NEW STUDY: CHOCOLATE DURING PREGNANCY LOWERS RISKS OF HYPERTENSION

As if anyone needed another reason to eat chocolate, new research published in the August 2010 issue of the Annals of Epidemiology suggests that chocolate may be good for both gestational hypertension (GH) and for preeclampsia.1

This, of course, goes hand-in-hand with a lot of other research regarding chocolate, most of which has been featured here on NaturalNews in the past. Gestational hypertension is physiologically related to some forms of generalized high blood pressure and heart disease symptoms, which have been shown to be lowered beneficially through chocolate consumption (especially chocolates based on real cacao).2

This latest study was conducted by researchers from the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and from the Center for Perinatal, Pediatric, and Environmental Epidemiology

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TAKING FISH OIL SUPPLEMENTS IN LATE PREGNANCY BOOSTS BABY'S BRAINPOWER, STUDY FINDS

An Australian study published in the Dec. 21, 2006 edition of the online journal Archives of Disease in Childhood found that women who take high doses of fish oil supplements in the second half of pregnancy give birth to children with greater coordination and increased brainpower later in life.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia recruited 98 pregnant women who did not smoke and ate fish no more than twice per week. The researchers gave one group of women 4g of daily fish oil supplements starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, while the second group was given daily 4g supplements of olive oil from 20 weeks on.

When the women's children were 2.5 years old, the researchers administered growth and development tests.

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BLOOD-PRESSURE DRUGS LINKED TO BIRTH DEFECTS

Blood-pressure medications known as ACE inhibitors can't be considered safe to take even in the first trimester of pregnancy and should be avoided altogether by pregnant women, a new study suggests.

For years, doctors have known these commonly prescribed blood-pressure drugs aren't safe during the second and third trimesters due to their association with birth defects. So, physicians have routinely switched women to other medications once they find out they were pregnant. An estimated 5 percent to 8 percent of women develop high blood pressure, or hypertension, during pregnancy, according to the March of Dimes.

But the new study suggests the wisest course is to avoid ACE inhibitor (angiotensin-converting enzyme) drugs during the entire pregnancy.

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EXTRA CALCIUM MAY PREVENT HYPERTENSION PROBLEMS IN PREGNANT WOMEN

Expectant mothers may be able to prevent potentially serious medical problems in themselves and their babies simply by boosting their daily calcium intake, says a new systematic review. Not only that, but pregnant women at greatest risk for these problems may benefit most from the extra calcium.

The problems are gestational hypertension — or high blood pressure associated with pregnancy — and preeclampsia, a medical disorder of pregnant women characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine.

If untreated, both conditions can lead to potentially life-threatening medical problems for the mother and complications of preterm birth for the baby, including low birth weight and size, respiratory distress, long-term neurological deficits and even death.

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