Harvard Health Content API

Taking DHA supplements during pregnancy may help your baby fend off colds, a new study suggests. DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid. It’s one of the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil and some other foods. The study included more than 1,000 pregnant women. They were randomly assigned to receive either DHA pills or placebo (fake) pills. After the babies were born, they were asked to keep diaries about any symptoms of illness the babies had. They filled out questionnaires about their babies’ health at ages 1, 3 and 6 months. Babies whose mothers took DHA were 24% less likely to have a combination of cold symptoms at 1 month of age than babies from the other group. Their cold symptoms also were shorter at 1 and 3 months of age. At 6 months, they had fever, runny nose and breathing problems for a shorter time than those whose mothers got the placebo.

Gout, once called the “disease of kings,” is becoming more common. It is a type of arthritis that causes inflammation in the joints. About 4 of every 100 Americans now has gout, according to a new study. That’s about 8.3 million people. Gout results from a buildup of uric acid in the blood. Research has linked gout with metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The study was published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism. HealthDay News wrote about it July 28.

Computer-aided detection (CAD) does not improve the accuracy of mammograms, a new study suggests. Most mammograms in the United States use CAD. Researchers analyzed 1.6 million mammograms performed on over 680,000 women in 7 states from 1998 to 2006. CAD did not improve the detection of invasive breast cancer. It also did not increase the chance of detecting breast cancer at an earlier stage. However, the false-positive rate increased from 8.1% to 8.6% with CAD, meaning women had a greater chance of being called back for further testing. The study was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. HealthDay News wrote about it July 27.

Many U.S. patients may be able to save money on drugs soon. Several popular brand-name drugs are losing patent protection in the next 14 months. They are likely to face less costly generic competition soon afterward. Patents will include many blockbusters, the Associated Press (AP) said July 26. Among them are the world’s two top sellers, Lipitor and Plavix. Lipitor (atorvastatin) is a cholesterol drug. Plavix (clopidogrel) is a blood thinner. Others with expiring patents include drugs for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, depression, high triglycerides and other conditions. Among them are 5 of the top 20 drugs sold in the world, AP said. Generic medicines are chemically equivalent to the brand-name drugs that they copy. They work in the same way. They typically cost 20% to 80% less than brand-name drugs.

Antibiotics prevent more urinary tract infections (UTIs) than cranberry pills, a new study has found. But taking antibiotics also led to more resistant bacteria. The study included 221 women. All of them had at least 3 UTIs in the last year. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group took 2 daily cranberry pills and 1 placebo pill. The other group took trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This antibiotic is sold as Bactrim, Septra and other brands. These women took 1 antibiotic pill and 2 placebo pills each day. The women did not know which drug they were getting. In the next year, women who took the antibiotics had an average of 2 UTIs. The average was 4 infections with the cranberry pills. Within the first month, 85% of those taking the antibiotic had resistant E. coli in their bodies. E. coli bacteria are the most common cause of UTIs.