Research: Eat Well Before Pregnancy

by: continuum wellness - September 9th, 2011   Filed under: pregnancy, women's health Add Comment

This seems to be very common sense research, but you know what they say about common-sense…not being so common.  Well this study highlights how if a woman doesn’t eat well before conception, it impinges on the well being of the child.  I wonder if there are any studies that highlight men.  If a man carouses, drinks a lot of beer or smokes pot, how does that effect the offspring?  Isn’t he a 50% donor?  Let’s spread the responsibility.  Men should do the right thing too. Here is the study read on…

Pre-pregnancy diet affects the health of future offspring

Poor maternal diet before conception can result in offspring with reduced birth weights and increased risk of developing type II diabetes and obesity.

This work, which is being presented at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow on Saturday the 2nd of July 2011, used an animal model to illustrate the importance of maternal diet even before pregnancy begins.

During the study mice that were fed a low protein diet for ten weeks before conception (but had a normal diet during pregnancy) gave birth to offspring that had lower birth weights, showed catch-up growth after weaning and increased insulin sensitivity.

These effects combined can lead to problems later in life. MSc researcher, Ms Anete Dudele, from the University of Aarhus, explains: “Low birth weight and catch-up growth is associated with enhanced insulin-sensitivity in young adults, this then deteriorates into insulin resistance and type II diabetes with increased age. There is also evidence that male offspring are more likely to develop obesity.”

Humans and mice respond in the same way to poor diet during pregnancy; their offspring show low birth weights and increased risk of obesity, type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. “If humans respond in the same way as mice to pre-conception diet as well then women should not only consider what they eat during pregnancy but also before pregnancy if they want to reduce the risk of their future children acquiring lifestyle diseases,” says Ms. Dudele.

Cardiovascular disease is often associated with obesity and type II diabetes and future research by the team will determine whether offspring born to mothers who had poor pre-conception diets are predisposed to these types of problems as well.

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Research – Vitamin D: Good for Mom-to-Be

by: continuum wellness - July 13th, 2011   Filed under: pregnancy, women's health Add Comment

Vitamin D supplements found to be safe for healthy pregnant women

Use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy has long been a matter of concern but now researchers writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research report that even a high supplementation amount in healthy pregnant women was safe and effective in raising circulating vitamin D to a level thought by some to be optimal. The study also found no adverse effects of vitamin D supplementation, even at the highest amount, in women or their newborns.

The research team, led by Dr. Bruce Hollis from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, used a randomized controlled trial with healthy expectant mothers to discover how varying dosages of daily supplements could safely sustain a circulating vitamin D level of at least 32 nanograms per milliliter.

“Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy remains controversial largely due to severe misconceptions about the potential harm it may cause to the fetus,” said Dr Hollis. “Surprisingly the scientific debate has made little progress since Dr. Gilbert Forbes made a recommendation of 200 IU (international units) per day in 1963, which was based on a hunch.”

While the threat of vitamin D during pregnancy has remained little known, it has been established that the vitamin plays a role in homeostasis, the body’s internal regulation, during pregnancy and that a deficiency can effect immune, pancreatic and cardiovascular systems.

Dr Hollis’ team monitored the pregnancies of 350 women, from a variety of ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, who were all between 12 and 16 weeks into gestation. The women were randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group received 400 IU of vitamin D per day, the second group received 2,000 IU per day and the third received 4,000 IU daily.

The team found that women who received the highest level of supplementation (4,000 IU per day) were more likely to achieve and sustain the desired level of circulating levels of vitamin D throughout their pregnancy. Moreover, the researchers found that pregnant women who received lower levels of vitamin D supplementation did not attain the threshold circulating level of the vitamin.

“In our study subjects, a daily dosage of up to 4,000 IU of vitamin D was required to sustain normal metabolism in pregnant women,” concluded Dr Hollis. “Furthermore, following decades of speculation into its safety our research has demonstrated vitamin D supplementation to be both safe and effective.”

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Flu Vaccine for Children, Untested

by: continuum wellness - August 18th, 2009   Filed under: children, flu, influenza vaccine, pregnancy 1 Comment

A new vaccine for swine flu is most likely to be targeted at vulnerable groups such as young children and pregnant women. But a Radio 4 documentary has discovered that little or no data exists on the safety or effectiveness of flu vaccines on these groups. (read more)

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Treating Infertility with Homeopathy

by: continuum wellness - March 30th, 2009   Filed under: alternative medicine, pregnancy, women, women's health Add Comment

Homeopathy is useful for a broad range of complaints including the complaint of infertility. A reading of the homeopathic literature is replete with successful outcomes. There are at least eighty remedies that can address the underlying issue.

The use of homeopathy for this condition is not very common, most likely people take the high tech route. Homeopathy is a viable alternative. In the tiny island nation of Cuba a doctor using a homeopathic preparation (so, I don’t think this is classical homeopathy) has been instrumental in 67 births. This article may not make the evening news. Read it here.

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Vaccine Insanity: Caution for Pregnant Women

by: continuum wellness - September 4th, 2008   Filed under: Health, health beliefs, health care, infants, pregnancy, vaccination, vaccines, women, women's health Add Comment

This abstract suggests that pregnant women need to receive vaccinations during pregnancy. This is advice, really is reckless. Why not talk about reducing environmental hazards, and how to boost one’s natural immunity. We are really meant to interface with our environment without the need of vaccines. Illness and sickness do serve a purpose and as the body heals it becomes stronger and also the immune system is strengthened.

Vaccines for Pertussis and Influenza: Recommendations for Use in Pregnancy.

New Antibiotics and Vaccines in Obstetric Practice

Abstract:
The active immunization of pregnant women during pregnancy to protect them from disease and protect their neonate with passive antibodies is a biologic fact. Fortunately, many infectious diseases occur infrequently due to excellent pediatric vaccine programs. However, most adults and many physicians are unaware of the risks of not administering vaccines especially to pregnant women. Influenza vaccine (trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine) is recommended by (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for pregnant women in any trimester of pregnancy and Tetanus, reduced diphtheria, and pertussis (TdaP) vaccine is recommended by the ACIP to be given before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or in the immediate postpartum period. Only 2% of the adult US population is protected against pertussis and it is estimated that only 25% of pregnant women receive influenza vaccine during the influenza season. This chapter discusses trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine and TdaP use during pregnancy, the diseases they prevent, and the benefit to the neonate.

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Autism Risk Linked to power plants and Mercury releasing sources

by: continuum wellness - April 30th, 2008   Filed under: autism, children, healthy body, mercury, pregnancy, Uncategorized Add Comment

Autism cases continue to rise raising questions among parents and researchers. A prime culprit seems to be mercury. Mercury in various forms such as methyl mercury ends in the bottom of our rivers and lakes. Mercury vapor effects air quality.

These toxic elements enter the environment as a result of industrial pollution. It is difficult to dispose of them. There are serious risks. Out of sight does not make this poison disappear. These wastes can affect our lives, rob us of our health, can lead to neurological problems and affect our children. A recent study by the University of Texas, Health Science at San Antonio. How do mercury emissions affect the unborn, pregnant women and toddlers? It is a question not often asked. But it turns up serious links to environmental mercury and autism.

Where one lives and how it impacts one’s life and by extension the world,is the basis of the world view contained in Feng Shui. In indigenous societies the world over, it was known that there is no “out there”. What ever you do to someone or something you are ultimately doing to yourself. Life is a circle.

Solutions
Do your best not to live near by industrial facilities.
Do your best to live free of products that produce toxic waste. Pass on the knowing, that this matters.

Study highlights

• Mercury-release data examined were from 39 coal-fired power plants and 56 industrial facilities in Texas.
• Autism rates examined were from 1,040 Texas school districts.
• For every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by all industrial sources in Texas into the environment in 1998, there was a corresponding 2.6 percent increase in autism rates in the Texas school districts in 2002.
• For every 1,000 pounds of mercury released by Texas power plants in 1998, there was a corresponding 3.7 percent increase in autism rates in Texas school districts in 2002.
• Autism prevalence diminished 1 percent to 2 percent for every 10 miles from the source.
• Mercury exposure through fish consumption is well documented, but very little is known about exposure routes through air and ground water.
• There is evidence that children and other developing organisms are more susceptible to neurobiological effects of mercury.

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Caffeine in pregnancy tied to testes woes in sons

by: continuum wellness - February 25th, 2008   Filed under: caffeine, coffee, pregnancy, reproduction, undescended testicles, women 2 Comments

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As much as you may love the bean, if you’re pregnant, this study highlights a compelling reason to cut back your consumption.

By Scott Baltic

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – In a recent study, sons born to women who drank the equivalent of three cups of coffee a day during pregnancy were more likely to have undescended testes at age 2 years.

The testes in male babies usually move from the pelvis into the scrotum shortly before birth, but sometimes this doesn’t happen. The condition is termed cryptorchidism.

The current findings, reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, come from a study of 7,574 male infants. Persistent cryptorchidism, defined as one or two undescended testicles at birth persisting to at least age 2 years, was present in 101 infants.

The investigators, at the Center for Research on Women’s and Children’s Health in Berkeley, California looked for any association between persistent cryptorchidism and maternal smoking, alcohol consumption, or caffeine consumption.

The only significant association was with caffeine consumption equivalent to three cups of coffee per day.

Dr. Barbara A. Cohn, one of the researchers, told Reuters Health that there has been increasing interest in cryptorchidism recently “because of the increase in the incidence of testicular cancer, known to be more common among those who were cryptorchid.”

Cohn explained that caffeine “appears to interfere with reproduction, increasing the rate of miscarriage, which is more common when there are errors in fetal development.” This would fit with the current findings, because “cryptorchidism is a defect of fetal development.”

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2008.

Reuters Health

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