Month: June 2017

The First Three-Parent Child May Be The Solution To A Maternally Inherited Genetic Disorder

Post author By Mary Sauer
Post date June 30, 2017

Early last fall, the world celebrated the birth of a very special baby. For the first time in history, a child was born who had the DNA of three parents, according to New Scientist. The fertility doctor behind this groundbreaking science is John Zhang—along with his team at New York’s New Hope Fertility Center.

For women with rare genetic mutations that are passed on to their babies, this technique of using the DNA from three parents could be the breakthrough that makes it possible for them to give birth to healthy children.
This very first baby was born to a family from Jordan (the family has not shared their names publicly). The mother has a genetic mutation called Leigh syndrome that is fatal to developing children.

The couple had lost four pregnancies and two children to complications related to this mutation, so they were up for trying a more unconventional approach. After nearly two decades of infertility, the couple reached out to fertility specialist Dr. Zhang.

The Science Behind the Three-Parent Baby

We’re sure you’re curious about how Zhang and his team pulled off this impressive accomplishment. We had questions, too! We did some digging to uncover the science behind the three-parent baby, and it’s nothing short of fascinating.

Leigh syndrome is a disorder of the mitochondria. In this mother’s case, 25 percent of her mitochondria had a mutation that was causing her disease. Although she exhibited no symptoms, this mutation is passed from mothers to their children.
For this mother, this meant the heartbreak of four miscarriages and the death of the two children she was able to carry—one at the age of 6 and the other at 8 months of age.

Mothers like this are exactly the people fertility specialists like Zhang and his team hope to help with their experimental techniques. In this case, a procedure called spindle nuclear transfer was used to target the problem with her mitochondria.
Using a type of gene replacement therapy, they performed a spindle transfer on oocytes of one woman to the oocytes of the mother with Leigh syndrome. This technique has gotten more attention recently as an option for preventing the transmission of mitochondrial mutations from mother to baby.

After the spindle transfer, the oocyte was then fertilized with the father’s sperm, and the mother underwent in vitro fertilization using this new, three-parent egg. Although teams of researchers have performed a spindle transfer in the past on unfertilized eggs, this is the first time a family has fertilized and brought a three-parent baby to term.

The Ethics of the Technique

One of the most fascinating aspects about this story is the extreme measures that were taken to honor the wishes the couple had to remain faithful to their religious convictions as Muslims.

In fact, the method used was not the only available option for the couple. They also could have chosen to fertilize two embryos, both the mother’s and the donor’s.
After fertilization, the nucleus of the mother’s egg would have replaced the nucleus of the donor’s egg.

Because this required discarding the nucleus of the fertilized donor egg, the couple chose what they felt was the more ethical of the two options.
Additionally, they made the decision to choose the sex of their baby to be a boy. Their hope in doing so was to break the cycle of passing down Leigh syndrome, which is inherited from the mother.

Even so, techniques such as the one used still remain controversial, especially to some pro-life organizations that have criticized this technique as extreme and risky. Because of the questions that remain concerning the ethics of a three-parent pregnancy, the New York–based clinic performed the procedure in Mexico, where no regulations exist for this type of in vitro fertilization, according to New Scientist.

Life as a Child of Three Parents

The baby was born in April 2016 and has experienced healthy development so far. After testing the little boy’s mitochondria, Zhang and his team found that only 1 percent of it carried his mother’s mutation.

Current evidence indicates that at least 18 percent of the mitochondria must carry the mutation to be harmful to the child. This seems to suggest that the three-parent child has a high chance of growing up to live a healthy life.
Just days before the baby celebrated his first birthday, Zhang and his team gave an update. At their last check-in with the family, the boy was 7 months old and showing no symptoms that indicate the mitochondrial mutation is negatively affecting his health.

At this time, the family has chosen to only monitor his symptoms, opting out of any further genetic testing unless clinically necessary.
Practically speaking, life as a child of three parents won’t look much different for him than that of a two-parent child. Although this child is biologically the child of three, typical egg donation protocols were followed.

This means the donor’s identity was kept anonymous, and the recipient couple was not in contact with the donor in any way. It doesn’t look like there are any chances of creative co-parenting agreements being made, so this baby will be raised by his mother and father—and the donor may never know her eggs were used for such a remarkable procedure.

What’s next for three-parent babies?

Since the birth of the first three-parent baby, the world of infertility treatment has reached another major milestone. In January 2017, the first three-parent baby girl was born to a family in Ukraine, according to CNN.

This specific birth was controversial, because countries such as the U.K. have only approved the use of this technique if the mother has a mitochondrial mutation. In the case of the Ukrainian couple, the mother did not have such a mutation; instead it was reported they were experiencing infertility with an unknown cause.
Another controversial aspect of this case was the fact that the baby was a girl, which brought up concerns that she may carry a mutation that could be passed to her own children.

But the couple’s medical team completed extensive testing before the decision was made to move forward with in vitro fertilization after the team discovered that no male embryo had developed.
It’s hard to say for sure what the future holds for three-parent babies. According to Zhang, the next step is simple: to continue to monitor the children born using this approach and to move forward with scientific study until further conclusions can be made concerning the safety and effectiveness of using three parents as a solution for mothers with mitochondrial mutations who are experiencing infertility.

After that, there seem to be big dreams for the future of infertility treatment, as Zhang has said he hopes to commercialize this method of infertility treatment, making it possible for older mothers experiencing infertility to conceive healthy children using the spindle nuclear transfer technique.

Tags 50028671, hemingway, parenting

Motherhood

Mother Plans To Sue Hospital After Staff Drops Newborn

Post author By Katie Martin
Post date June 30, 2017

Having a baby is both the most wonderful and terrifying thing in the world. In the first days of a newborn’s life, parents rely heavily on nursing staff for their expert knowledge and care, especially if a baby ends up in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

No parents expect to find out that their infant has been injured while in a nurse’s care, but that’s exactly what happened to Kelsey Bond and Kyle Keller. Their infant son Kieran’s skull was fractured when a nurse fell asleep and dropped him during a nighttime feeding.

Bond and Keller were told that their son had been examined by a pediatrician and was fine, but a subsequent ultrasound showed that Kieran developed an acute subdural hematoma, a brain bleed at the base of the skull.

While Kieran is recovering, Bond plans to sue the hospital for the negligent behavior that could have resulted in her son’s death.

A similar incident gained national attention when actress Eva Amurri Martino’s son, Major, was dropped by a night nurse after she fell asleep while caring for the infant.

Like Kieran Keller, Major suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain. Major has also recovered with no permanent damage, but Amurri Martino suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the incident.

Dropping infants is one of the most common causes of newborn injury, but other shocking incidents have occurred as a result of hospital staff negligence.

Nurse severed newborn’s toe.

Devante Hogue, born prematurely at 29 weeks, has several serious medical issues that caused him to remain hospitalized after his twin brother, Delante, was released. After more than eight months, Devante remained in the NICU, where his mother, Erica, trusted the nurses she had come to know well with his care.

Erica was shocked when she was notified that a nurse accidentally cut off Devante’s pinky toe as she tried to remove surgical tape from the infant’s foot. Doctors tried to reattach the infant’s toe, but were unsuccessful.

Although the hospital did apologize for the nurse’s negligence, the Hogue family is considering legal action.

Unfortunately, accidents involving newborns and infants occur more often than parents realize, as nurses are often overworked, sleep deprived, and stressed on the job. In fact, the American Nursing Association blames a chronic nurse shortage on the extreme fatigue and burnout nurses face at work.

Nurse administered fatal dose to newborns.

It’s no wonder then, that medical errors are the third most common cause of death in the United States. Although most of these medical errors are the result of accidental negligence, in the truly shocking case of nurse Genene Jones, dozens of children and infants were administered fatal overdoses on purpose.

Jones is currently serving consecutive life sentences in the deaths of two children after giving them fatal injections. It is suspected that Jones may be responsible for the deaths of more than 60 other children and babies since 1981.

Switched at Birth

Not every incident involving nursing negligence results in physical harm to a child. It may sound like the premise of a Lifetime movie, but sometimes a nurse’s negligence results in the wrong baby being taken home.

Most hospitals now require Mom, Dad, and Baby to wear matching ID bracelets to prevent such mistakes from happening. Despite such safety precautions, babies are still accidentally switched at birth.

Karin Tanabe gave birth to a healthy baby girl and allowed her new daughter to be taken to the nursery so she could rest following the birth. The next morning, her daughter was brought back to her later than she’d expected. T
he nurse told the shocked mother that her daughter had been briefly given to the wrong family.

Tanabe’s new daughter and the other mother were wearing their ID bands, but the nurse misidentified the numbers, leading her to assume that she’d given the right baby to the right parent.

While the situation was rectified quickly, the nurse’s negligence almost caused Tanabe to unknowingly leave the hospital with someone else’s child. Fortunately, the number of babies who are switched at birth does remain relatively small.

Baby Kidnapped Just Hours After Birth

Even scarier than the thought of bringing home the wrong baby is the thought of a newborn being abducted from the nursery. That’s exactly what happened in 1998, when a woman posing as a nurse kidnapped hours-old baby Kamiya.

Shanara Mobley, Kamiya’s mother, thought the woman was a nurse, and the nursing staff who interacted with her thought she was a family member.

Mobley sued and won a settlement against the hospital for negligence after her daughter’s disappearance. All leads in the baby Kamiya case ran cold for 18 years, until law enforcement tracked down Gloria Williams, who was identified as the kidnapper.

The good news is that Kamiya is a normal teenager in good health and is working on building a relationship with her biological family.

Keeping Newborns Safe

Nursing negligence is most often accidental. Exhausted nurses are just as likely to drop a newborn as a sleep-deprived new mother is.

Overworked hospital staff with several patients under their care are not likely to notice every visitor in the maternity ward.

Parents can take several precautions to keep their newborns safe while they are under hospital care. If your baby is healthy, request to “room-in” rather than send the baby to the nursery.

Rooming in allows Baby to stay in the room with Mom and Dad until it is time to go home. This ensures that babies are under the watchful eye of their parents during any procedures.

If rooming in isn’t an option, parents can still be proactive about ensuring their newborn’s safety during a lengthy hospital stay. Check your hospital’s Leapfrog scores to see how they compare with other hospitals in the area.

Does the hospital have a NICU on site? What is the doctor/nurse/patient ratio? Fewer newborn accidents occur in the NICU with specially trained nurses equipped to handle the needs of high-risk babies. In addition, the lower the staff to patient ratio, the more likely that your baby will receive the attention and care they need.

Hospitals too are working to ensure that fewer accidents involving newborns and infants occur. Well-rested nurses are more alert and attentive, resulting in fewer incidents of negligence.

In 2016, nurses in Washington state won their case against Tacoma General Hospital, resulting in more rest breaks that do not burden other nursing staff or require the nurse on break to be on call during their break.

In addition to matching ID bands, one hospital in Idaho has added extra security measures in the maternity ward. At Portneuf Medical Center, security checks are done weekly to ensure all equipment is properly functioning, and all maternity staff participate in at least nine security drills per year.

In addition, babies are fitted with an extra security band that will sound an alarm if it gets too near an elevator or door.

Even though hospitals are working toward reducing nursing negligence, parents should always trust their instincts. Kelsey Bond, the mother of Kieran Keller, said she “had a gut feeling everything wasn’t ok.” She was right, and her actions may have saved her son’s life.

Tags 50026056, hemingway, parenting

Sweat

This Exercise Pill Could Deliver The Benefits Of Working Out Without All The Effort

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date June 30, 2017

Say goodbye to your treadmill.
Soon, deadlifts and rowing machines will be a thing of the past. Don’t even start talking about burpees—in the future, a “burpee” will be something that happens on the way back from the fridge during an all-week binge-watching marathon.
Sound great? If you hate exercise or if you simply don’t have time to hit the gym on a regular basis, we may have some good news.

Researchers from the Salk Institute recently unveiled an “exercise pill” in a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism. The drug appears to offer many of the health benefits of regular exercise, according to a press release announcing the study.
“We previously activated the pathway in mice through genetic engineering,” said senior author Ronald Evans, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, “and discovered that doing so turned the animals into long-distance runners, and they gained many of the health benefits of exercise.”

The “long-distance runners” bit might have been hyperbole, but the Salk Institute team’s findings are impressive. Their exercise pill has a brilliant mechanism of action, and if it’s proven effective, it may greatly expand scientific knowledge of how exercise affects the human body.

The drug appears to work by activating a gene pathway designated as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD).

This pathway may be responsible for endurance during periods of heavy physical and mental exertion.

“It’s well known that people can improve their aerobic endurance through training,” said senior author Ronald Evans, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and holder of Salk’s March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology. “The question for us was: how does endurance work? And if we really understand the science, can we replace training with a drug?”
The PPARD pathway seemed to offer a pharmacological mechanism for replicating the effects of exercise. Mice that took the drug burned more fat and were able to exercise for longer than the control group.
“This study suggests that burning fat is less a driver of endurance than a compensatory mechanism to conserve glucose,” said Michael Downes, a Salk senior scientist and co-senior author of the paper. “PPARD is suppressing all the points that are involved in sugar metabolism in the muscle so glucose can be redirected to the brain, thereby preserving brain function.”

In other words, the “exercise pill” prevented muscle fibers from using sugar as an energy source.

Instead, the muscles burned fat—notable, since muscles typically prefer to burn sugar. This process is basically what happens when a person exercises, as the same gene pathway gets activated.
“Exercise activates PPARD, but we’re showing that you can do the same thing without mechanical training,” said Weiwei Fan, a Salk research associate and the paper’s first author. “It means you can improve endurance to the equivalent level as someone in training, without all of the physical effort.”

There are a couple of important caveats. The study notes that the mice that took the exercise drug didn’t exhibit all of the physiological changes that typically accompany aerobic exercise; they didn’t build more blood vessels, for instance, and they didn’t develop muscle fibers to burn fat rather than sugar.
But that changed somewhat when the mice remained active after receiving the drug. Overall, the test subjects enjoyed most of the health benefits associated with exercise, including better insulin responsiveness and greater resistance to weight gain.

Mice are not humans, obviously, and the drug has a long way to go before it can be safely used by humans. However, the team behind the study believes that their drug could be extremely useful from a therapeutic perspective.

So, will athletes be able to use this as the next performance-enhancing drug?

Not likely. The Salk Institute team sees their drug as a potentially useful medication, but they don’t intend to replace exercise entirely.

“The drug will provide the most benefit for people who are physically unable to exercise due to other health conditions, like having [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease], being elderly, or wheelchair-bound,” said Downes.
Of course, if the drug is safe for humans, Downes understands its potential for abuse, and he’s ready to burst your bubble.
“We realize athletes may want to take this drug for a competitive advantage, but it’s really meant for people who simply don’t have the option of exercising.”

Still, the implications are tremendous. If effective, the pill could help patients recover from surgeries or help people with severe weight issues restore their health.
The medication probably won’t be available for therapeutic use for many years. In the meantime, we’re stuck with exercise.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, along with strength training, which is particularly important for adults over the age of 30. If you want to increase weight loss and improve your overall health, aim for at least 300 minutes of activity. Ideally, you should also reduce periods of sitting and try for at least 30 minutes of activity per day.
Alas, exercise is hard work. For the time being, there’s no magic pill to replace it—but that might change sooner than you’d think.

Tags 50028496, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

5 Ridiculous Food Scares That Had Us Completely Fooled

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date June 30, 2017

Your favorite foods are trying to kill you. Or not.
Every once in a while, a scientific study will seem to confirm our darkest dietary fears. Word spreads quickly, prompting fad diets and even new regulations. Soon, you’re carefully reading restaurant menus to avoid gluten, salt, cholesterol, or anything else that might endanger your health.

In reality, most of these food scares are based on bad research and misunderstood science. For instance, you’ve probably heard about how…

1. Gluten is bad for everybody.

Celiac disease is a serious condition, and it’s not particularly new. It’s characterized by extreme reactions to gluten, a protein found in certain grains (especially wheat).
But over the last decade, demand for gluten-free products has skyrocketed. Doctors have also reported a dramatic increase in self-reported cases of non-celiac gluten intolerance, also called gluten sensitivity.

To be clear, celiac disease is a real thing. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) might be too, but it’s almost certainly not very widespread. As a 2015 study noted:

There is some evidence that NCGS may exist, but probably only in a small number of people. The self-reported NCGS patients are heterogeneous (in their range of reported symptoms, clinical histories and characteristics) and are highly suggestible, making a largely difficult patient group to study.

In other words, removing gluten from your diet probably won’t do anything. Granted, some gluten-rich foods (notably white bread) are also high in sugar, which isn’t so great for you (more on that in a moment). But the gluten protein itself usually isn’t an issue.

2. High-fructose corn syrup is the worst substance in history.

Buying something sweet? Better check the label for high fructose corn syrup. Scientists have linked the substance to rises in obesity, after all, and it’s extremely unnatural.
Well, not quite. High fructose corn syrup certainly isn’t a health tonic, but it’s not any worse for your body than other sugars. Although it has been linked to obesity, many scientists believe that link is tenuous at best.

“There’s no substantial evidence to support the idea that high-fructose corn syrup is somehow responsible for obesity,” said Walter Willett, MD, the chairman of the nutrition department of the Harvard School of Public Health, in an interview with the New York Times. “If there was no high-fructose corn syrup, I don’t think we would see a change in anything important. I think there’s this overreaction.”
To be clear, you can’t just gorge on corn syrup all day and expect to run marathons. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults should limit their sugar intake to 5 percent of their total daily calories.
That’s about six teaspoons of sugar per day. For reference, a 12-ounce can of soda contains about nine teaspoons.

3. Unless you want heart disease, avoid egg yolks at all costs.

Eggs carry a lot of dietary cholesterol—about 200 milligrams, to be exact. That cholesterol is concentrated in the egg yolk, so if you’re trying to keep your heart healthy, conventional wisdom suggests that you should stick to the whites.

However, dietary cholesterol is fundamentally different from the cholesterol in your blood.
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “up to one egg per day is not associated with increased heart disease risk in healthy individuals.”

That doesn’t mean that you should start slamming down omelets. Eggs are perfectly fine in moderation, but if you regularly overload your plate, you’re probably not helping your cardiovascular system.

4. Probiotics are the only way to save your ailing gut.

This is a fairly recent fad, prompted by a number of studies that have demonstrated the importance of a healthy gut microbiome (all of the bacteria living in your digestive system).
Our digestive processes are aided by trillions of bacteria, so if something’s wrong with your gut, probiotics—products that introduce new “good” bacteria to your digestive tract—seem like a great idea.

Unfortunately, the probiotics you’ll find at your local pharmacy probably don’t do much of anything. We simply don’t know which bacteria are most important, and there’s some evidence to suggest that different bacteria species can play varying roles based on your genetics.
“Although some probiotics have shown promise in research studies, strong scientific evidence to support specific uses of probiotics for most health conditions is lacking,” wrote the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any probiotics for preventing or treating any health problem. Some experts have cautioned that the rapid growth in marketing and use of probiotics may have outpaced scientific research for many of their proposed uses and benefits.

5. Table salts will corrode your insides, but sea salt is much healthier.

Table salts typically undergo a great deal of processing, which makes them dangerous…right?

Well, no. Most ordinary table salts are actually slightly better for you than sea salts, since table salts contain iodine, an essential nutrient. Table salts also typically contain additives to prevent clumping, but those additives are perfectly safe.
Otherwise, the only differences in salts are taste and texture, so they’re both perfectly fine in moderation (somewhere around 2,300 milligrams per day or less, according to the Mayo Clinic).

Tags 50028491, fuel, hemingway

Lifestyle

Swimming Pools Are Exactly As Gross As You Think They Are

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date June 29, 2017

Nothing says summer like a quick dip in the pool.
Of course, if you’re at all concerned about your health, you might be better off staying poolside. Pools are breeding grounds for bacteria, and even with proper chlorination, they can present some substantial risks for swimmers.

Here are a few disgusting facts that might scare you away from pools for the foreseeable future.

1. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public pools are responsible for 10 to 20 outbreaks per year.

Those outbreaks include bacterial diseases caused by organisms like E. coli and serious illnesses caused by parasites like Cryptosporidium.

Cryptosporidium (often abbreviated as “crypto”) is particularly problematic, as evidenced by the fact that the CDC affords the disease its own database. In 2016 alone, the CDC recorded crypto outbreaks in Arizona, Alabama, and Ohio.
Conditions are just about perfect for major crypto outbreaks in 2017, according to an alarming CDC report.

Fortunately, swimmers can avoid the parasite. Here’s how.
“Protect yourself from getting sick by not swallowing the water in which you swim,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of the CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program.

Well, that’s really helpful. At least the vast majority of public pools are safe, right?

2. A shocking number of public pools aren’t safe.

Ideally, pools should have a free chlorine level of 1 to 3 mg/L and a pH of 7.2 to 7.8. At these levels, problematic bacteria have trouble surviving. Unfortunately, various contaminants can make chlorine less effective, and without rigorous maintenance, public pools quickly fall behind.

In 2010, the CDC reported that 1 in 8 public pools were shut down due to safety issues, based on 120,000 inspections carried out in 2008.
Granted, this wasn’t restricted to dirty water; some pools simply didn’t have the required staff or safety equipment (not exactly comforting).

“We definitely need to focus on improving pool operations,” said Hlavsa, once again providing profound insight.

3. That “clean” chlorine smell is actually something else.

Well, your local pool is different, right? After all, you can smell the chlorine from the moment you arrive. That must mean that the cleaning crew is doing their job.
“Many people think that when a pool smells of chlorine, that means that it’s clean,” said Mary Ostrowski, director of the Chlorine Issues at the American Chemistry Council, to Life’s Little Mysteries.
“But that smell is actually chloramines, a substance that results from a mix of chlorine and bacteria, urine and sweat.”
Ideally, a pool should be odorless, but this isn’t really possible at public pools.
If the chlorine smell is extremely strong, steer clear; there’s a good chance that the chloramines are powerful enough to cause skin irritation and other issues.

You can take your own testing strips to the pool, if you don’t mind looking paranoid. There’s more bad news, however: Some organisms, such as the aforementioned cryptosporidium parasites, are capable of living for days in chlorinated water.

4. Oh, and too much chlorine is also a bad thing.

Let’s say you manage to find a pool that consistently keeps its chlorine levels perfect. Plus, every swimmer is compelled to shower before getting into the water. You’re in the clear, right?

Not quite. Several studies have shown that chlorine can raise swimmers’ chances of asthma and allergies.
As it turns out, chlorine isn’t too great for our bodies, although you’re probably in the clear if you only visit the pool on occasion.
Oh, and this likely applies to outdoor pools as well, according to a 2008 study published in the European Respiratory Journal.

“Outdoor chlorinated swimming pool attendance is associated with higher risks of asthma, airways inflammation and some respiratory allergies,” the study’s authors wrote. “Hypochlorous acid [chlorine] generates a mixture of harmful breakdown products, which includes potent irritants, such as chloramines, haloacetic acids or haloacetonitriles.”
In other words, the chlorine in pools can effectively address some problems, but it can also create significant respiratory issues with prolonged exposure.

5. Yes, people pee in the pool.

We doubt that we’re surprising anyone with this revelation. However, the scale of the problem is pretty incredible; according to a survey from the Water Quality and Health Council, one in five Americans admits to the practice.

That’s just the people willing to confess. By one estimate, a typical pool has about eight gallons of urine. Many people might not see this as a major issue, but as mentioned above, contaminants like urine make chlorine less effective. While urine itself is mostly harmless, it can substantially affect pool maintenance efforts. Plus, eww.

So what can you do to make pools less disgusting?

While we’ve painted a grim picture in this article, most pools are relatively safe. Bacteria is everywhere, after all, and you’re not exactly diving into a sewer when you head down to the public pool.

To do your part, don’t bathe in the pool. By soaping up before you hit the pool, you’ll help to prevent pathogens from spreading. Don’t go swimming if you’ve been sick, and as Michele Hlavsa will tell you, don’t drink the water. Clean thoroughly after you leave the pool, and you should be fine.
Oh, and try not to think about the pee thing.

Tags 50028136, care, hemingway

Motherhood

11 Ways To Raise Successful Kids

Post author By Katie Martin
Post date June 29, 2017

Raising children might just be the world’s toughest job. Science shows that good parenting has a lot to do with how kids turn out. With all the conflicting parenting advice available today, it’s hard to know if you’re making the right choices.

Has your latest decision just set your kids up for a lifetime of success or doom them to live in your basement forever? One action probably won’t bring about either of these extremes, but there are parenting behaviors that seem to help kids thrive. Take some of the guesswork out of parenting with these 11 ways to raise [linkbuilder id=”6498″ text=”successful kids”].

1. Praise effort over achievement.

When your kid brings home a stellar report card, a parent’s natural inclination may be to praise the achievement itself, with something like, “You’re so smart! I knew you’d make all As!” However, this kind of praise may set your child up for failure later in life.

Instead, parents should teach their kids to have a “growth mindset.” Children who learn to focus on the process of achieving goals instead of the achievement itself are often more successful. Rather than praising your kid for being so smart, focus your praise on the effort he or she must have put in to making good grades.
When parents value effort over achievement, children learn to appreciate setbacks, using them to overcome obstacles rather than be defeated by them.

2. Assign chores.

It might seem easier to just take care of chores yourself instead of supervising your children as they wash dishes, clean their room, or take out the trash. But having your kids complete chores is actually instrumental to their success.

Studies show that when kids have regular chores, they are more likely to be responsible, do well in school, and have fewer discipline problems than kids who did no chores at home.

3. Teach early math skills.

Most parents read their children nightly bedtime stories, but how many focus on bedtime math equations?

It turns out that kids who learn early math skills are not only better at math once they reach school age, but they also develop better reading skills. They have higher rates of college enrollment too.
Children who learn early math skills are successful later in life for several reasons. Kids who are focused on math from a young age tend to make better grades and thus feel more confident in their overall abilities, which leads to success in other areas.

Early math skills may also help children improve executive function skills, which help people organize and complete tasks efficiently—a hallmark of successful adults.

4. Get involved academically.

In addition to learning early math skills, children are more successful when their parents are involved in their education.

Kids are more likely to have better social skills and behavior, get better grades, and attend college when parents are actively involved in their academic life.
Parents can engage in a child’s academics in a variety of ways:

Regularly attend parent–teacher conferences
Participate in school fundraising with children

Volunteer in the classroom or at school events
Continue learning activities at home

5. Teach kids healthy habits.

The most successful adults practice healthy habits. The earlier kids learn about healthy nutrition and exercise, the more likely they are to stick to these habits as adults. Kids who eat a healthy diet have improved brain function. A healthy diet also improves school attendance, behavior, and test scores.

Parents can lead by example when teaching kids healthy habits. Get kids moving on a family bike ride or hike, or prepare healthy meals together to teach kids the basics of nutrition.

6. Lead by example.

Kids are incredibly empathetic and are susceptible to emotional contagion, a behavior in which one person’s emotions affect the behaviors and emotions of another. For example, if you’re stressed by a work situation, you may be more distant and irritable at home.

Your kids see your actions and may begin to mimic your emotions and behaviors. If these are negative and unproductive, children’s grades might slip or they may withdraw socially.
Parents can lead by example when it comes to managing stress. When your stress level is reduced, your kids will benefit too.

7. Practice mindful meditation.

In addition to stress management, parents who teach meditation to their kids can have positive effects on a child’s attention span, grades, and overall mental health.

Individuals who meditate are generally happier and less anxious. Meditation is often not an option in an already jam-packed school day, but parents can set aside time at home each day for kids to meditate. Institute a family quiet time before dinner each day for kids to totally unplug from devices, take a break from homework, and generally relax.

8. Take a step back.

Although coined in 1969, the term “helicopter parent” just gained widespread notoriety a few years ago. It refers to parents who are overly focused on their children, hovering over them like helicopters.

Although parents might think being involved in all aspects of their kids’ lives is proactive, it may do more harm than good.
For kids to be successful, parents should actually take a step back. Allow kids to make mistakes, take risks, and work through situations on their own. Of course, this doesn’t mean parents shouldn’t be involved; obviously parents should intervene if a child is in a dangerous situation.

But when parents limit their involvement in certain areas, kids learn to be self-reliant, a key tool for success.

9. Let kids follow their passions.

Kids dream of being everything from a rock star to the first farmer on Mars when they grow up. Instead of squelching their dreams, encourage kids’ passions, however outlandish they might seem.

Parents often measure their child’s success in terms of exclusive college admissions or high-paying careers. However, when kids are allowed to pursue their dreams, they are much more likely to be successful in their chosen field. After all, a kid who wants to be the first farmer on Mars might just be the first scientist to discover life on other planets.

10. Build a community.

Humans are not meant to be solitary creatures. Children especially thrive when they have a strong sense of community. Kids who develop strong ties to others have stronger social skills. They are also better at overall communication and problem solving.
There are many ways parents can help children build community bonds. Here are just a few ideas to get started:

Have your kids volunteer once a month at the charitable organization of their choice.

Get them involved in a recreational sports team or a club at school.
Have them participate in community cleanup efforts.

11. Get advice from parents of successful kids.

Sometimes it’s nice to get advice from parents who have raised successful kids. Some parents set high academic expectations. Others allow children to pursue their natural talents. One family might have a weekly family meeting for better communication. Each [linkbuilder id=”6499″ text=”parenting style”] is different.

The one thing these parents have in common? They all agree there is no “right” way to raise successful kids. But these tips can help parents raise self-reliant children who are at a greater advantage academically, are socially adept, and care about their community.
Ann Landers, the iconic advice columnist, summed it up perfectly when she wrote, “It is not what you do for your children but what you have taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.”

Tags 50028566, hemingway, parenting

Lifestyle

Why You Should Think Twice Before Ordering Coffee Or Tea On An Airplane

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date June 29, 2017

If you’ve ever taken a red-eye flight, you’ve probably had a few cups of airline coffee.
It’s not the best-tasting brew, but hey, it’s coffee—how bad could it be?

Pretty bad, apparently. Some airline crew members say that they wouldn’t ever consider drinking the coffee or tea that they serve to their passengers, according to a report from Business Insider.
“Flight attendants will not drink hot water on the plane,” a flight attendant allegedly told the website. “They will not drink plain coffee, and they will not drink plain tea.”

Their objections have nothing to do with the flavor of the java. Apparently, hot water comes directly from the planes’ taps, and those taps are downright disgusting.

Data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) backs up that claim, to a degree.

In 2004, the EPA tested drinking water from 158 randomly selected passenger airplanes.
“Preliminary data released by EPA today shows that in the recent tests, most of the aircraft tested (87.4%) met EPA drinking water quality standards,” the agency wrote in a press release accompanying the revelations. “However, 12.6 percent of domestic and international passenger aircraft tested in the U.S. carried water that did not meet EPA standards.”

Those planes’ samples contain coliform, a broad class of bacteria that can potentially cause disease. Coliform often comes from human or animal feces (try not to think too hard about that).
Additionally, two planes’ tap water supply tested positive for E. coli, a common type of coliform bacterium that can cause severe fevers, gastric distress, and other medically significant symptoms.

Many planes didn’t meet the standards because they store their tap water in tanks that are rarely cleaned.

NBC reports that the coliform bacteria is probably present in delivery trucks. When the tanks are transferred to the planes, some of the bacteria goes with them and then develops into colonies over time.

“Passengers with compromised immune systems or others concerned may want to request canned or bottled beverages,” the EPA noted, adding that officials had been working with the Air Transport Association (ATA) since 2002 to reform water standards on planes. The press release also notes that the EPA would consider legal action if airlines weren’t able to agree on effective methods for improving their standards.

Years later, little had changed.

The EPA ran another test in 2012 and found that 12 percent of randomly selected planes tested positive for coliform, according to NBC 5. That wasn’t a significant improvement from the 2008 test.

Some of the tested planes also tested positive for E. coli, although again, this dangerous bacterium was only present in a small number of aircraft. Flight attendant organizations claim that they’ve been pushing for better standards for years.
“Water onboard is regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure safe drinking water on the aircraft,” the The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, told Business Insider.
“The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA pushed for this regulation over 15 years ago. The regulation gives broad discretion to airlines on how often they must test the water and flush the tanks. AFA does not believe this regulation goes far enough or is sufficiently enforced.”
The airlines, of course, disagreed. While most refused to comment directly, Airlines for America, a group that represents several major airlines, issued a statement.

“The safety of our passengers and crew remain the airlines’ primary focus, including the provision of clean drinking water,” the statement read.
“To meet customer preferences, airlines typically provide bottled water while also ensuring water available through the aircraft onboard water systems is safe. Airlines work closely with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that water received from municipalities for onboard systems is safe and to maintain that safety by following rigorous sampling and management requirements once received.”
Even so, the numbers don’t lie, and the EPA’s research doesn’t seem to support the idea that current regulations are effective. For the time being, that seems unlikely to change.

If you fly regularly, here’s what you need to know.

First of all, understand that there’s a limited risk for healthy individuals. While the idea of coliform in your drinking water is disgusting, the classification is broad enough that the mere presence of coliform bacteria doesn’t pose an immediate health risk. Obviously, this isn’t the case with E. coli, but that was limited to a very small percentage of planes.
The issue only affects water that comes directly out of the planes’ taps, so if you order cold water, you’re probably safe—you’ll typically get your drinking water from a bottle.

If your immune system is compromised, however, you may want to follow the EPA’s recommendations and specifically request bottled drinks. Although water is heated considerably to brew tea and coffee, the brewing process doesn’t do enough to eliminate microorganisms, according to experts.
Heating “might kill some of the organisms—the more susceptible ones—but it’s not going to kill the majority of them,” environmental scientist Brenda Wiles told NBC 5.
Mothers should also avoid filling babies’ bottles with airplane tap water. “That doesn’t sound like a very good idea,” Dr. Cedric Spak of the Baylor University Medical Center told NBC.

As for those red-eye flights, passengers should probably wait until they touch down before grabbing a cup of coffee. After all, every major airport has multiple coffee shops—and if you see a flight attendant at one of those shops, don’t be surprised.

Tags 50028276, fuel, hemingway

Motherhood

6 Little Behavior Problems That Shouldn't Be Ignored

Post author By Mary Sauer
Post date June 28, 2017

When we added a third child to our family, I was overwhelmed by the workload of caring for three kids under the age of 5. Most days, I was so distracted by the round-the-clock feedings, diaper changes, and trying to get dinner on the table, my only goal was to make it to the end of the day.

I hate to admit it, but during that season of survival, I found myself turning a blind eye to little misbehaviors from my toddlers on a regular basis. It seemed easier at the time to just pick up the blocks myself instead of engaging in a full-on toddler battle again and again.
The reality is, I paid for it in the long run. Now that my third is becoming a little more independent, I am finding myself working double time trying to teach my daughters to do what they’re asked and to be kind to the other members of our family.

What I’m saying is, I definitely understand the all-consuming, completely overwhelming job that is parenthood. Simply making sure your kids are safe, dressed, and fed can quickly fill up a day, but these things hardly make up the whole of parenting.
Of course, there is so much more that goes into parenting, and guiding our kids on the path to being kind and responsible people is one of the most consuming tasks.

With all of the day-to-day demands of caring for our kids, it’s easy to lose track of the long-term work of teaching them how to behave. It’s totally okay to let a few things slide every now and again, but there are some behaviors you simply can’t ignore. If you notice any of these six little behavior problems surface in your child, it’s time to buckle down and address them right away.

1. Telling Little White Lies

Fibbing about how many snacks they had at school or exaggerating the details of a story may seem harmless enough, but telling little white lies can become a habit. And once a habit of exaggerating the truth is created, these little untruths can grow into more harmful lies with long-term consequences.

Addressing lying can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be a dramatic interaction between you and your child. Instead, the experts at Positive Parenting recommend that you start by avoiding any questions that could give your child a chance to lie.
If you know they ate three cookies, don’t give them the opportunity to say differently. If your children still chooses to deny the truth, make sure they know you know exactly what took place. There’s no reason to play games in an effort to convince them to fess up.

Moving forward, take a proactive approach to addressing lying. Make sure your kids know you want to hear the truth no matter what has happened. This is a good opportunity to teach your child that everyone makes mistakes, but owning up to the things we have done wrong is a big part of growing up to be mature adults.

2. Ignoring You When You’re Talking to Them

It may be typical to have trouble getting your kids to listen, but if your child is making a habit of intentionally ignoring your directions, they need to know that isn’t okay. Selective hearing starts early.

It may not seem all that emergent when your toddler has to be told five times to stop picking their nose or your preschooler has to be reminded a half dozen times to get dressed for school. But when you ignore this behavior, you’re sending a message that you’re not really in charge.
It is reasonable to expect your child to listen and obey most of the time. If that isn’t happening in your home, we’ve got a few ideas that may help you out.

First, we suggest you stop repeating yourself altogether. Make eye contact with your child before giving them directions and then give them one chance to hear what you have to say. If they decide to ignore you, impose the appropriate consequences.
Whenever possible, make these consequences match the crime.

A young child who didn’t put her shoes on may have to sit on the porch while her siblings play, since it would hurt her feet to be barefoot. An older child who had to be reminded to complete their chores may need to stay home from an activity to make time for them to finish the uncompleted tasks.

3. Intentionally Hurting Others

If you are going to draw a line in the sand over any misbehavior, it should be intentionally hurting others. Young kids start testing boundaries early. For many kids, hitting, kicking, or biting are simply ways to express their anger.

As their parent, it is your job to teach them appropriate methods for expressing what they feel, making sure they understand it is never okay to inflict harm on another person.
Curtailing a hitting habit requires regular intervention when your child is upset, according to parenting expert Dr. Bill Sears. On Ask Dr. Sears, he suggests that parents begin by gaining an understanding of why their child is upset and help them out by providing the words to match how they feel.
For young kids, gently stop them from hitting or biting and remove them from the situation, telling them they are not allowed to hurt others.

To proactively address hitting, Dr. Sears also recommends parents model nonaggression and healthy expression of anger in front of their children.

4. Having an Attitude

It doesn’t take long for a new talker to learn the word “no!” and start using it on their parents. It may be cute to watch a little one toddle around barking orders at anyone in earshot, but a tiny attitude can quickly morph into a monstrous habit of disrespect.

You won’t regret making the time to teach your child to curb their ‘tude. For many little ones, disrespect is connected to experiencing strong emotions and feeling ill equipped to express and manage those emotions.
Talking about feelings openly with your kids is an effective way to begin to teach them the emotional intelligence they will need as they grow up, according to Zero to Three.

When your child responds with an attitude, empathize with their emotions and help them find the vocabulary they need to get their feelings out there. Try this: “Wow, you seem angry because I asked you to clean up after yourself. Let’s take a few deep breaths together and then you can do what I asked.”

5. Running Away From Others

In our house, this little misbehavior most frequently shows up at bedtime. Mommy and Daddy are exhausted. Our little ones can sense our complacency and take off running when we try to get them ready for bed. It’s so tempting to just ignore it, especially if you want to avoid a bedtime meltdown. But running away can turn into a safety problem.

When you are in public, it is so important that your kids stay nearby to avoid getting hurt in parking lots or lost in the store. For very young kids, respectful-parenting expert Janet Lansbury suggests parents begin with prevention.
Simply don’t give your child the opportunity to run away. Secure them in a stroller or hold their hand in public.

If your child gets away from you anyway, Lansbury suggests parents not give this boundary-testing behavior much power. Instead, calmly take hold of your child and let them know you’re there to help them listen so they can stay safe.

6. Interrupting Others When They’re Talking

Most kids aren’t trying to misbehave when they start interrupting others when they’re talking, but this can turn into a rude habit they carry into adulthood. If your child is having trouble controlling their excitement and regularly butting in on conversations, it is important to teach them the patience they need to wait their turn.

One popular method to help kids learn not to interrupt is teaching them to put their hand on your shoulder or thigh when they have something to say. Acknowledge your child’s presence by touching their hand, but continue your conversation until you are finished.
Once you are through, turn to your child and give them your full attention while they talk. It may take time, but consistently using this little trick will pay off in the long run.

Tags 50028336, hemingway, parenting

Sweat

10 Weird Things No One Tells You About Breastfeeding

Post author By Mary Sauer
Post date June 28, 2017

When I found out I was expecting my first child, I knew I wanted to breastfeed, but I had no idea what I should expect. Even though I read up on the basics and stocked up on nursing pads, lanolin, and mother’s milk tea, when my daughter was born and the time came for me to start feeding her, I quickly realized how little I actually knew about breastfeeding.

Today, I have three kids who have all been breastfed. I certainly have a handle on the basics; I have years of round-the-clock feedings to thank for that. Still, I am constantly learning more remarkable—and frankly weird—facts about breastfeeding.
Even as a seasoned nursing mom, I am always in awe of my body’s ability to keep my children well fed for the entire first year their lives.

Think you know everything about breastfeeding? Think again. Here are 10 weird things no one tells you about breastfeeding.

1. The composition of breast milk is customized for your baby

Babies eat roughly the same amount of breast milk from the day of their birth until 6 months of age, when moms typically introduce some solid foods. However, what a baby needs from their mother’s milk changes on a daily—if not hourly—basis.

Amazingly, a mother’s body is able to respond to those needs by changing up the composition of breast milk.
For instance, milk produced during sleeping hours contains higher levels of human milk nucleotides, which are believed to induce sleep in infants, according to one study published in the journal Nutritional Neuroscience.

Remarkably, when babies nurse while they’re sick, their backwash is believed to make its way into your body, signaling your milk to adapt to fight infection, according to Science News.

2. Breastfeeding has a calming effect on Mom.

We have all heard the ways breastfeeding benefits the baby, but the benefits this practice has on Mom aren’t as well known.

For starters, the act of breastfeeding is believed to have a calming effect on the mother. Letdown (release of breast milk) is triggered by an increased presence of the hormone oxytocin.
This hormone is also known for increasing feelings of love and attachment and reducing feelings of anxiety.

In fact, increased oxytocin levels caused by breastfeeding are believed to decrease [linkbuilder id=”3565″ text=”postpartum depression symptoms”] in many moms, according to a study published in the journal Breastfeeding Medicine. It may even make Mom feel so chill it borders on drowsiness.

3. Newborn babies can crawl to their first meal

The breast crawl isn’t a myth. If given the opportunity, most brand new babies will literally crawl up their mother’s abdomen to the breast for their first meal.

Researchers believe that moms’ breasts emit an odor right after birth that is attractive to their baby.
In fact, some research suggests that the breast secretes a smell that bears an uncanny resemblance to amniotic fluid and that this odor guides the baby on their crawl to the breast.

If you’re an expectant mom, request immediate skin-to-skin contact for at least the first hour after your baby is born to up your chances of witnessing this phenomenon firsthand.

4. Most moms have a lazy breast.

If you’re a mom who has breastfed and you’ve ever suspected one of your breasts is underperforming, you are probably right. Parenting forums are jammed packed with tips and tricks for increasing milk production in a single breast, but the truth is, most moms have a breast that simply doesn’t keep up as well.

Of course, this can be annoying for both Mom and Baby, but in most cases it’s nothing to worry about. The causes of lower milk production on one side can be attributed to anything from normal anatomical differences to the mother or the baby preferring one side, according to Kelly Mom.

5. Moms’ breasts have a built-in baby thermostat.

In many hospitals, if a baby is born with a low basal body temperature, it has long been a conventional practice to separate mom and baby, putting the newborn under a warmer until their temperature rises to a healthy level.

As it turns out, this practice may be completely unnecessary, because mothers’ breasts seem to have a built-in baby thermostat. Research published in the journal Birth indicates that during extended skin-to-skin contact, the breasts actually play an important role in regulating newborns’ temperatures.
Add this to the ever-expanding list of the pros of skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth.

6. Your body tells breast milk which viruses to fight.

By breastfeeding your child, you aren’t simply providing them with calories, you are helping to strengthen their immune system. Your breast milk is full of antibodies that are specific to the bacteria and viruses you have been exposed to.

If you get a cold, don’t stop feeding your baby! Your body will create and pass on antibodies specific to that virus, according to La Leche League. Take care of yourself, get plenty of rest, stay hydrated, and nurse on, Mom!

7. Breastfed babies grow into healthy adults.

Okay, so this little tidbit of information is less weird and more amazingly awesome. Protecting your baby from viruses isn’t the only health perk of breast milk. Breastfed babies are more likely to grow up to be healthy children and adults.

In fact, breastfeeding your baby may help prevent chronic illnesses like diabetes and celiac disease, along with childhood asthma and food allergies.

8. Breastfeeding moms actually sleep more than bottle-feeding moms.

It’s easy to assume that moms who bottle feed are able to get more sleep simply because they can pass feeding responsibilities on to their partner during the middle of the night. The opposite is actually true.

If the goal is to clock as many hours of sleep as possible in the postpartum stages, exclusive breastfeeding is a better choice when compared with mixed feeding or formula feeding, since breastfeeding mothers report getting more hours of sleep each night, according to the journal Clinical Lactation.

9. Breastfeeding makes women healthier.

Most mothers know that breastfeeding is believed to set baby up for a healthier adulthood, but did you know it does the same thing for mothers?
Not only does breastfeeding burn a ton of calories, helping you get back into those pre-pregnancy jeans more quickly, but there are also some pretty attractive long-term perks.

Women who breastfeed are at a lower risk for diseases like ovarian and breast cancers. Breastfeeding mothers also have a lower risk of developing osteoporosis later in life.

10. Breastfed babies might grow up to be smarter teens.

If you want to raise a smarty, making breastfeeding a part of your parenting plan is something you should consider. Babies who are breastfed earlier on are likely to have a higher IQ, according to a study published in the journal Pediatric Research.

More research needs to be done, but it seems that breastmilk has unique effects on the white matter of the brain that formula manufacturers have yet to mimic successfully.
Not all moms can successfully breastfeed, and those who do may deal with a painful latch, sleepless nights, or breast infections. If breastfeeding is hard for you, don’t be afraid to make an appointment with a lactation consultant to start troubleshooting the hurdles you’re experiencing.

If in the end you can’t make breastfeeding work for you and your baby, that’s okay! When it comes to baby nutrition, fed is truly best.

Tags 50026946, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

"Wonder Woman" Is The Highest-Grossing Live-Action Female-Directed Film In History

Post author By Louise Kane
Post date June 27, 2017

Patty Jenkins, director of Wonder Woman, has smashed through another glass ceiling with the help of an Amazon warrior with a magic lasso. Within just a few weeks of opening, the 2017 superhero hit grossed $635 million in global ticket sales.

The previous record for a live-action film directed by a woman, incidentally, was $609.8 million for Phyllida Lloyd’s Mamma Mia!, back in 2008. Wonder Woman is a record breaker.

This victory won’t surprise the legions of fans who swarmed to theaters on opening weekend or the tearful moms who can finally bring their daughters to a superhero film starring a woman or the DC comics scholars who have been waiting for this moment since they were 10 years old.

It might, however, silence the online legions of men who complained bitterly about a women-only screening at the legendary Texas theater, the Alamo Drafthouse.

This was the same crowd that went into hysterics about women leading the Ghostbusters reboot. The summer before that, they were all up in arms about Charlize Theron’s character Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road because she wasn’t subservient enough to the titular Max.

The trollosphere even slithered into the conversation surrounding the production of Wonder Woman, with a comment promising that, “People inside are already confirming it’s another mess.”

That line came from an open letter to Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara, complaining about layoffs and the general state of the studio’s output over the past few years. The letter was signed “Gracie Law,” who claims to be an ex-employee.

Jenkins responded directly, via Twitter of course.

“Whoah, just saw some press about WW having problems,” the director wrote. “Are they serious? This is some made up bs right here. Made up! Produce a source, anyone.”

When no one responded with a source, Jenkins doubled down on her argument.

“You can’t because it’s entirely false,” she tweeted. “Don’t believe the hype people. Someone’s trying to spread some serious misinfo.”

The tweets go on and on, but Jenkins’ point is that there was no behind-the-scenes trouble on the set of Wonder Woman. We weren’t there, so we can’t claim to know how the entire production went, but one thing is for sure: the film itself is not a “mess.” Anything but, actually.

And the fans agree. Although Frozen remains the highest-earning film directed (co-directed, in this case) by a woman, Wonder Woman is now tops in the non-animated category. Besides, Wonder Woman is still in theaters. It could conceivably soar past the $1 billion record set by Frozen.

Either way, people are lining up to congratulate Jenkins on her success.

Actor Connie Nielsen, who played Wonder Woman’s mother, Queen Hippolyta, tweeted a nice message.

“@PattyJenks Am so unbelievably proud of you,” she wrote.

“Thank you my dear friend and incredible queen,” Jenkins responded. “Couldn’t have done it without you. Without all of you. Honored to be a part of it.”

Co-writer Geoff Johns told Variety that he and Jenkins are currently
working on the story for the next installment in what promises to be a legendary franchise. “The goal is to make another great Wonder Woman film,” he said.

Tags 50028036, hemingway, mind