LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

C-section

Do Migraines Harm Your Developing Baby?

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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.

C-sections and Gluten

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IS C-SECTION TO BLAME FOR INCREASED RATES OF COMMON INTESTINAL DISEASE?

The incidence of celiac disease (allergy to the gluten component of grains like wheat and oats) continues to increase, and we now see “gluten free” in stores and on restaurant menus everywhere.  This can be a serious problem, leading to a higher overall mortality rate for those that continue to eat gluten, most likely because of the subtle inflammation that results over the course of decades.  The increase is believed to result from two phenomenia–increase in the presence of Candida yeast from antibiotic used combined with overall higher levels of gluten from the use of nitrogenous fertilizers in commercial farming.  The idea that C-section contributes to this (increased risk 80%) is likely because it is known that the bacterial flora in C-section babies is different than that of vaginal births.  Yet another ramification of the medicalization of childbirth.

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The Mother of All Probiotic Articles

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The fact that there is research on probiotics playing a role in health should come as no surprise to anyone except for the average pediatrician.  But this article goes WAY beyond anything I’ve touched on before.

While this particular article is more of a review on the varied concepts of how the bacteria in our gut play a role in your health and disease, I felt this article was too important not to include as a blog article.  Rather than a single concept, I will excerpt some of the points in this article with some brief commentary.

What I really like the most, however, about this article, is that it reinforces aspects I have been writing about for almost 15 years now.  As much as I hate to point out when I’m right, I’m still sharing this info with you.

Concept 1

The human genome consists of around 23,000 different genes.  Scientists have raised concerns over the years that this small number of genes does not code for enough unique proteins to account for the massive diversity in the way our bodies work and look.  Enter the bacteria in your gut, collectively making up some 3.3 MILLION genes, responsible to hundreds of thousands of different chemical reactions and proteins produced.  It is entirely possible that the bacteria in your gut is a large part of what makes your body do what it is supposed to do.

Let this sink in as you consider that things like antibiotics, stress, anti-inflammatories, poor quality diets and Splenda (YES—Splenda / sucralose—that evil chemical compound that everyone seems to think is ok) all alter the bacterial composition of your gut.  And most often not in a friendly way.

The products that these bacteria can make such as proteins, carbohydrates and other molecules, can leave the gut and have effects elsewhere in your body.  This is one of ways that gut bacteria can play a role in brain health, depression, anxiety and obesity.

Concept 2

The commensal bacteria in your gut (the ones that benefit us as much as we benefit them) provide certain nutrients to your body (like B12 and short chain fatty acids), breakdown indigestible compounds and protect against invasion from nasty bacteria that cause diseases.

The last point is particularly important.  When you have the right blend of bacteria in your body, whether in the back of the throat, the stomach, the vaginal vault or the gut, they keep bad buggers from taking up residence.  The evidence for this is strong—ear infections from staph or strep, yeast / candida, H. pylori and C. diff are just a few of the examples.  Keep this in mind the next time your pediatrician wants to give your child antibiotics for anything non-life threatening.  That antibiotic will likely increase the risk of future infections.

Concept 3

70% of the immune cells of your body at any given point are in the intestines.  However, many of these immune cells will leave the gut and travel to other areas of the body.  Startling, these immune cells (many T-cells) are programmed in the gut.  In other words, if they are programmed by the gut bacteria to have anti-inflammatory actions, they will carry this function out to the rest of the body.  Likewise with a pro-inflammatory immune cell.

This means that the bacteria in your gut are the principal drivers of your immune system.  The wrong blend of bacteria can set you up for a nightmare of immune dysregulation, from frequent infections to autoimmune disorders.

Concept 4

By the time your child has reached 2 years of age, his or her bacterial composition in the gut more closely resembles an adult.  It had been believed that this remained stable throughout life, but it is now understood that there are periods in the lifecycle where the bacteria in your gut goes through significant changes.  This includes puberty and lactation.

I have always maintained that the first two years of your child’s life is one of the most critical for healthy development of the immune system, and this supports what I have promoted.  I have frequently stated that antibiotics given to infants and toddlers is one of the most destructive things you can do to his or her long-term health.   Despite this, some 90% of children have antibiotics by the age of 2.

Concept 5

Celiac disease, aka gluten sensitivity, has a genetic component, and yet less than 10% of those who are susceptible will go on to develop celiac disease despite exposure to gluten, and many times the condition develops many years after the first exposure.  The answer may lie in the gut.  In a small study comparing infants who were predisposed to celiac disease  to those who were not, it was seen that the bacteria in the gut of the susceptible infants developed more slowly than the non-susceptible infants.  In addition, infants exposed to gluten at 6 months were more likely to have antibodies to gluten than infants exposed after 12 months.

I have always maintained that the later infants are exposed to grains, the better off they will be.  Unfortunately, I am usually fighting against pediatricians who say that 4 months is fine, especially if it will help the child stay full longer and sleep longer.  By caving into this belief, you may be setting your child up for future immune imbalances over his or her lifetime.

Concept 6

This one was jaw dropping for me.  We have always known that C-section babies have a different blend of bacteria in the gut, which may account for the increased risk of allergies and asthma.  Turns out, this is not entirely accurate.  PLANNED C-sections lead to altered gut flora, but non-elective C-sections do not.  Something about labor triggers a change in the mom’s system, leading to the microbial transition of bacteria from the gut into breast milk.

What a concept!  In other words, that same hormonal trigger that induces labor also allows bacteria to show up in breast milk, ensuring that the nursing baby is going to get the right blend of bacteria to colonize the brand new GI tract.  I have often told moms who had C-sections that nursing can help counterbalance the negative effects of the C-section.  Turns out I’m going to need to modify that statement in the future.

Concept 7

The gut bacteria can be negatively impacted by chemicals we are exposed to.  Antibiotics are a given, but studies have shown that antibiotics disrupt to stability and diversity of the gut bacteria so much that, even FOUR YEARS LATER, it has not recovered.  This means that any prescription for antibiotics, if not followed up with probiotics, destroys the gut.  Period.  How many prescriptions have been filled and used without a recommendation for probiotics after?  Millions?  More?

In addition, in mice studies, as little as two days’ worth of exposure to polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs–common chemicals in society usually from manufacturing) let to alterations in gut bacteria as well.  I would not be surprised to find that BPA in plastic water bottles, Teflon in non-stick cookware and pesticides on our fruits and vegetables do the same.

Overall, do we need to have a discussion any longer about why a healthy bacterial flora is important?  It goes so far beyond merely helping diarrhea or constipation.  Until physicians begin to grasp the importance of the bacteria in our guts (after some 100+ years in the medical literature) we will continue to destroy the delicate balance that contributes to health.

Perinatal Factors Tied to Asthma in Childhood – (01-08-01)

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Perinatal Factors Tied to Asthma in Childhood

C-section is a risk factor for development of childhood asthma. Sometimes research arises that supports concepts that you have been promoting for some time. Follow this: a newborn’s first exposure to Lactobacillus is through the vaginal vault during delivery; this does not happen with C-section. This finding further supports the idea that probiotics are protective against atopy and asthma.

J Asthma 2000;37:589-594 Children delivered with the help of procedures such as cesarean section appear to be at greater risk of childhood asthma than other children, according to UK researchers. Dr. Baizhuang Xu, of Imperial College School of Medicine, London, and colleagues note that perinatal factors have been reported to be associated with asthma and allergic disorders later in childhood. To investigate, the researchers examined obstetric complications and the incidence of asthma at the age of 7 years in a cohort of 8088 Finnish children who had been followed since birth. Children whose birth was accompanied by special procedures were at greater risk of asthma, they report in the October issue of the Journal of Asthma. The adjusted odds ratio was increased to 1.38 for cesarean section and 1.32 for vacuum extraction. The use of forceps and other procedures raised the odds ratio to 2.14. In addition, children with a low Apgar score at 1 and 5 minut! es after birth were at heightened risk of later asthma compared to those with an Apgar score of 9-10. These results, the investigators conclude, “encourage further evaluation of the association between obstetric complications and risk of asthma among children in other populations.”

C-section increases risk of hospital care in childhood for asthma, gastroenteritis – (06-17-03)

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C-section increases risk of hospital care in childhood for asthma, gastroenteritis

While these results may seem confusing at first, recall that a newborn’s first exposure to beneficial bacteria is through the vaginal vault during delivery (provided that the mother has not undergone antibiotic therapy anytime in the past that may have destroyed or upset local flora in the vaginal vault). This exposure sets in motion a series of processes that help the developing child’s immune system mature properly.

Read entire article here

BLOCKING STOMACH ACID INCREASES THE RISK OF GASTROENTERITIS – (08-28-06)

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Therapy With Gastric Acidity Inhibitors Increases the Risk of Acute Gastroenteritis and Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children

Ok. My first question would be, why the &*^% are we putting any child on acid suppressive therapy!!! Holy physiology disruption, Batman!! And so, we completely mess with one of a child’s most important functions, and then wonder why all heck breaks loose and they have increased risk for GI infections and pneumonia?

I had a woman call me awhile back because her newborn was vomiting constantly and her pediatrician wanted the baby on prilosec. She was strongly against this so called me for advice. Dietary changes and formula changes hadn’t worked. Knowing that improper bacterial flora in the stomach can increase gastritis in adults, I ask about method of birth, thinking C-section may have effected bacterial balance. Nope, normal vaginal. But mom was put on heavy doses of antibiotics prior to delivery for group B strep.

With this knowledge I recommended probiotics and asked her to call me with an update. She called back a few weeks later, and right around the time of starting the probiotics, it became gradually clear that the infant had trush. The pediatrician wanted the baby on antifungals at this point. At this point, the use of probiotics was even further indicated (they had not been used more than one or two times prior to onset of thrush).

The pediatrician, by missing the real issue, may have set in motion a series of alterations in this baby’s physiology that would’ve left her at increased risk of allergies, asthma and autoimmune conditions.

Read entire article here

The agony of modernity? The case of prolonged labor due to modern medicine

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It is pretty obvious that obstetricians are not needed to delivery a baby.  Otherwise, we would not be here as a species.  That’s not to say that the high risk pregnancies do not benefit from obstetric attendance during pregnancy and the birth.  But what about everyone else?  Is it possible that mainstream medicine’s hand in the childbirth process creates more harm than benefit?

Clearly there are big issues in today’s society when it comes to fertility, healthy pregnancy, healthy deliveries and healthy babies.  The list of problems is quite long, but a few things are certain:

  1. Vaginal births have less complications
  2. Tylenol is not safe during pregnancy
  3. C-section babies start with altered bacterial flora compared to vaginal birth babies
  4. Antibiotics may increase the risk of preterm birth
  5. Healthier nutrition lowers risk of preterm birth
  6. There are many ways to lower the risk of birth defects
  7. Exposure to certain chemicals drastically increases your risk of losing the pregnancy
  8. Good dental health lowers the risk of preterm birth

 If you look at this short list, you’ll see that none of it has to do with medical care.  A truly healthy pregnancy does not require an obstetrician.  They should only be there if something goes wrong.  Instead, mainstream medicine seems to get an itchy trigger finger, trying to interfere with a normal pregnancy.  Not interfering in pregnancy just seems to be a hard thing to do.  The second that an intervention begins (stripping of the membranes, oxytocin, epidurals) the risk of heading towards a C-section increases.

This particular study puts a slightly different light on what modern obstetrics has done to the length of labor.

While I can’t speak from experience, I can imagine that, the shorter the labor, the better.  Researchers compared pregnancies from 50 years ago to today.  Some frightening facts emerged:

  1.  The epidural rate skyrocketed (55% vs 4%)
  2. Oxytocin use almost tripled (31% vs 12%)
  3. Cesarean delivery rates quadrupled (12% vs 3%)
  4. Labor was longer by 2.6 hours in first pregnancies and 2.0 hours in non first-timers

I would imagine that an extra 2.6 hours in labor would seem like an eternity to the woman waiting to have her first baby.  Clearly, there are times when mainstream medicine does not need to be involved in a natural process that has been ongoing for thousands of generations without a problem.

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CAESAREAN SECTION AND ASTHMA – (12-19-05)

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Caesarean section delivery and the risk of allergic disorders in childhood

Probably one of the single most important things we can focus on in a newborn up to 2 yrs of age (other than, of course, breastfeeding and good maternal nutrition…) is maintaining a healthy normal bacterial flora. This starts from the passage down the birth canal and is obviously disrupted during C-section birth. Should it not be ob/gyn obligations to warn new mothers of C-sections babies what improper acquisition of normal flora may do to their newborn?

Also, while this study showed an association between C-section birth and asthma, I’m sure the association would’ve been much stronger if we compared C-section birth to vaginal births from mother’s with high levels of lactobacillis in the vaginal vault (i.e. mom never received antibiotics, is prone to yeast infections, etc…).

Read entire article here