Therapist Unlimited Blog

Those women who wish to get pregnant should strive hard not to become obese during this important moment in a women’s life.
This developed after a recent medical findings has shown that obese women are as much as 28 percent less likely to become pregnant and have a successful pregnancy.
The findings was discovered by a Michigan State University professor who even earned a national award for her research.
To get the significant data, Barbara Luke, a researcher in the MSU College of Human Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, studied nearly 50,000 women using assisted reproductive technology.
Based on her study, she found out that women who are simply overweight have a 14 percent less chance of a successful pregnancy.
Luke explained the results are not surprising; obesity is a state of inflammation and is not a good environment for conception or fetal development.

 

 

Those women who wish to get pregnant should avoid getting obese.

 

 

She added the key message is to lose weight, prior to conception, and focus on pre-conception health issues.
Recently Luke was awarded the 2009 Scientific Program Prize Paper for her presentation on maternal obesity research at the 2009 American Society of Reproductive Medicine international meeting in Atlanta.
More than 5,000 experts from around the world attended the meeting, which featured nearly 900 abstracts.
Only two were selected as program prize papers.
As part of the research, Luke’s team looked at the effect increasing body mass index had on a woman’s ability to become pregnant using assisted reproductive technology and how obesity affects pregnancy outcomes. They compared outcomes to women with normal body mass index
(BMI of 18.5-24.9). Women were classified as overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9), Class 1 obesity (30-34.9), Class 2 (35-39.9) and Class 3 (40 or greater).

 

Among her important findings were:

* Women at Class 3 obesity were 35 percent less likely to become pregnant; Class 2 resulted in a 28 percent less chance; 9 percent for Class 1; and 3 percent for overweight women.
* Of the obese women who were able to become pregnant, the odds of stillbirth were increased more than twofold.
* Among live births, the odds of premature birth significantly parallelled increasing obesity: from 16 percent for overweight women to 34 percent for women at Class 3.
Moreover, Luke said those who are thinking about starting a family, must get into the best physical shape possible.
Luke added controlling the factors such as drinking alcohol and smoking can also keep women fit during pregnancy.

 

Pregnant women around the world should avoid high fat diet during their pregnancy.
This developed after a recent medical study has shown a mother’s diet of high fat could result in a severe form of liver disease in her child.
Based on the study made by the University of Southampton it was discovered that a high fat diet during a woman’s pregnancy makes her offspring more likely to develop a severe form of fatty liver disease when they reach adulthood.
It is said that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a condition associated with obesity and caused by the build up of fat in the liver.
The condition advances in some people and it is important to understand the factors that contribute to disease progression. Until recently, NAFLD was considered rare and relatively harmless but now it is one of the most common forms of liver disease that may progress to cirrhosis a serious life threatening chronic liver disease.

 

 

 

Pregnant women should avoid high fat diet since it could lead to a liver disease.

 

 

Professor Christopher Byrne, with colleagues Dr Felino Cagampang and Dr Kim Bruce, of the University’s School of Medicine and researchers at King’s College London, conducted the study, funded by the BBSRC. Prof Byrne explained: "This research shows that too much saturated fat in a mother’s diet can affect the developing liver of a fetus, making it more susceptible to developing fatty liver disease later in life.
An unhealthy saturated fat-enriched diet in the child and young adult compounds the problem further causing a severe form of the fatty liver disease later in adult life."
The next stage of this research, also funded by the BBSRC, will be to understand, more precisely, the reason why fatty liver disease develops and to intervene to prevent the fatty liver disease occurring.
The University’s School of Medicine has a worldwide reputation for its pioneering research into the relationship between mothers’ diets in pregnancy and future health problems in their offspring.

 

 

A recent medical study has shown that doing exercises during pregnancy offers huge rewards to mothers wishing to do some breastfeeding for their children.
Based on the study it was discovered that new mothers who are breastfeeding their babies may need more aerobic and resistance exercise in order to combat temporary bone loss caused by calcium depletion.
Cheryl Lovelady, Ph.D., and her research team measured bone mineral density in 20 women four to 20 weeks postpartum and found that those who didn’t exercise lost around 7 percent of their lower-spine bone density in that time period.
"During lactation, women transfer around 200 milligrams of calcium per day from their own stores to their breast milk," Lovelady said. "Calcium is critically linked to bone density and health, and this depletion can result in loss of bone mineral density. When mothers wean their infants, bone mineral density usually returns to normal levels.
We proposed that weight-bearing exercise would minimize bone losses during lactation and decrease the risk of osteoporosis later in life."
Exercise especially strength training can slow bone loss during lactation, the study found.

 

 

Doing some form of exercises offers huge benefits to pregnant women.

 

Women who combined strength training and aerobic exercise three days a week kept their lower-spine bone mineral density loss to just 4.8 percent highly preferable to the 7-percent loss in the non-exercising group.
In addition, regular weight-bearing exercise has an added benefit for moms trying to shed post-pregnancy weight: the regular exercisers in the study significantly improved their body composition compared to the non-exercisers, lowering their body fat percentage and increasing lean mass, even without dietary intervention. Exercisers increased their one-repetition maximal strength anywhere from 31 to 221 percent.
"Women in our study found themselves overall healthier and stronger after completing the post-partum exercise program, which lasted just 16 weeks," Lovelady said.
"Moreover, implementing this exercise into daily life can help entire families get active and improve their overall health."

Pregnant women who wish to have a safe delivery and have a healthy baby as well should do some form of exercise during pregnancy.
Researchers have recently discovered that exercise can strengthen and improve overall musculoskeletal and physiologic health as well as pregnancy related symptoms.
Based on their study, researchers found out that exercise such as aerobics, impact and no impact activities, resistance training and swimming: eases back and other musculoskeletal pain; lowers maternal blood pressure; reduces swelling; and improves post-partum mood, including sadness.
Lead researcher Capt. Marlene DeMaio, M.D., M.C., U.S.N., Research Director, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia, explained the data shows that the pregnant woman’s body can compensate for the changes with no harm to the fetus during low to moderate intensity exercise.

 

 

A latest study has shown that doing some form of exercises during pregnancy is beneficial to pregnant women.

 

 

 

DeMaio said it is important to remember that pregnancy is a temporary condition, not a disease, and that the musculoskeletal and physiologic changes that happen are normal in the majority of patients.
According to the latest study, some physicians continue to advise their pregnant patients to ease back on exercise or refrain from it altogether if they have not already made it a part of their lifestyle.
Moreover, DeMaio, who collaborated with Capt. Everett Magann, M.D., M.C. U.S.N., Chairman in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, also at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, not only reports that exercise is important during pregnancy, but also believes that starting an exercise program when pregnant, is a perfect way to begin and stick with a fitness program.

 

 

 

Stroke patients who wish to do some fasting during the Holy month of Ramadan, for the Muslim faith can do it with ease.
This developed after the recent research made by the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, has shown that those stroke patients who do some fasting during Ramadan cannot suffer from any form of physiological and biological changes from the activity.
The interesting data was taken by the researchers on more than 3,000 stroke patients between the years 2000 to 2006, who do some fasting during Ramadan.

 

 

Stroke patients who wish to fast during Ramadan can do without any health repercussions on their part.

 

They discovered that the case fatality rates before, during and after Ramadan were 25.3%, 24% and 26.1% respectively.
The researcher said the mean survival of stroke patients was not different statistically between Ramadan and the months before or after that.
Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar is a religious duty for healthy Muslim adults.
During the fasting month, believers are required to refrain from taking any food, beverages or oral drugs between dawn and sunset. Other religions also have their specific fasting regulations.

 

 

 

 

Here is a piece of reminder to all pregnant women around the world.
According to a latest study, those women who gain weight during pregnancy caused the daughter they bore to become obese later in her life.
According to a new study by Alison Stuebe, M.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, the findings are especially important because of the growing epidemic of obesity in women.
Stuebe said if we can help women reach a healthy weight before they start a family, we can make a difference for two generations.
To get the information, Stuebe earlier analyzed data on mothers’ recalled weights and weight gain for more than 24,000 mother-daughter pairs.
She said the heavier a mother was before her pregnancy, the more likely her daughter was to be obese in later life.
She explained , an average-height mother who weighed 150 pounds before pregnancy was twice as likely to have a daughter who was obese at age 18 as a mother who weighed 125 pounds before pregnancy.
The medical expert said weight gain during pregnancy mattered, too both too little and too much weight gain increased a daughter’s risk of becoming obese, especially if a mother was overweight before she got pregnant.
The researcher said women should aim for a healthy weight before they get pregnant, and then gain a moderate amount.

 

 

 

Pregnant women should avoid gaining weight during pregnancy since it could result to obesity to their babies later in their lives.

 

Using the Nurses’ Health Study II, Stuebe analyzed data for more than 24,000 mother-daughter pairs. The daughters, all registered nurses, are part of the Nurses’ Health Study. They reported their weight at age 18 when they joined the study in 1989, and they reported their current weight in 2001.
In 2001, each mother was asked to recall her pre-pregnancy height and weight, her weight gain while she was pregnant with her daughter, and her daughters’ weight at birth.
Daughters whose mothers gained 15 to 19 pounds during pregnancy had the lowest risk of obesity. Compared to this group, daughters whose mothers gained more than 40 pounds while pregnant were almost twice as likely to be obese at age 18 and later in life.
Too little weight gain was also linked with a daughter’s obesity risk.
Pregnancy weight gain of less than 10 pounds was associated with a 1.5-fold increase in the odds of being obese at 18 and a 1.3-fold increase in odds of being obese in later life.
Furthermore, Stuebe hoped that through her study pregnant women around the world would strive hard not to gain weight to ensure that their daughter will not become obese in the future.

 

Pregnant women around the world better be careful since their babies would most likely suffer autism if they experience some complications during pregnancy.
Based on the study conducted by trusted researchers they discovered six pregnancy-related factors that could lead to autism on their children.
The researchers found that the factors most strongly associated with an increased autism risk are:
- Being born to an older mother or father.
- Having a mother who was born abroad.
- Having a mother who experienced bleeding during pregnancy.
- Having a mother who experienced gestational diabetes.
- Having a mother who used medication during pregnancy.
- Being the first born - or later born in families where there are three or more children.
The researchers explained increased maternal age might be associated with autism because of a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities in eggs.
On the other hand, mothers who are born in another country may not have natural resistance to infections in the country where they give birth, which may increase the risk for autism.

 

 

Pregnant women should take precautions to avoid complications during pregnancy to avoid chances that their babies will suffer from autism.

 

Moving to another country may also put women under stress, which could increase their chances of having a child who develops autism.
Bleeding during pregnancy, gestational diabetes and medication use are also associated with increased autism risk. Bleeding can cause foetal hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain of an unborn child). Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy experience hormonal and metabolic changes, which may affect their baby’s health and development. Foetal development may also be affected by some medications, which can cross the placenta during pregnancy.
Furthermore, the researchers said the association between birth order and autism risk is unclear.
However, children with autism are more likely to be the first-born in families with only two children. In larger families with three or more children, they are more likely to be born later.
 It is possible that parents decide not to have more children after one has developed autism.
The researchers said there was "insufficient evidence" to point to any one prenatal factor as being particularly significant.
However, they said there is some evidence to suggest that exposure to pregnancy complications in general may increase the risk of autism.

 

 

 

Pregnant women should make it a habit to take multivitamins during pregnancy to avoid low birth weights and other medical complication for their babies.

A group of medical experts revealed one of the key solutions to resolve low birth weights around the globe is the intake of prenatal multivitamin supplements among pregnant women.
Based on the research done by the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) it was discovered that prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation is more effective than prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation in terms of resolving low birth weights among newborn babies.
Dr. Prakash Shah and his co-authors of the study at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto revealed low birth weight and related complications are considered the most common cause of global infant mortality under the age of 5 years.
Shah said with the possibility of reducing low birth weight rates by 17%, micronutrients supplementation to pregnant women, we believe, offers the highest possible return for the investment.
He said it is estimated that of the total 133 million births worldwide per year, 15.5% are low birth weight babies.
The medical expert and his team said approximately 1.5 million babies born with a low birth weight could be avoided each year globally, if all mothers receive prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation.
This study should serve as eye opener to mothers around the world regardless of status to always take multivitamins during pregnancy to avoid medical complications for them and their babies.