Eyespy
>> A newborn baby developed a generalised rash on day 15; it persisted despite treatment for eczema and infection. Her mother
had a history of systemic lupus erythematosus, and the diagnosis was neonatal lupus syndrome. This is a transient condition
caused by transplacental transfer of antibodies and usually requires no treatment. These babies may develop complete heart
block, although this baby didn’t. The case emphasises the importance of taking a detailed maternal history as part of the
assessment of any problem that presents in the neonatal period. (This item was first published in the BMJ, 2008;336:224; doi: 10.1136/bmj.39464.570104.47.)
K Catford paediatric specialist registrar
S Hanfield Jones consultant dermatologist
R Lakshman consultant paediatrician West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds IP33 2QZ
Email: Katherine.catford@wsh.nhs.uk
Student BMJ 2008;16:132 | 17
>> Teenagers who take part in physical education at school are more likely to keep a normal weight as adults, say researchers
from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2008;162:29-33). In a cohort study, adolescents who participated in regular weekday sessions of physical education reduced
their chance of being an overweight adult by 5% for each regular weekday session. The team also found that the odds of growing
up to be overweight were most reduced among adolescents who took part in “wheel related extracurricular activities”—that is,
rollerblading, cycling, or skateboarding—more than four times a week.
>> It is well known that cannabis smoke is more harmful to the lungs than smoke from tobacco. Although there is a list of more
than 4000 chemicals and toxins in tobacco smoke, there have only been limited studies of the chemistry of cannabis smoke—until
researchers at Health Canada decided to make a direct comparison (Chemical Research in Toxicology 2007 Dec 7 doi: 10.1021/tx700275p). They found that directly inhaled smoke from cannabis contained concentrations of ammonia more than 20-fold higher than
tobacco smoke, and hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxides were 3-5 times more concentrated than in tobacco smoke.
>> “Young chimpanzees have a better memory than human adults,” says Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University, whose team found that
young chimps outstripped university students in numerical memory tests (Current Biology 2007;17:R1004-5). The researchers tested three pairs of mother and baby chimpanzees against university students in a memory
task using numbers. In general the baby chimps did better than their mothers and the university students in speed and accuracy
during the tests, especially when the numbers were only seen briefly. The researchers think that this could be evidence that
young chimps have a photographic memory, which allows them to memorise a complex pattern at a glance. (http://news.bbc.co.uk, 3 Dec 2007, “Chimps beat humans in memory test”)
>> What genes make a champion athlete? In the Journal of Physiology, Alun Williams and Jonathan Folland identified 23 genetic variations that increase athletic performance (2008;586:113-21).
They calculated that there is only a 0.0005% chance of an individual in the world having all these variations. As more genetic
variants associated with great athletic performance are identified the odds of finding someone possessing all these variants
get smaller, but with population turnover the chances of finding such genetically gifted people increases. So keep your eyes
peeled for future Olympic stars.
>> A boy or man with a twin sister is more likely to develop anorexia nervosa than other men, including men with a twin brother.
In research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, the authors studied data on Swedish twins to compare the prevalence of anorexia nervosa between same sex and opposite sex
twins (2007;64:1402-7). They found that the risk of developing anorexia nervosa in female twins is higher than male twins,
with the exception of male twins in opposite sex pairs, who have a higher risk of developing the illness than other men or
boys. The researchers think that this supports the idea that exposure to female sex hormones in the womb may be linked to
a higher risk of developing anorexia nervosa.
>> Perhaps dogs are man’s best friend—when it comes to keeping fit. An Australian cross sectional survey of 1813 adults has found
that although only 23% of dog owners walked their dogs five or more times a week, the odds of achieving sufficient levels
of activity and walking were 57-77% higher in dog owners than in people without a canine friend (American Journal of Public Health 2008;98:66-9). This was independent of all other known correlates of physical activity and walking, such as demographic, environmental,
and intrapersonal factors.
>> People with a scientific approach to romance might want to impress their partner with a gift from the DNAPortrait range (www.dna-artuk.com). These pictures are created using a sample of cells scraped from the inside of a person’s cheek, which is sent to a laboratory
and treated to produce a banded genetic map. The map is photographed, coloured, and printed onto canvas. The DNA profiles
of two people can be merged to form a visual representation of a relationship to go on the living room wall (www.ft.com, 15 Dec 2007, “Trendspotter: gene scene”).
>> The UK television phenomenon of Strictly Come Dancing may be inspiring viewers to take up ballroom dancing, but they need to be careful. British dance schools say that ballroom
classes have doubled in size since the show began three years ago, but the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy says that its
members are treating more amateur dancers for injuries to tendons, sprained ankles, and back pain. One physiotherapist, who
was inspired to become an amateur dancer by the first series of the television programme, said, “It’s a very deceptive art.
The professionals on TV make it look easy” (www.telegraph.co.uk, 12 Dec 2007, “BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing ‘inspires’ injuries”).
Competing interests: None declared.
Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.
Sally Carter technical editor BMJ
Email: scarter@bmj.com
Student BMJ 2008;16:132 | 17
