Pregnancy and Heart Disease :Health TIps

Pregnancy is one of the physiological conditions that places a considerable burden on the heart, forcing it to work harder for a significantly long period – nine months. While a normal heart is quite capable of taking this extra workload right in its stride, a diseased one may not be able to cope. Different kinds of heart disease may cause different problems during pregnancy.

 A woman who has a history of heart disease, heart murmur, rheumatic fever or high blood pressure should talk with her healthcare provider before she decides to become pregnant. A woman who has congenital heart disease has a higher risk of having a baby with some type of heart defect. If this is your case, it’s very important to visit your healthcare provider often. You may need to have diagnostic tests done, such as a fetal ultrasound test.

There are three connections between pregnancy and heart-related problems.
First

pregnant heart patients need special care during pregnancy and delivery to avoid a pregnancy complication. Any pregnancy places an increased demand on the expectant mother’s heart. It is not surprising, then, that health risks are increased if a woman has heart disease. This is why women who are, or about to become pregnant are encouraged to work closely with their physician to determine which diagnostic tests, treatments or preventive measures , may be the most appropriate for her and for the developing baby.

Second

Heart-related conditions may develop in otherwise healthy women who become pregnant. These gestational heart-related problems include the following:

Peripartum cardiomyopathy. A rare type of dilated cardiomyopathy that is due to complications from pregnancy. One of several gestational heart-related conditions, it most often occurs in women over the age of 30 during the last three months of their pregnancy or within four to six months after delivery. It can be a serious or even life-threatening risk for the mother and can also put her unborn child at risk.

Pregnancy- High blood pressure during pregnancy can affect the supply of oxygen to both mother and fetus. This can, in turn, increase the risk of stroke and seizures in the mother, and delayed physical development in the fetus. Smoking, overweight, diabetes, family history of high blood pressure, as well as carrying a multiple birth, are some risk factors for pregnancy-induced hypertension.

Pregnancy-induced diabetes (gestational diabetes). A condition in which women develop type 2 diabetes during pregnancy, returning to normal after delivery. Studies have shown that one-half of those with gestational diabetes developed type 2 diabetes again within the next 15 years. They are also more likely to have gestational diabetes with a future pregnancy.

Strong, fast, “galloping” heart beat (palpitations). Pregnancy places a greater demand on the heart. Generally, these are common, normal occurrences. However, women are advised to see their physician in order to rule out serious conditions.

Varicose veins. An increase in blood volume is a normal part of pregnancy. Along with quite obvious physical growth, these changes place a stress on the leg veins. As a result, veins in the leg can swell and bulge. The risk for developing varicose veins increases if a woman is overweight and/or has a family history of varicose veins.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Women with a history of DVT are more likely to have a recurrence during pregnancy.

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SODAS UP RISK OF PROSTATE CANCER:Health And Beaty

 Just a single sugary soft drink per day may raise a man's risk of developing prostate cancer, a new 15-year study has claimed.
Swedish researchers found men who drank 300ml of a fizzy drink a day - slightly less than a standard can - were 40 per cent more likely to develop the disease than those who never consumed the drinks.
Worryingly, the risk applied not to early-stage disease that was spotted via blood tests but to cancers that had progressed enough to cause symptoms, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
Experts believe that sugar triggers the release of the hormone insulin, which feeds tumours.
The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is far from the first to link the sugary soft drinks to poor health.
Previous research has flagged up heart attacks, diabetes, weight gain, brittle bones, pancreatic cancer, muscle weakness and paralysis as potential risks.
The new study tracked the health of more than 8,000 men aged 45 to 73 for an average of 15 years. The men, who were in good health at the start of the study, were also quizzed about what they liked to eat and drink.
At the end of the study, they compared the dietary habits of the men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer with those who remained healthy and found a clear link between sugary drinks and the disease.
"Among the men who drank a lot of soft drinks we saw an increased risk of prostate cancer of around 40 per cent," Lund University researcher Isabel Drake said.
The analysis also linked large amounts of rice and pasta, cakes and biscuits, and sugary breakfast cereals with a less serious form of the disease. There was no link with fruit juice.
Diet drinks, and tea and coffee with sugar, were not included in the study.
Researchers said that although genetics plays a bigger role in prostate cancer than in many other tumours, diet also appears to be important.
Drake added that more research is needed to prove the link.
British experts also urged caution over the findings. "We cannot be certain whether any particular dietary pattern has a significant impact on a man's risk of getting prostate cancer but it is highly unlikely that any single food source will lead to an increased chance of developing the disease," Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said.

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