoid pesticides. And I have to say that I’ve enjoyed being “in the dark.” It’s much easier to say “I don’t want to know” the dangers and to continue believing that we have enough regulatory agencies in the U.S. to protect us from any dangers in our food supply.

I vow to stay in the dark no longer. I have two babies whose lives are in my hands to nurture and make sure that I’m giving them the healthiest and safest start in life. And let’s face it, I’d like for my husband and me to be around when they graduate from college some day.

In the video below, author and researcher Robyn O’Brien reveals that “in 1994, in order to drive profitability for the food industry, we began to engineer foreign proteins into our (U.S.) food supply.” Yet, she notes that no studies have been done to study these foreign substances in our food supply and their long-term effects on people!

Robyn further explains that “according to the CDC, there’s been a 265% increase in the rate of (U.S.) ER hospitalizations related to food allergic reactions.” On top of that, the rates of cancer, diabetes, autism and other serious medical conditions have been steadily increasing in the past few years – in the United States.

The video is long (1 hour), but please watch at least the first 25 minutes. I promise you, it’s worth it.

Alex Bogusky (whom Bloomberg BusinessWeek has recently dubbed ‘the Bill Gates of the Advertising world’) interviews Robyn O’Brien, author of The Unhealthy Truth. You can buy her book here.

I would love to hear what you think of the video and your thoughts regarding the genetic mutation of our food – please leave us a comment above!

-Heather

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New Research Links Baby’s Early Babbles to Autism

Published on July 21, 2010 in Learning & Development. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1 in 110 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with autism or a related disorder. Today, the process to diagnose a child is extremely subjective as children are diagnosed after a medical specialist observes the child for an extended period of time and notes “autism characteristics.”

Scientists have recently begun to link a child’s early speech development with autism. According to this article, researchers are developing a computer program that will be able to identify children with autism early in life. And as the article states:

“Early diagnosis is crucial, because the earlier autistic children start intensive therapy, the more they improve.”

-Heather

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