Archive for March, 2008
Colostrum is the most important food an offspring can receive from its mother in mammals. Because of the various health benefits of colostrum, many people use it on a regular basis. Bovine colostrum is the ideal substitute for human colostrum as it is not species specific.
Although there are no obvious side effects of colostrum consumption, some people may experience mild side effects depending on the nature of their body and the quantity of colostrum intake. Usually, when you consume colostrum, a variety of toxins are flushed out from your body. When this is happening, you may experience flu-like symptoms. But this is only temporary and will subside as the toxins are completely flushed out from your body.
Side effects like abdominal discomfort and/or diarrhea may also occur when the colostrum consumption is too high and too fast. In strict medical terms, abdominal discomfort and/or diarrhea is not a side effect but the process where the body gets rid of the toxins accumulated during the illness. In any case, you must consult your doctor before consuming colostrum on a regular basis. If you are allergic to milk and milk products, you may experience headache, muscle aches, or stomach distress.
If you suffer from hyperthyroid disease, you should consult your doctor. Although there is no substantial evidence regarding the effect of colostrum on patients suffering from hyperthyroid disease, in some patients the disease worsened after regular consumption.
Also, if you have an injury or wound, there may be heightened pain in these areas while the wound is healing. Under these circumstances, it’s wise to lower consumption of colostrum until the pain subsides.
There are no proven side effects of colostrum. The above-mentioned symptoms are temporary and rare. Still, if you are pregnant, nursing, or on medications, consult your doctor before you consume colostrum.
Colostrum provides detailed information about colostrum, colostrum benefits, colostrum milk, colostrum and pregnancy and more. Colostrum is the sister site of Progesterone Benefit.
Tags: colostrum, colostrum benefits, colostrum milk, colostrum and pregnancy
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March 31 2008 | Pregnancy | No Comments »
At the age of 32 Sigmund Freud developed a new problem. Pricking and other unpleasant sensations had overtaken the skin on the outer side of his right thigh. Walking made his symptoms worse. The affected skin was exquisitely sensitive to touch and even the usual rubbing of his underclothes irritated the area.
Seven years later in 1895, when Freud wrote up his self-observations for a German medical journal, the abnormal sensations were still present, but had migrated. At first, the area of disturbance had been more noticeable near the top of the thigh, but gradually the abnormal sensations moved downward to a palm-sized area a hand’s breadth above the side of his knee.
When Freud squeezed a fold of skin in this area, it hurt more than it did in his left thigh. Although he could feel a pinprick as such, it also burned. Even so, individual spots within the zone of abnormal skin were insensitive to ordinarily painful maneuvers. He also noticed that temperature sense was impaired. Warm objects placed against the affected skin felt cooler than in unaffected areas. And although the original pricking sensations improved over time, his outer thigh had become generally less sensitive to usual stimulations.
Freud’s physician, Josef Breuer, found that the affected skin was in the territory of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, a nerve that concerns itself with sensation only and has no muscular connections. Dr. Breuer concluded that Freud’s symptoms were caused by damage to this nerve. Dr. Breuer also suspected that the nerve might be particularly vulnerable to injury in the groin near the front of the hip where it passes between strands of a ligament. As a result, he thought that wearing tight clothing might aggravate the condition.
Our understanding of this disorder has changed little in the 110 years since Freud wrote his report for Berlin’s “Neurologisches Centralblatt,” or in the 20 years since Francis Schiller, M.D., translated it into English for the American journal “Neurology.”
To set the record straight, Freud and Breuer were not the first to recognize this condition. Max Bernhardt of Germany first wrote about it in 1878 and in 1895 Vladimir Roth of Moscow named the condition “meralgia paresthetica,” a term still in use. This name is the sum of its three parts. “Meros” is Greek for thigh, “algos” is Greek for pain and “paresthetica” means unprovoked sensations. This entrapment neuropathy (pinched nerve condition) was one of the first to be recognized as such.
The lateral femoral cutaneous nerve is formed in the lower back from branches of the second and third lumbar spinal nerves which combine to form a single nerve (on each side) soon after emerging from the spinal column. The nerve passes through the interior of the pelvis and exits the pelvis near the outer border of the inguinal (groin) ligament before making a downward turn to run beneath the skin of the outer thigh.
The course of the nerve can vary from person to person and even from side to side in the same person. In about 25% of people the nerve splits into branches before reaching the inguinal ligament, and there can be up to 5 branches. This variability might make some people more vulnerable to nerve-injury than others.
Pressure within the pelvis, as from pregnancy, obesity and (rarely) tumors, can injure the portion of the nerve within the pelvis. And as Freud’s physician surmised, the nerve is particularly vulnerable to injury from external pressure at the inguinal ligament, as from corsets, wide belts and tight pants. However, a cause for meralgia paresthetica is not always found, as was apparently the case when Freud had it.
The nerve can also be injured during a wide variety of surgical procedures, including orthopedic, vascular, gynecological, abdominal, hernia and even stomach-stapling operations. In a recent series of spinal surgery cases in Taiwan, 60 out of 252 patients experienced meralgia paresthetica as a complication of the surgery. Fortunately, in all cases it resolved within two months.
Diagnosis of this condition is usually made from the history and the physical examination, with the key features being numbness and unpleasant sensations on the side of the thigh. Other conditions can mimic meralgia paresthetica, for example, a pinched spinal nerve in the lower back, or impairment in the nearby femoral nerve that also emerges from the pelvis at the inguinal ligament. Tests of muscle and nerve electricity–electromyography and nerve conduction studies–can help resolve ambiguous cases.
Treatment of meralgia paresthetica has not been studied by the gold-standard method of randomized, controlled trials involving a comparison group of untreated patients. So in choosing appropriate treatment all we have to go on are collections of cases published in medical journals. Because many cases turn out well without drastic treatments, conservative approaches are tried first. Weight loss, removal of tight garments, completion of pregnancy and simple watchful waiting can all be effective.
While awaiting a favorable outcome, symptoms can be managed with skin-patches containing a local anesthetic drug, anti-inflammatory medications, certain epilepsy and antidepressant drugs known to relieve nerve-pain, and local injections with steroids. Surgery to relieve the pinch is usually reserved as a last resort.
(C) 2005 by Gary Cordingley
Tags: lateral femoral cutaneous, neuropathy, meralgia, sigmund freud, thigh, numb, pregnancy, obesity, emg, pain
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March 30 2008 | Pregnancy | No Comments »
Most women over 35 are fearful of having a baby because they view the common misconceptions as truth. My goal is to ease their fears by dispelling the myths with facts. Let’s look at two popular myths.
MYTH: Mothers over 35 do not have the energy to attend to the needs of a baby.
FACT: I always laugh when I hear this one. Show me a mother under or over 35 who doesn’t feel overwhelmed at times especially doing the first year of motherhood and I’ll show you a mother who’s in denial. Or she has a slew of servants.
The average newborn cries more than any new mom ever anticipates. The average newborn sleeps from 15 minutes to 2 hours before waking up for feeding.
Translation: The best scenario with the best baby. Mom gets to bed at 11:00 p.m. She is awaken at midnight by the sweet whimper of her newborn. She is awakened at 2 a.m by the sweet whimper of her newborn. She is awaken at 4 a.m. by the crying of her newborn. Baby does not want to go back to sleep until 5a.m. You tell me what woman whether she is 25, 35, or 45 wouldn’t feel zapped after getting out of bed several times at night to feed or just to hold and comfort her crying baby?
The truth is taking care of a baby is hard work and does require lots of energy. It’s important to eat healthy and, every now and then, to allow people you trust to watch your little one for an hour or two while you take a break.
MYTH 2: It is unfair to a child to have older parents. Children will become orphans or have to take care of older parents, etc.
FACT: What is unfair is for a child to be raised in an unloving environment. I’ve talked with many adults who were raised by parents who neglected them. Fortunately, a grandparent filled the void with lots of love and care. I’ve never heard any of these adults complain or make reference to their grandparents’ age.
I do believe that all parents, young and old, should have a plan in case they become disabled or suffer a long-term sickness. This will alleviate some of the burden for their children.
Interestingly, studies show current older mothers are better educated, more stable and displayed more patience and other qualities that were beneficial to the development of a child. Combined with love a child soars in this environment.
Perhaps, the best response to this myth can be found in an article written a few years ago, the May/June 2002 issue of AARP Modern Maturity magazine.
In this article Richard Paulson, M.D. chief of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Southern California School of Medicine says the orphan issue is overblown and points to former patient who in 1996, at age 63 became the oldest woman in the world to give birth.
At the time of the article the former patient was 69 and her daughter was five. Both were healthy, though the former patient was receiving help with childcare. Guess who was helping her? Her 90 year old mother!
Cynthia Wilson James is a childbirth educator, author, a midlife mom of two bubbly toddlers and a stepmom. She gave birth to her first child at 42 and a second child at age 44. She provides private telephone consultations to expectant and new moms over 35 and 40 and women considering late in life motherhood. You can reach her at her website http://www.inseasonmom.org.
Tags: midlife motherhood, motherhood myths, pregnancy after 35 and 40
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March 29 2008 | Pregnancy | No Comments »
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