HIV-Infected Cells may Dwell in Bone Marrow

A new dwelling of HIV-infected cells has been brought to notice by Researchers at University of Michigan. The findings also point towards a new target for getting a new remedy for the disease; hence the infected ones need not rely on AIDS drug throughout their life.

It is revealed in a latest study that the virus lurks in the bone marrow cells and comes back to life under specific circumstances.

"Antiviral drugs have been effective at keeping the virus at bay. However once the drug therapy is stopped, the virus comes back", Nature quoted senior author of the study Dr Kathleen L. Collins, as saying.

People infected with human immunodeficiency virus who are consuming anti-viral drugs can't get rid of the virus for good. Infected cells will continue to dwell in the body, unnoticed by the immune system and will supply machinery for the dreadful virus to multiply.

The study has revealed that bone marrow may contain some hidden infection, which earlier was thought of as resistant to the virus. Currently used anti-HIV drug treatments have no effect on them.

Collins said, "Currently people have to take anti-viral drugs for their entire life to control the infection. It would be easier to treat this disease in countries that don't have the same resources as we do with a course of therapy for a few months, or even years. But based on what we know now people have to stay on drugs for their entire life".

Gut bacteria can cause obesity

According to a new study, not only food makes you heavy but bacteria present in gut can also make you gain pounds.

This happens when wrong bacteria takes over causing a low-level inflammation. This further leads to a pre-diabetic condition that increases the appetite.

Senior author Andrew Gewirtz of Emory University School of Medicine said, "It has been assumed that the obesity epidemic in the developed world is driven by an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and the abundance of low-cost, high-calorie foods.”

The results stated that extra calories consumed was not only due to unregulated eating but also because intestinal bacteria contribute to changes in appetite and metabolism.

Gewirtz and his colleagues had conducted a study on a mice that were made deficient in a key immune system protein TLR5 by genetic engineering. TLR5 enables cells sense the presence of bacteria.

TLR5 knows which bacteria is good and is needed and doesn't harm them.

Immune system is also capable of regulating the bacteria but is not very good in doing so as a result there is a change in the bacterial composition that leads to a low level inflammation and insulin receptors are desensitized.

It was noticed that the mice put to test ate about 10 per cent more food and ended up about 20 per cent heavier.

UK gives South Africa millions of condoms

UK ministers said South Africa had appealed for one billion condoms.

Last month, South African officials said they were beefing up their condom supply to cope with about 450,000 visitors expected for the World Cup.

More than five million people in South Africa have HIV - more than in any other country.

Last month, South African medical official Victor Ramathesele told a medical conference organised by football's governing body Fifa that the country was preparing for the influx of visitors.

"There's going to be a large number of people who will be descending onto the country," he said.

"There's going to be a spirit of festivity and... there could be a more than usual demand for measures such as condoms.

"So there are measures in place to ensure that the condom supply is going to be ramped up during this tournament."

Leading by example?

Last week, South African President Jacob Zuma was on a state visit to the UK.

His government has been credited with giving new impetus to the country's fight against HIV and Aids.

The previous administration had denied the link between HIV and Aids, and suggested eating certain vegetables such as beetroot and garlic could act as natural remedies.

However, Aids activists have recently criticised Mr Zuma, who has three wives, for fathering a child out of wedlock.

They said he was not providing a good example.

The UK's Department for International Development (Dfid) announced the donation at a meeting in London attended by officials from several African countries with high levels of HIV.

Dfid said it was "supporting South Africa's leadership and drive to turn the tide on their epidemic".

Cleft NZ lights a way out of the dark

When Danielle Eramiha discovered her daughter Izabella would be born with a cleft lip she felt "completely in the dark".

Ms Eramiha was 23 weeks pregnantwhen she was told her baby would be born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate.

A cleft lip or palate occurs during early pregnancy when part of the face does not join together properly while it is developing. Cases vary in severity.

Izabella's bilateral cleft lip and palate meant that her upper lip was split in two places which extended all the way into her throat.

"I jumped on the internet to see what it was and the first images I saw were the really worst case scenarios," the Papakura mother says.

"All I could think of was that Izabella was going to come out looking like those pictures and it was kind of frightening."

Thankfully specialists referred her to Cleft New Zealand which provided her with education and support, Ms Eramiha says.

The non-profit organisation, formerly known as Cleft Lip and Palate Support Group, helps around 400 families throughout the county. The organisation provides support and education to its families by hosting regular events, monthly coffee groups and websites on the internet.

Ms Eramiha attends a monthly coffee group and it’s been invaluable to her, she says.

"We meet up and talk about our day-to-day experiences and just share tips and the like in a safe and friendly environment.

"Knowing there are others out there going through the same thing really does help. And also the organisation is always just a phone call away whenever I need them, which has just been fantastic."

Now 18 months old, Izabella has had two lots of surgery to correct her cleft lip and palate.

The first she received when she was six months old to correct her lip, then another at 12 months to fix her palate. The surgeons bring lip and palate together to make them look as normal as possible, Ms Eramiha says.

"Izabella looks like a normal little girl but in the future her speech will be affected and she will need speech therapy to learn how to make the basic sounds. Her top teeth are affected as well and she will need an operation to correct them when she’s a little bit older."

Ms Eramiha hopes other families in the community who are in the same position as herself will contact Cleft NZ organisation.

Just knowing there are others who have gone through it can make all the difference, she says.

"I think they should definitely contact the organisation and especially if they don’t know anything about it.

"Families will always have questions and I believe Cleft NZ has most of the answers," she says.

Washington DC to distribute free female condoms

Within the next few weeks, Washington DC will be handing out 500,000 female condoms for free in parts of the city with high HIV, The Washington Post reports.

The move will make the District of Columbia the first city in the United States to distribute condoms for females at no cost.

Different approach to cut city's steep rate of HIV infection
The District will make 500,000 female condoms available in beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools in sections of the city that are plagued with high HIV rates, the Post says.

The city officials say the distribution could begin within the next three weeks.

A 2008 report showed at least 3 percent or about 15,100 adults in the nation's capital are living with HIV or AIDS, making it a major epidemic. HIV/AIDS infection is the leading cause of death among black women between 25 and 34 nationwide.

The condoms giveaway
The city officials said the distribution will take place in parts of wards 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7, where, as per a study results, large numbers of African American heterosexuals engage in risky sexual behavior that could easily lead to fatal infection.

The city has distributed male condoms citywide for nearly a decade to stem the District's epidemic of HIV and AIDS, but infection rates still remain high among Washington's black residents.

Now, the city officials say they want to provide women with an opportunity to protect themselves from HIV and sexually transmitted diseases when their partners refuse to use protection, the Post reports.

"Anywhere male condoms are available, female condoms will be available," Shannon Hader, director of the city's HIV/AIDS administration, told the Washington Post.

"We're trying to make every effort count to build on what already exists... to expand options rather than limit them."

Original and second version of female condoms
Female condoms have been in the U.S. market since 1993 but their usage has been slow, as the first version, FC1, was judged by US customers to be too expensive, about $17 for a box of five. Women who used it complained that it was unsatisfactory.

A second version, approved by the Federal Drug Administration last year, will be distributed in Washington DC and offered for sale in pharmacies alongside male condoms.

The new and improved version of the female condom, FC2, now being used in countries including South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia, consists of special polyurethane that conducts body heat to enhance sexual sensation for both men and women, claims Female Health Co., the manufacturer of the condom.

"There are areas where the city is not doing a good job [with AIDS], but in some areas they are cutting edge. On this one, they're cutting edge," Walter Smith, executive director of D.C. Appleseed, told the Post. "The very fact that they're doing this . . . says to women of the city that this is important to you. This is important to your families. Get with the program."

The grant and its usage
The female condom giveaway is funded through a $500,000 grant from the MAC AIDS Fund, a subsidiary of MAC Cosmetics, which contributes to numerous city programs, including two of the city's needle exchange programs.

Using the grant, the city will buy the female condoms at wholesale prices from its manufacturer and provide them for distribution by social service organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the Community Education Group, and the Women's Collective.

Meaningful talks can make you happier

Psychologists at the University of Arizona investigated the difference between happy and unhappy people on the basis of the conversations they had. It was found that a person is likely to be happier if he indulges less in petty talks and more in purposeful conversations.

“Profound conversations have the potential to make people happier,” said Matthias Mehl, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arizona and co-author of the study.

Connecting happiness to daily conversations
Participants of the study were assessed for their personality and well-being to gauge their level of happiness. 79 college men and women were then asked to wear unobtrusive recording devices over four days to monitor the talks they had with the people around them.

After listening to all the conversations, the researchers divided them into trivial small talks and deep, meaningful talks.

It was found that the happiest people had a lesser tendency to spend time alone; they spent 70 per cent more time talking as compared to those who were least happy.

Deep conversations make happy individuals
The study, published in ‘Psychological Science’ journal, reveals that “the happiest participants had twice as many deep and meaningful conversations and engaged in one third as much small talk as the unhappiest participants”.

The type of conversations you have indicates how you interact with your people.

“Just as self-disclosure can instill a sense of intimacy in a relationship, deep conversations may instill a sense of meaning in interaction with partners,” Mehl said.

The study authors do not rule out the importance of small talk; “For smooth social functioning, we need small talk,” said Mehl, but “What really connects you to people is substantive, meaningful conversation rather than small talk.”

More for men?
Another interesting finding of the study was related to gender. While women are known to share their feelings and deeper thoughts easier then men, the study authors found that the effects of having significant conversations were slightly greater for men. However, they did not discuss the reason behind this difference.

Happier people are known to be more social. But the study says happiness doesn’t come from shallow socializing alone, it comes from engaging in deep and relevant talks with your people.

According to Mehl, the study suggests that “happy life is social and conversationally deep rather than solitary and superficial”.

Coffee Not Linked to Serious Arrhythmias, Study Says

In a long-term prospective study, patients who reported drinking at least four cups of coffee a day were 18 percent less likely to be admitted with a heart rhythm disturbance than those who drank no coffee at all, according to Dr. Arthur Klatsky, a senior consultant in cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.

Tea consumption did not have a similar effect.

The findings, which were presented at the American Heart Association's Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention this week, were unexpected, Klatsky said, because patient reports of palpitation or forceful heartbeat after drinking coffee are not uncommon.

People who can't tolerate coffee or caffeine should avoid both, Klatsky said in an interview, advice that should not change based on the results of the study.

Baby born with rare genetic skin disorder

A child with a very rare genetic skin disorder Harlequin-type ichthyosis was born in Gilgit Friday night that brought dozens of people to the hospital to catch a glimpse of the child.

According to details, the child has red stripes all over the body and his hands are different than normal human babies. Eyelids of the baby are also severely averted, which leaves the eyes and the area around them very susceptible to trauma whereas the lips are pulled by the dry skin.

According to Dr Iftikhar, a pediatrician, the child is suffering from a rare skin disease Harlequin-type ichthyosis due to which the body looks like a tiger. He said that continuous cousin marriages may result in such cases.

In Pakistan, four such cases have been reported so far and all four died soon after the birth.

In the past, the disorder was invariably fatal, whether due to dehydration, infection (sepsis), restricted breathing due to the plating, or other related causes. The most common cause of death was systemic infection and sufferers rarely survived for more than a few days. However, there have been improvements in care due to modern medical practices.

Excess of Vaccines, the Biggest Challenge

All the top U. S. public health leaders at the conference saw the eye to eye on Friday, regarding the fact that that people have stopped being vaccinated and now how the surplus vaccines of H1N1 swine flu to be used, is the one of the biggest challenges. Earlier people were bawling for H1N1 vaccines, but only a few came for vaccination.

"The truth is for this pandemic we had about the longest warning we might ever have for a potential bio-threat. And yet we all lament how long it took for vaccine to be made", said Dr. Nicole Lurie, who heads preparedness at the Health and Human Services Department.

About 12,000 Americans have been killed by the H1N1 virus and nearly 250,000 patients have been hospitalized, according to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to CDC about more than half the U. S. population should have been vaccinated and 250 million vaccines had been ordered but the scheduled didn't happen.

"We told people to prepare to be vaccinated in October and then we didn't show up with vaccine", said Texas State Health Commissioner David Lakey.

To make available free H1N1 vaccinations to students upto age 9 and to those who require their second dose, the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department will to three public schools.

March Month of Colon Cancer Awareness

As March is the Colon Cancer Awareness Month, Tammy Walker Cancer Center of Salina is raising awareness. In the initial stages of colon cancer, only a few symptoms can be seen and this is the reason why screening is so essential.

Pam Miller, a Brandon woman, couldn't notice the symptoms and later she found herself suffering with cancer. She came to know about it in 2008.

"I didn't have what they typically look for when they ask questions about the possibility of colon cancer. I was constipated and that was it. I had been for a number of years and I should have pursued it with my doctors but I didn't because of the embarrassment. They'd say eat more apples so I'd go home and it never worked so I take over-the-counter meds for the constipation", said Pam.

"Colon cancer if caught early is a very curable cancer. People should be aware that it can be detected early through colonoscopy even before symptoms appear. It arises from polyps and it takes 5 to 10 years of polyps to become cancerous", said Dr. Addison Tolentino, Oncologist at the Avera Cancer Institute.

The doctors of Avera Cancer Institute removed a foot and a half of her colon, which is the length of an arm. A free online Colorectal Health Assessment is being provided by Avera to help people understand the risk factors and to recommend screenings that can save lives.

Hopeful Approval for InterMune Drug Increases Shares

On Friday, shares of InterMune were seen surging in anticipation of the approval of an experimental lung disease drug.

The Food and Drug Administration has given a positive signal to the drug in a trial, but the drug maker is still waiting for March 9 evaluations. A final judgment on the drug will be given by the FDA by May 4.

Morningstar Analyst, Lauren Migliore wrote, "While no new data have been released, investors seem satisfied with the content and tone of the briefing documents for the meeting".

Shareholders rejoiced as shares of InterMune increased 59.3% to close at $23.28.

The drug, pirfenidone or Esbriet, aims to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an unusual disease that commonly leads to blemishes and inflammation of the lungs.

At present, the drug is only sold in Japan, but recently, InterMune has asked for permission to promote the drug in Europe where there is no drug for the treatment of IPF.

"Pirfenidone will be InterMune's ticket to breaking into the IPF market once and for all", said Migliore.

Crestwood Residents Scared by Cancer Study

Frank Caldario, 30 years old, one of the residents of the Crestwood, has been diagnosed with kidney cancer after drinking contaminated water which contains toxic chemicals.

The consumption of contaminated water has elevated the Kidney, Lung and Gastrointestinal cancer rates in residents of the village.

The Illinois Department of Public Health had carried the study of cancer cases in the small community of about 11,000 between 1994 and 2006.

"Of course there's a concern. If I said it wasn't in the back of my head, I'd be lying. You don't want to think something bad could happen from just drinking water", said Dominic Covone, 37, a resident of about six years.

The Federal Government's current investigations have been described as Gestapo tactics, but the department defended its investigations by stating that the increases were not the kinds of cancers scientists had expected could trigger by the type of chemicals found in Crestwood's drinking water, and also added that smoking, alcohol use, heredity and workplace exposure in the suburb could probably be reasons for the increase in cancers in the area.

The state has planned to hold a meeting in a town hall at the Ozinga Chapel Auditorium of Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights to clear the residents' doubts about the cancer study.

Anti-drinking campaigns hardly any use--study

Researchers from the Kellog Institute of Management, Northwestern University have claimed that the ads which concentrate on prohibiting people from over drinking actually provoke them to do so.

The phenomenon, known as “defensive processing,” which triggers the viewer to react in a resentful manner towards the guilt-laden messages in the ads, is said to be more prevalent in the youth.

“The conventional wisdom from people who design these ads is, if we scare people enough it’s always going to be a good thing,” said study researcher Adam Duhachek, a marketing professor at Indiana University. “We demonstrate circumstances where they [not only] aren’t effective, but they cause a backlash where people actually drink more than if they hadn’t been exposed to the ads.”

According to the researchers, these ads may also be behind the 79000 deaths caused due to excessive drinking every year in the nation.

Details of the study
The first of its kind study looked at 1200 undergraduates who were exposed to the announcements designed for a Canadian anti-drinking campaign.

The subjects were shown two anti-drinking ads and were asked to fill up questionnaires on how likely they were to indulge in drinking sessions the following year.

The questionnaires revealed that the ones who were guiltier after watching the ads were more likely to drink.

Findings of the study
According to the study, shame- and guilt-laden messages in the campaigns are the major factors that trigger people to drink more than usual.

People who are already suffering from alcohol-related issues are more affected by these ads than others, the study further revealed. They start believing that the messages showing the ill effects of alcohol are meant only for “other people,” and that they are completely on the safe edge.

“The situation is worse than wasted money or effort,” said Duhachek. “These ads ultimately may do more harm than good, because they have the potential to spur more of the behavior they’re trying to prevent.”

idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis Effects Thousands of Americans

Shares of InterMune continue to perform very well upon positive news from a clinical trial of their experimental lung scarring drug.

The drug, pirfenidone is to treat a rare and fatal condition called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition in which scarrs form on the lungs for no apparent reason.

Currently there is no treatment available in the United States for people diagnosed with the condition.

“While reversal of the disease may not be feasible … the slowing of progression in loss of lung volume constitutes a clear benefit to patients,” the company said.

FDA officials are questioning the safety of the drug, but despite this fact investors are pouring their money into the company.

Some side effects listed from the clinical trial of the drug include; reactions to sunlight and rash, gastrointestinal issues, liver abnormalities, and in some cases even death.

This coming Tuesday, the FDA will ask an advisory panel to weigh the pros and cons of the drug and InterMune will find out by May fourth if their drug will be approved or not.

GPs slow to refer older women with ovarian cancer

Analysis of electronic patient records found that 66% of women aged over 70 had been referred to a specialist, compared with 82% of women under 55.

It also took longer for GPs to refer elderly patients for further tests.

Survival rates for cancer in the UK are among the lowest in Europe, particularly for older people.

The research, published in the British Journal of Cancer, suggests that age has an impact on how GPs manage women with ovarian cancer.

Researchers at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School studied patient records during the period 2002 to 2006.

They found that women aged between 45 and 69 years tended to be referred for gynaecological investigation within ten weeks of coming to their GP with symptoms. For women aged 75 to 79 years, the figure rose to 20 weeks.

"Ovarian cancer is a relatively rare disease but, as with all cancers, early diagnosis is important for improving the chances of successful treatment," said Rosemary Tate, lead author of the study.

Rates of diagnoses

The study also compared the rates of recorded diagnoses of ovarian cancer in the GPs' database with those in the UK cancer registries and found they were much lower.

These differences in rates were much larger for patients over 60 years old.

Researchers say this may be because GPs are less likely to record cancer diagnoses in older people if they have other serious illnesses. They may also be less motivated to investigate elderly patients for other problems first.

Peter Reynolds, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said it was unacceptable if older women were experiencing delays in referral.

"Women's chances of surviving ovarian cancer greatly improve if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage, so prompt referral by GPs could play a significant role in improving the UK's poor survival rates for ovarian cancer," he said.

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, echoed his comments: "Ovarian cancer is more common in older women, with four out of five cases in women over 50, so it's concerning if these older women are indeed less likely to be investigated."

The charity Target Ovarian Cancer said it was launching this week an online GP ovarian cancer learning tool, to help GPs make quicker and more accurate referrals.

Drinking Coffee Does Not Raise Risk of Abnormal Heart Rhythms

Coffee may reduce the risk of experiencing an abnormal heart rhythm, say researchers of a new study.

This study finding is great news for those who can not seem to get out the door in the morning without their daily fix.

The researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in California, say that drinking coffee in moderation may actually reduce your risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm.

Researchers surveyed people to find out how much coffee they drank, and then compared hospital data pertaining to those same people.

Those who said they drank four or more cups of coffee daily were 18% less likely to experience abnormal heart rhythsm

“This study does not mean that people should drink coffee to prevent rhythm problems,” said lead author Dr. Arthur Klatsky. “It supports the idea that people who are at risk for rhythm problems or who have rhythm problems do not need to abstain from coffee.”

Air pollution shoots up

Reports based on a new study states that California was responsible for hospital medical expenses over a period of three years that amounted to about $200 million. It happened because of failure to meet federal and state standards for air pollution.

According to the Rand Corp., in California excessive air pollution that included ozone and fine particles in the atmosphere, was responsible for 30,000 emergency hospital visits and admissions from 2005 to 2007.

Study author and Rand economist John Romley said, "California's failure to meet air pollution standards causes a large amount of expensive hospital care. The result is that insurance programs, both those run by the government and private payers, face higher costs because of California's dirty air."

A lot of money is spent in air pollution-related medical care. It amounts to a sum that would be needed to provide flu shots to 85 per cent kids who are under-15 years old in California.

Panel weighs cell phone cancer warning

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Ignoring the health risks of heavy cell phone use invites a cancer epidemic, supporters of a bill requiring manufacturers to put labels on mobile phones and packaging said Tuesday.

"We can do nothing and wait for the body count. That's what happened with smoking" before warnings on cigarette packs were mandated, David Carpenter, director of the Institute for Health and Environment at the University of Albany, told Maine lawmakers.

The Health and Human Services Committee held a hearing on a bill that would make Maine the first state to carry warnings that they can cause brain cancer, especially among children. Opponents dismissed research pointing to the risks and said the bill is more about politics than science.

The sponsor, Rep. Andrea Boland, said the United States lags behind other countries that have either mandated similar warnings or endorsed policies warning the public about cell phone use.

Carpenter, a Harvard Medical School graduate and researcher with expertise in electromagnetic fields, said the strongest evidence of cell phone dangers comes from Europe, where the devices have been in use longer than in the United States. He told lawmakers that the U.S. "may face an epidemic of brain cancer" if nothing is done to warn consumers of risks.

Boland, D-Sanford, said the risks diminish markedly if the phone is held away from the head.

Olle Johansson, a scientist at Karolinska Institute in Sweden, submitted testimony saying that "very serious biological changes" that include cancer risks have been noticed for years from exposure to low-frequency magnetic fields like those emitted from cell phones.

Supporters also included brain cancer patient and relatives of victims who said the disease was triggered by cell phone use.

"When you put that phone to your head, you are unknowingly playing Russian roulette," said Alan Marks of the San Francisco Bay area, who's been diagnosed with a brain tumor.

An industry group, TechAmerica, said Boland's bill "substitutes political judgment for the collective scientific judgment of experts around the world."

Kim Allman, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based group, said in a statement that scientific evidence so far does not indicate a public health risk and added that warning labels would be misleading and confusing.

Gov. John Baldacci's administration also opposes the bill.

Dora Anne Mills, director of the state Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said research by federal health and safety agencies does not justify a warning, although she acknowledged that uncertainty exists about the effects of long-term cell use.

Mills said the federal Food and Drug Administration is already taking precautionary action by urging the industry to do further research and to design cell phones to minimize exposure to risks.

But Mills said that if the state was to require warnings on everything with undefined risks, everything "from apples to xylophones" would have to be labeled.

Why DVDs are no way to nurture a baby

In my as-yet-unwritten but splenetic parenting book, there are few sights more insufferable than the middle classes treating their babies as though they were proper human beings. The tinier the infant, the more adult the conversation. The husband of a friend insists on matter-of-factly addressing their son as though he were a colleague from the Frankfurt office, rather than a head-lolling six-week-old who spends most of the day asleep. To whit: “I’m probably going to be late home from work after my 5pm conference call, so I’ll catch up with you in the morning.”

Another acquaintance proudly props up her four-month-old daughter in front of Baby Einstein DVDs for hours on end, as the dribbling tot apparently “adores it” and it’s “so educational”.

No wonder slackers like me, whose idea of nurturing is rolling around the floor playing the tickling hand game in a silly voice, have been made to feel like philistines in polite circles – up until now.

New research has shown that toddlers shown “educational” DVDs – popular with pushy parents keen to give their toddlers’ a head start – actually have worse vocabularies than children who didn’t. Far from boosting IQ, they appear to hamper learning, according to a team from California University who carried out a study of almost 100 one- and two-year-olds, using an £18 DVD from the Baby Einstein range.

Face-to-face time with parents appears to be far more stimulating, a view recently echoed by the Jean Gross, an educational psychologist and the government’s first “communication champion”, who admitted that middle class children are struggling to communicate because working parents are unable to spend enough quality time with them, read them bedtime stories or eat meals with them. “Our brains have not evolved to learn from machines; babies are primed to respond to a face,” says Gross.

According to speech and behavioural expert Sioban Boyce, the middle class preoccupation with hothousing and speaking to little children as though they were adults is not simply a bit pretentious, but downright harmful.

“Increasing numbers of parents are deciding not to 'babify’ their babies, which is just as contradictory as it sounds, and is storing up trouble for the future,” says Boyce, a former NHS speech and language therapist and author of Not Just Talking (£9.99, ), a parent’s guide to helping babies communicate from the moment they are born.

“Addressing little children like grown-ups is a very bad idea that can have long term consequences on their ability to communicate properly as they get older. They might be fine academically, but they will find it hard to maintain friendships and can become either very introverted or frustrated, and even aggressive.”

There are sound scientific reasons why we’re programmed to speak to our babies in exaggerated intonation pattern known as motherese. Ironically, this way of verbalisation is the only way they can learn to recognise and understand non-verbal communication, which accounts for between 60 per cent and 90 per cent of any conversation.

“By understanding big expressions, where we elongate vowels, make noises and adopt a sing-song tone, babies learn to 'read’ our faces and body language and understand what we are trying to convey, whether that’s excitement or anticipation or sadness or anger,” says Boyce, herself the mother of three boys.

In adult interactions, or on television, the social signals are so subtle that a child can’t read them. Without this foundation, he or she will go on to have great difficulty being able to interpret the unspoken cues we take for granted, which can be as diverse as a frown of disapproval or an interested nod.

Shared meals enable babies and children to see parents communicating with one another, and to discover that we talk to different people in different ways. Problems may go unnoticed, however, until the child is older, when their social skills will be out of synch with their peers, which may lead to their isolation in the playground.

“We’ve all encountered the highly articulate nine or ten-year-old who just opens his mouth and speaks exhaustively, without letting anyone else have a word in or being receptive to the reactions of the listener,” says Boyce. “In some cases, the child may be diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome or even autism, when in fact, all they need is to be taught the very basics of non-verbal communication.”

A DVD, no matter how “fun and stimulating”, is no substitute for one-to-one interaction. “Babies are fascinated by faces,” says Boyce, “and if they don’t discover early on that we need to look at people’s faces in order to properly understand what they are saying, then acquiring language is like trying to learn Chinese from the radio.”

Consumer group sues insurer over policy changes

Mary Feller's family of three spends nearly $25,000 a year on health insurance premiums, which is more than they pay on their home's mortgage in California's Marin County.

"I think for the first time we're really scared that we're going to be without health insurance," she said. Feller's especially worried for her 26-year-old daughter, a cancer survivor whose premium has tripled in four years.

That's why she decided to become a plaintiff in a lawsuit against California's largest for-profit health insurer on behalf of policyholders who were allegedly pushed to take coverage with fewer benefits and higher deductibles.

In a lawsuit filed in Ventura Superior Court on Monday, Anthem Blue Cross is accused of violating a California law requiring health insurers to offer new, comparable coverage or minimize premium increases when they close a policy.

According to the lawsuit, plaintiffs Mary Feller and Randy Freed received similar form letters from the Woodland Hills-based insurer, stating their policies were closed and they could "switch to any Anthem Blue Cross individual health plan with no underwriting required."

The lawsuit alleges that the few plans Anthem would allow Feller and Freed to switch into had higher premiums, higher deductibles, less coverage, or a combination of those undesirable traits.

Anthem Blue Cross spokeswoman Peggy Hinz said the insurer hasn't yet reviewed the lawsuit, declining further comment.

The lawsuit seeks class action status and is being brought by Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based consumer advocacy group, on behalf of Feller and Freed.

When the practice was outlawed in 1993, legislative analysts called it a "death spiral" because rates inevitably increased until policyholders could no longer afford coverage. As the coverage pool shrank over time, rates went up and up.

"It's a very profitable practice, and what we know is the insurance industry is very focused on short-term returns," said Jerry Flanagan, a health advocate for Consumer Watchdog.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of government scrutiny of a steep Anthem Blue Cross rate hike for roughly 700,000 individual policyholders in California. The hikes average 25 percent - some premiums will rise as much as 39 percent - but implementation of the hike has been delayed until May 1 while a state regulator investigates.

Anthem executives have blamed the current economic climate, flaws in the national health care system, high costs of health care and fewer young, healthy people holding onto insurance policies for the rate hikes.

The Obama administration has called Anthem's hike a harbinger of rising premiums in its arguments for health care reform.

In special hearings last week, California legislators and the U.S. House of Representatives questioned executives from WellPoint, Anthem's parent company, about proposed premium hikes in California, Maine and elsewhere.