Can Your Stress Affect Your Fetus?

Bringing a new person into the world is no easy task. You worry about everything. Are the foods you eat healthy enough? Is it safe to exercise? How will you juggle work and parenthood once baby arrives?

Some stress during pregnancy is normal, just as it is during other times of life. But if stress becomes constant, the effects on you and your baby could be lasting.

When you’re stressed, your body goes into "fight or flight" mode, sending out a burst of cortisol and other stress hormones. These are the same hormones that surge when you are in danger. They prepare you to run by sending a blast of fuel to your muscles and making your heart pump faster.

If you can deal with your stress and move on, your stress response will recede and your body will go back into balance. But "the kind of stress that’s really damaging is the kind that doesn’t let up," says Susan Andrews, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist and author of the book Stress Solutions for Pregnant Moms: How Breaking Free From Stress Can Boost Your Baby’s Potential. In fact, constant stress could alter your body’s stress management system, causing it to overreact and trigger an inflammatory response.

Inflammation, in turn, has been linked to poorer pregnancy health and developmental problems in babies down the road. "There are some data to show that higher chronic stressors in women and poor coping skills to deal with those stressors may be associated with lower birth weight and with delivering earlier," says Ann Borders, MD, MPH, MSc. She is an OB/GYN in the obstetrics and gynecology department, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, at Evanston Hospital, NorthShore University HealthSystem.

Chronic stress may also contribute to subtle differences in brain development that might lead to behavioral issues as the baby grows, she adds.

Research in this area is still early, and doctors still need to figure out the exact link between stress and pregnancy outcomes. Even so, it’s an important factor for pregnant women to consider, especially if they’re dealing with chronic stress -- for example, from financial or relationship troubles.

"We know that we want to think about how to reduce unhealthy stress and find ways to help women have better coping mechanisms to deal with the stress in their lives," Borders says. You shouldn’t feel guilty about stress, she adds, but you should try to control it as much as you can.

Andrews offers a few ways to manage stress during pregnancy.

Take stock. Talk to your doctor about what’s causing you to feel stressed. Together you can look for solutions, which might include meditation, prenatal yoga, or talk therapy.

Sing a song. Even if you can’t carry a tune, hum in your head. Music helps control cortisol levels.

Relax. Take a warm bath. Have a cup of tea. Curl up with a book. You’ll have precious few chances to pamper yourself once your baby arrives.

Find more articles, browse back issues, and read the current issue of "WebMD Magazine." 

View the original article here

iPads Could Affect Implanted Heart Devices, Early Study Finds

Young researcher suggests that users avoid placing tablets too close to the chest

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sprawled out on the couch, reading the news on your iPad, you'd never think you could be putting yourself at risk. But you might be, if you happen to have an implanted heart device.

Magnetic interference could alter the settings and even deactivate the technology of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), according to a small new study -- conducted by a 14-year-old investigator and her colleagues.

The researchers found that magnets imbedded in the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover may cause electromagnetic interference that can disrupt a cardiac rhythm device.

Specialized magnets are imbedded in the heart devices to allow physicians to routinely adjust their settings. The magnets can suspend the ability of the devices to prevent sudden rapid heart rates, such as tachycardia and fibrillation.

That risk occurs when a person falls asleep with the tablet on the chest. Thirty percent of study participants had interference with their devices when the iPad 2 was placed there, the researchers found. Yet electromagnetic interference was not found when the iPad was at a normal reading distance from the chest.

The magnetic field drops off quickly with distance, explained Gianna Chien, the lead study author. And heavier people who happen to have more fat on their chest -- not just in their abdomen -- also seem to be less sensitive to the interference, she added.

The research is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting in Denver. Chien, a high school freshman, worked with her father, Dr. Walter Chien, a cardiologist with Central Valley Arrhythmia in Stockton, Calif., to coordinate patient testing.

Other devices with imbedded magnets -- such as cellphones and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines -- may also affect cardiac rhythm devices, but were not tested in this study.

Last year, research published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics suggested that the iPad 2 can interfere with the settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices in the brain when held within two inches of the technology.

That study reported on a 4-month-old girl with hydrocephalus -- abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain -- who developed a shunt malfunction. This was due to a changed setting of the magnetically programmable valve that regulates the flow of CSF out of the brain cavity, or ventricle. The mother had been using an iPad 2 while holding the infant.

An expert noted how difficult it could be to detect such a malfunction.

"The real problem is that you don't even know; there is no trigger, no light goes off [to alert you]," said Dr. Salvatore Insinga, a neurosurgeon at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute at North Shore-LIJ Health System, in New York. "With all the tech devices people are using now and all the implanted things in patients, this is more of an issue now." Insinga was not associated with either study.

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Everyday Noise Levels May Affect the Heart

Even not-so-loud sounds seemed to raise people's heart rate in small study

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Even the minor noise that fills everyday life, from the ring of a cell phone to the conversation that follows, may have short-term effects on heart function, a small new study suggests.

In the study of 110 adults equipped with portable heart monitors, researchers found that people's heart rate tended to climb as their noise exposure increased -- even when the noise remained below 65 decibels. That's about as loud as a normal conversation or laughter.

There was also a negative impact on people's heart rate "variability" -- a measure of the heart's adaptation to what is going on around you. Greater variability in the interval between heartbeats is better. When people are relaxed, the space between heartbeats is usually a bit longer as they exhale, and shorter as they inhale.

When people are stressed, however, some of that natural variation is lost. And studies have linked lesser heart rate variability to an increased risk of heart attack.

So does all of this mean you need to wear earplugs to protect your heart? Probably not, experts say.

For any one person, the effects of everyday noise on heart function may be small, said Charlotta Eriksson, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, Sweden. Eriksson was not involved in the study.

But since we are all exposed to noise, even a minor effect on heart health could be important on the broad "population level," said Eriksson, who has studied the effects of loud traffic -- from roads or airports -- on people's blood pressure and heart function.

Research has consistently found links between loud workplaces and an increased risk of heart disease, said Dr. Wenqi Gan, a researcher at North Shore-LIJ Health System's Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, in Manhasset, N.Y.

The evidence is more mixed when it comes to "community noise," like traffic sounds, said Gan, whose own research has found a connection.

He said the mixed results may be because it's difficult to weed out the effects of community noise on individuals. You might live in a noisy section of a big city, but have good, sound-muffling windows, for example.

"And some people are more sensitive to noise than others," Gan said. If noise affects the heart by stressing people out, he said, then your personal sensitivity to it would be important.

The new findings, reported in the May issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, are based on 110 adults who wore portable devices that measured their heart activity and noise exposure during their normal daily routines.

What was "interesting," Eriksson said, is that lower-level noise seemed to curb activity in the parasympathetic nervous system -- the branch of the nervous system that acts as a "brake," lowering heart rate and relaxing the blood vessels, for example.

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Weight-Loss Surgery May Affect Fat-Related Genes

Swedish researchers found better body-fat control in people who had procedure

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss surgery changes the levels of genes involved in burning and storing fat, a new study says.

The findings may help lead to the development of new drugs that mimic this weight-loss-associated control of gene regulation, said the authors of the study published online April 11 in the journal Cell Reports.

"We provide evidence that in severely obese people, the levels of specific genes that control how fat is burned and stored in the body are changed to reflect poor metabolic health," senior author Juleen Zierath, a professor with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a journal news release.

"After [weight-loss] surgery, the levels of these genes are restored to a healthy state, which mirrors weight loss and coincides with overall improvement in metabolism," Zierath explained.

Weight-loss surgery -- also called bariatric surgery -- can help obese people lose large amounts of weight in a short time. The surgery also leads to early remission of type 2 diabetes in many patients.

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Weight-Loss Surgery May Affect Fat-Related Genes

THURSDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss surgery changes the levels of genes involved in burning and storing fat, a new study says.

The findings may help lead to the development of new drugs that mimic this weight-loss-associated control of gene regulation, said the authors of the study published online April 11 in the journal Cell Reports.

"We provide evidence that in severely obese people, the levels of specific genes that control how fat is burned and stored in the body are changed to reflect poor metabolic health," senior author Juleen Zierath, a professor with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, said in a journal news release.

"After [weight-loss] surgery, the levels of these genes are restored to a healthy state, which mirrors weight loss and coincides with overall improvement in metabolism," Zierath explained.

Weight-loss surgery -- also called bariatric surgery -- can help obese people lose large amounts of weight in a short time. The surgery also leads to early remission of type 2 diabetes in many patients.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Cell Reports, news release, April 11, 2013

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Health Tip: Alcohol Can Affect Your Athletic Performance

Title: Health Tip: Alcohol Can Affect Your Athletic Performance
Category: Health News
Created: 3/26/2013 8:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/26/2013 12:00:00 AM

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iPads Could Affect Implanted Heart Devices, Early Study Finds

Young researcher suggests that users avoid placing tablets too close to the chest

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sprawled out on the couch, reading the news on your iPad, you'd never think you could be putting yourself at risk. But you might be, if you happen to have an implanted heart device.

Magnetic interference could alter the settings and even deactivate the technology of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), according to a small new study -- conducted by a 14-year-old investigator and her colleagues.

The researchers found that magnets imbedded in the iPad 2 and its Smart Cover may cause electromagnetic interference that can disrupt a cardiac rhythm device.

Specialized magnets are imbedded in the heart devices to allow physicians to routinely adjust their settings. The magnets can suspend the ability of the devices to prevent sudden rapid heart rates, such as tachycardia and fibrillation.

That risk occurs when a person falls asleep with the tablet on the chest. Thirty percent of study participants had interference with their devices when the iPad 2 was placed there, the researchers found. Yet electromagnetic interference was not found when the iPad was at a normal reading distance from the chest.

The magnetic field drops off quickly with distance, explained Gianna Chien, the lead study author. And heavier people who happen to have more fat on their chest -- not just in their abdomen -- also seem to be less sensitive to the interference, she added.

The research is scheduled to be presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society's annual meeting in Denver. Chien, a high school freshman, worked with her father, Dr. Walter Chien, a cardiologist with Central Valley Arrhythmia in Stockton, Calif., to coordinate patient testing.

Other devices with imbedded magnets -- such as cellphones and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines -- may also affect cardiac rhythm devices, but were not tested in this study.

Last year, research published in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics suggested that the iPad 2 can interfere with the settings of magnetically programmable shunt devices in the brain when held within two inches of the technology.

That study reported on a 4-month-old girl with hydrocephalus -- abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain -- who developed a shunt malfunction. This was due to a changed setting of the magnetically programmable valve that regulates the flow of CSF out of the brain cavity, or ventricle. The mother had been using an iPad 2 while holding the infant.

An expert noted how difficult it could be to detect such a malfunction.

"The real problem is that you don't even know; there is no trigger, no light goes off [to alert you]," said Dr. Salvatore Insinga, a neurosurgeon at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute at North Shore-LIJ Health System, in New York. "With all the tech devices people are using now and all the implanted things in patients, this is more of an issue now." Insinga was not associated with either study.

View the original article here

Can Your Stress Affect Your Fetus?

As it turns out, constant pressure may put your baby at risk.

Bringing a new person into the world is no easy task. You worry about everything. Are the foods you eat healthy enough? Is it safe to exercise? How will you juggle work and parenthood once baby arrives?

Some stress during pregnancy is normal, just as it is during other times of life. But if stress becomes constant, the effects on you and your baby could be lasting.

When you’re stressed, your body goes into "fight or flight" mode, sending out a burst of cortisol and other stress hormones. These are the same hormones that surge when you are in danger. They prepare you to run by sending a blast of fuel to your muscles and making your heart pump faster.

If you can deal with your stress and move on, your stress response will recede and your body will go back into balance. But "the kind of stress that’s really damaging is the kind that doesn’t let up," says Susan Andrews, PhD, a clinical neuropsychologist and author of the book Stress Solutions for Pregnant Moms: How Breaking Free From Stress Can Boost Your Baby’s Potential. In fact, constant stress could alter your body’s stress management system, causing it to overreact and trigger an inflammatory response.

Inflammation, in turn, has been linked to poorer pregnancy health and developmental problems in babies down the road. "There are some data to show that higher chronic stressors in women and poor coping skills to deal with those stressors may be associated with lower birth weight and with delivering earlier," says Ann Borders, MD, MPH, MSc. She is an OB/GYN in the obstetrics and gynecology department, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, at Evanston Hospital, NorthShore University HealthSystem.

Chronic stress may also contribute to subtle differences in brain development that might lead to behavioral issues as the baby grows, she adds.

Research in this area is still early, and doctors still need to figure out the exact link between stress and pregnancy outcomes. Even so, it’s an important factor for pregnant women to consider, especially if they’re dealing with chronic stress -- for example, from financial or relationship troubles.

"We know that we want to think about how to reduce unhealthy stress and find ways to help women have better coping mechanisms to deal with the stress in their lives," Borders says. You shouldn’t feel guilty about stress, she adds, but you should try to control it as much as you can.

Andrews offers a few ways to manage stress during pregnancy.

Take stock. Talk to your doctor about what’s causing you to feel stressed. Together you can look for solutions, which might include meditation, prenatal yoga, or talk therapy.

Sing a song. Even if you can’t carry a tune, hum in your head. Music helps control cortisol levels.

Relax. Take a warm bath. Have a cup of tea. Curl up with a book. You’ll have precious few chances to pamper yourself once your baby arrives.

Find more articles, browse back issues, and read the current issue of "WebMD Magazine." 

View the original article here

Low Prenatal Iodine May Affect Child's Brain Development

Mothers with deficiency had kids with lower IQs and reading ability, researchers say

By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Mild to moderate iodine deficiency during pregnancy may have a negative long-term impact on children's brain development, British researchers report.

Low levels of the so-called "trace element" in an expectant mother's diet appear to put her child at risk of poorer verbal and reading skills during the preteen years, the study authors found. Pregnant women can boost their iodine levels by eating enough dairy products and seafood, the researchers suggested.

The finding, published online May 22 in The Lancet, stems from an analysis of roughly 1,000 mother-child pairs who were tracked until the child reached the age of 9 years.

"Our results clearly show the importance of adequate iodine status during early pregnancy, and emphasize the risk that iodine deficiency can pose to the developing infant," study lead author Margaret Rayman, of the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, said in a journal news release.

The study authors explained that iodine is critical to the thyroid gland's hormone production process, which is known to have an impact on fetal brain development.

According to the World Health Organization, iodine "sufficiency" is defined as having a so-called iodine-to-creatinine ratio of 150 micrograms per gram (mcg/g) or more; those with a ratio falling below 150 mcg/g are deemed to be iodine "deficient."

By examining first-trimester urine sample data collected by a long-term study of parents and children based in Bristol, England, the study authors found that just over two-thirds of the mothers had been iodine-deficient while pregnant.

After adjusting for other factors (such as breast-feeding history and parental education), the researchers found that iodine deficiency during pregnancy raised the child's risk for having a lower verbal IQ, and poorer reading accuracy and comprehension by the time they turned 8 or 9.

What's more, the more iodine levels dropped during pregnancy, the lower the child's performance in terms of IQ and reading ability, the study authors noted.

Study co-author and registered dietitian Sarah Bath agreed that "pregnant women and those planning a pregnancy should ensure adequate iodine intake." She suggested in the news release that "good dietary sources are milk, dairy products and fish. . . . Kelp supplements should be avoided as they may have excessive levels of iodine."

The U.S. National Institutes of Health states that 3 ounces of baked cod contains approximately 99 mcg of iodine, 1 cup of plain low-fat yogurt contains about 75 mcg, and 1 cup of reduced-fat milk has an estimated 56 mcg.

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Bowel Issues Affect 3 Out of 4 Pregnant Women

These problems don't significantly affect quality of life, study says

By Mary Elizabeth Dallas

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly three out of four pregnant women experience bowel problems such as constipation and diarrhea, but these issues don't significantly affect their quality of life, a new study finds.

Researchers from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., noted that these bowel issues are due to physiological and hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy. Nutritional supplements that women take during pregnancy also can play a role. The study authors added that since women expect these problems to arise during pregnancy, they're better able to tolerate them.

The study included 104 women in their first trimester of pregnancy and 66 women in their third trimester. They completed two questionnaires: one asking about the bowel disorders they experienced and another on how these problems affected their quality of life. Specifically, the women were asked if their bowel issues made life less enjoyable, limited what they could wear or eat, or made them feel embarrassed, vulnerable, angry, isolated or depressed.

The study revealed that 72 percent of the first-trimester respondents and 61 percent of the third-trimester respondents had one or more bowel disorders, including constipation, diarrhea, bloating and irritable bowel syndrome.

On a scale of one to 100, with 100 being the least impact on quality of life, the women's average score was 94.9. The researchers said two issues had a measurable effect on quality of life: Both constipation and bloating reduced the quality-of-life score by approximately four points.

Study senior author Dr. Scott Graziano, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, advises pregnant women to drink plenty of fluids and consume 25 to 30 grams of fiber daily. The study found that pregnant women consume only 16 to 17 grams of fiber a day. Stool softeners and suppositories are safe for pregnant women, Graziano said.

The study's findings were presented earlier this month at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' annual meeting in New Orleans. Data and conclusions from studies presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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Depressed Dads Affect Their Kids Even Before Born

By Rita Rubin
WebMD Health News

Jan. 7, 2013 -- Children whose dads were depressed during the pregnancy are more likely to exhibit emotional and behavioral problems at age 3, new research suggests.

The finding comes from an ongoing study of more than 30,000 Norwegian children. When their mothers were nearly halfway through their pregnancy, their fathers completed a mental health questionnaire that assessed anxiety and depression symptoms. The researchers also collected information from the parents about the mothers’ pre- and postnatal mental health and the children’s emotional and behavioral development at 36 months of age.

Three percent of the fathers had high levels of psychological distress, and their children had higher levels of emotional and behavioral problems -- even after the researchers took into account other possible contributing factors, such as the dad’s age, education, and marital status, and the mother’s mental health.

“This study suggests that some risk of future child emotional, behavioral, and social problems can be identified during pregnancy,” says researcher Anne Lise Kvalevaag, PsyD, a PhD candidate at the University of Bergen.

The researchers, whose report appears in the journal Pediatrics, cited several possible explanations for a link between fathers’ prenatal psychological distress and young children’s emotional and behavioral problems:

The children may have inherited a genetic susceptibility to such problems from their father.The expectant fathers’ depression may have negatively impacted the pregnant mothers’ mental health. A dad’s prenatal depression might simply predict he’ll be depressed after the baby is born.

“Fathers who have mental health difficulties during the prenatal period are likely to continue to have those difficulties during the child’s infancy, which may directly affect young children’s development,” says psychologist Elizabeth Harvey, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Harvey published a study last month in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology about the link between early fathering and children’s behavior problems. The study found that fathers’ depression when the children were 3 predicted behavior problems when they were 6.

In a study published in Maternal and Child Health Journal last August, Michael Weitzman, MD, a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at New York University, found that depression in fathers was the single biggest predictor of depression in mothers. The study involved more than 7,000 U.S. moms and dads who lived with children aged 5 to 17.

In another study of approximately 22,000 kids in that same age group, published in the journal Pediatrics in 2011, Weitzman found that living with a father who had symptoms of depression and other mental health problems was associated with higher rates of emotional or behavioral problems in children.

Some of the negative consequences scientists attribute to the mother's depression might actually be due to the father's depression, Weitzman says. In addition, he says, depressed parents may be more likely to report their children as being depressed than non-depressed parents of kids who have the same behaviors.

Studies that follow fathers and children with or without psychological distress over time are needed to clarify the relationship between the mental health of dads and their offspring, Kvalevaag and her colleagues write.

While the Norwegian study has continued to collect mental health information from the mothers and children, it only questioned the fathers at 17 or 18 weeks into the pregnancy, Kvalevaag says.

Unfortunately, Weitzman says, “depression in fathers is a profoundly overlooked public health problem."

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Fructose May Affect Hunger Cues

Jan. 2, 2013 -- All sugars are not created equal, at least when it comes to the brain, a new study shows.

For the study, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers asked 20 healthy men and women to sip a cherry-flavored drink sweetened with either pure glucose or pure fructose.  

Both glucose and fructose are simple sugars. People rarely take in either one by itself. Instead, they’re usually added to foods and drinks as mixtures. Table sugar is about half glucose, half fructose, for example, while high-fructose corn syrup is about 55% fructose and 45% glucose.

Fructose is sweeter than glucose. It’s also less expensive. So over the years, the balance of calories from added sugars in the American diet has shifted to favor fructose.

“People consume a lot more fructose now than they used to, because it’s cheaper to put high-fructose corn syrup in the foods we eat,” says researcher Robert S. Sherwin, MD, an endocrinologist at the Yale University School of Medicine, in New Haven, Conn. 

Whether that shift may be contributing to our nation's growing obesity problem has been an open question.

Animal studies have shown that glucose and fructose can have different effects on appetite and metabolism. Sherwin and his team set out to see if that might also be true for humans.

Each person in the study completed the experiment twice with a gap of a few weeks to a few months between lab visits. They weren’t told which sugar they were given to drink.

Each time, they were given a scan that allowed researchers to watch what was happening to their brains in real time.

Study scientists were particularly interested in changes to a region called the hypothalamus, which helps to control appetite. They also took blood samples to check levels of hormones that control feelings of hunger and fullness, and asked the study participants how satisfied they felt after drinking the different sugar solutions.

As quickly as 15 minutes after people in the study finished the drinks, researchers began to see changes in brain blood flow and activity.

After the glucose drink, the body seemed to recognize and respond to the extra calories with an increase in glucose and insulin levels. That response, which blunts hunger, was significantly greater than fructose's. Brain activity also slowed in the hypothalamus, the region that stimulates appetite.

After the fructose drink, on the other hand, the hypothalamus continued to stay active. There was little increase in insulin, and study volunteers said they felt hungrier, even though they weren’t told which sugar they’d had.

Other hormones that are known to regulate hunger, such as ghrelin and leptin, were unchanged after ingestion of either type of sugar.

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