Can you eliminate the risk of a “preemie” baby?

The focus of all pregnant women is a happy, health, baby and that includes carrying the baby full term obviously if there is no risk to the mother’s health.

Women in the US and the rest of the developed world are typically low in DHA (omega-3), with levels well below those reported in countries like Japan where more fish is eaten.  Women with low levels of the nutrient are much more likely to give birth prematurely.  Until recently there was no effective method to prevent spontaneous early preterm birth.

Analyses of two clinical trials — one in the U.S. and the other in the Australia — suggest that thousands of early preterm births — those at or before 34 weeks’ gestation — could be prevented if pregnant women took daily omega-3 supplements.  Taking the supplement can reduce the risk to just 1.5%.  Researchers estimated that more than 106,000 high-risk early preterm births could be avoided in the U.S. and about 1,100 could be prevented in Australia each year if pregnant women took daily supplements of omega-3.

Reference

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161013130104.htm

Related Posts

  • What helps fight colds? Part 2

    In Part 1, I gave you some ideas for preventing and stopping colds.  But in this article, I want to focus on if you have a blocked or stuffy nose. Propolis This is found in a variety of comercial cold remedies.  A water based nasal spray tested on children has been show to improve the symptoms of comon cold and reduce the number of disease-causing bugs in the airways. Steam If I get a blocked nose, I inhale steam to assit me to blow my nose clear. Nasal Rinsing This technique is where you use a container called a neti pot or nasal cup filled with a salt water solution to flush ou the nasal passages.  This can be used to both treat and prevent colds.  There is evidence that it can help clear a blocked nose, soothe a sore throat and even reduce the chanes of getting sick again.  If using a neti pot doesn't apeal you can buy saline nasal sprays. References Crişan I, Zaharia CN, Popovici F, Jucu V, Belu O, Dascălu C, Mutiu A, Petrescu A. Natural propolis extract NIVCRISOL in the treatment of acute and chronic rhinopharyngitis in children. Rom J Virol. 1995 Jul-Dec;46(3-4):115-33. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9179964 Slapak I, Skoupá J, Strnad P, Horník P. Efficacy of isotonic nasal wash (seawater) in the treatment and prevention of rhinitis in children. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008 Jan;134(1):67-74. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18209140

  • Do self hypnosis CD’s really boost resilience?

    As things are now back to full swing after the summer holiday, and before things get too budy, I wanted to share with you a piece of research that while being 3 years old is still highly relevant.  Researchers were looking at the effectiveness of listening to self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD's to boost resilience. Eleven subjects took part in the study, all healthy, normally coping and functioning individuals - were provided with a self-administered hypnosis stress reduction CD, to be used for a minimum of 5 days a week over a 12 week period.  The CD contained two different hypnosis tracks, one to be played before sleep (25 minutes in duration) and the other to be played in the morning (lasting 7 minutes). The aim of the CD was to recondition the stress response, by minimising the participants "excessive emotional and physical reaction to perceived work and life stressors, while facilitating their coping skills and resilience."   Chronic stress and anxiety have been associated with inflammatory changes in the body, and high level of inflammation have been lined to a number of acute and chronic conditions.  Blood tests were used to measure the level of inflammatory response and self-reported measures (using the StressScan assesment) were taken pre and post intervention. While the study size is small, it provides some suggestive evidence that a self-administered stress reduction program that is time efficient may be clinically effective for modifying the stress response and boosting resilience. Reference Schoen M and Nowack K (2013)  Reconditioning the stress response with hypnosis CD reduces the inflammatory cytokine IL-6 and influences resilience: a pilot study.  Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 2013; 19 83-88 http://www.ctcpjournal.com/article/S1744-3881(12)00088-6/abstract

  • What can help period pain? – Part 2

    In part 1, I introduced the topic of period pain.  In this blog post, I want to explore the topic from the perspective of functional medicine practitioners who believe that period pains are caused by certain nutritional deficiencies particularly vitamin B, magnesium and essential fatty acids. There is evidence that magnesium can reduce the sensitivity to pain.  In one study 21 out of 25 women treated with magnesium for six months saw a reduction in the period pain. In one scientific study over 500 women aged between 12 to 21 with moderate to severe period pain took vitamin B1.  87% were completely cured after 3 months.  Just 5% saw no effect at all, while 8% saw their pain reduced.  There is also scientific evidence that vitamin B6 may be useful too. Finally, there is scientific evidence that Acupuncture can be a safe and effective treatment for period pain. References Magnesium reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27978803,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11687013, Vitamin B reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8935744, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1459624/ Acupuncture references see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29879061 and https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2017/1791258/abs/