THE HEALTH OF YOUR CHILD BEGINS BEFORE YOU GET PREGNANT. When you really think about it, our system of healthcare really is screwed up. The body does not respect the artificial barriers of specialties as we have designated them. The impact of an OB/GYN making the recommendation for a couple looking to get pregnant to achieve and maintain a healthy weight has an impact on the pediatric practice and later the cardiology and endocrinology practice. And yet most OB/GYNs do not seem to be aware of the long term ramifications of pregnancy on the child. So long as the baby is delivered and everybody seems okay, it is viewed as a successful outcome. Even more so if artificial reproductive technologies were used. But the other specialists do not see the patient until the risk factors have been present for years, sometimes decades. Is it no wonder why those of us that practice functional medicine seem to be eternally pulling our hair out in frustration at “healthcare?”
Healthy Pregnancy
Low T Symptoms and Fertility; Barking up the Wrong Tree?
I could not be more against testosterone supplementation. Sure, patients feel better and have more energy, but people on cocaine have more energy, too. Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.
Several years ago, very aggressive marketing by the manufacturers of testosterone supplementation put “low T” on the map, leading to a huge uptake of lab testing for testosterone levels. And guess what? Just like the vitamin D phenomenon, it seems like everyone (males and females alike) came back low.
And low testosterone became linked to everything from fatigue, low libido, belly fat and erectile dysfunction. And you can’t talk about testosterone without talking about fertility.
This is because male fertility is the ultimate expression of testosterone (it’s not, but that’s how society would have us view it). For this reason, you can bet your right testicle on the fact that any fertility consult with a “fertility specialist” will include a testosterone check.
But there are many other factors that play a role in fertility that are indirectly related to testosterone. Environmental chemical exposure to BPA and phthalates are well known to affect fertility rates in both men and women.
Low testosterone, much like low cholesterol or high blood sugar or high blood pressure, is merely the symptom of a bigger problem. Fixing high cholesterol with statins, lowering blood sugar with insulin or lowering blood pressure with medications does not, in any way, shape or form. None of those medications fix the actual underlying “broken thing” that is causing the cholesterol, blood sugar or blood pressure.
Testosterone replacement therapy is absolutely no different.
So, while you feel better in your own little plastic bubble of T replacement therapy, there is something very wrong with your physiology that is absolutely increasing your risk of all kinds of really nasty things like Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease and stroke.
I have certainly written on this topic before, but just in case you think I’m really off base on this one, I’d like to present this particular study.
In it, researchers looked at the levels of pesticide exposure from fruits and vegetables and how this related to sperm quality in a group of 189 men age 18-22. The fruits and veggies were categorized as having high [Pesticide Residue Burden Score (PRBS) ≥4] or low-to-moderate (PRBS <4) pesticide residues on the basis of data from the USDA Pesticide Data Program.
Here’s what they found:
- Higher intakes of fruits and veggies, in general, did not affect sperm quality.
- However, men eating fruits and vegetable intake with the lowest pesticides (≥2.8 servings/d) had a 169% sperm count and a 173% higher sperm concentration.
- The intake of fruit and vegetables, regardless of pesticide-residue status, was not associated with reproductive hormone concentrations.
So what does this mean? It means that, while eating more fruits and veggies is important for your health, but it is really important to pay attention to whether or not you are eating organic foods that are well-known to be higher in pesticide levels.
The Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Pesticide Exposure in Produce is the best guide you can find to get this information.
Are Home Births More Risky?
Forget the meat of the actual article here. Just skip to the conclusion to find out that home births have a three times higher risk of neonatal morbidity.
Scrap home births. They’re dangerous. Less medical intervention means higher risk of death to the baby.
But wait! When we read through the meat of this particular article we get a different picture. Here’s what the authors found:
- Planned home births had fewer maternal interventions (epidurals, electronic fetal heart rate monitoring, episiotomy, and operative delivery).
- Women in planned home births were less likely to experience lacerations, hemorrhage, and infections.
- Planned home births revealed less frequent prematurity, low birthweight, and assisted newborn ventilation.
So what gives? How do we get these bad conclusions if some many good things were found in the study? A few things to consider:
- The number of actual deaths is very small (so if you triple a very small risk but protect against everything else the outcomes are overall much better).
- If you read into the article itself, you find that the increased risk was all from one of the 12 studies looked at, and this particular study included preterm births and unplanned home deliveries, which do have an increased risk.
Talk about stacking the deck!! So how could the one sentence conclusion be so derogatory considering the rest of the article?? Things that make you go “hmmm.”
Do Migraines Harm Your Developing Baby?
If you have read any of my articles that relates to migraines, then the answer that springs to mind is a strong YES.
I really don’t need to belabor the prior bit of information. Bottom line is, if you suffer from migraines, do not be led into a false sense of security if the migraine medication you are on is controlling your headaches. Fix the problem instead.
This particular article looks at the relationship between migraines sufferers and the risk of of adverse pregnancy outcomes (low birthweight, preterm birth, infants born small for gestational age, Caesarean section (CS) and pre-eclampsia). Here’s what the researchers found when they looked at the pregnancy outcomes from 4911 women with migraines:
- Low birth weight – 16% increased risk
- Preterm birth – 24% higher risk
- C-section – 16% higher risk
- Pre-eclampsia – 34% higher risk
What does this tell us? That the problem with migraines are NOT limited to the head. If they were and medications did anything to fix the problem, than these higher pregnancy risks wouldn’t be present.
Looking for a Healthy Pregnancy? Need to do this First
I know that regular readers will be a little sick of hearing this, but at some point medicine needs to understand the dangers of antibiotics.
It seems that the tide is turning, but few still understand just how massively broad-reaching the effects of the bacterial flora of the human body are. And antibiotics just absolutely destroy the normal bacterial composition of the human body. And IF it recovers, it can take years to happen.
I won’t go into all the research linking good bacteria to positive health and bad bacterial balance to just about every chronic disease known to man—all of that can be found by reading through past articles that can be found by clicking HERE.
A healthy pregnancy, in today’s environment, is a deliberate act and does not happen naturally. Which sounds kind of crazy, considering that pregnancy is one of the absolute requirements for the perpetuation of our species. But there are just too many factors in today’s lifestyle that are not conducive to a healthy, full term pregnancy. From ubiquitous chemicals like BPA and phthalates to poor fertility leading to artificial reproduction attempts, it seems like our world has turned against our ability to reproduce safely.
It is very clear that those children born premature as well as those children born to couples who conceived through artificial means are behind the 8-ball health-wise. These children are at higher risk of things like obesity, heart disease and diabetes. For this reason, anything that can be done to make sure that mom makes it to full-term is a very good thing.
Which makes this particular article so incredibly important. In it, researchers looked at the vaginal microbiota composition as from 40 women during pregnancy and for up to 12 months after delivery. Of this group, 11 women gave birth prematurely. Here’s what they found:
- 62% of samples from women who delivered preterm had Lactobacillus-poor vaginal microbiota.
- One-third of women with this low-Lactobacillus vaginal composition delivered very preterm infants born at fewer than 32 weeks of gestation.
- On the other hand, 3/4 of women who carried pregnancy to term had Lactobacillus-dominant vaginal microbiota.
- In addition, in women who had high levels of vaginal Gardnerella, a bacteria that can cause bacterial vaginitis, had even worse outcomes when they were Lactobacillus-poor.
While the authors state that this is not enough research to go around making sweeping recommendations to pregnant women to begin douching with Lactobacillus prior to becoming pregnant, I would disagree.
Quite frankly, the results of this study are not surprising given prior research along these lines coupled with how much we know about how the bacterial flora in our bodies drive immune function and inflammation.
What this should wake us all up to (if any of us still happened to be sleeping through the ruckus) is just how far-reaching the devastation of antibiotics can go. It’s not just about getting a day or so of diarrhea after a course of amoxicillin. Rather, it’s about a lifetime of disrupting the balance between inflammation and the proper functioning of your immune system.
Period.
Very Common Chemical Dangerous in Pregnancy
I have always been and will always remain staunchly against artificial sweeteners. In ANY amount.
They have become so ubiquitous and so accepted in society today that no one questions their safety. However, an increasing number of animal and human studies continue to find that these compounds increase the risk of weight gain and diabetes–exactly what people take them to avoid.
I do not care if it is one simple piece of gum per day with aspartame or sucralose. How little does it take for our bodies to alter our response to sweetness?
If you can’t answer that question with certainty, then the only acceptable answer is NONE. In this particular study we find that diet sodas actually contribute to preterm birth. Just one per day increases your risk 38%. Four per day jumps that risk to 78%. Bottom line is that these chemicals are not safe in ANY amounts.
How Can We Increase the Likelihood of Breastfeeding?
It seems like society continues to move further and further away from nursing. There is absolutely no doubt that this move is a BAD thing.
There are compounds in breast milk that we are only now beginning to discover (galacto-oligosaccharides are the most recent discovery). Formula will never, ever, ever replace breast milk.
I hear often that someone “tried.” What if they “tried” 2,000 or even 200 years ago? What then? If the same attitude was present then, we would likely not exist as a species. Do you ever see a new mother in the animal kingdom “trying?”
In know this may sound harsh to some, but the second you decide to get pregnant, the decisions you make are impacting that as of yet unconceived child for the next 40, 50 even 60 yrs. That means that anything we can do to increase the successfulness of nursing is important.
This particular study found multiple factors that delayed the onset of milk production in new mothers. One of these was mom’s body weight–a factor that needs to be addressed long before a woman actually becomes pregnant.
At some point we need to grasp the idea that every decision, every drop of food, every chemical, every minute of exercise, every stressful period WILL have an effect on that baby for the rest of their lives. And we need to act like it matters to us.
Pre-eclampsia, Gestational Diabetes and Lifestyle Choices
BETTER PREGNANCY OUTCOMES THROUGH LIFESTYLE?
The research is very heavily in support of the idea that healthy pregnancies begin long before a couple becomes pregnant. Mom’s AND dad’s weight and health status dictate not only the health of the developing baby but the likelihood of getting pregnant in the first place. In fact, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of infertility in women and it is, without a doubt, a product of a prediabetic lifestyle.
This particular study looks at the levels of oxidative stress in a woman’s body are higher in both gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. This means that managing oxidative stress via exercise, a higher phytonutrient diet and lower caloric intake beginning long before the decision to get pregnant can help improve the outcomes of pregnancy.