News of Interest for Late-in-Life Moms September 5, 2008

News to know:

Autism, measles vaccine link further debunked
New research further discredits any link between measles vaccine and autism.
Years of research with the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine or MMR, concluded that it doesn’t cause autism.
However, one 1998 British study linked the vaccine with a subgroup of autistic children who also have serious gastrointestinal problems. That study reported that measles virus lingered in the children’s bowels.
Researchers retested that finding, taking samples of youngsters’ intestines to hunt for signs of virus with the most modern genetic technology. There is no evidence that MMR plays any role, according to the international team — which included researchers who first raised the issue.

Brain protein may hold key to fertility
Scientists have discovered the crucial ovulation-triggering role played by kisspeptin, a small protein molecule in the brain. Kisspeptin helps kick-start puberty, as well as being involved with activating nerve cells that initiate ovulation.
The study's findings may change how researchers approach infertility.

Child vaccination rate hits record levels
Toddlers in America got the recommended vaccinations against childhood diseases at record levels in 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A record 77.4 percent of children ages 1 1/2 to 3 years received the full recommended series of vaccinations, the CDC said.
Ninety percent of children got all but one of the six individual vaccines in the series, the CDC said.
The one exception was the four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough vaccine, received by 84.5 percent of toddlers, the CDC said.

Three questions can spot possible postpartum depression
Three simple questions were just as good as conventional screening for identifying potential postpartum depression among new mothers, according to a study published in September issue of Pediatrics.
New mothers were asked to answer "Yes, most of the time," "Yes, some of the time," "Not very often" or "No, never" to the following statements:
I have blamed myself unnecessarily when things went wrong.
I have felt scared or panicky for not very good reason.
I have been anxious or worried for not very good reason.
Researchers found that fewer questions were better at diagnosing depression than the standard longer test used to screen for postpartum depression.