are you in favor of giving contraceptive to teenagers?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

what is blighted ovum?

Answer

from Roger W. Harms, M.D.

A blighted ovum is a cause of early pregnancy loss. It occurs when a fertilized egg develops a placenta and membrane but no embryo — often due to chromosomal abnormalities in the fertilized egg. A blighted ovum usually occurs in the first few weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she's pregnant.

With a blighted ovum, a woman may miss a period and have a positive pregnancy test. This is because the placenta secretes human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a pregnancy hormone. Symptoms of early pregnancy — such as fatigue and breast tenderness — are possible as well. But when the placenta stops growing and hormone levels decrease, the pregnancy symptoms subside. At this point, minor abdominal cramping and light spotting or bleeding are possible. An ultrasound will show an empty gestational sac.

A blighted ovum eventually results in miscarriage. Some women choose to wait for the miscarriage to happen naturally, while others take medication to trigger the miscarriage. In some cases, a procedure called dilation and curettage (D and C) is used to remove the placental tissues.

Most women who've had a blighted ovum go on to have successful pregnancies. If you experience multiple consecutive miscarriages, you might consider testing to identify any underlying causes.


Saturday, February 14, 2009

Is air travel safe during pergnancy?

Answer

from Roger W. Harms, M.D.

Generally, commercial air travel during pregnancy poses no special risks to a healthy pregnant woman or her baby. Still, if you're pregnant, it's best to check with your health care provider before you fly. Certain conditions in pregnancy — such as severe anemia, sickle cell disease, clotting disorders and placental insufficiency — can increase the risk of problems.

If you have flexibility in your travel plans, midpregnancy (14 to 28 weeks) may be the best time to fly. This is when you're likely to feel your best — and the risks of miscarriage and premature labor are the lowest. Your health care provider may restrict travel of any type after 36 weeks of pregnancy or if you're at risk of preterm delivery.

When you fly:

  • Check the airline's policy about pregnancy and flying. Guidelines for pregnant women may vary by carrier.
  • Choose your seat carefully. For the most space and comfort, request an aisle seat. For the smoothest ride, request a seat near the front of the plane.
  • Buckle up. During the trip, fasten the lap belt under your abdomen and across the tops of your thighs.
  • Promote circulation. If possible, get out of your seat for a short walk every half-hour or so. If you must remain seated, flex and extend your ankles often.
  • Drink plenty of fluids. Low humidity in the cabin is dehydrating.

Women who are concerned about air travel during pregnancy often worry about air pressure and cosmic radiation at high altitudes, but these issues aren't usually problematic. Decreased air pressure during flight may slightly reduce the amount of oxygen in your blood, but your body will naturally adjust. And although radiation exposure increases at higher altitudes, the level of exposure for the occasional traveler isn't a concern.

There's a caveat for frequent fliers, however. Pilots, flight attendants, air marshals and others who fly often may receive radiation exposure that exceeds current recommendations. If you must fly frequently during your pregnancy, discuss it with your health care provider.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Stress in Pregnancy Raises Risk for Baby: study


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Women who are stressed about money, relationships and other problems during pregnancy may give birth to babies who are predisposed to allergies and asthma, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.

The findings, presented at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society in Toronto, suggest a mother's stress during pregnancy may have lasting consequences for her child.
"This research adds to a growing body of evidence that links maternal stress such as that precipitated by financial problems or relationship issues to changes in children's developing immune systems, even during pregnancy," Dr. Rosalind Wright of Harvard Medical School in Boston said in a statement.
Wright and colleagues found mothers who were the most distressed during pregnancy were most likely to give birth to infants with higher levels of immunoglobulin E or IgE -- an immune system compound -- even though their mothers had only mild exposure to allergens during pregnancy.
Studies in animals have found that a mother's stress amplifies the effects of allergen exposure on the immune system of the developing offspring. The Harvard team set out to see if they could find the same in humans.
They measured levels of IgE from the umbilical cord blood of 387 newborns in Boston.
Babies whose mothers were the most stressed out -- but who had low exposure to dust mites in the home -- still had high levels of IgE in their cord blood, a finding that suggests that stress increased the immune response to dust exposure.
This was true irrespective of the mother's race, class, education or smoking history.

STRESS AS 'SOCIAL POLLUTANT'
"This further supports the notion that stress can be thought of as a social pollutant that, when 'breathed' into the body, may influence the body's immune response," Wright said in a statement.
The study patterns recent findings in children who have undergone stress by Dr. Andrea Danese of the University of London. Researchers there followed 1,000 people in New Zealand from birth to the age of 32.
They found children who had undergone maltreatment -- such as maternal rejection, harsh discipline and sexual abuse -- had twice the levels of inflammation in their blood even 20 years later.
High levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and immune cells increase a person's risk of heart disease and diabetes.
"Stress in childhood may modify developmental trajectories and have a long-term effect on disease risk," said Danese, who presented his findings last week at a conference in Chicago on how early influences affect health and well-being.
Danese said maltreatment in childhood may impair the ability of glucocorticoids -- hormones that inhibit inflammation -- to respond to stress later in life, which could lead to depression and other psychiatric ills.
He said children who have survived maltreatment should get an early start on preventive care for common adult diseases.