03_BT_March 2022

BT Buzz
Infants Born Amid the Pandemic Have Lower Developmental Scores
According to a new study, babies born during the pandemic’s first year - even to
moms who did not have COVID during pregnancy - scored lower on a screening
test of social and motor skills than pre-pandemic babies. The study, which included
255 babies born at a New York-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital
and Allen Hospital between March and December 2020, was published in the
journal JAMA Pediatrics. “Infants born to mothers who have viral infections during
pregnancy have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental deficits, so we thought we
would find some changes in the neurodevelopment of babies whose mothers had
COVID during pregnancy,” says Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of
paediatrics and psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and
Surgeons and lead investigator of the study. Other factors, including fewer playdates
and altered interactions with stressed caregivers, may help explain why babies born
during the pandemic have weaker social and motor skills than babies born before the
pandemic. The researchers will continue to follow these infants in long-term studies.
Source: Science Daily
Olive Oil as a Dairy Substitute
Substantially Reduces the Risk
of Disease
A recent study has found that olive oil is an excellent
alternative to full-fat dairy. Instead of margarine, butter, or
other saturated fats, using olive can help reduce the risk of
cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, dementia, and
other diseases. In an editorial published in the Journal of the
American College of Cardiology which supported the study,
it was reported that people who consumed the highest
levels of olive oil had a 19% lower risk of dying from heart
conditions, a 17% lower risk of dying from cancer, a 29%
lower risk of dying from neurodegenerative disease, and an
18% lower risk of dying from respiratory disease mortality
compared with those who never or rarely consumed olive oil
in place of saturated fats.
Source: CNN Health
Neonatal Deaths are One of the
Top 10 Causes of Death
In 2019, the top 10 causes of death accounted for 55%
of the 55.4 million deaths worldwide, World Health
Organization (WHO) reports. The ten leading causes of death
globally are:
1. Ischaemic heart disease
2. Stroke
3. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
4. Lower respiratory infections
5. Neonatal conditions (birth asphyxia and birth
trauma, neonatal sepsis and infections, and preterm
birth complications)
6. Trachea, bronchus, lung cancers
7. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias
8. Diarrhoeal diseases
9. Diabetes mellitus
10. Kidney diseases
The world’s biggest killer is ischaemic heart disease,
responsible for 16% of the world’s total deaths. Since
2000, the most significant increase in fatalities has been
for this disease, rising by more than 2 million to 8.9 million
deaths in 2019. Meanwhile, neonatal conditions are ranked
5th. However, deaths from neonatal conditions are one of
the categories for which the global decrease in deaths in
absolute numbers over the past two decades has been the
greatest: these conditions killed 2 million newborns and
young children in 2019, 1.2 million fewer than in 2000.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO)
6 BabyTalk | March 2022