(Accepted 11 June 1998)Effect of sex of fetus on asthma during pregnancy: blind prospective studyThe course of asthma during pregnancy is variable and may remain unchanged, worsen, or improve, returning to the pre-pregnancy state within three months after parturition.1 Some patients experience the same changes in each pregnancy, but nearly half do not, suggesting some intrinsic or extrinsic factor unique to each pregnancy such as the sex of the fetus. 1 We observed that the condition of patients with moderate to severe asthma generally deteriorated when they were pregnant with girls but not boys, raising the intriguing possibility that the sex of the fetus might influence the course of asthma during pregnancy. We investigated this possibility in a blind prospective study. Subjects, methods, and resultsAll women aged 25-34 who were receiving regular drug treatment for asthma and were in the second trimester of pregnancy (12-21 weeks' gestation) were approached directly to participate in the study. Twenty eight women were recruited from three hospital and four general practice antenatal clinics and six from an asthma clinic. Twelve had not taken inhaled steroids (beclomethasone or budesonide) regularly before pregnancy, 16 took 200-500 g daily, and six more than 500 g daily. None was taking oral steroids. None knew the sex of their baby before delivery. The study took the form of a questionnaire on symptoms of asthma, cough, shortness of breath, nocturnal waking due to asthma, drug treatment (frequency and amount), and visits to a doctor for asthma before and since the beginning of pregnancy, a minimum period of 12 weeks. Subjects were also asked to keep daily diary cards and peak expiratory flow readings throughout pregnancy. All 34 subjects completed the questionnaire; only 15 agreed to keep daily records and only 6 successfully completed these. We have therefore based our analysis on the questionnaire alone. Subjects were contacted again after parturition to ascertain the sex of the baby.Eighteen women had boys and 16 girls. There was no difference in age range of mothers, gestation at time Papers

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There is a paucity of scientific data on the use of acupuncture or low-power laser treatment in schizophrenia. The authors have conducted a literature search, identifying eight papers on the subject: all were significantly flawed, most seriously so. The papers suggest that acupuncture and low-power laser treatment may be as effective as chlorpromazine in schizophrenia. However no scientifically sound conclusions can be drawn. Better designed research is required before acupuncture can be considered a suitable treatment for schizophrenia.