Dr. Sharon Moalem
See book keywords and concepts |
 Perhaps our ability to make pregnancy and childbirth even more safe and comfortable would benefit by asking the same questions we're starting to ask about our relationship to disease. Why has evolution led humans to give birth the way we do? childbirth in humans is riskier, is longer, and certainly seems more painful than it is in any of our genetic cousins. Ultimately, that can be traced to two things—crossword puzzles and marching bands. |
Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon
See book keywords and concepts |
 Gynecological Problems
Menstruation problems and complications in childbirth are very common medical conditions in Southern Ecuador. Sixteen plants were employed to treat these disorders, with six species used to cure vaginal infections, and four species each for the treatment of childbirth complications and menstrual regulation.
Heart and Circulatory System
The main application for circulatory system problems was the treatment of heart pain. Twelve species were used for the treatment of heart conditions, including heart attacks and heart pain. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |
 Don't worry, your obstetrician will schedule a C-section childbirth appointment and deliver the baby on YOUR schedule instead of Mother Nature's. It's more convenient for him, too, because then he can still make his golf game. Don't worry about the baby: There's no benefit to vaginal childbirth anyway, right? What better way to welcome your child to the world than with a scalpel! Result: Millions of women subject their children to non-natural child birthing that results in an increased risk of lung disease afflictions as well as psychological birthing trauma lasting a lifetime. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
See book keywords and concepts |
| That, in turn, allowed for the change to our pelvis and twisted the birth canal, making childbirth more difficult. So that means the first bipedal childbirths might have been of semi-aquatic apes in a semiaquatic environment.
That still doesn't explain the lack of evolutionary pressure against bipedalism and the accompanying reproductive risk caused by the change in pelvic shape. Unless—what if the water changed the equation somehow and made the process easier? |
| So there's no question that modern medicine has helped to remove the great portion of risk from childbirth. But the approach tends to be one that is sort of disease-oriented—usually treating pregnancy as a risk to be managed, rather than an evolutionary miracle that just needs to be helped along.
Perhaps our ability to make pregnancy and childbirth even more safe and comfortable would benefit by asking the same questions we're starting to ask about our relationship to disease. Why has evolution led humans to give birth the way we do? |
Steven V. Joyal
See book keywords and concepts |
 Support for dealing with the complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Offers information, networking, online magazine, message boards.
Health Boards www.healthboards.com A diabetes support Web site that has partnered with WebMD. Registration is free.
Life Extension Foundation health advisors: 800-226-2370 member care: 800-678-8989 www.lef.org
Life Extension Foundation has a twenty-seven-year history of providing important health and wellness information that emphasizes an evidence-based approach to prevention and treatment. |
Joan Liebmann-Smith, Ph. D., and Jacqueline Nardi Egan
See book keywords and concepts |
 These injuries can result from childbirth, constipation, anal intercourse, or the insertion of objects into the rectum.
In addition to being a sign of hemorrhoids and fissures, red stools can signal problems along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. If the stools are bright red, it's likely to be a sign of a problem in the lower GI tract, especially the colon. Hematochezia can, for example, be a sign of diverticulitis, a condition that occurs when the small pouches in the colon become irritated or infected. There may also be pain or tenderness, often on the lower left side. |
| W ter childbirth. About 15% of women will still be leaking lt can also si§nal several serious urine 3 months after having a baby. medical conditions, including UTIs
(see Cloudy Urine, above), vaginal infections and STDs (see Penile Discharge and Vaginal Discharge, above), and prostate cancer. It can also be a complication of radiation therapy or prostate surgery. Lastly, an overactive bladder is a common sign of several chronic conditions, including kidney and heart problems, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. |
| It's also frequently seen after childbirth or pelvic surgery, especially hysterectomy. It's a common sign of menopause, too. The fall in estrogen levels causes a drop in the urethra's ability to resist the flow of urine; the result is small amounts of urine trickling out. But men aren't immune to stress incontinence. It's often an unfortunate complication of prostate surgery.
For some people, just hearing the sound of running water can send them running to the toilet— sometimes not fast enough. |
| Hair loss in women can also be a normal sign of aging and hormonal changes, especially after childbirth and during menopause. Many women experience hair loss a few months after they stop taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy. Interestingly, hair loss slows and hair growth accelerates during pregnancy. The result: a fuller- and thicker-looking head of hair. Unfortunately, this windfall doesn't last; three to four months after a woman gives birth, the extra hairs shed rapidly. |
| In 2002, a Sri Lankan man whose wife died in childbirth breast-fed his 2 infant daughters for more than 3 months. men—medically known as gyneco-
Male breast-feeding was re- .. . . j. i T
/flLJKv mastia—can attract ridicule. In gy-$w^Ky corded as far back as the
T,i____, tU„___:__t i„„:.u necomastia, one or both breasts can be enlarged, and one can be even more enlarged than the other, resulting in breast asymmetry. (See Mismatched Breasts, above.) Men with gynecomastia often have another, less noticeable sign: a button- or disk-like lump under the nipple or around the areola. |
| These tears—which can happen during childbirth or as a result of Crohn's Disease, (see Red or Maroon Stools, below) and other gastrointestinal diseases—can cause infections, as well as other serious problems.
VAGINAL DISCHARGE
If you're a woman, you're well aware of the wet, sometimes sticky stuff that stains your underwear. This vaginal mucus is perfectly normal.
The amount and consistency of vaginal mucus changes throughout a woman's menstrual cycle, as well as her life cycle. |
John J. Ratey, MD
See book keywords and concepts |
 In one survey of one thousand women in the South of England six weeks after childbirth, the 35 percent who reported doing vigorous exercise three times a week had significantly fewer mood problems. They also had lost more weight, stayed more socially active, and felt more confident and satisfied in being mothers. An exercise routine can help new moms reestablish control over their lives and keep them from feeling overwhelmed. It also provides a great way for them to take time for themselves, which is important in staving off resentment. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
See book keywords and concepts |
 Indeed two common surgeries—also cited as the two most "unnecessary" surgeries—are gynecological, no accident given what we know about the medicalization of women's sexuality, particularly related to childbirth. In chapter 6 we will consider a related example, the confusing and unfortunate history of routine postmenopausal hormone replacement.
ORGAN TRANSPLANTS
Some 24,000 major organs are surgically transplanted in the United States per annum, which are about 3% the number of C-sections. Why consider them here? |
John J. Ratey, MD
See book keywords and concepts |
| Like Stacy, about 70 percent of women are dissatisfied with their bodies at six months after childbirth, and obviously exercise can get them back in shape and boost self-image.
Unfortunately, the message that exercise provides something more than physical rederrrption has been slow to reach doctors and their patients. "People think of exercise in terms of physical health, but not mental health," says Jennifer Shaw, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Brookline, Massachusetts, who is a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. |
| It's not so much the increase in hormones that causes postpartum depression, research suggests, but the effects of withdrawal when they plummet after childbirth. In 2000 Miki Bloch of the National Institute of Mental Health published a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry in which her lab re-created the hormonal conditions of pregnancy in two groups of thirty-something mothers: one with a past history of postpartum depression and one without. (Neither group of eight women had symptoms of depression during the study. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |
 REPPED: Conventional medicine has, for decades, preyed upon the "symptoms of womanhood" and attempted to transform every female activity from childbirth to menstruation into a disease requiring chemical treatment. Today, the FDA approved Lybrel, a daily pill for women that stops periods... forever.
The concept behind such a pill is based on the false idea that menstruation is a disease requiring a medical fix. Most sane people would agree that menstruation is, in fact, a natural biological function and not a disease. So why take a pill to stop it? |
Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Granted, nothing could be more distracting than a baby, and not every patient with chronic pain or fatigue will find herself prepared for pregnancy and childbirth. But the good news is that far less intense activities, and even training your mind to think pleasant thoughts, really can free you from the shackles of thinking only about your symptoms. The bottom line is to "accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Think of a few of your favorite things!
Illness is disempowering. |
Michael Friedman, ND
See book keywords and concepts |
 Postpartum Thyroiditis
Fluctuating thyroid function after childbirth is common (5% to 10% of patients in some studies) and was first described in the 1970s. Thyroid inflammation may occur several months after childbirth, resulting in the development of clinical hyperthyroidism. In some patients, the hyperthyroid phase will be associated with significant damage to the thyroid as a consequence of the inflammation, and hence the hyperthyroid phase will be followed by the development of hypothyroidism. |
Dr. Steve Blake
See book keywords and concepts |
 The word tocopherol means "to bear offspring" and derives from the Greek root phew, which means "to bring forth," and the Greek root tos, which means "childbirth." Tocopherols are a family of eight fat-soluble alcohols. The final "ol" in the name tocopherol indicates that it is an alcohol.
The Forms of Vitamin E
The tocopherols are divided into four types: alpha-tocopherol, beta-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, and delta-tocopherol, as shown in Figure 5-1. Also in the vitamin E family are the very similar tocotrienols. |
Brigitte Mars, A.H.G.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Because reishi can inhibit blood clotting, it should be avoided at least one week before surgery, before childbirth, or in conjunction with blood-thinning medications.
Range and Appearance
Native to China, reishi is a fungus that grows on decaying hardwood in moist, shady conditions; these days it is more likely to be cultivated than to be found in the wild. Reishi has pores instead of gills. When young it has yellow and white coloring on its surface. The mature fruiting body ranges in color from orangish to black, but the red variety is considered most medicinal. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Or maybe that was a description of childbirth.) In any case, no one I know who's ever had them-—kidney stones, that is, not kids—is eager to repeat the experience.
Magnesium
Vitamin B6
Pumpkin Seeds
Kidney stones are hardly a modern ailment. Scientists have found evidence of kidney stones in 7,000-year-old Egyptian mummies. Today, they're one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract, causing 2.7 million visits to health-care providers and more than 600,000 emergency room visits yearly.
Kidney stones are hard masses that can grow from crystals forming within the kidneys. |
| Exercise also promotes a healthy pregnancy; women who are fit and exercise before and during pregnancy tend to have a much easier time of both pregnancy and childbirth, and get back in shape a lot faster after the baby is born.
Exercise and Sex
Then there's sex. If nothing so far has motivated you to get off the couch and use exercise as the ultimate natural cure, consider this: Exercise can and does improve your sex life. Think about the popular term for male sexual performance problems—erectile dysfunction, or ED. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
See article keywords and concepts |
| Don't worry about the baby: There's no benefit to vaginal childbirth anyway, right? What better way to welcome your child to the world than with a scalpel! Result: Millions of women subject their children to non-natural child birthing that results in an increased risk of lung disease afflictions as well as psychological birthing trauma lasting a lifetime.
Worried about your child getting an infectious disease? Inject your children with multiple vaccines. It will protect them from infectious disease and may, in fact, protect them from oral sex! (At least that's what Merck claims. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 This is most dramatic after childbirth or after bilateral oophorectomy (both ovaries being removed). Short-term memory impairment is also a common cognitive change in women with natural menopause. Difficulty concentrating, difficulty with previously simple technical tasks, decrease in memory, and lack of mental clarity are typical states that can then be worsened by difficulty sleeping and sleep interruptions.
An evaluation of significant cognitive impairment may be necessary to assess for a thyroid imbalance, medication problems, overuse of sedatives or alcohol, and dementia. |
| Although women frequently died in childbirth or struggled to feed families of six to ten or more, they were forbidden information concerning fertility regulation that was literally lifesaving. Although diaphragms and condoms gradually became more readily available (the first diaphragms in use in America were smuggled from Europe through Canada by Sanger and her husband), it was not until the Supreme Court decision Griswald v. Connecticut in 1966 that married women's rights to access birth control became assured. |
| The native peoples of Canada and America used black cohosh for many different indications, such as uterine pains during menses and childbirth, rheumatism, rattlesnake bites, and general malaise. Black cohosh was introduced to Western gynecology in the middle of rhe eighteenth century in the treatment of menopausal symptoms.20
The exact mechanism of how black cohosh works has yet to be elucidated. |
| Women insisted on natural childbirth, and now it is the goal of most pregnant women and available everywhere. They have too long felt the restrictions of paternalistic conventional medicine with its uniformity and lack of individualization of healing approaches and are therefore more than ready to embrace the natural principle of treating the individual. Moreover, the success of natural treatments in relieving disease and suffering has done much to promote their popularity. |
| Clinically, EPO supplementation during pregnancy has been found by practitioners of natural childbirth to be an efficacious method to stimulate cervical ripening during labor, and the prostaglandin PgEl is known to stimulate cervical ripening and hasten the progression of labor. |
John J. Ratey, MD
See book keywords and concepts |
| Perhaps because childbirth was a life-threatening event before modern medicine, pregnancy was considered a period of confinement—a time to stay home, reduce activity, and rest in bed. It might be dangerous to disturb the unborn child. Exercise? Out of the question.
It's only recently that doctors have begun to shift their thinking. In 2002 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) began recommending at least thirty minutes a day of moderate intensity aerobic exercise for pregnant and postpartum mothers. |
Email this page to a friend
