HEALTH NOTES: New mothers turning to alcohol as one in five UK mums drink more after having children

One in five mothers say they have drunk more alcohol since they had children.

Supplements company Myrkl surveyed 600 mothers in the UK and found that the struggles of parenthood can drive them to drink.

One in three also said they were drunk the first time they went out after having a baby to ‘let their hair down’.

Previous research has linked parental alcohol use to childhood anxiety.

One-third of parents have been drunk in front of their children, according to a 2017 survey from the Institute of Alcohol Studies.

Peanut allergies licked by babies

According to research, giving babies peanut butter can reduce peanut allergies by nearly 80 percent.

The current advice is to start eating peanuts for children as young as one, as consuming them regularly can prevent the immune system from developing a potentially fatal sensitivity or allergy.

Now a team from the National Institute for Health and Care Research and King’s College London has analyzed allergies in thousands of babies and found that peanut products – such as peanut butter – may be introduced earlier than previously thought.

They found that after four to six months is most effective. Whole or broken peanuts were not recommended because of the risk of choking.

Following this rule could reduce peanut allergies in the UK by 77 per cent, compared to 33 per cent if parents wait until the child is one.

Giving babies peanut butter can reduce peanut allergy by nearly 80 percent, according to research (stock photo)

People who are fixated on their worries are more likely to develop suicidal thoughts, a study from the University of Birmingham suggests.

Researchers followed 67 adolescents who had undergone treatment for depression and asked them to complete questionnaires to determine their thinking patterns. They found that those who regularly brooded — thinking about the same worry over and over again — were more likely to develop suicidal thoughts than others, including those who went through difficult life events, such as a bereavement.

Dr. Maria Dauvermann, lead researcher from the University of Birmingham, said: ‘This could lead to new treatments for young people with depressive disorders.’

Local health teams have sent mobile screening units to check for liver cancer at diabetes and sexual health clinics and at food banks.

The trucks are staffed by nurses and can perform on-the-spot scans to identify those most at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma – the most common form of the disease, which accounts for 85 percent of all liver cancers.

Checks will be offered to high-risk adults, including those who drink a lot of alcohol, who have a current diagnosis or history of viral hepatitis, or who have non-alcoholic liver disease.