Elective induction of labor, the process where a woman is stimulated with some form of medication that helps the uterine cervix soften up and uterine contractions to start; the combination of uterine contractions and progressive cervical shortening constitutes labor. The subject of elective induction of labor as opposed to waiting for the mother to go into spontaneous labor has been ...
Fetal nutrition-placenta health-adaptive programming Maternal body composition The fetus is totally dependent on the mother for all the nutrients that are required for a complete and healthy development as well as the placenta health. In the discussion below, we will operate under the assumption that the placenta of every fetus is as close to perfect as possible. We understand that ...
Part I: physiology Placenta health in relation to adult health is a subject that has evaded for the most part the obstetrical literature over the last 15 years. Primarily, epidemiologists and physicians other than obstetricians have done most of the work on this subject. Quite a significant amount of literature has been devoted to the elucidation of the relationships between ...
Breast cancer: the loud threat Women of all ages and strata are too familiar with the perils of breast cancer. After all, cancer is known to be a lethal disease although many women achieve complete cure. It is no surprise then that cancer thoughts are terrifying. Publicity campaigns regarding the risks and early prevention of breast cancer are found everywhere. ...
Preterm preeclampsia is a serious pregnancy complication affecting pregnant women before the completion of 37 weeks gestation. Severe preterm preeclampsia appears usually before 32 weeks gestation. This is a very dangerous pregnancy complication that is responsible for a significant number of maternal, fetal and neonatal deaths. Preterm preeclampsia afflicts 3-7% or all pregnancies worldwide and it is the leading cause ...
In early 2015, an outbreak of Zika virus, a flavivirus transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, was identified in northeast Brazil, an area where dengue virus was also circulating. By September, reports of an increase in the number of infants born with microcephaly in Zika virus-affected areas began to emerge, and Zika virus RNA was identified in the amniotic fluid of two ...
Preterm birth is defined as the birth of a baby before 37 completed weeks (term gestation is between 37-40 weeks). Over the past decade, preterm births have risen by more than 30% and in 2011, they accounted for 12.5% of all births, according to data published by March of Dimes. This is a steady increase from 8% before 1980 and 10.4% in 2002. To put this in real numbers, the Centers for Disease Control reports that more than half a million babies are born prematurely every year. That is, for every 7 babies born at term, there will be 1 baby that is born prematurely. What’s more, prematurity is most frequent in African American and Hispanic women as well those that are economically disadvantaged.
The vaccine story will never end. The problem is not that vaccines do not benefit, sometimes, but that there is no hard scientific evidence that all vaccines do so. On the other hand, there are no studies to investigate the long-term consequences from these genetically engineered virus particles that stimulate our immune system to generate antibodies; such antibodies attack our own proteins because they confuse them with the genetically engineered viral proteins. Pediatricians, despite their good intentions, need to spend more time in the library to look for scientific evidence that vaccines are safe and beneficial before they start behaving the way they do, pushing vaccines to children as if they were lollipops. The truth is, there is not such evidence.
