Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/41711
+++++++++++++++++++ THAT'S NEWS +++++++++++++++++++ + + +++ +++ Noninvasive Test May Identify Down Syndrome Earlier A SMALL STUDY published online in Nature Medicine found that a simple blood test may predict Down syndrome in fetuses as early as the 11th week of pregnancy. The study, which took blood samples from 40 women, identified all normal and Down syndrome cases with 100% accuracy. Down syndrome is a common birth defect affecting approximately one in 600 births. The syndrome, caused by a third chromosome 21, typically causes mental impairment, abnormal facial features and health problems such as heart defects. Amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling are both costly, invasive tests that determine the presence of an extra chromosome 21 with 80% accuracy. Both tests can cause miscarriage in roughly 2% of cases. The new, noninvasive blood test is more accurate, less expensive and poses no risk of miscarriage. Though still in its experimental stages, researchers hope this blood test will become standard practice within the next few years. n Fish Oil Helps Chemo Patients Maintain Weight ACCORDING TO RESEARCH conducted at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, cancer patients who took fish oil were able to maintain or gain weight during chemotherapy. The study followed 40 patients diag- nosed with lung cancer during their initial round of chemotherapy treatment. Of the 40 patients studied, 16 were given 2.2 grams of fish oil per day, while the remaining 24 patients were not. Fish oil, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, helped maintain weight in 69% of patients, while less than one-third of the patients who did not take fish oil managed to keep their weight up. Weight loss due to waning appetite is a common side effect of chemotherapy, causing fatigue and poor quality of life in many cancer patients. This study was the first to examine new chemotherapy patients, suggesting that early intervention to prevent weight loss may prolong health and allow for a greater number of cancer treatments. n