Therapist Unlimited Blog

Medical researchers has warned pregnant mothers around the world to avoid constant exposure to tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchlorethylene, PCE) since it could cause congenital birth defects.
According to a medical study of expectant women exposed to PCE in drinking water, it was discovered that an increased risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects in their children.
Ann Aschengrau, from Boston University School of Public Health, USA, worked with a team of researchers to study the prevalence of birth defects in the children of women from 8 towns in Cape Cod who had been exposed to PCE during the period 1969-1983.
Aschengrau revealed the results suggest that the risk of certain congenital anomalies is increased among the offspring of women who were exposed to PCE-contaminated drinking water around the time of conception".

Pregnant women should keep their babies safe from birth defects by avoiding constant exposure to PCE.

From the late 1960s until 1980, hundreds of miles of pipe that had been lined with a vinyl coating containing PCE were laid in the area. It wasn’t until 1980 that officials realized the danger, creating what the researchers describe as "A vast natural experiment reminiscent of John Snow’s cholera investigation in 1854 London."
Boston University investigators found that there were 61 children with congenital anomalies among the 1,658 children with some prenatal PCE exposure and 95 children with congenital anomalies among 2,999 children with no prenatal PCE exposure.
Prenatal exposure was associated with increases in the risk of oral clefts and neural tube defects (particularly anencephaly).
Speaking about these findings, Aschengrau said, "Because PCE remains a commonly used solvent and frequent contaminant of ground and drinking water supplies, it is important to understand its impact on the developing fetus."
 

Pregnant women should eat nutritious foods during their pregnancy to ensure their baby will be healthy and have the right weight upon birth.
A recent study has shown that those babies who are born with low birth weight are at higher risk of suffering from kidney disease in the future.
According to the study, parents of newborns who tip the scales at less than 5 ½ pounds should put some heavy thought to a possible future consequence: kidney disease.
Based on the same study it was also discovered that low birth weight babies have a 70% greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) in later life.
The latest statistics taken from the National Kidney Foundation have shown that 26 six million American adults have CKD and millions of others are at increased risk.
Dr. Kerry Willis, National Kidney Foundation Senior VP for Scientific Activities said High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension or a family history of kidney disease.
Lead researcher, Sarah L. White, MPH of the George Institute and the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia for her part revealed experimental studies suggest that restricted growth of a fetus in the womb can interfere with normal kidney development
and result in fewer and smaller filtering units, or nephrons, at birth.
White added those with low birth weight may therefore be vulnerable to accelerated loss of kidney function later on as a result of any additional injuries to the kidney caused, for example, by accidents, infections or the presence of other risk factors such as diabetes.

Pregnant women should strive hard to keep their babies healthy upon birth to protect them from possible kidney disease in the future.

 

In their study, researchers also found a connection between low birth weight and subsequent development of end-stage kidney disease, or kidney failure.
Additionally, in comparing data from two large twin studies, investigators found significant differences in kidney function between members of the same set of twins where one twin was smaller, but not among different sets of twins.
The researchers said this suggests that the association between birth weight and kidney function is more closely connected with fetoplacental factors affecting intrauterine growth than with maternal or genetic factors.
White explained despite the association between low birth weight and risk of chronic kidney disease in later life, early detection and management of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors are highly effective in preventing adverse outcomes.
She added people who were very small at birth should avoid obesity that could lead to diabetes, maintain regular physical activity, avoid medications that could be toxic for the kidneys and see their doctors for simple assessment of chronic kidney disease including blood pressure measurement, a dipstick test for urinary protein and a blood test of serum creatinine level.

Those women, who survived cancer during their childhood, need to closely monitored since recent medical studies has shown that they are at higher risk of birth complications.
Dr. Sharon Lie Fong, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and her colleagues get the data after studying the pregnancies of 40 women who had been treated for cancer during their childhood, the majority of them for leukaemia, but also for solid tumours.
Fong said from their subjects, six had had radiation treatment directly to the abdomen.
She said the data they gathered were compared with those from a control group of more than 9,000 women who had not had cancer treatment.
She added all data were obtained from The Netherlands Prenatal Register, a nationwide database of pregnancy outcomes.
The medical expert said data were matched for age at pregnancy, year and month of delivery, and the number of times the woman had given birth.
The medical expert added the team did not investigate overall fertility and miscarriage rates, but they believe that it is possible that the fertility of all the cancer survivors will be compromised.
Fong said the ovarian reserve or capacity of the ovary to provide eggs capable of fertilisation, is established in the foetus and decreases during a woman’s reproductive lifetime.

Women who survived cancer during their childhood need to be careful since they are at higher risk of birth complications.

Fong added women with a poor ovarian reserve are less likely to conceive, even with assisted reproduction therapies, than those with a normal number of eggs.
She said women might also have an earlier menopause, as their stock of eggs is exhausted at a younger age.
She revealed long-term, multi-disciplinary follow-up for female child cancer survivors is mandatory.
Furthermore, the researchers said although at the start of treatment, future fertility may not be of great concern to care providers; it is to the patient’s parents.
The researchers added during follow-up, survivors should be made aware of the possible late effects of their treatment.
They said in addition to the deleterious effects of abdominal radiotherapy on reproductive function, radiotherapy to the head can also cause problems by causing the hypothalamus to reduce the production of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, both important in promoting ovulation.
The team believe that it is particularly important for all female children who are treated for cancer, and their parents, to be made aware of this risk.
They said their research has also shown how important it is that, if they do become pregnant, childhood cancer survivors should be closely monitored throughout their pregnancy and that they are delivered in a clinical setting, rather than at home.
The researchers concluded that even if at first fertility seems normal for childhood cancer survivors, there may be problems later in life.
 

According to a latest research mothers who gave birth late has a longer lifespan than those who women who gave birth early.
Based on the study women who give birth in their 40s or 50s have genes that allow them to live longer than other women who gave birth in their younger years.
Demographer Ken Smith, the lead author of the study, revealed the findings was based on the study they conducted on 11,604 Utah men who were born between 1800 and 1869 and who had at least one sister who lived at least to age 50; and the records of 6,206 Quebec men who lived between 1670 and 1750, and had at least one sister who lived to 50 or older.
Smith said their study yielded result that women who had "late fertility" - a birth at age 45 or older - were 14 percent to 17 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than women who did not deliver a child after age 40.
However, Smith clarified that those studies did not determine if the women gave birth later and lived longer because of genes or because of social and environmental factors such as good nutrition or healthy living.

Women who will gave birth late got to live longer than young mothers.
 

He said the study also showed that women who had "late fertility" - a birth at age 45 or older - were 14 percent to 17 percent less likely to die during any year after age 50 than women who did not deliver a child after age 40.
Furthermore, Smith said genes account for up to 25 percent of differences in longevity.
The lead researcher explained the link between late motherhood and longevity could be something that is not inherited. It could be good nutrition or good living, suggesting that if you are a healthier mother you live longer.