Health QM

There will be many family members, friends and neighbors who want to ‘drop in’ to meet your new baby, but it can be extremely tiring (and noisy) to have a constant stream of people visiting you in the hospital or birth unit, or at home, however well-meaning they are. This can have a ‘knock on’ effect on the whole family, making everyone irritable and your baby and other children fractious. Towards the end of pregnancy, it is useful to devise a strategy with your partner for dealing with telephone calls and visitors.

In UK maternity units, visiting is usually restricted, with only the partner and the mother’s own children permitted unrestricted visiting, and limited visiting hours for others; there is usually also a maximum of two visitors allowed at any one time. These restrictions are designed to enable new parents to concentrate on caring for their babies and to rest or sleep when possible. In many maternity units mothers will be in small wards, perhaps with four beds, so it is not just about your needs but also those of the other mothers near you. (Imagine how annoyed you would be if you wanted to sleep and the mother in the next bed had four or five visitors with her for several hours). If your own parents, in-laws and friends live locally, you may decide to ask them not to visit you in the hospital and to wait until you return home. Obviously it is more difficult if they have traveled from far away and their availability is limited, but perhaps these individuals should be given priority over others who live within easy reach.

In many cases, your husband will gain weight during your pregnancy because he is eating with you. Perhaps you’re eating more comfort foods that are higher in calories than your usual diet. If he’s consuming these foods, he, too, is ingesting more calories and could be packing on extra pounds. Or maybe you’re both just eating more healthy food. While you have a reason to gain twenty-five to thirty-five extra pounds, he doesn’t. Most men are not consciously aware that they are eating more and gaining weight. It’s as if they are subconsciously trying to support you by gaining weight themselves. The problem is that he doesn’t really have an excuse to have a pregnant-looking belly, and you do.

Also remember that your husband will play a peripheral role during your pregnancy. After all, it is your pregnancy. A study done in England in 2007 looked at 281 males with pregnant wives and compared them to mar­ried men whose wives weren’t pregnant. These researchers found that a majority of men with pregnant spouses had pregnancy-associated symptoms such as morning sickness and mood swings. The most common symptom for the man with a pregnant wife was stomach cramps. One husband even had pains rivaling those of his laboring wife. (Wonder if he received an epidural?) Eleven of the men in the study reported going to the physician for their ail­ments, and in all these cases there were no reported diagnoses.

Recent studies have shown milk thistle to be beneficial to those that suffer from various forms of cancer and milk thistle has been shown to reduce the liver damaging effects of chemotherapy. The unique plant also claims to reduce the liver damaging effects of chemotherapeutic drugs and clinical studies have shown that liver function tests can be improved in active hepatitis patients.

As well as the benefits of treating liver disease, other treatment claims include a remedy for body builders and is applied as a post oral steroid cycle therapy.

As a supplement that boasts to prevent, reduce and eliminate the effects of liver damage. Milk thistle also claims to reduce cholesterol levels as well as insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes and also those who have cirrhosis. Other benefits include reducing the growth of cancer cells in breast, cervical, and prostate cancers.

A human body on an average contains more than 70% water. The water is vital for most of the metabolic activities. The blood, brain and the liver contain great amounts of water. The nervous system works by transmitting electric signals through the nerves. This transmission is done with the help of electrolytes that contain water.

The blood on the other hand contains about 80% of water. When there is dehydration, the body fluids get thicker and more concentrated making it very hard for the transportation of these fluids. The brain also contains water and when there is reduction in the concentration of water in the brain the cells start to die. This can cause fatal diseases. It is also believed that lack of water is a primary reason for various types of nervous disorders like the Alzheimer’s, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, etc.