Eating Eggs When Pregnant (choline) lowers chance of getting aggressive breast cancer in offspring

Eating Eggs When Pregnant Affects Breast Cancer In Offspring:
ScienceDaily 2008.12.02
"The researchers made the discovery in rats by studying females whose mothers were fed varying amounts of choline during pregnancy. Different groups of pregnant rats received diets containing standard amounts of choline, no choline at all, or extra choline. Then the researchers treated the female offspring with a chemical that causes cancer of the mammary gland (breast cancer). Although animals in all groups developed mammary cancer, the daughters of mothers that had received extra choline during pregnancy had slow growing tumors while daughters of mothers that had no choline during pregnancy had fast growing tumors...The researchers also found multiple genetic and molecular changes in the rats' tumors that correlated with survival outcomes. For example, the slow growing tumors in rats had a genetic pattern similar to those seen in breast cancers of women who are considered to have a good prognosis. The fast growing tumors in mice had a pattern of genetic changes similar to those seen in women with a more aggressive disease. The researchers also found evidence that these genetic changes may result from the way that choline affects modifications of the DNA within the mammary gland of fetuses as they develop in the womb..."

And of course the evidence that choline improves the memory of your children.


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High fiber intake may cut preeclampsia risk

High fiber intake may cut preeclampsia risk - Yahoo! News:
2008.08.02
"Pregnant women who increase their fiber intake by 5 grams a day -- the equivalent of 2 slices of whole grain bread -- may reduce their risk of developing preeclampsia by about 14 percent, researchers report...Women who reported eating at least 21.2 grams of total fiber a day, compared with those eating less than 11.9 grams daily, were 67 percent less likely to develop preeclampsia...They calculate that every 5-gram increase in daily fiber intake led to a 14 percent reduction in preeclampsia risk...Moreover, women with the highest fiber intake had triglycerides nearly 12 points lower and high-density lipoproteins ('good' cholesterol) more than 2.6 points higher than women with the lowest daily fiber intake..."

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Use Of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Asthma In Young Children

Use Of Cleaning Products During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Asthma In Young Children: "ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) — Women who use a lot of household cleaning products when they are pregnant, or shortly after giving birth, are increasing their child’s risk of developing asthma. That’s according to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents of Children (ALSPAC, also known as Children of the Nineties), that recruited over 13,000 children from before birth and has followed them to post 16...early life exposure to the chemicals contained in household cleaning products was linked to a 41% increase in a child’s chances of developing asthma by the age of 7 years...“Previous research has shown that a child’s risk of developing asthma is lower if he or she is exposed to bacteria or bacterial products (endotoxins) in early life (‘hygiene hypothesis’), probably because it assists in the development of a child’s immune system...However, our research suggests that one possible mechanism for this hypothesis may involve the chemicals found in domestic cleaning products. These chemicals have been linked to increased risk of asthma with additional evidence from studies of workers who have exposure to cleaning chemicals”."

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Cell Phones Risky during Pregnancy?

Cell Phones Risky during Pregnancy?: "Or maybe not." WebMD
2008.05.21
"...Kids whose mothers used cell phones while pregnant had a 54% higher risk of behavior problems -- emotional problems, hyperactivity, conduct problems, and peer problems. Kids who used cell phones themselves had an 18% higher risk of behavior problems. And kids with both exposures had an 80% higher risk of behavior problems..."We tried to make it go away by controlling for smoking, which does explain behavior problems. We corrected for social issues, and for alcohol use, and mothers' psychiatric diagnoses, and it did not go away," Olsen says. "So we were left with this. Then we said, well, we'd better publish this and see if anybody else can confirm these findings."...The more exposure women had to cell phones during pregnancy, the higher the odds of behavior problems in their child. And while risk from children's use of cell phones seems improbable, it adds to the risk from fetal exposure -- by just as much as one would expect from a real 18% increase in risk..."

This is only a correlational study and needs more follow up. But such strong correlations demand immediate research on the subject.
Also -
Heavy Cell Phone Use Linked To Cancer, Study Suggests: "Dr. Sadetzki, a physician, epidemiologist and lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published the results of a study recently in the American Journal of Epidemiology, in which she and her colleagues found that heavy cell phone users were subject to a higher risk of benign and malignant tumors of the salivary gland."

Most studies indicate cell phones do not cause cancer, however the ones that do seem like compelling research. It's quite revealing that for such a ubiquitous technology, a relatively small amount of money goes into research to test whether it is safe. It might be. It might not be. But it tells you a little about human nature that we don't spend more to find out.

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Folic Acid Supplementation Associated With Reduced Risk Of Preeclampsia During Pregnancy

Large Study Links Folic Acid Supplementation With Reduced Risk Of Preeclampsia During Pregnancy - ScienceDaily
2008.01.24
"...preeclampsia occurred in 2.2 per cent of women who took multivitamins containing folic acid compared to 5.1 per cent of women who did not...Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada recommends a dose of 1 mg per day. In the current study, 92 per cent of women were taking folic acid, mostly at the higher dose..."

Low Vitamin D During Pregnancy Linked To Pre-eclampsia

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Study Links Caffeine to Miscarriage

Study Links Caffeine to Miscarriage WebMD
2008.01.22
"...Women in the study who consumed more than 200 mg of caffeine a day -- the amount found in about two 8-ounce cups of regular-strength coffee -- had twice the risk of miscarriage as pregnant women who consumed no caffeine...."

Reuters via Scientific American

"This risk appeared to be related to the caffeine, rather than other chemicals in coffee, because they also saw an increased risk when the caffeine was consumed in soda, tea, and hot chocolate.

Li said many researchers think caffeine is harmful because it stresses the fetus' immature metabolism. It may also decrease blood flow in the placenta, which could harm the fetus.

"To me, the safe dose is zero," Li said. "If you really have to drink coffee, try to limit it to one cup or at the most two cups." Or better yet, switch to decaffeinated beverages, he added."

NewYork Times

"...Pregnant women should try to give up caffeine for at least the first three or four months, said the lead author of the study, Dr. De-Kun Li..."

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Pre-pregnancy weight linked with child's weight

Pre-pregnancy weight linked with child's weight - Yahoo! News
2007.10.31
"The amount of body fat a child accumulates over time may be related to their mother's body mass index prior to and during pregnancy..."

More epigenetics?

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Prenatal vitamins cut childhood cancers

Moms' prenatal vitamins cut childhood cancers Reuters/Yahoo!News 7/7/07 "Women who take multivitamins before and during pregnancy apparently reduce the chances that their offspring will develop certain types of childhood tumors...taking a multivitamin before and in early pregnancy reduced the risk of childhood leukemia by 36 percent...also associated with a 47 percent reduced risk of neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor arising in nerve tissue, and a 27 percent decreased risk of childhood brain tumors...Koren's team suspects that folic-acid containing multivitamins in particular are behind the decrease in these childhood cancers, but "the available data do not allow determination of which of the constituent(s) may cause these protective effects."Nonetheless, they conclude: "Given that women who are considering pregnancy are generally advised to supplement with folic acid, the results from this study suggest that supplementation with a folic acid-containing multivitamin may be a preferred method.""

Along with this don't forget the choline for even greater health of child - and a smarter child.

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Vitamin D in pregnancy might reduce childhood asthma

Vitamin D in pregnancy may reduce childhood wheeze Reuters/Yahoo!News 3/21/07 "Mothers in the top 25 percent of vitamin D were 61-percent less likely to have a child with recurrent wheeze compared with those in the lowest 25 percent.
For each 100-IU increase in vitamin D, the risk of having a child with recurrent wheeze fell by 19 percent...This benefit was noted whether the vitamin D came from supplements or the diet...In the second study...Compared with the group with the lowest vitamin D levels, women with the highest levels of vitamin D had a 52-percent reduced risk of wheeze and a 65-percent reduced risk of wheeze in the previous year. Vitamin D levels were also associated with reductions in bronchodilator response, which is aggravated in asthma..."Our results are of great public health significance because they could lead to relatively low cost interventions of vitamin D supplementation that would have a large effect on the future prevalence of asthma in children," "

AJCN abstract

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Prenatal multivitamins reduce childhood cancers

prenatal multivitamins reduces risk of childhood cancers PRNewsWire/SickKids 2/21/07 "taking prenatal multivitamins fortifiedwith folic acid can reduce the risk of three common childhood cancers:leukemia, brain tumours and neuroblastoma..."Our research indicates that a large proportion of several earlychildhood cancers can be prevented by taking a prenatal multivitamin beforeand during pregnancy," said Dr. Gideon Koren...prenatal supplementation of multivitaminscontaining folic acid is associated with a 47 per cent protective effectfor neuroblastoma, 39 per cent for leukemia and 27 per cent protectiveeffect for brain tumours. While other studies have investigated the effectof prenatal vitamins on rates of paediatric tumours, this is the firstsystematic review and meta-analysis of prenatal multivitamin use before andduring early pregnancy and its protective effect for several paediatriccancers...Additional research is required to determine which components of aprenatal multivitamin provide protective effect for paediatric cancers andwhether any of the protective effects can be attributed to folic acid. Aprevious study by Motherisk found that prenatal multivitamins fortifiedwith folic acid can reduce the risk of a wide range of serious congenitaldefects..."

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Dos, and Don'ts of Pregnancy

Myths, Dos, and Don'ts of Pregnancy WebMD 5/25/06

• Cheeses must be pasteurized
• Diet sodas are minimally harmful (you have to divine what this means)
• Caffeine is fine in regular amounts - possibly harmful in higher amounts
• "Do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or golden or white snapper (tilefish) because they contain high levels of mercury"
• Eat lots of spinach (folate and other good stuff)
• Don't drink alcohol
• Don't smoke
• Stay out of nail salons
• Don't overheat while pregnant - no hot tubs and don't overdo it while exercising
• Have dad change litter box so mom avoids toxoplasmosis
• Avoid chemicals related to lawns/gardens]

The article doesn't mention these but they are very important:

• Prenatal vitamins
• DHA (at least 500mg a day)
• Choline (at least 550mg a day)

More info in the article. WebMD has a very nice section dedicated to pregnancy info.

And we found the book Pregnancy Do's & Don'ts by Elisabeth Aron, M.D. useful, along with Your Pregnancy Week by Week by Dr. Glade B. Curtis and Judith Schuler

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That Prenatal Visit May Be Months Too Late

That Prenatal Visit May Be Months Too Late NYTimes 11/28/06 "The problem, doctors say, is that by the first prenatal visit, a woman is usually 10 to 12 weeks pregnant. “If a birth defect is going to happen, it’s already happened,” said Dr. Peter S. Bernstein, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Montefiore Medical Center ...The new guidelines, issued by the CDC and Prevention last spring, include 10 specific health care recommendations and advise prepregnancy checkups that include screening for diabetes, H.I.V. and obesity; managing chronic medical conditions; reviewing medications that may harm a fetus; and making sure vaccinations are up to date."

Also in the recommendations is to take prenatal vitamins months before pregnancy and to get weight down as close to normal for height as can be.

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Pregnancy and Alcohol

I was disappointed at the rather unscientific and irresponsible article in the NYtimes about alcohol and pregnancy that seems to give a view that moderate drinking while pregnant is safe. The author appears to have missed the relevance of a lot of recent research - most of which is found in New Scientist 6/29/06 (pay article) titled "Sobering news for pregnant women" where they catalog the research showing that even light drinking has the potential to alter the development of the fetus.

If you insist on drinking then take choline during pregnancy which seems to offer some protection against the neuronal apoptosis that alcohol can induce in the fetal brain during the 2nd trimester.

"Peter Hepper at Queen's University, Belfast, UK, examined the movements of fetuses scanned on ultrasound in response to a noise stimulus. Having asked women about their drinking habits, they compared the responses of fetuses exposed to low levels of alcohol - between 1 and 6 British units per week, each containing 10 millilitres of alcohol - and those exposed to none. When tested between 20 and 35 weeks, the fetuses exposed to alcohol tended to show a "startle response" usually found only in the earlier stages of pregnancy, when the nervous system is less developed"

"When Ed Riley and colleagues at San Diego State University in California looked at children's brains using magnetic resonance imaging, they found obvious changes in the brain structure of children whose mothers drank very heavily, but also some changes in children born to moderate drinkers. For example, there were abnormalities in the corpus callosum, the tract of fibres connecting the right and left hemispheres of the brain. The greater the abnormality, the worse the children performed on a verbal learning task."

"John Olney, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, has examined the impact of alcohol on developing rodent brains as a model for what happens in humans. Six years ago Olney and others showed that alcohol causes neurons in the developing rat brain to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis"

The research by Olney shows that the timing of alcohol has an effect. The first trimester affects facial development and other physical features and gestures, the second trimester affects different levels of brain function depending again when the alcohol hits and what part of the brain is forming. Olney believes that even small amounts of alcohol (50mg per 100 ml of blood) can potentially kill 20 million neurons in the fetus. In the third trimester alcohol can throw off circadian rhythms in the offspring. So as children they sleep poorly and are prone to a host of other psychiatric conditions like depression. Based on what Olney has seen in his research he thinks it would be safest to abstain.

It's possible that for some women a small amount of alcohol over an extended time on a full stomach might have little or no impact on a fetus. But how would you know if you metabolize alcohol in the right way, or that you ate enough to blunt the effect of the alcohol, or that you drank slowly enough for it not to effect the fetus, or that you didn't go over the level at which neurons die in the fetus? Is it worth the risk if only to partake in a brief cultural ritual, or to momentarily feel more social?

The BBC has covered this 9/18/02 "Professor Peter Hepper, of Queen's University, Belfast, said that there was a growing body of evidence linking even moderate alcohol use in pregnancy to deficits in children.
He said: "If it was proven that drinking any amount of alcohol in pregnancy caused you to be born with the tip of your finger missing - something that would hardly affect your life at all - then it would be banned instantly."

Of course brain damage is much harder to measure... and so likely goes unnoticed except for dramatic cases.

More here, here, here and here

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Future smokers may be programmed in womb

Future smokers may be programmed in womb Reuters/Yahoo!News 11/27/06 "children of women who smoked during pregnancy were more likely to become smokers than other youngsters..."Our findings suggest a direct effect of maternal smoking during pregnancy on young adults' development of regular smoking and provide yet another incentive to persuade pregnant women not to smoke and to discourage young women from ever taking it up," Dr Abdullah Al Mamun, of the University of Queensland..."

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High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Boosts Disease Risk Later in Life

Threat of stroke, heart attack and midlife high blood pressure all increase, study finds HealthDay 11/17/06 "Women who experience high blood pressure during pregnancy have a higher risk of stroke, heart and kidney disease later in life..."High blood pressure in pregnancy appears to be an under-recognized risk factor for cardiovascular disease later in life," Garovic said. About 10 percent of pregnancies are affected by high blood pressure...Women who had high blood pressure during pregnancy had twice the risk of stroke as those who had normal pressure during pregnancy. They also had 1.5 times the risk of heart attack and 1.5 times the risk of developing high blood pressure after age 40...The women with high blood pressure during pregnancy tended to be obese compared with the women who did not get it."

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