TORONTO – Mary Poppins was singing the right tune about how to make the medicine go down, according to a new analysis.

Researchers did a review of previous studies looking at whether sugar water solutions helped babies with pain when they were being immunized.

Altogether, 14 randomized controlled trials met their criteria, and they summarized the findings from more than 1,600 injections for babies aged one month to a year.

Babies who were given sucrose or glucose cried less often and for shorter periods and had lower pain scores in 13 of the studies, compared to infants who were given water or no treatment.

The review was done by researchers in Toronto, Australia and Brazil, and published ahead of print Wednesday in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Based on their findings, the team recommends that health-care professionals consider using sucrose or glucose before and during immunization for babies up to 12 months.

“For multiple immunizations, the total dose of sweet solution should be given prior to and throughout the procedure to ensure sustained effects of sweet tasting analgesia,” says the study, which involved researchers from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.

“Further studies are warranted comparing different concentrations of sucrose and glucose and the use of single dosing two minutes prior to painful procedures to multiple dosing over the course of procedures.”

It also suggests that sweet solutions should be considered for other painful procedures for infants, besides immunizations.

These solutions are readily available, easy to administer and inexpensive, the study notes.

Austrian researchers have debunked the Mozart myth once and for all.

A new study from the University of Vienna analyzed 15 years of research into the so-called “Mozart effect” which suggests listening to the famous composer can increase a child’s IQ.

The myth has its roots in science. A 1993 study in the journal Nature demonstrated that people perform better on spatial tasks ‹ such as recognizing patterns, or folding paper – after listening to Mozart for 10 minutes.

But since then, many researchers have attempted to recreate the study, each time to no avail.

Nevertheless, the Mozart effect took off, prompting plenty of parents to play the classical music for their children, and some private schools and music companies to use the study’s findings as a marketing tool.

In 1993, The New York Times published an article that said listening to Mozart would make high school students perform better on the SAT.

In 1998, Georgia passed a bill to ensure every mother of a newborn would receive a complimentary classical music CD.

That year, Florida¹s state government passed a law requiring state-funded daycare centres to play at least one hour of classical music a day.

More recently, a team of researchers led by Jakob Pietschnig looked at 40 studies on the topic, totalling more than 3,000 participants.

They found that while listening to music might have some positive benefits on cognitive abilities, Mozart’s music does not breed geniuses.

Most studies saw no effect on cognitive performance at all.

Some studies suggest if a Mozart effect does exist, it’s no different than a Pearl Jam effect or a Lady Gaga effect, because listening to any kind of music at all increased performance, though only slightly.

“I recommend listening to Mozart to everyone, but it will not meet expectations of boosting cognitive abilities”, said Pietschnig.

OTTAWA – Ottawa should have been basking in praise by now for its efforts to push the G8 to fund maternal and child healthcare in developing countries.

The last time Canada hosted a G8 summit, Ottawa’s centrepiece – to build a self-help plan for Africa – was well framed and well financed by this point in the summit cycle.

This time, with just seven weeks to go before G8 leaders meet in Huntsville, Ont., the signature campaign is still so vague that observers are left wondering if it will ever be meaningful.

No funding target has been set, no structure for the funding has been made public, and it’s not clear exactly what the donor countries will be contributing their money to, says John Kirton, director of the G8 research group at the University of Toronto.

“They’ve left it so long,” he said.

When Canada hosted the G8 in Kananaskis, Alta., in June 2002, the donor funding for the African initiative was already on the table by March of that year, Kirton noted. The rest of the time leading up to the summit was spent figuring out how to divvy up the money.

This time, “we’re almost two months late,” Kirton said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced with much fanfare at the end of January that the maternal and child health focus would be his signature on the summit. But many insiders say that decision was made just a few days before the announcement, and was not thought through beforehand.

“They just threw it out there,” said Liberal MP Keith Martin, who is heavily involved in international efforts for development and health.

Then, questions about whether Ottawa would support access to safe abortions and family planning dominated the discussion, until Harper and International Development Minister Bev Oda finally settled the matter 10 days ago with a firm No.

“The system did lose several weeks and months fighting about abortion,” Kirton said.

Development ministers from the G8 countries decided at a meeting in Halifax last month that their maternal and child health initiative should be cost-effective, focused on the poorest countries, and not involve new funding mechanisms.

They also agreed that their efforts would have “high impact” at the community level, targeting pre-natal and post-partum care, family planning, reproductive health, disease prevention, transmission of HIV, immunization and nutrition.

But they also said that before they agree on how to do this, they need international organizations to set out concrete goals, develop methodologies, collect data and improve tracking of investments.

“Having broad statements is fine,” said Kimberly Hunter, spokeswoman for ONE, a large, global anti-poverty group. “But we want to see specifics.”

Such talk about collecting more data is a clear sign the G8 countries are a far cry from agreeing to put money on the table, says Mark Fried, policy coordinator for Oxfam Canada.

“It generally has no substance to it.”

Improving maternal and child health is central to the Millenium Development Goals established by the United Nations as bench marks for the world to achieve by 2015. Of the eight goals, maternal health is the one showing the least progress.

So, efforts by the Harper government to have the G8 tackle that area were initially warmly welcomed around the world.

Non-governmental estimates for how much the G8 should contribute range from about $4 billion (U.S.) over the next five years to about $15 billion.

But as development officials figure out how to deliver something substantial by June 26, the G8 agenda has been overcome by other priorities that are just as demanding of the countries’ pocketbooks.

Rich countries have promised to pay poor countries $30 billion to help them deal with climate change. The G8 promised a year ago to contribute $20 billion for food security.

And now, the debt crisis that started in Greece and is spreading to other countries has meant an enormous bailout financed by European governments and the International Monetary Fund.

Talk of further funding is in the air, even as most G8 countries are struggling to keep their deficits from spiralling out of control.

Add to that an emphasis by Harper to make governments accountable for their previous promises, and countries are loath to trumpet big new spending announcements.

“I can see why they’d be gun shy about putting funding numbers on the table,” Kirton said.

WASHINGTON – U.S. safety officials are looking into a handful of reports of severe rashes caused by new types of Pampers diapers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission started an investigation this week following complaints of babies and toddlers suffering severe and persistent diaper rashes and blisters that resemble chemical burns.

In March, Proctor & Gamble launched new versions of its Swaddlers and Cruisers diapers in the U.S.

The thinner diapers use the company’s Dry Max technology to replace the paper pulp previously used. Parents’ groups blame the change for skin problems.

The company denies that Dry Max causes chemical burns.

A Facebook page asking the company to bring back the older versions of its diapers has more than 4,000 members.

OTTAWA – As a child, Jodie Cook hung back from the action on the soccer field picking dandelions and trapping grasshoppers rather than chasing the ball. Sports were never encouraged at home and fitness just didn’t interest her.

“I was the chubby girl in class, you know, 10 pounds heavier than the other kids,” she said. “It’s always been something I’ve dealt with.”

Cook is now 31, medically obese and pregnant with her first child. She worries her baby will grow up and repeat her experience: grappling with his weight and hanging back.

So she jumped at the opportunity to be part of the MOM trial – the Maternal Obesity Management study run by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Amid growing evidence that obesity begins in the womb, CHEO’s Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research group is testing whether a nutrition and exercise program for overweight and obese pregnant women will influence the birth weight and growth patterns of their children.

“We know that pregnancy is a really important teachable moment,” said Dr. Kristi Adamo, the MOM trial’s lead researcher.

“Women will do all sorts of things in pregnancy that they would not do in their normal life.

“We’re hoping to capitalize on that period of time, where a woman is willing to change and motivated to change, not necessarily for her own health but certainly for the health of her child.”

Adamo said 40 per cent of women carry more weight during pregnancy than is considered healthy.

“If mom and dad are overweight or obese, their children tend to follow the same trajectory.”

The longer obesity persists, the harder it is to treat. The CHEO team is intervening at the earliest possible stage to see if they can stop the cycle of generational obesity.

The team’s goal is for the women to stay within recommended pregnancy weight gain limits. For obese women, that means gaining no more than 20 pounds throughout the pregnancy.

If the moms achieve that goal, Adamo’s team believes their babies will be more likely to have normal birth weights. Once born at a healthy weight, the babies will then be more likely to follow normal growth patterns throughout childhood. That would reduce their risk of obesity later in life.

Twice a week since January, the moms-to-be have gathered for a one-hour fitness class designed specifically for pregnant women. The focus is on strengthening the pelvis and upper back. The program changes as their bellies grow and some moves – such as knee-lifts – become challenging.

Cook, who is nearly eight months pregnant, found the workouts gruelling at first. Making time after a day’s work can be a challenge and the aches and pains that come with pregnancy make the sessions more daunting.

But she said she’s starting to feel a real difference in her body.

“I have better balance and I have more strength … I’ve been able to basically maintain my weight now. So in essence I’m gaining baby weight, losing body fat.”

The study will monitor about 30 women through their pregnancies over the next few years and compare their results with 30 others in a control group.

On top of the fitness class, the participants are encouraged to walk for 30 minutes three times a week. They also see a dietitian to develop a healthy eating plan that is laden with fruits and vegetables, controlled portion sizes and limited calories.

Dr. Michelle Mottola has been studying pregnant women for two decades at the University of Western Ontario’s exercise and pregnancy lab. She helped develop Canada’s first exercise and fitness guide for expecting moms.

Mottola found the overweight and obese women she studied were giving birth to larger than average babies and she’s now looking closely at the babies in a separate study.

She said it’s important to make the womb a healthy environment, but the home has to be prepped as well.

“Without incorporating family into the whole idea of behaviour change these women will actually pick up the bad habits that they had prior to pregnancy.”

A second intervention after pregnancy – with more nutrition and exercise – is critical to long-term success, she said.

“Without that … the women kind of fall off the bandwagon and pick up the bad habits that they had previously.”

Mottola’s team will monitor the babies in their trial until their first birthdays.

She said she would love to track the children for longer – especially looking at the critical period where they enter the school system – to see how successful their program really is. That depends on future funding.

Cook’s baby and other MOM trial kids will be monitored until they are two years old.

The MOM trial fitness program ends after the babies are born. But Cook said she and her partner are determined to continue the healthy lifestyle even after bringing home their new baby boy.

“I want him to have the start where we’re introducing physical activity into his life from a really young age.

“I want it to increase his health, or chances of being more healthy, and I also just want it to kind of spiral into something better for myself.”

WASHINGTON – U.S. federal health regulators say Johnson & Johnson managers failed to test for contamination of more than 40 varieties of children’s cold medicines recalled over the weekend .

An inspection report released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration lists more than 20 manufacturing problems found at the Fort Washington, Pa., plant where the formulas were produced.

The products were recalled in the U.S., Canada and 10 other countries. The recall included children and infant formulations of Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl.

In Canada, the company said the impact of the recall was limited to all lots of children’s Motrin and infants’ Motrin liquid suspension products and children’s Tylenol cough and runny nose liquid suspension only.

FDA inspectors visited the plant in mid-April and wrapped up their inspection Friday. J&J issued its “voluntary” recall later that night.

Among other problems, FDA inspectors said the company did not have laboratory facilities to test drug ingredients and failed to follow up on customer complaints.

The FDA previously said serious medical problems with the products are unlikely, but advised consumers to stop using the medicine as a precaution.

J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit said some of the recalled medicines may have a higher concentration of the active ingredient than listed on the bottle. Others may contain particles, while still others may contain inactive ingredients that do not meet testing requirements.

The sweeping recall, which involved products sold in the U.S. and 11 other countries, is the latest quality issue to taint J&J’s over-the-counter medicine franchise.

In January, the company recalled a line of adult Tylenol pain relievers due to complaints of a mouldy smell associated with wooden pallets used to transport the drugs.

WASHINGTON – More than 40 over-the-counter infant’s and children’s liquid medications are being recalled in the United States and 11 other countries because they don’t meet quality standards.

McNeil Consumer Healthcare issued the recall for children’s versions of Tylenol, Tylenol Plus, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl after consulting with the Food and Drug Administration.

The company is recalling the products because some did not meet required quality standards, the company said in a statement Friday. Some of the products recalled may have a higher concentration of active ingredient than is specified on the bottle. Others may contain particles, while still others may contain inactive ingredients that do not meet internal testing requirements.

The company is advising consumers to stop giving the products to their children as a precautionary measure. The recall was not undertaken because of any adverse effects, the company said.

The medicines were made and distributed in the United States, and exported to Canada, the Dominican Republic, Dubai, Fiji, Guam, Guatemala, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago and Kuwait.

Details, including NDC numbers, are available by telephone at 1-888-222-6036 or on the Web at www.mcneilproductrecall.com.

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On the Net:

McNeil Product Recall Information: http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com

Food and Drug Administration: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch

TORONTO – Taking high doses of vitamin D during pregnancy is safe and appears to reduce the risk of pre-term birth and infections, say the authors of a study that compared different amounts of supplementation in expectant mothers.

But their recommendation that pregnant women should take 4,000 international units of vitamin D daily – at least 10 times the standard recommended amount – is sure to generate controversy.

“When we first proposed the study in 2002, it was heresy to even think about giving more than 400 international units a day of vitamin D,” co-principal investigator Dr. Carol Wagner said from Vancouver, where the two-part study is being presented at an international pediatrics meeting.

In the 1950s and ’60s, there was concern that vitamin D could cause birth defects, said Wagner, a pediatric researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

That idea was later debunked and growing evidence has shown that the so-called sunshine vitamin is critical for maternal and infant health, including ensuring strong bones and proper function of the immune system.

“Diet doesn’t provide enough vitamin D, and we don’t go in the sun as much as we need (to),” said Wagner, adding that her research team set out to determine the optimal dose of vitamin D supplements for pregnant women that would promote health without doing harm.

The researchers enrolled 494 pregnant women at 12 to 16 weeks’ gestation in the study and assigned them to three groups: one group received 400 IUs of vitamin D a day until delivery; the second got 2,000 IUs; and the third 4,000 IUs. The women were tested monthly to ensure they were not suffering any negative effects.

Neither the women nor the researchers knew what dose of vitamin D they were receiving in the study, a “blinded,” randomized controlled trial whose methodology is considered the gold standard of medical science.

“What we found was that 2,000 was better than 400, and 4,000 was the best, without any adverse events that were associated with vitamin D,” said Wagner. “And then … we found fewer infections in the 4,000 group and fewer pre-term labours and-or pre-term birth deliveries in the 4,000 group compared to the 400 group.”

Analysis of the data also showed that the women taking 4,000 units of vitamin D had half the rate of pregnancy-related disorders, such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, compared to expectant mothers taking 400 units.

“So that blew us away.”

However, Wagner conceded that the notion of pregnant women taking a daily dose of 4,000 IUs of vitamin D will likely stir some debate, especially within the medical community. The current recommended daily dose is 200 to 400 IUs daily.

And given the responses of several experts asked to comment on the study, Wagner is right.

Dr. Gideon Koren, head of the Motherisk Program at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, said the study is too small to provide such a definitive recommendation and to “declare therapeutic superiority” of 4,000 units of vitamin D.

“I think for now women should be sure that they get the recommended dose. I don’t know that this study by itself should send women to buy 4,000. No, no way. I don’t think this is sufficient.”

“The study’s important to show that it doesn’t cause side-effects, but I think to tell women that they need 4,000 – to go from 400 to 4,000 – is huge.”

However, Dr. Reinhold Vieth, head of the Bone and Mineral Laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, has long argued that recommended daily amounts (RDAs) for vitamin D are outdated and woefully inadequate.

The Canadian Cancer Society recommends that adults should consider taking 1,000 units a day during the fall and winter. However, older and darker-skinned adults should think about taking that amount year-round.

Vieth, who has conducted numerous studies on vitamin D in different patient populations, said the Canadian Pediatric Society has been advocating 2,000 units during pregnancy since 2007.

“The next step, 4,000, well, I bet you they’ll come up with that in a couple of years, because this (the Wagner-group study) has to get published first,” he said, adding that he agrees that pregnant women should be taking that level of vitamin D daily.

“Yes, absolutely. They’d be foolish not to.”

Dr. Robert Gagnon, a spokesman for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC), said the study was well-designed and its findings are important.

The Montreal specialist said SOGC is in the process of reviewing the medical literature before deciding on its official recommendation for expectant mothers.

“We need to see all the details of the study before we come to the recommendation,” he said. “To say (pregnant women) should take 4,000, I think it’s a little premature for that.”

VANCOUVER, B.C. – New mothers who want to give up their infants because they face addiction, poverty, or are still just children themselves, will soon be able to walk away after anonymously dropping their babies off at a Vancouver hospital.

St. Paul’s Hospital will launch its Angel’s Cradle program, the first of its kind in Canada, on May 3. The downtown hospital said Thursday the initiative is designed to provide a safe haven for troubled mothers who can’t care for their infants.

Mothers will be able to place their babies inside a bassinet in the emergency department and leave. The cradle, which sits in a secure area, is equipped with an alarm that lets hospital staff know 30 seconds after the baby has been put inside.

Neither hospital employees nor Vancouver police will make any effort to track the mother down.

Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, who works in the hospital’s obstetrics and gynecology department and helped design Angel’s Cradle, said he doesn’t believe it will lead to more children being abandoned.

“I think that there’s a sizable subset of people who, when they first hear about it, it seems wrong because the whole idea of a mother abandoning a baby is hard to take,” he said.

“But I think when they actually stop and think about what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to make sure that there’s an alternative for the baby, I think that it’s usually well received.”

Providence Health Care, a faith-based organization that operates the hospital, said infant abandonment is a fact of life and this initiative provides a better option than simply leaving a baby outside, or worse.

St. Paul’s has had abandoned infants before, including a three-to four-hour old newborn that was found wrapped in a towel and plastic bag. A newborn’s body was found in a Richmond, B.C., dump last February.

Once a health assessment on any infant left at St. Paul’s is complete, the baby will be placed in the care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

If the mother later decides she wants her baby back, she has the option of contacting the ministry and arranging a meeting with social workers.

“We feel that women who are in this situation are part of our patient population and there is really no other resource for them that specifically allows them to remain anonymous and so we thought it was in our mission to provide this,” Cundiff said.

“Women who are in these circumstances, obviously, it must be a very difficult situation.”

Greg Smith, executive director of Vancouver-based Options for Sexual Health, previously known as Planned Parenthood, said his organization is firmly behind the Angel’s Cradle program.

“From our perspective, this is a good idea. Anything that supports the health of new babies and new mothers is good,” he said.

Like Cundiff, Smith said it’s unlikely the program will lead to a greater number of babies suddenly being abandoned.

“I don’t think that anybody will be less careful about their decisions on sexual health or sexuality just because the Angel’s Cradle is there,” he said.

Smith said mothers leaving their babies behind is very rare and when it does happen, it speaks to the extreme level of crisis in one’s life.

“I think we need to really appreciate what kind of crisis a woman is in to come to this decision,” he said.

“Having a baby can be overwhelming for anybody but if you’re young and not very capable in terms of looking after a baby and so on, then that becomes a very daunting prospect.”

Sarah Payne, coordinator at Sheway, a Downtown Eastside pregnancy outreach program that’s located just a couple of kilometres from St. Paul’s, said age isn’t the only obstacle new moms in the area might face. There’s also poverty and addiction.

BEIJING – China’s top health body said Thursday that health workers who improperly dispose of dead babies will be “severely dealt with” following an investigation into the dumping of several bodies along a river in eastern China.

A scandal erupted last month when the bodies of 21 babies and fetuses – some with hospital identification tags around their ankles and at least one stuffed in a yellow bag marked “medical waste” – were found washed ashore on the Guangfu river on the outskirts of Jining city in Shandong province.

The Ministry of Health said on its website that hospitals should dispose of dead babies as they would any other corpse.

“The incident exposed loopholes in the hospital management, created negative social influence and yielded profound lessons,” the Ministry of Health report said.

The report said dead babies and fetuses should not be treated as medical waste, but did not give details on how local hospitals normally dispose of medical waste.

Calls to the Ministry of Health rang unanswered Thursday afternoon.

Two hospital mortuary workers, Zhu Zhenyu and Wang Zhijun, were fired by their hospital and detained by police as suspects, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing Jining government spokesman Gong Zhenhua. The babies’ families had paid the pair to dispose of the bodies, but they instead dumped them at the river.

In China, most families are permitted to have only one or two children and a traditional preference for sons remains strong and the abandoning, aborting and killing of newborn baby girls is still common in rural areas.

Infants who die from disease are often abandoned or buried in unmarked graves, not being old enough to be formally considered part of the family.