Pregnancy and Health Care

Archive for December, 2011

A campaign conducted by a group of American women has revealed the amount of chemicals harmful to health present in many cosmetics and fragrances.

This has caused concern because animal studies showed that these substances can be highly carcinogenic and can weaken the immune system, decrease fertility and sexual hormones, causing abortion and involuntary birth defects. Most of the chemicals found in this report have not been evaluated by any government agency responsible for review and self-monitoring of the cosmetics industry.

A campaign initiated by a group of women belonging to groups of public health, ecology and rights of consumers in the U.S., has been shown the health risks posed by the use of perfumes and cosmetics.

The campaign, called ” Not so sexy “defends the use of safe cosmetics. To this end, it commissioned an independent laboratory to conduct a study that analyzed the content of 17 fragrances and compare as indicated on the label of the product. This study revealed that in these fragrances were a number of synthetic chemical compounds associated with diseases like cancer, the infertility and birth defects, which were not included in the composition of the label.

This fact has been revealed the loophole in the law that allows federal American companies consider fragrances as trade secrets.

Among the compounds found were detected sensitizing chemicals associated with allergic reactions such as asthma , headaches and contact dermatitis. Products were also found to cause changes in some hormones related to a range of health effects, including damage to sperm, thyroid disorders and cancer. In some cases, have been associated with abortions and fetal deaths.

In addition to perfumes, these harmful substances found in other cosmetics such as shower gels, creams, deodorants, toothpaste and lipsticks.

In many of these products as well as compounds are toxic, particles called nanoparticles. These substances are being used with increasing frequency in personal hygiene products hardly know the effect it can have on people’s health. Scientific research conducted to date show that some nanoparticles can be toxic to human tissue and cause DNA mutations and cell death. At present there is no law regulating the use of these components but there are several countries that have restricted its use until its effects are well known.

Chemical compounds that can be found in homes and businesses in the United States total more than 83,000. In most cases, little is known about the effects they can have during pregnancy (1). However, it was found that a small number of them are harmful to the fetus. These are mainly in the workplace, but certain environmental pollutants in the air and water, and some household chemicals can also pose a risk during pregnancy.

The pregnant woman can inhale these chemicals, ingest them in food or drink, or in some cases, absorbed through the skin. But in general, would be exposed to a lot and for a long time to arrive to harm your baby.

Most companies have appropriate preventive measures to ensure this does not happen. However, because little is known about the effects of most chemicals on reproduction, it is recommended that women consult their physician if exposed to any of them in their work, preferably before pregnancy . Along with your doctor can determine if you need some additional protection at work or if you should switch tasks. This is particularly important for women working in certain industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, dry cleaning, printing, manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and health care.

Pregnant women also can take steps to protect themselves and their babies from pollutants and potentially harmful chemicals used in your home.

There are many myths about the use of cosmetics during pregnancy we often scared and confused.

But we know that not all cosmetics are safe and that any drug or applied to the skin and mucous membranes are absorbed into the blood-feeding and therefore may also affect the fetus.

For example, it recommends the use of creams indicated for skin aging from the sun in its composition containing retinol or derivatives, as has been shown that retinoids administered orally, are associated with the appearance of numerous malformations in the fetus. sunscreens pose no risk because they are kept in the surface layer of the skin and its absorption is minimal. By contrast, pregnant women should use a high protective factor to prevent the emergence of so-called chloasma gravidarum (dark spots that appear on the skin).

The deodorants can be used, except those containing aluminum salts are used for large surfaces such as hands or feet. Perfumes not do any harm to the fetus.

The make-up and masks are also harmless to the developing fetus. Read the rest of this entry »

This sounds simple but it happens every year to a lot of people when it comes to the holidays. All discipline usually falls to the wayside because having a good time means eating a lot and lounging around hanging out with family and friends. Some surprising motivational features to helping turn that holiday binge into a sustainable way of eating healthy can be something as easy as buying clothes that fit right for you right now. If you got clothes that fit now, you’ll probably want to keep wearing what you got because, who wants to waste money? This is a simple trick so that the summer body stays during the wintertime.

If that seems too silly than going over the watch what you eat and always eat clean, then try this idea out. Eat before you go partying. This will help stem some of the peer pressure just a tad whenever you go to hang out for the festivities. Plus, it gives you a reasonable excuse to hold back. It’s a simple thought but if you want to keep your figure, it best comes with a prepared plan to keep that New Year’s Resolution from being so drastic and out of reach. Another reasonable tip is to keep exercising. If you stay in your regular routine, it just gets easier the more you do it.

Many New Year’s resolutions come attached with a fitness program. These in home workouts tend to be easier and more manageable then getting a new gym membership. The hottest program of the year and one that no doubt will be on everyone’s New Year’s list is P90X2. The follow up program to the best selling home workout P90X, is guaranteed to get you lean and trim for the post holiday recovery.

In pregnancy, hormonal changes determine different skin manifestations as in other parts of her body. Since it is a topic of some concern, let’s see what those changes, and what we can do to mitigate the aesthetic effects not so flattering – beyond the important thing in pregnancy is the baby, women do not stop being concerned about our appearance – So, 90% of pregnant women have changes in skin pigmentation, especially darkening around the navel, genitals, breast areola, armpits and inner thighs, from the first quarter.

All this is because at this stage increases estrogen, progesterone and the melanocyte-stimulating hormone and glucocorticoids, that affect skin color. About half of mothers also suffer from melasma / chloasma, dark patches on the face, especially on the cheeks, upper lip or forehead. As worsens with sun exposure, you have to watch much of the sun at this stage. In 13% of pregnant women and new moles may appear in 15% change their size or color. It’s nothing to worry about, clarify dermatologists.

In a future post, we will discuss what happens to stretch marks and varicose veins.

Lead is a metal that for many years could be found in gasoline and paint used in the home. While still present in the environment, the numbers are dwindling since the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the United States banned its use in such products in the 1970′s.

Lead poses risks to the health of all people, but especially for young children and unborn babies. Exposure to high levels of lead during pregnancy contributes to the occurrence of spontaneous abortions, premature births, low birth weight and delayed development of the baby (2) . Children exposed to high levels of lead after birth may develop behavioral and learning problems, delayed growth and hearing loss (3) .

Women who live in older homes may be exposed to higher lead levels due to deteriorating lead-based paint with which they were painted. Using this type of paint was common in homes built before 1978. The risk is small as long as the paint is not peeling. However, peeling paint can produce lead dust when you touch the surface, particularly when sanding or brushing. Read the rest of this entry »

Use of drugs during pregnancy
Gestation is a specific condition of women and therefore, the states of health and illness in the mother may be determinants of good prenatal development.

The woman pregnant may suffer any kind of disease is that sometimes it is necessary that the physician has to prescribe drug treatment. According to some studies, it is estimated that about 35% of pregnant women have to take medication, excluding supplements.

In the early sixties it was discovered that a drug, thalidomide, was responsible for the birth of children with severe congenital malformations (absence of limbs, eye abnormalities, heart, etc.).. From then began to study the effect teratogénicode drugs in experimental animals prior to marketing, and developed an epidemiological investigation of the effect of drugs on human fetuses.

It is called teratogens to drugs (or any environmental agent) capable of producing congenital defects, ie, physical deformities, mental or functional. Read the rest of this entry »

It was already known that stress had numbers deleterious effects during pregnancy: increased risk of spontaneous abortion, premature delivery, for hypertension (especially dangerous during pregnancy) and that the baby will suffer delays in their development or low birth weight.

Also it seems that babies whose mothers have suffered stress during pregnancy may be more irritable and nervous during the first weeks of life.

Now it seems that also affects the child’s immune system, promoting the development of asthma and allergies.

Or so concludes a study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA) has been published in Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Read the rest of this entry »