The researchers from the Centre for Women's Mental Health at Manchester University say the risk of stillbirth and newborn deaths from any cause, was at least twice as high for mothers admitted with a serious psychiatric illness than for women with no such history.

The researchers studied almost 1.5 million births in Denmark between 1973 and 1998, including 7,021 stillbirths and found that the chances of stillborn or newborn death from all causes were greater for babies whose mothers had a serious mental-health illness.

Lead researcher Dr Kathryn Abel, along with Danish colleagues at Arhus University, says the risk of stillbirth for women with schizophrenia and women with affective disorders, was twice as high as for healthy mothers and women with other psychotic illnesses, including mood-affective disorders, manic depression and drug and alcohol addiction, were also shown to have a much greater risk of stillborn and newborn deaths.

Dr Abel says the risk of stillbirth due to complications during delivery among women with drug and alcohol problems was more than double that of healthy women and women with affective disorders were more than twice as likely to give birth to babies with congenital abnormalities, leading to stillbirth.

Dr Abel says for most causes of death, offspring of women with schizophrenia had no greater risk of stillbirth or neonatal death than other psychiatrically-ill mothers but the fact that the link between the cause of death and the illness of the mother varies, suggests that factors other than the mental disorder itself are involved.

Dr Abel says lifestyle factors such as smoking and poor diet, less antenatal care and poverty can also increase the chances of complication during childbirth.

Check your feet daily. Look at your bare feet for any unusual cuts, swelling and blisters. Keep your feet clean and dry. Wash your feet in warm water everyday. Dry them carefully, especially between your toes. Protect your feet from heat and cold. Wear shoes at the beach or on hot pavement. Never use hot water bottles, heating pads or electric blankets directly on your feet. If your feet are cold, wear socks. Buy shoes that are comfortable and fit properly. Shop for shoes when your have plenty of time to look around. Wear new shoes one to two hours each day for the first few weeks to break them in properly. Trim toenails when needed. Trim toenails straight across and file the edges with a nail file.

An estimated 24 million Americans have diabetes. Of those, 18 million are aware that they have the disease, while six million Americans don't realize they have diabetes. Prevention is the essential step one must take in order to prevent diabetes or to live with diabetes. First and foremost, Holmes advises patients to have regularly scheduled checkups with their doctor. They should work with their doctor to get blood glucose levels under control through medication and lifestyle changes. Following a healthy diet and getting at least 30 minutes of exercise daily are other important ways to stay healthy with diabetes.

We know now that people that have diabetes are living longer, healthier, more productive lives but that is because they're working with their physicians and taking care of themselves more, says Holmes. Some simple changes to a daily lifestyle could quite possibly save your health from dangerous diseases such as diabetes.

med.umich/