Things to Worry About This Week: White Bread, Baby Sleep, and the Zika Virus
In this week’s roundup of health news, we’ll look at whether you need to do anything differently with regard to bread choices, where your child sleeps, and your relationship with mosquitoes while on vacation.
Bread versus bread
Headline : Scientists Pit Leaven Against White Bread – With Amazing Results
History : The study compared people’s responses to eating two different types of bread. One was white bread and the other was a whole wheat sourdough. This means that there are two differences in bread: whether it was whole grain or white, and whether it had a vinegar flavor that comes from the yeast in the sourdough.
We generally expect whole grain bread to have a lower glycemic load than white bread, which means it doesn’t cause that much spike in blood sugar after you eat it. This study found that participants’ blood glucose response was, on average, the same on a consistent diet with any type of bread.
The researchers have one more thing they want you to know: some people are better at white bread, while others are better at whole wheat. They think that this is not statistical noise, but a real individual response. They think that though: the fine print at the bottom of the study says that two of the authors are “paid scientific consultants for DayTwo Inc. ,” a personalized catering service.
Takeaway : don’t change your sandwiches just yet. If gut bacteria make you digest one type of bread better than another, much more research is needed to confirm this. Or, as NHS Choices put it , “There are many reasons you might choose wholemeal bread over white bread, and the results of a week-long study of 20 people won’t change all of them.”
Where do you want this crib?
Headline : After Four Months, Babies Sleep Better in Their Room
History : The American Academy of Pediatrics tells us that babies should sleep in their parents ‘room (not their parents’ bed) for the first six to twelve months of their lives. According to them, it lowers the level of SIDS.
A new study asked some parents to move their baby to a possible sleeping place (usually another room) after about three months. Babies who slept in their room at four months slept more at night and slept longer.
Takeaway : Should the child be transferred early so that he sleeps more, or should he be kept with him to possibly reduce the risk of SIDS a little? There is no clear answer to this question, especially because the risk of SIDS is very low for older children. (The NPR story above does a great job with both points of view.)
One interesting point: Although half of the families in the study had to move their child to another room before four months, both halves had the same number of children who actually moved. So if your child did not sleep as well as you planned, you are in good company.
Zika is still scary
History : The CDC reported on what happened in 2016 to pregnant women in the United States who tested positive for the Zika virus and subsequently gave birth to a child.
Overall, 5 percent had a child with birth defects; but among people who tested positive for Zika in the first trimester of pregnancy, the rate was 15 percent. Earlier studies in South America showed that the rate of birth defects could be even higher, so this is kind of good news.
Takeaway : Don’t get the Zika virus if you are or may be pregnant. (If you are a man who has sex with someone who might become pregnant, it is also best not to get the Zika virus and use a condom just in case.) We have no way of preventing birth defects if you do. getting a virus, and the risk of 5 (or 15!) percent is still quite frightening. Travel alerts are still there ; Please check with the CDC which countries are at risk of contracting the Zika virus before booking your vacation. And if you have to travel, or if you live in an area where the Zika virus is circulating, use effective mosquito repellents and other measures (long sleeves, window screens) to keep insects at bay.