Health News Roundup: Secrets of parasitic worms; More pregnant women in U.S. smoking pot

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

More pregnant women in U.S. smoking pot

Even as alcohol and tobacco use continue to decline among pregnant women in the U.S., a new study offers fresh evidence that more American mothers are using cannabis during pregnancy. Other recent studies have also documented a rise in cannabis use among pregnant women of all ages, with some evidence of particularly sharp increases for teens and young adults. For the current study, researchers analyzed the proportion of pregnant women who used alcohol, tobacco or cannabis from 2002 to 2016.

Families often share potentially dangerous antibiotics: study

A substantial proportion of parents confessed to giving their children antibiotics that had been prescribed for someone else, according to survey results presented by U.S. researchers at the American Academy of Pediatrics conference in Orlando, Florida. The practice promotes antibiotic resistance and risks exposing children to dangerous dosages, expired drugs with harmful products of degradation and potential allergens, study leader Tamara Kahan of Northwell Health in Lake Success, New York, told Reuters Health by email.

Nursing home safety data hard to find

Nursing Home Compare, a web-based tool from the U.S. government that helps consumers look into the quality of nursing homes, falls short when it comes to rating safety, a new study suggests. Nursing Home Compare, on the Medicare.gov web site, lets users find and compare nursing homes certified by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). (http://bit.ly/2GhedTA ) The tool does consider some measures of patient safety, but safety doesn't seem to factor much into the site's rating system and details can be difficult for consumers to dig out, researchers say in a report in Health Affairs.

Donors pledge $1 billion for maternal and child health fund

Governments of 10 countries joined philanthropists and the European Commission on Tuesday to pledge $1 billion to a World Bank-backed fund for improving health and nutrition among millions of women and children in poor countries. The money will help replenish the Global Financing Facility (GFF) - a fund set up in 2015 to help poor countries change the way they finance health by encouraging long-term investment in life-saving maternal and newborn health policies.

Melinda Gates urges backing for 'human capital' of mother and child health

Millions of women and babies could avoid untimely deaths if international donors step up to replenish a global health fund so it can expand to 50 countries, the philanthropist Melinda Gates said on Tuesday. The co-chair of the multi-billion-dollar Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation told Reuters she and her husband see the Global Financing Facility (GFF), a fund aimed specifically at maternal, newborn and child health, as an investment in "human capital" that will swiftly show meaningful, measurable results.

Gene study reveals secrets of parasitic worms, possible treatments

The largest study to date of the genetic makeup of parasitic worms has found hundreds of new clues about how they invade the human body, evade its immune system and cause disease. The results point to potential de-worming treatments to help fight some of the most neglected tropical diseases - including river blindness, schistosomiasis and hookworm disease - which affect around a billion people worldwide.

Benefit of low-salt diet for heart failure uncertain

Although many doctors advise heart failure patients to follow a low-salt diet to help minimize complications, a new study suggests there isn't much high-quality evidence to support this recommendation. "We still do not have a clear understanding of the mechanisms that may link salt intake with heart failure," said lead study author Dr. Kamal Mahtani of the University of Oxford in the UK.

Sit-stand desks cut daily sitting time, may help engage workers

Sit-stand desks reduce daily sitting time and may improve job performance and work engagement, a British study suggests. Researchers who studied 146 National Health Services employees found that after a year of using sit-stand desks, in combination with a coaching program, workers' sitting time was cut by more than an hour a day. Furthermore, sit-stand desk users had improvements in job performance, job engagement and recovery from occupational fatigue.

Drug-resistant superbugs are killing 33,000 in Europe each year

Superbug infections resistant to multiple antibiotics kill around 33,000 people a year in Europe, health experts said on Monday, and the burden of these diseases is comparable to that of flu, tuberculosis and HIV combined. An analysis by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found the impact of drug-resistant infections had increased since 2007, with concerning rises in cases of bugs resistant to even the most powerful, last-resort antibiotics - including a class of drugs known as carbapenems.

Sanofi and Regeneron's Dupixent gets more positive feedback from U.S. FDA

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) regulator has given more positive feedback on the Dupixent eczema treatment being developed by drugmakers Sanofi and Regeneron, the companies said on Tuesday. Dupixent was launched in the United States in April 2017 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe eczema in adults, and the product is seen as a key sales driver for both companies.

(With inputs from Reuters)