Women’s Health

Diabetic women should monitor glucose levels before pregnancy

Women suffering from diabetes and wishing to start a family should monitor their blood glucose levels and take a daily high dose of folic acid before pregnancy to avoid risk to their baby’s health, a new study said on Wednesday. 

The risk of stillbirth – when the foetus dies in the uterus or death during the first year of birth – was over four times greater in women with diabetes than in those without the disease.

The team from Newcastle studied the outcome of over 400,000 pregnancies delivered in north of England between 1996 and 2008.

”We found that 2.7 percent of births in women with diabetes resulted in stillbirth, six times than the rate for women without diabetes, while 0.7 percent died during the first year of life, nearly double the rate in women without diabetes,” said Ruth Bell, one of the researchers.

The research also said that nearly 40 percent of deaths might have been avoided if all of the women were able to achieve good control of their blood glucose before pregnancy.

”Stillbirths and infant deaths are thankfully not common, but they could be even less common if all women with diabetes can be helped to achieve the best possible control of their blood glucose levels before becoming pregnant,” added Bell.

Source: Khaleej Times

 

Sugary drinks may up uterine cancer risk

Postmenopausal women who consume sugar-sweetened drinks are at a higher risk of developing cancer of the endometrium – the lining of the uterus – a new study has warned.

Researchers found that postmenopausal women who reported the highest intake of sugar-sweetened beverages had a 78 per cent increased risk for estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer (the most common type of this disease).

This association was found in a dose-dependent manner: the more sugar-sweetened beverages a woman drank, the higher her risk.

“Although ours is the first study to show this relationship, it is not surprising to see that women who drank more sugar-sweetened beverages had a higher risk of estrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer but not estrogen-independent type II endometrial cancer,” said researcher Maki Inoue-Choi.

“Other studies have shown increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has parallelled the increase in obesity,” said Inoue-Choi, who led the study as a research associate in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

“Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogens and insulin than women of normal weight. Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer,” said Inoue-Choi.

Inoue-Choi and colleagues used data from 23,039 postmenopausal women who reported dietary intake, demographic information, and medical history in 1986, prior to the cancer diagnosis, as part of the Iowa Women’s Health Study.

Dietary intake was assessed using the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ), which asked study participants to report intake frequency of 127 food items in the previous 12 months.

Between 1986 and 2010, 506 type I and 89 type II endometrial cancers were recorded among the women Inoue-Choi and colleagues studied.

They did not find any association between type I or type II endometrial cancers and consumption of sugar-free soft drinks, sweets/baked goods, and starch.

Source: Indian Express

 

Exercise may help pregnant women quit smoking

For pregnant women who want to quit smoking, a brisk walk can temporarily stave off tobacco cravings, says a Canadian study.

Previous research has shown that exercise can interrupt nicotine cravings for both men and women. Whether the same was true for expecting mothers was unclear because pregnant women have increased metabolism, which can intensify longings for a cigarette, the researchers write in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

“This was the first time we have been able to replicate the findings with pregnant smokers,” Harry Prapavessis said.

Prapavessis, director of the Exercise and Health Psychology Laboratory at Western University in Ontario, Canada, led the research.

According to his team’s results, 15 to 20 minutes of walking at a mild to moderate pace is sufficient to ward off cravings.

For the study, researchers recruited 30 pregnant women in their second trimester in Canada and England. All of the women smoked more than five cigarettes a day and were not regular exercisers.

Half of the women were assigned to walk on a treadmill and the rest to watch a home gardening video for 20 minutes. Both groups did not smoke for between 15 and 19 hours before entering the lab.

The walkers reported an average 30 percent reduction in the desire to smoke based on a seven-point scale. But the cravings returned. Thirty minutes after exercising, the same group of women reported only a 17 percent craving reduction.

The exercising women also reported less irritability, restlessness, tension and other withdrawal symptoms. But because of the study’s small size, those results could have happened by chance.

“This translates not as a cure for quitting, but it can be part of a strategy,” said Dr. Sharon Phelan, who was not involved in the study.

Phelan is a fellow with the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

“The challenge is that there isn’t one reason why pregnant women have an addiction,” Phelan said.

“I think it’s a very positive study,” said Dr. Raul Artal of Saint Louis University School of Medicine in Missouri. Artal helped write exercise and pregnancy guidelines for ACOG.

He said the new study will need to be repeated according to medicine’s gold standard of testing – a randomized, controlled trial. “But, based on common sense, the message is good,” he said.

Prapavessis said his team’s results can only be applied to women about 25 years old, the average age in the study. But, “I would like to think that we can repeat the findings with older or younger pregnant smokers.”

Prapavessis pointed out that because of the social stigma associated with smoking while pregnant, recruiting pregnant women for such studies can be extremely difficult.

The next step, he said, would be to repeat the results with women walking in natural environments outside of their homes. “We want to see if this craving effect can be reproduced when women go for a brisk walk for about 15 minutes in their natural setting,” he said.

Pregnant women also have the option to try nicotine replacement therapy drugs, like skin patches or lozenges, but more evidence is needed to know if these are completely safe during pregnancy, Phelan said.

To help pregnant smokers quit, Phelan stressed the importance of understanding the underlying reasons why a pregnant woman smokes. “It’s like when someone has a fever. You can treat it with an aspirin, but you haven’t gotten to the underlying cause.”

“One therapy for everyone isn’t going to fit all,” Phelan noted. Still, regardless of whether a woman has stopped smoking, exercise offers positive benefits, like improved circulation and muscle tone she said.

ACOG supports 30 minutes of light exercise like walking three or four times a week during pregnancy, Phelan said, but pregnant women should always talk with their healthcare provider before beginning exercise.

To beat cigarette cravings, she said, “This is a valid option to suggest to women and it may be helpful for some, but not to others.”

Source: Zee news

PTSD Linked to Obesity in Women

Women with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to become overweight or obese, according to a study published online Nov. 20 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Laura D. Kubzansky, PhD, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and colleagues used data from the subsample of the Nurses’ Health Study II (54,224 participants aged 24–44 years in 1989) to examine whether women with PTSD symptoms were more likely to gain weight and become obese compared to trauma-exposed women without PTSD symptoms or women without trauma exposure or PTSD symptoms.

The researchers found that body mass index (BMI) increased more steeply during follow-up for women with ≥4 PTSD symptoms before cohort initiation (1989). BMI trajectory did not differ by PTSD status before onset of PTSD among women who developed PTSD symptoms in 1989 or later. Women with ≥4 PTSD symptoms had a faster rise in BMI after PTSD symptom onset. For women with a normal BMI in 1989, onset of ≥4 PTSD symptoms in 1989 or later correlated with a significantly increased risk of becoming overweight or obese (odds ratio, 1.36). After adjustment for depression, these effects were maintained.

“The presence of PTSD symptoms should raise clinician concerns about physical health problems that may develop and prompt closer attention to weight status,” the authors write.

Source: MPR

 

Adopt healthy pregnancy habits to avoid preterm birth

Being pregnant is one of the happiest moments in life. Despite the excitement that comes with it, it could be hard for you as you need to take extra care of your body and the fetus inside you during this time. What is preterm birth? According to World Health Organization (WHO), preterm is defined as babies born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed.

There are sub-categories of preterm birth, based on gestational age:

Extremely preterm (born at less than 28 weeks of pregnancy).
Very preterm (born between 28 to 32 weeks of pregnancy).

Moderate to late preterm (born between 32 to 37 weeks of pregnancy).
Sometimes, even a healthy pregnancy may make you go into preterm labor because it is usually not anticipated. Preterm birth also happens because the causes are not completely understood.

But adopting healthy pregnancy habits may help keep your baby until he or she is fully ready to face the world.

How to prevent it?
Below are some simple tips as suggested by health experts that may help avoid preterm birth:
Eat healthy: This is the time that you eat a balanced diet which is good for you, your baby and pregnancy. Make sure that you get all necessary nutrients in right proportions every day — such as Vitamins A, C, E, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and most importantly, the well-known baby- friendly folic acid. This can help avoid preterm labour.
Adopt healthy lifestyle: If you smoke, drink or use any kinds of drugs, you must quit.

Get enough fluids: Remember to take at least 8 glasses of water or fluids daily to keep yourself hydrated. Dehydration can cause premature contractions. Keeping yourself hydrated can also increase the chances of keeping baby put.

Say ‘no’ to stress: Stress is not directly linked to preterm, but try not to take stress for your own benefit during this time. Instead ask for help and try to relax. Check your weight: Gaining too much or too little weight during pregnancy can up your preterm labour risk. Being overweight can increase your odds of getting gestational diabetes and preeclampsia (both of which up preterm) whereas being underweight can advance your due date as well as make your baby born too small.

Prenatal vitamins: Do not neglect taking those pills, they are not just good for you and your growing baby’s health, but will also increase the chances that you’ll carry to term.
Don’t hold your urine: During pregnancy, you should never hold your urine. Doing that can inflame your bladder and as a result of which, your uterus could be aggravated leading to contractions. Holding your pee could also cause urinary tract infections (UTI), another source of preterm contractions.

Source: Journey Line

Women on morning pills twice as likely to have serious eye disease

A new study has suggested that that women who have taken oral contraceptives for three or more years are twice as likely to suffer from glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness which affects nearly 60 million worldwide.

Researchers at University of California, San Francisco, Duke University School of Medicine and Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China utilized 2005-2008 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), administered by the Centers for Disease Control, which included 3,406 female participants aged 40 years or older from across the United States who completed the survey’s vision and reproductive health questionnaire and underwent eye exams.

They found that females who had used oral contraceptives, no matter which kind, for longer than three years are 2.05 times more likely to also report that they have the diagnosis of glaucoma.

Although the results of the study do not speak directly to the causative effect of oral contraceptives on the development of glaucoma, it indicates that long-term use of oral contraceptives might be a potential risk factor for glaucoma, and may be considered as part of the risk profile for a patient together with other existing risk factors.

These include factors such as African American- ethnicity, family history of glaucoma, history of increased eye pressure or existing visual field defects.

Source: Business Standard

 

Preterm birth linked to phthalates in personal products

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Chemicals widely used in household products and toiletries may increase the risk giving birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy, a new study suggests.

Pregnant women exposed to phthalates, a group of hormone-mimicking chemicals found in personal care products and processed foods, may have an increased risk of preterm delivery, a new study suggests.

The study included 130 women in the Boston area who had given birth early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy, and 352 women who delivered at full term between 2006 and 2008. The researchers measured the levels of common phthalates such as DEHP in the women’s urine up to three times during their pregnancies.

They found that women who had the highest levels of phthalate metabolites in their urine had a risk of preterm birth that was two to five times higher when compared with women who had the lowest levels.

What’s more, when the researchers looked only at the 57 women who had “spontaneous preterm delivery,” meaning they didn’t have a medical condition that could explain their early delivery, they found the link between exposure to phthalates and risk of preterm delivery was stronger, according to the study published today (Nov. 18) in JAMA Pediatrics.

“These data provide strong support for taking action in the prevention or reduction of phthalate exposure during pregnancy,” the researchers wrote in their findings.

Phthalates are chemicals widely used in making flexible and durable plastics, and many other products such as adhesives, detergents, soaps, shampoos, hair sprays, perfumes and deodorants. People are exposed to these potentially hormone-disrupting chemicals through contact with phthalate-containing products, and eating certain processed and canned foods.

“For women who are interested in reducing their exposure, reducing use of personal care products, buying phthalate-free [products] when possible, and eating fresher foods may help, although research on that is limited,” said study researcher John Meeker, an associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Preterm birth, defined as the birth of an infant before 37 weeks of pregnancy, is a leading cause of death or long-term neurological disabilities in children. The rate of preterm birth in the United States has increased by more than a third between 1981 and its peak at 12.8 percent in 2006. The rates slightly decreased in the subsequent years, to about 11.5 percent in 2012, which means one out of every eight children is now born prematurely, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A recent review of studies looking for what might underlie the increase in preterm birth rates identified risk factors such as increasing maternal age and use of assisted reproduction. However, nearly half of the increase remains unaccounted for, said Shanna Swan, a professor of preventive medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

The new study provides “strong evidence that environmental chemicals, and phthalates in particular, likely contribute significantly to that unknown and other category,” Swan wrote in an editorial published along with the new study.

The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between phthalates and preterm birth. However, there are reasons to think phthalates could cause preterm births; for example, phthalates may cause inflammation in the uterine lining, the researchers said.

Lab studies have shown that phthalates can cause inflammation, but this needs to be studied in humans. Other ideas about possible mechanisms by which phthalates affect pregnancy involve women’s immune response, oxidative stress, and hormone disruption.

“There’s a list of things phthalates have been shown to do in experimental studies. Much work is left to be done in human observational studies,” Meeker told LiveScience.

Other factors that contribute to higher risks of preterm delivery include smoking, drinking, infection, stress and high blood pressure during pregnancy. A study published in January 2013 in the journal Lancet predicted that current interventions to address known risk factors would decrease preterm birth rates by only 5 percent by 2015.

Exposure to phthalates may be one risk factor that could be prevented by behavioral modification or through policies aiming at reducing the use of phthalates, the researchers said.

Source: Mother Nature Network

5 ways to ease menstrual cramps

Crankiness, bloating and fatigue are some of the common symptoms of painful periods. Menses can be very uncomfortable, and at times, drain out energy.

Here are a few foods that can help ease period cramps.

Dark chocolates: Eating a small amount of dark chocolate can actually help in easing PMS cramps and bloating as it acts as natural painkiller.

Green Tea: Drinking a cup of green tea can ease cramps as it contains flavanoids and antioxidants which also help boost immunity.

Salmon: Salmon is a rich source of Omega-3 and helps ease inflammation and PMS cramps.

Water: It flushes out all the toxins from the body and also provides fluidity for the flow of blood thereby easing menstrual pain.

Pineapple juice: Pineapples contain an enzyme called Bromelain which relaxes muscle and eases cramps

Source: zee News

Gestational diabetes on the rise: What every mom should know

The percentage of women diagnosed with gestational diabetes is increasing in the United States and the American Diabetes Association estimates that it will occur in up to 18 percent of all pregnancies.

Experts agree that it’s not just a problem during pregnancy; it can actually cause a lifetime of complications in both mothers and their children.

Learn what the latest research on gestational diabetes suggests and what you can do to prevent and manage it.

Are you at risk?

Gestational diabetes is a medical condition that causes blood sugar levels to rise during pregnancy. When you eat, the food is converted to glucose, which the body uses for energy. But the only way glucose gets into the cells is through insulin, and when the cells become resistant to insulin, diabetes occurs.

Gestational diabetes can be genetic and some ethnic groups – American Indian, African American, Asian, and Hispanic – are more prone. Women over the age of 25, and especially those over 35, have a higher risk.

If you had a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds, even if you were never diagnosed with gestational diabetes, chances are you could have it during your next pregnancy.

Some studies show that 50 percent of women who have gestational diabetes have no other risk factors. Yet experts agree that lifestyle is the most important predictor.

“More people are going into pregnancy overweight,” said Dr. Danine Fruge, director of women’s health and family medicine at the Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa in Miami, Fla.

If you’re overweight or obese, your chances of having gestational diabetes is two and four times higher, respectively, than a woman at a normal weight, according to a report in the journal Diabetes Care. If you smoke, your chances double.

Many women who aren’t diabetic going into pregnancy may still have metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance – risk factors they may not have had if they had a normal body mass index (BMI), Fruge said.

Health problems for moms and babies

During pregnancy, moms with gestational diabetes can also have high blood pressure, preeclampsia and eclampsia.

And because babies born to moms with the condition also have elevated blood sugar levels, they’re likely to be overweight, which can cause birth complications, interventions, and can up the chances of having a cesarean section.

After birth, when insulin starts to kick in and the baby’s blood sugar drops, the infant is at risk for seizures, jaundice, polycythemia vera, low calcium and low magnesium, according to Dr. Timothy Morley, medical director for Women’s Healthy Hormones and Founder of BodyLogicMD in New York City.  However, these conditions are very rare.

A lifelong condition

Gestational diabetes goes away after giving birth, but its effects on both mom and baby can last a lifetime.

Women with gestational diabetes are at risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. By age 50, women who had gestational diabetes have a 26 percent higher 10 year-risk for heart disease, according to a recent study in the journal Circulation.

“You are not out of the woods just because you’re not pregnant anymore,” Fruge said.

Your baby may also face high blood pressure, heart problems, and diabetes, and he or she is more likely to be overweight or obese later on in life.

If you’re at risk for gestational diabetes, the good news is that there are things you can do to prevent and manage it now:

Lower your BMI

“Before you’re pregnant, lose weight.” Morley said. If you had a baby that was more than 9 pounds, ask your doctor about pre-family planning for your next pregnancy, which can help you get your weight under control.

Monitor your blood sugar

If you have gestational diabetes, daily blood sugar monitoring at home is what will determine how healthy your pregnancy will be, according to Fruge.

Clean up your diet

Before, during and after pregnancy, limit processed foods, salt and sugar – and focus on eating fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats. Your doctor can refer you to a medical nutrition therapist who can help you with a diet plan and set healthy pregnancy weight gain goals.

Exercise

Thirty minutes of exercise five to six days a week before pregnancy is important, but if you have gestational diabetes, you should exercise up it to seven days a week. “Your body is having tremendous difficulty doing its daily work, and exercise is such an incredible helper to using the blood sugar for energy,” Fruge said.  Be sure to talk to your doctor about the type of exercise and intensity that’s right for you

Source: Heal  con

Asthma May Lengthen Time to Get Pregnant

Getting pregnant may take longer for women with asthma, a new study from Denmark suggests.

Researchers analyzed information from more than 15,000 women in Denmark, including 950 who had asthma.

When asked whether they had ever spent more than a year trying to become pregnant, 27 percent of women with asthma said yes, compared to 21 percent

Women were particularly likely to experience a delay in pregnancy if they had untreated asthma, or if they had asthma and were over age 30.

The link between asthma and a prolonged time to pregnancy held even after the researchers took into account factors that could affect pregnancy chances, such as the woman’s age, body mass index and smoking status.

Overall, women with asthma had the same number of children as women without the condition, a finding that may be due, in part, to women with asthma having their first child at younger ages, said study researcher Dr. Elisabeth Juul Gade, of the Respiratory Research Unit at Bispebjerg University hospital in Copenhagen.

The reason why women with asthma generally took longer to become pregnant is not known.

It could be that women with asthma are not able to attempt pregnancy (through unprotected sex) as frequently as women without the condition, said Dr. Avner Hershlag, chief of the Center For Human Reproduction at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y., who was not involved in the study.

“If you have any major medical condition that really interferes with your daily life, it’s bound to also affect your conception,” or efforts to get pregnant, Hershlag said. “When someone is sick and asthmatic, their focus changes, from ‘I’m going to get pregnant,’ to ‘I’m going to get better,'” Hershlag said.

When a woman is in stable condition and no longer having frequent attacks, she is healthier and her body may be better able to handle pregnancy, Hershlag said.

An earlier study of nearly half a million people found that women with asthma had about the same fertility rate (number of live births per 1,000 people) as those without asthma.

“Long term, there is absolutely no effect on fertility for patients with asthma,” Hershlag said.

However, the researchers hypothesized that asthma could have an effect on the uterus, and thus, potentially impact fertility. At least one previous study found an increased risk of miscarriage among women with asthma.

The inflammation that’s characteristic of asthma has been shown to affect organs other than those of the respiratory system, the researchers said. Such inflammation might alter the blood supply to the uterus, which could impair the ability of an egg to implant there, the researchers said.

Ultimately, more research is needed to determine the reason for the link between asthma and a prolonged time to pregnancy. The researchers are now carrying out such a study, and will ask women about lifestyle factors, to determine if they play a role, Gade said.

The study is published in today’s (Nov. 14) issue of the European Respiratory Journal

Source: Live Science