Getting pregnant later in life has its risks

If you’re older than 35 and hoping to get pregnant, you’re in good company. Many women are delaying pregnancy well into their 30s and beyond – and delivering healthy babies. Taking special care can help give your baby the best start.

The biological clock is a fact of life, but there’s nothing magical about age 35. It’s simply an age at which various risks become more discussion-worthy.

For example:

• It might take longer to get pregnant. You’re born with a limited number of eggs. As you reach your mid- to late 30s, your eggs decrease in quantity and quality.

An older woman’s eggs also aren’t fertilised as easily as a younger woman’s eggs. If you’re older than 35 and haven’t been able to conceive for six months, consider asking your health care provider for advice.

• You’re more likely to have a multiple pregnancy. The chance of having twins increases with age. The use of assisted reproductive technologies – such as in vitro fertilisation – also can play a role.

• You’re more likely to develop gestational diabetes. This type of diabetes, which occurs only during pregnancy, is more common as women get older.

Tight control of blood sugar through diet and physical activity is essential. Sometimes medication is needed, too.

Left untreated, gestational diabetes can cause a baby to grow significantly larger than average – which increases the risk of injuries during delivery.

• You’re more likely to develop high blood pressure during pregnancy. Research suggests that high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy is more common in older women.

Your health care provider will carefully monitor your blood pressure and your baby’s growth and development. You might need to take medication or deliver your baby before your due date to avoid complications.

• You’re more likely to have a low birth weight baby and a premature birth. Premature babies, especially those born earliest, often have complicated medical problems.

• You might need a C-section. Older mothers have a higher risk of pregnancy-related complications that might lead to a C-section delivery, such as placenta previa – a condition in which the placenta blocks the cervix.

• The risk of chromosome abnormalities is higher. Babies born to older mothers have a higher risk of certain chromosome problems, such as Down syndrome.

• The risk of pregnancy loss is higher. The risk of pregnancy loss – by miscarriage and stillbirth – increases as you get older, perhaps due to pre-existing medical conditions or foetal chromosomal abnormalities.

Ask your health care provider about monitoring your baby’s well-being during the last weeks of pregnancy.

While further research is needed, studies suggest that a man’s age at the time of conception – his paternal age – also might pose health risks for his children. – Mayo Clinic News Network/Tribune News Service

NEURONTIN AND LYRICA ARE A DEATH SENTENCE FOR NEW BRAIN SYNAPSES

BY: Byron J. Richards, Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist

Neurontin and its newer more potent version, Lyrica, are widely used for off-label indications that are an outright flagrant danger to the public. These blockbuster drugs were approved for use even though the FDA had no idea what they actually did in the brain. A shocking new study shows that they block the formation of new brain synapses1, drastically reducing the potential for rejuvenating brain plasticity – meaning that these drugs will cause brain decline faster than any substance known to mankind.

The problem of these drugs is compounded by their flagrant illegal marketing. Neurontin was approved by the FDA for epilepsy back in 1994. The drug underwent massive illegal off-label promotion that cost Warner-Lambert 430 million dollars (the very first big fine for off-label promotion). The drug is now owned by Pfizer. Pfizer also owns Lyrica, a super-potent version of Neurontin. It has been approved by the FDA for various types of pain and fibromyalgia. Lyrica is one of four drugs which a subsidiary of Pfizer illegally marketed, resulting in a $2.3 billion settlement against Pfizer.

Even though the marketing of these drugs has been heavily fined, they continue to rack up billions in sales from the off-label uses. Doctors use them for all manner of nerve issues because they are good at suppressing symptoms. However, such uses can no longer be justified because the actual mechanism of the drugs is finally understood and they are creating a significant long-term reduction in nerve health.

The researchers in the above study try to downplay the serious nature of the drugs by saying “adult neurons don’t form many new synapses.” That is simply not true. The new science is showing that brain health during aging relies on the formation of new synapses. Even these researchers managed to question the common use of these medications in pregnant women. How is a fetus supposed to make new nerve cells when the mother is taking a drug that blocks them?

These are the kind of situations the FDA should be all over. As usual, the FDA is sitting around pondering a suicide warning for Lyrica while its off-label uses include bi-polar disorder and migraine headaches. The FDA is likely to twiddle its thumbs for the next decade on the brain damage issue. Consumer beware.

Source: http://medcureusa.org/

Here’s why you may want to avoid eating this during Chinese New Year

Eating large amounts of cured meats was linked to worse symptoms among asthma sufferers, a French study found.

That was true even after taking obesity into account, the authors say.

So-called cured meats have been preserved and flavoured by the addition of various combinations of salt, nitrates, nitrites, and sugar. Examples of such processed meats include bacon, ham, prosciutto, corned beef, pastrami, and pepperoni. Waxed duck, cured pork belly and Chinese sausages are also examples of cured meats that are favoured during Chinese New Year.

“Cured meat intake, a typical food in industrialised societies, has been associated with many chronic diseases, including lung cancer and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), but its association with asthma remained unclear,” study leader Dr Zhen Li said. Li is a researcher at Inserm and Paul Brousse Hospital in Villejuif.

As reported in Thorax, the research team had data on 971 adults from five French cities who answered questions about diet, weight, and asthma symptoms between 2003 and 2007.

On average, participants ate 2.5 servings of cured meats per week.

Just over 40% of the participants said they had had asthma at some point, and around half said they had never smoked. Each participant was assigned an asthma symptom score, ranging from zero to five, based on difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath during the previous year.

Those who frequently ate cured meats were found to be 76% more likely to see a worsening of asthma symptoms.

Follow-up surveys completed between 2011 and 2013 showed that about half of the participants had no changes in their asthma scores, over one-fourth said their symptoms had improved and about 20% felt their symptoms had gotten worse.

After accounting for other factors such as smoking, physical activity, age, other dietary habits, and education, researchers found that participants who ate the most cured meat (four or more servings per week) were 76% more likely to see a worsening of symptoms compared to those who ate the least (less than one full serving per week).

About 35%  of the participants were overweight and about 10% were obese, based on their responses. Those conditions probably explained about 14% of the association, the authors estimated.

“Our finding, together with other previous findings, suggests that patients with asthma might have benefits by following a multiple-interventional program,” Li said. “That means, besides the medication, weight control as well as dietary intervention such as reducing cured meat intake might also help them to control their asthma symptoms.”

Dr Sunit Jariwala complimented the study but noted that its observational design means it can’t prove cause-and-effect.

“Cured meats are rich in nitrites which may lead to any kind of oxidative stress related lung damage and asthma,” said Jariwala, who is director of allergy and immunology research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

Jariwala, who was not involved in the study, believes obesity is an important consideration with asthma patients.

“In this study, as well as previous studies, obesity may be linked to systemic inflammation that can worsen asthma as well as other obesity related conditions such a sleep apnea,” he said.

Jariwala advises patients to follow a balanced diet that includes fresh, unprocessed foods and is low in salt, sugar, and saturated fats. – Reuters

Glujoint 25g x 20 sachets @RM120 in Johor Bahru

Product details of Glujoint 25g x 20 sachets

New Generation Approach for Joint Health.

Mixed Organic Soy Milk with Collagen Hydrolysate (CH)

Supplement Facts:

• A blend of a proprietary ingredients, Collagen Hydrolysate, Tricalcium Phosphate and Soy Milk.
• Available in 25g x 20 sachets
• Patented ingredient from Germany

Benefits:

The ingredients in GluJoint may help in:

• Promoting mobility of joint, tendon and ligament.
• Relieving discomfort from overused joints and joint injuries.
• It contains basic amino acids essential for the joints and for those who has low protein level due to poor diet.
• It also contains collagen which helps in lubricating the joint and improve joint health.

Warnings:

• Use this product as a food supplement only.
• If you are pregnant, nursing, taking any medications or planning any medical procedure, consult your doctor before use.
• Discontinue use and consult your doctor if any adverse reactions occur.
• Keep out of reach of children.
• Do not use if sachet is torn.

Storage:

• Store in a cool, dry place.

Directions:

• One (1) sachet daily.
• Serve in a glass of room temperature water. Drink immediately.
• For those with gastric problem or sensitive stomach, preferably take after a meal.

If you really want to have super memory in 2017, start doing this !!!

A new study adds to the growing evidence that exercise can help to improve memory. Photo: AFP/Istock

Presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society’s Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology in Cardiff by Dr David Marchant from Edge Hill University, Lancashire, England, the research looked at the effect of cycling on memory in two different experiments.

Ten healthy and physically active participants were given lists of words to learn and recall either after or before 30 minutes of moderate intensity cycling, or before or after a period of rest which involved quiet, seated reading.

The results showed that participants’ performance in recalling words immediately after learning them improved if they had exercised before learning rather than resting, suggesting that an acute bout of aerobic exercise improves short-term memory.

When participants were asked to wait 30 minutes between learning and recall, exercising before or after learning also produced a better performance than resting.

However the best recall was seen in those participants who exercised after learning the words.

The findings are also in line with previous research which also suggests that physical activity improves memory and could be beneficial for those who need to learn new information.

Working out can really help those who need good memory to retain new information.

A study released back in June which looked at running also suggested that exercise could help improve memory, by boosting levels of a certain protein in the blood. Carried out by a team of US and German researchers the animal study found that cathepsin B, a protein that can be secreted by muscle tissue during exercise and transported to the brain, had a positive effect on the recall ability of the mice who had run before undergoing a daily recall test compared to those who didn’t run and didn’t produce the protein.

Meanwhile a small-scale, qualitative study by Michigan State University researchers also found a link between memory and fitness. After following 75 college students over a two-day period, the team saw that those with the lowest fitness levels struggled the most to retain information, with the study’s authors suggesting that those with a low level of fitness lose more memory across time.

And when looking at the effect of exercise on memory in older adults a small-scale study from the University of Boston found that older adults who take more steps by either walking or jogging perform better on memory tasks than those who are less active.

Two studies from March this year which looked into the effect of exercise on Alzheimer’s also found that physical activity had a positive effect on memory. Not only did those who exercise benefit from a reduced risk of the condition, but in one study those who took part in physical exercise also showed larger gray matter volumes in the key areas of the brain that are associated with memory. – AFP Relaxnews