TWIN SURVIVAL REDUCES CP RISK

Cerebral palsy (CP) is less common among normal birthweight twins if both survive. It is known to be rarer among singleton infants, partly because they are less likely to be premature or low birth weight. The authors decided to study the condition in twins using national data to identify all UK registered twin births (n = 17 188) in 1994 and 1995. Questionnaires were used to obtain information from parents and general practitioners on the same twins where they are part of two previously described national surveys. An observed excess of CP among normal weight like sex twins compared with unlike sex twins was not found to be statistically significant but the authors hypothesise that monochorionicity is the crucial factor in the higher rates of CP among same sex twins. (

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SMOKERS UNDER-REPORT IN TANZANIA

Smoking is on the increase in East Africa, and women there tend to under-report how much they smoke. Researchers from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne studied the smoking prevalence of a population from Tanzania using a self reporting questionnaire, which was validated by measuring exhaled alveolar carbon monoxide (EACO) concentrations. …