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Beware of BP during pregnancy Chest pain: it may have nothing to do with heart Ayurveda & you Health Notes
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Beware of BP during pregnancy However, many women are diagnosed with high
blood pressure for the first time when they begin care of pregnancy.
Another 5 per cent to 8 per cent of women develop high blood pressure
during pregnancy. This is known as pregnancy-induced or gestational
hypertension. Although it usually goes away after delivery,
gestational hypertension may increase the risk of developing chronic
high blood pressure in the future. Sometimes chronic hypertension or
gestational hypertension leads to pre-eclampsia, a serious condition
characterised by increased blood pressure and protein in the urine - a
sign of kidney problems. High blood pressure can decrease blood flow
to the placenta, which affects your baby's supply of oxygen and
nutrients. This may slow your baby's growth and increase the risk of
preterm delivery. High blood pressure also increases the risk of
placental abruption, in which the placenta prematurely separates from
the uterus. Rarely, high blood pressure poses life-threatening
complications. The condition can affect the life and health of both
the baby and the mother. If your doctor is concerned about your
health or your baby's health, early delivery may be needed - either
through induction or a Caesarean section. Any medication you take
during pregnancy can affect your baby’s health. Although some
medications used to lower blood pressure are considered safe during
pregnancy, others are not. Treatment is important, however. The risk
of heart attack, stroke and other problems associated with high blood
pressure doesn't go away during pregnancy. And high blood pressure can
be dangerous for your baby, too. If you need medication to control
your blood pressure, your physician will prescribe the safest
medication at the lowest effective dose. Take the medication exactly
as prescribed. Don't stop taking the medication or adjust the dose on
your own. What can I do to prevent complications? Taking good
care of yourself is the best way to take care of your baby. Start with
a preconception appointment. Your health care provider will evaluate
how well you're managing your blood pressure and consider any
treatment changes you may need to make before you get pregnant. If
you're overweight, your gynaecologist may recommend losing the excess
pounds before you try to conceive. During pregnancy, you will see your
doctor often. You may need regular blood and urine tests, as well as
routine monitoring of your weight and blood pressure. Your doctor will
closely monitor your baby's health as well. Frequent ultrasounds may
be used to track your baby's growth and development - particularly
during the last trimester. Non-stress tests may be used to evaluate
your baby's heart rate. As your pregnancy progresses, you may be asked
to keep a daily record of your baby's movements.
If
you develop high blood pressure during pregnancy - even if it goes
away after your baby is born - you may have a higher risk of stroke,
heart disease and kidney disease later in life. The writer is a
sr gynaecologist and author of several books on health
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Chest pain: it may have nothing to do with heart Chest pain is a commonly experienced
symptom, and many physicians come across patients with this symptom on
a day-to-day basis. Generally, chest pain makes most people
apprehensive as it denotes heart involvement for most. On the
contrary, chest pain is not always due to heart involvement. Most
chest pain cases in the age group 20-40 are due to musculo-skeletal
causes. Cardiac pains are associated with palpitation, shortness of
breath, sweating with or without family history of heart disease.
Other causes could be acid peptic disease, chest infection, cancer,
faulty paradoxical breathing, following coronary artery bypass
surgery, etc. History of productive cough suggests pain of respiratory
origin while pain relief after antacid medication indicates acid
peptic disease. Chest pain could be from the upper back and is felt
around the spine, front or lateral part of the chest while heart
ailments cause restrosternal pain, epigastric pain or pain on the
inner side of the arm, the neck, etc. Heart pain is constricting
(clenched-fist type) while other pains are dull, aching related to
activity and are aggravated on movement. The pain due to heart
involvement increases with exercise, activity, heavy meals, stress,
etc, whereas pain due to muscle involvement is aggravated by deep
inspiration, coughing or rotation of the trunk. Musculo-skeletal
pain is due to injury or poor posture (e.g. sitting in front of the
computer for long periods of time). The associated reason in heart
patients is family history, obesity, smoking, dyspnea, sweating, etc.
Anterior chest and breast pain could occur due to the involvement of
muscles like pectoralis major/minor. Wrong posture — as in
individuals keeping head forward, rounded shoulders pulling the
shoulders in forward direction leading to shortening of these muscles.
Correction of the posture goes a long way in helping these
individuals. Sometimes intercostal muscle spasm can also cause chest
pain. This is due to faulty paradoxical breathing wherein an
individual inhales with abdomen in and chest out. In such cases it is
advisable to learn diaphragmatic breathing (wherein during inspiration
both chest and abdomen should move out and move in with
expiration). Coronary artery bypass surgery has become very common
wherein the ribs are separated to undertake the surgery. After surgery
most of the patients feel discomfort with respiration or activity. In
such cases an appropriate rehabilitation programme, which includes
diaphragmatic breathing, stretching and strengthening of the chest
muscles should be undertaken. The following exercises are very
important for stretching and strengthening the chest muscles: Indoor
stretch — Standing in the doorway with forearms flat against the
door. One foot is placed in front of the other and the forward knee is
bent. Shift the body forward in a slow motion, stretching the chest
muscles to the point of comfortable tension that is devoid of pain. Corner
stretch — Stand facing a corner with the arms bent, elbows
against the wall leaning the entire body forward. A stretch can be
felt on the anterior side of the chest. Wand exercise — While
sitting or standing, grasp a wand/rod with elbow bent at 90 degrees.
Elevating the shoulders, bring the wand/rod behind the head and
shoulders. Any form of chest pain should be evaluated to rule out
the possibility of any form of cardiac pain and then managed
accordingly. The writer is a former doctor/physiotherapist,
Indian Cricket Team.
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Ayurveda & you Many people believe that what a person does on the first day of New Year will affect him throughout the year. As most of us plan to take some pledges for the coming year, here are a few resolutions for healthy living: 1. According to Ayurveda, diet plays a very important role in the maintenance of health. We should always be careful that our diet must furnish the sufficient level of all nutrients to meet the physiological needs of life. There should be no excess of any nutrient as it may increase the risk of health problems. 2. Our daily meals should contain appropriate wholegrain cereals, fresh vegetables and seasonal fruits. Dietary fibre helps to allay many diseases and is also instrumental in curbing the overall intake of calories. Other principles of healthy diet are avoiding processed and junk foods, limiting the consumption of high fat eatables and increasing the intake of water. Habitual overeating and frequent snacking between the meals are bad for health. Non-vegetarians, too, should reduce the use of red meat. 3. Exercise is another important health recipe and obesity arising out of lack of body work and sedentary lifestyle poses many types of health risk. Depending upon individual cardiovascular status, all of us should choose a reasonable exercise plan, which not only helps in controlling body weight but also increases the energy level. 4. All our physiological functions follow a set pattern and seem to be controlled by a biological clock. Proper daily routine with maximum time utilisation helps achieve high productivity in life. It is better to sensibly divide our time between job and the family, and one must also learn the art of relaxation. Ayurveda views that getting up around dawn and avoiding frequent late night engagements is the basis of a healthy dincharya. 5. Stress has been recognised as a silent killer and its chronic form is counted as the foremost reason for many diseases. Don’t forget that there is no substitute for hard work and badly earned gains may put your mental peace at bay. Identify your potentials and also keep your limitations in mind. 6. Anger, jealousy, frustration and a chronic habit of complaining and criticism are negative emotions and they set a chain reaction of events which ultimately spoil your well-being. 7. Always remember that health is wealth. No material gain and wordly achievement or comfort can compensate the enjoyment of your physical and mental well-being. The writer is a Ludhiana-based senior ayurvedic consultant.
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Health Notes Washington:
The next time your kids get into a fight, don't dismiss it as
"kid's stuff", for a new study has found that it can also
cause injury or long-term The study was conducted by researchers at the University of
New Hampshire led by David Finkelhor, Director of UNH's Crimes against
Children Research Center, who said that though most adults tend to
dismiss childhood skirmishes, they should actually be intervening.
"Most of us have just assumed when a six-year-old child gets
punched by a friend or hit with an object by a sibling, it is far from
the same as an adult punching another adult or a teenager another
teen. We resist calling it an ‘assault’, and we assume it is less
likely to cause injury or long-term distress," he said. — ANI Gene
that doubles breast cancer risk London: Women with a
damaged copy of the gene PALB2, have twice the risk of breast cancer,
the Institute of Cancer Research scientists has found. They estimate
that faulty PALB2 causes about 100 cases of breast cancer in the UK
each year. Two damaged copies of the gene also appear to cause a
serious blood disorder in children, they report in Nature Genetics.
It is PALB2's job to repair mutant DNA, so people who have a faulty
copy of the gene are more likely to accumulate other genetic damage
too, leading to problems like cancer. — ANI Protein behind fatal
brittle bone disease identified London: US National
Institutes of Health researchers claim to having discovered the cause
of a fatal form of brittle bone disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta.
They say that a genetic defect in a protein which helps produce
collagen causes a fatal form of the disease. The most severe forms
of the disease may claim children's lives, at or shortly after their
birth. People with other forms of the disease can lead a relatively
normal life, but have bones that fracture more easily. — ANI Working
mothers harming their kids London: Former children's laureate
Michael Morpurgo has warned that working mothers are harming their
kids' long-term development by sending them to a nursery from an early
age. Expressing concern over the fact that half of the mothers with
kids under five had jobs outside the home, he said that lack of
contact between children and parents was a direct cause of rising
levels of mental health problems, sleep disorders and anorexia in
youngsters. — ANI |
High
blood pressure is a common condition at every stage of adult life and
found in all races. An estimated 5-10 per cent of young women have
high blood pressure before pregnancy. It's no different from the high
blood pressure that eventually affects most people if they are
overweight and inactive.