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There are currently no reliably safe and effective treatments for morning sicknessthats the conclusion of a group of Cochrane researchers who conducted a systematic review of the available evidence on pharmaceutical and alternative treatments for morning sickness. The review, published in September in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, included 27 randomized controlled trials, which together involved 4,041 women who were up to 20 weeks pregnant. Benefit was measured by various scales commonly used to gauge the severity of nausea at a time as close as possible to 3 days after treatment. In six studies of acupressure and two of acupuncture, there were no significant differences in benefit compared with control groups. One study of acustimulation did, however, report some improvement over 3 weeks. There was limited evidence of an
effect of ginger in relieving nausea, as there was for vitamin B6, antihistamines and antiemetic (antivomiting) drugs, including the antenatal drug Debendox. In addition, some of the treatments caused adverse effects, including drowsiness in those taking antiemetics. Ginger caused heartburn in some people. A number of the studies we looked at appeared to show benefits, but in general the results were inconsistent and it was difficult to draw firm conclusions about any one treatment in particular, said lead researcher Dr. Anne Matthews, of the School of Nursing at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland. We were also unable to obtain much information about whether these treatments are actually making a difference to womens quality of life. The researchers point to the need for additional and more rigorous trials in this area.
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Jennifer P. Hellwig, MS, RD, ELS, is managing editor of Nursing for Womens Health.
DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-486X.2010.01591.x
Breastfeeding Rates
Seventy-five percent of babies born in the United States in 2007more than 3 millionstarted life breastfeeding, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions 2010 Breastfeeding Report Card. The 75 percent breastfeeding initiation rate meets the nations Healthy People 2010 goal, and half of the states have breastfeeding initiation rates above 75 percent. State by state breastfeeding initiation rates ranged from nearly 90 percent in Utah to 52.5 percent in Mississippi. But while initiation rates have risen steadily, the number of babies who continue breastfeeding until 6 and 12 months remains stagnant for the third consecutive year, with only 43 percent (1.8 million) still breastfeeding at 6 months and 22 percent (fewer than 1 million) breastfeeding at 12 months. The CDCs Breastfeeding Report Card is available at http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/ data/reportcard.htm.
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week for 16 weeks. Both groups received education about good sleep hygiene, which includes sleeping in a cool, dark and quiet room, going to bed the same time every night and not staying in bed too long if unable to fall asleep. Exercise improved the participants self-reported sleep quality, elevating them from a diagnosis of poor sleeper to good sleeper. They also reported fewer depressive symptoms, more vitality and less daytime sleepiness. The participants scores on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index dropped an average of 4.8 points (a higher score indicates worse sleep).
Women who reported feeling stressed 2 weeks before the beginning of menstruation were two to four times more likely to report moderate to severe premenstrual and menstrual symptoms than were women who didnt feel stressed, according to a study published online in the Journal of Womens Health. Researchers administered questionnaires to 259 women ages 18 to 44 who didnt have any long-term health conditions and who were not using oral contraceptives or taking any other hormonal formulations. Each woman was provided with an at-home fertility monitor to follow the phases of her monthly cycle, and completed a questionnaire about stress levels for each of the 4 weeks of her cycle. Most of the women (250) took part in the study for two menstrual cycles. Women whose responses indicated they felt stressed were more likely to report moderate or severe levels of psychological symptoms, such as depression or sadness, crying spells, anger, irritability, and anxiety associated with menstruation. Similarly, women who felt stressed were also more likely to report moderate or severe levels of physical symptoms such as body aches, abdominal bloating, lower back pain, fatigue, abdominal cramping, headache and cravings for sweet or salty foods. The researchers couldnt rule out that anticipation of pain and other symptoms might add to a womans stress level and result in more severe symptoms. However, they sought to compensate for this possibility by administering the questionnaires on stress early, during the symptom-free parts of the womens cycles, when they were less likely to be anticipating severe symptoms.
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Rapid weight gain in the first 6 months of life predicts earlier puberty for boys, according to a study in the September 13 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Males who experienced rapid growth as babies also were taller, had more muscle and were stronger, and had higher testosterone levels as young adults. They had sex for the first time at a younger age and were more likely to report having had sex in the past month, resulting in more lifetime sex partners. The researchers think that testosterone may hold the key to understanding these long-term effects. Most people are unaware that male infants in the first 6 months of life produce testosterone at approximately the same level as an adult male, said Christopher W. Kuzawa, associate professor of anthropology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and author of the study. We looked
at weight gain during this particular window of early life development, because testosterone is very high at this age and helps shape the differences between males and females. The study, which was funded by the National Science Foundation and the Wenner Gren
Most people are unaware that male infants in the first 6 months of life produce testosterone at approximately the same level as an adult male
Foundation, was conducted among a group of 770 Filipino males ages 20 to 22 who have been followed their entire lives. Since 1983, a team of researchers in the United States and the Philippines has been working to understand how early life nutrition influences adult health, such as risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
to spouses smoking; and higher fruit and vegetable daily intake. For each of the five factors, study subjects were assigned one point for having the healthy factor (and zero for not having the healthy factor), and the points were then summed to generate a cumulative score for each woman, ranging from zero points (least healthy) to five points (most healthy). They found that a higher healthy lifestyle score was significantly associated with reduced risk of mortality from all causes, as well as from cardiovascular diseases and cancer, specifically. Women with four to five healthy lifestyle factors had 43 percent lower risk of all-cause mortality compared with women with a score of zero. The reduction in mortality associated with higher lifestyle scores was strongest for deaths due to cardiovascular disease.
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READ IT TO KEEP YOUR PATIENTSAND YOURSELFFEELING HEALTHY, ACTIVE AND VIBRANT.
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