Pregnancy and Health Care

Archive for the ‘Diseases During Pregnancy’ Category

Pregnancy is a topic that generates a lot of written material. Bookstores and libraries devote not just shelves of pregnancy, but entire aisles. When you go to your first prenatal visit, your doctor probably will supply you with lots of brochures that cover all types of tests required and typical aspects of each quarter. But even if you have this information, pregnancy can take any future father by surprise.

What the doctor may have to include
If your doctor has not mentioned the following topics during your first consultation, not because he or she is purposely omitted this information. Chances are you do not already mentioned because pregnancy affects each woman differently. For example, some women experience nausea in the morning, others feel nausea throughout the day, and some never feel nauseous. Your doctor may forget to mention something that has a medical focus – your doctor may not have more knowledge than your neighbor on your increasing shoe size! In addition, some women think they mention the increase in breast size or hemorrhoids are having problems too personal or embarrassing to ask their doctors. Read the rest of this entry »

The hormonal changes that occur primarily in the first trimester of pregnancy may cause changes in skin texture.

Approximately 80% of women develop so-called pregnancy spots (melasma). The most vulnerable areas are those that are exposed to direct sunlight as the forehead, nose, cheekbones and chin.

Result of these hormonal changes can also notice that your moles are obscured and you should consult a dermatologist.

How to prevent skin spots

Using sunscreen with UV protection . In many cases not be prevented completely, but the sunscreen will help prevent the spots are so dark. In many cases, the spots disappear after delivery.

In the event that the spots do not disappear after delivery, you can perform treatments lightening creams or gels that give good results.

For more information on this consultation with a dermatologist and check vitazo these tips to prevent staining in pregnancy.

Is it normal to experience changes in skin during pregnancy?
During pregnancy the body undergoes many changes at the immune, endocrine, vascular and metabolic and skin is particularly susceptible to these alterations. For this reason it is normal to experience changes and disturbances in the skin during the entire period of gestation. Then you found the explanation for the frequent changes that occur in the skin of the pregnant woman.

Itching of the body
It is common the occurrence of itching during pregnancy . This can be due to many causes but often relates to a functional disturbance of the liver, induced by the hormones of pregnancy.
usually occurs during the second or third trimester of pregnancy is very important that your doctor know during your routine office.

To relieve itching natural lotions can be used based on oats, as it has soothing effect, calming the skin and antipruritic. Also useful for bathing soap substitutes, called syndets, not contain detergents, dyes or perfumes. If you also have oatmeal, add the properties of it.

Skin spots
90% of pregnant women experience the appearance of dark spots on the skin as a result of a hormone that is increased by pregnancy. This hormone induces increased production of skin pigment (melanin), causing darkening of the areolas, in the genital region and in the midline of the abdomen. You can even notice that your moles and to have obscured this fact is advisable to consult a dermatologist. Read the rest of this entry »

It is a disease which, though often referred to as blood cancer, actually affects the tissue responsible for manufacturing, ie the bone marrow, spleen and lymph nodes. It is the most common cancer in children, but treatments are carried out have a healing effect by 50 and 70% of cases.

Features
is a malignant disease (sometimes called blood cancer) and is characterized by an arrest in the maturation of the cells responsible for the formation of blood constituents with proliferation and uncontrolled growth of immature blood cells. This proliferation originates from the bone marrow level, from which it spreads to the blood and responsible for manufacturing different tissues, ie spleen and lymph nodes. A genetic mutation produces an alteration in these tissues and leads to start producing an abnormal number of white blood cells and can become so numerous that the blood will have a whitish appearance.

These white blood cells that fail to mature, called blasts, produce two major effects: do not perform properly its function of defending the body, and live much longer, so in a shorter or longer period of time so that proliferate difficult to create in the heart of red blood cells (which carry oxygen inside the body) and platelets (which deal with blood clotting). Read the rest of this entry »

Considering that all body organs are composed of tissues, the tissues are composed of sets of cells, which are cells responsible for growth, evolution, and the renewal of the organs and tissues, it is necessary to know that when there is an alteration in a cell, or that this has served its purpose and responded to the demand for organs and tissues, it dies. If the cell survives, it will cause the same cells, other than normal and, escaping the normal mechanisms of control, proliferate causing a set of “sick” cells and abnormal to be located in a tissue or organ, can travel by blood to other organs or tissues, causing tumors of many types and in different locations.

Growing out of control, the cell becomes abnormal sizes and shapes, destroy neighboring cells, organs and bones, consuming part of the nutrients and energy from the patient, and weakening the body’s defenses. In medicine these diseased cells called cancer, a disease that can occur at any stage of life, from birth and throughout the development of human beings. Cancer is not a communicable disease. Cancer is an uncontrolled spread of cells in any organ or tissue, which occurs when a group of cells escapes the normal control mechanisms in their replication and differentiation.

Childhood Cancer
On the occasion of World Day against cancer, February 4, the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), devotes its celebration this year to the fight against childhood cancer because of that today, this disease is the second most common cause Infant mortality in children aged between 1 and 14. Statistics teach that each year more than 160 000 children are diagnosed with cancer in the world. 80% of pediatric patients live in developing countries. According to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) in developed countries, three out of four children with cancer survive at least five years after diagnosis, thanks to advances in diagnosis and treatment of this disease. In developing countries, more than half of children diagnosed with cancer is likely to die. In Spain, after accidents, cancer is the second leading cause of infant mortality. Today, both the incidence and prevalence of childhood cancer are on the rise. Because of that, it becomes increasingly necessary in a better and early diagnosis and effective treatments.

The most common cancers in children
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the most common cancers in children are leukemia (cancer of white blood cells), followed by lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes), brain tumors (cancer that can be placed in many parts the brain), and osteosarcoma (bone cancer). Tumors account for 80% of all cases. Leukemia is the leading cancer occurs in childhood. There are several types. The most common in children is acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and often have children aged between 2 and 8. After leukemia, brain tumors are the second most common cancer in childhood. May occur between 5 and 10 years. And followed by tumors are lymphomas, which are cancers that develop from the lymphatic system. Less frequently, there are usually small intestine cancer, liver, spleen, nervous system and bone marrow.

While in Mexico, leukemia remains the most common cancer in children, with early diagnosis to 70% of patients can achieve a total cure. According to Dr. Hugo Rivera Marquez, Chief of Pediatric Oncology Hospital National Medical Center Siglo XXI IMSS, are diagnosed each year, nationwide, 7 000 200 cases of cancer in children, most of them are developed by multifactorial factors and less by genetic or hereditary causes.

The specialist recommended that parents, be alert to changes and symptoms they observe in their children such as prolonged fever, swelling in the abdomen, pallor, loss of energy and weight quickly and headaches persist. Bleeding may also occur, loss of balance, sudden change in behavior of the child or the child and decrease or loss of vision. As in all cases, it is essential to see a doctor and rule out self-medication. If you make a diagnosis and prescribe appropriate treatment, the prognosis for children with leukemia is very good.

Types of leukemia in children
Approximately 98% of leukemias in children are acute and are divided into acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). About 60% of children with leukemia suffer first and about 38% of AML. Lymphocytic how the disease occurs more often in small 2 to 8 years , with a marked incidence at the age of 4 years. If a child has a twin who was diagnosed with the disease before age 6, has a chance of developing ALL or AML of 20% to 25%. In general, twins and other siblings of children with leukemia have an increased risk of developing the disease two to four times higher than average. Read the rest of this entry »

For a long time to identify the cells that cause leukemia, was one of the great mysteries for researchers in the cancer. Although it was known that the causal factor was primarily genetic, recently made ??an important discovery that has opened new hopes to the treatment of childhood leukemia, -the most common type of cancer in children and adolescents. Medical advances in the treatment of this disease, which until recently was considered fatal, have been enormous, to the point that today, we talk about a survival rate reaches 80% in cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the type of leukemia most often in children. Thanks to a joint study by scientists at the University of Oxford, Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London and the Association of Cancer Research Medical Research, has taken an important step in the fight against childhood leukemia to discover “the origin “of this disease. The results of this research were recently published in the U.S. journal “Science.”

The finding came after monitoring the case of two twin four-year-old living in southern England, of which one was healthy and one affected by this type of cancer . Although both had preleukemic cells, only one of them developed the disease. The scientists found that a genetic mutation is responsible for the origin of childhood leukemia and explained that “the development of blood cell cancer in childhood, requires a” small but crucial group of cells “suffer two mutations.” The first occurs during the first period of gestation and the second during the first months of life the child. According to experts, this second genetic modification could be triggered by a common infection (such as a cold), preleukemic cells to transform into malignant cells resistant to chemotherapy.

According to the study, “1% of children have preleukemic cells, but of these, very few suffer the second and Mutation. “This finding is encouraging for the scientific community, it opens the way for the investigation of shorter treatments, less aggressive and less side effects, which seek to attack only the malignant cells. Now the new challenge of pediatric oncology is not only to cure cancer, but to provide the best possible quality of life for children with this disease.

Dr. Monique Robinson, a psychologist at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth, Australia, lead author of the study, said previous research has shown a link between stress during pregnancy and conduct problems in children, although this new study the issue further by analyzing the time it happens, the amount and types of stressful events that lead to such problems.

About the study :
• She and her colleagues analyzed data from nearly 3,000 pregnant women who reported stressful events in weeks 18 and 34 of pregnancy
• About 37 percent reported two or more stressful events and about eight percent reported on six or more
• Money problems and relationships, unemployment and problems with other children, a difficult pregnancy and a death in the family were found between stressful events cited by women
• The behavior of children women was assessed at 2, 5, at 8, at 10 and 14 years
• “Two or less stressful events during pregnancy are associated with poor behavioral development of children, but increased three or more events, the risks of difficult child behaviors increase. ”
• It was found that the type of stressful event itself was less important than the quantity of them. Events that occurred at the beginning or end of pregnancy did not affect risk, the study said.

The fact of discovering the changes that will be occurring in your body during different stages of pregnancy could become a very interesting task and magical. To get an overview of changes that could happen in the coming months, it would be advisable to read our section on the stages of pregnancy. In order to gain insight and a deeper understanding of what will happen in each of the three trimesters of pregnancy, you should take a look at our sections entitled First Quarter, Second Quarter and Third Quarter, respectively.

These sections provide very valuable and useful information about the changes you should expect to occur in your body. You can also find useful strategies and tips to help you cope and overcome the physical demands that entails the fact of being pregnant.

Although it is very easy to see the changes that will be occurring in your body, being able to know what is happening with the development of her baby / a-depending on his sex-is much more complicated. The section entitled Pregnancy calendar contains a number of descriptions to help you learn about your baby’s development in a gradual and continuous. You should also carefully read our section devoted to this issue of Your Baby’s Development as well as the section entitled The Different Stages of infant development. Finally, it is very important to read the section Calculating the due date to learn about the best way to calculate the date at which your baby will be born.

We follow the tips for preventing birth defects, these to take into account during the period of gestation:

Consult your doctor immediately whenever there is fever. This can harm the developing fetus.

Avoid contact with toxic chemicals, both at work and at home (eg, paints) and storage of these without the proper security measures because they can be teratogenic, cause birth defects in the fetus.

Extreme environmental hygiene, food and, of course, personal.
Avoid contact with animals that lack of sanitary control. Do not forget that some may transmit certain diseases (eg toxoplasmosis) which pose a risk to the fetus. Read the rest of this entry »