Low carbohydrate intake increases the risk of birth defects

Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant may want to avoid diets that reduce or eliminate carbohydrates, as they could increase the risk of having babies with neural tube birth defects, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Women with low carbohydrate intake are 30 percent more likely to have babies with neural tube defects, such as spina bifida-malformations of the spine and spinal cord and anencephaly-absence of major portions of the brain and skull, that can lead to lifelong disability and infant death, when compared with women who do not restrict their carbohydrate intake.

Folic acid is an essential nutrient that minimizes the risk of neural tube defects. Dietary intake of folic acid among women with restricted carbohydrate intake was less than half of other women. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all women who may become pregnant take a daily multivitamin with at least 400 micrograms of folic acid every day before and during pregnancy.

However, because some pregnancies are not planned, many women do not initiate folic acid supplementation until later in pregnancy, after a neural tube defect may have occurred. This makes fortified foods an important source of folic acid for women who may become pregnant.
          haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Eggs can select semen

According to the latest research, female's eggs are able to select sperm with the best genes to ensure the healthiest offspring. Semen does not appear to have the same ability to detect bad genes, this shows that fertilisation is not random and specific pairings between certain eggs and sperm are more common than others. Researchers bred female mice carrying one normal and one mutant copy of a gene that increased the chance of getting testicular cancer.

 The resulting offspring followed Mendel's rules and there was a random dispersal of the mutated form among offspring. Researchers reversed the breeding- gave males the mutant copy of the cancer gene while the females had the normal version. Only 27 per cent of the offspring had the mutant variant, compared to the 75 per cent. Researchers found no evidence the mutated mice embryos were dying shortly after fertilisation, rather they were never fertilised.

The rate of metabolism folic acid - which is an important signalling molecule - is different in sperm and eggs. Research has revealed that these molecules play an important role in fertilisation. Changes in these signals may impact how much sperm and egg are attracted to one another. When sperm from multiple males arrive at an egg concurrently, eggs are able to choose the sperm whose recognition proteins are best suited for healthy fertilization. This selection process can spur the evolution of new recognition proteins, eventually resulting in reproductive isolation and, in some cases, the creation of new species altogether.
         haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Fever in early pregnancy causes facial birth defects

Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase the risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate in developing fetus. Researchers now have evidence indicating that fever is responsible for interferes with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy.

The results suggest a portion of congenital birth defects could be prevented by lowering the mother's fever with the use of acetaminophen during the first trimester. Women who are planning to become pregnant are advise to start taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid, they should take drug that can reduce the effects of fever if they have fever during the first trimester

Acetaminophen (Tylenol), which has been studied extensively and determined to be safe during the first trimester is recommended. The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs such as ibuprofen and aspirin also reduce fevers, but some NSAIDs are not safe to use during the later stages of pregnancy.

To observe how fever impacts a developing fetus, the researchers studied zebra embryo. Among their discoveries, they found that neural crest cells, the cells that are critical building blocks for the heart, face and jaw - contain temperature-sensitive properties. These neural crest cells contain temperature-sensitive ion channels that typically are found in the sensory neurons. They're the channels that, when you stick your hand in a hot cup of water, tell your body the temperature has changed.

The researchers engineered a noninvasive magnet-based technology to create fever-like conditions in two specific temperature-sensitive ion channels called TRPV1 and TRPV4 in the neural crest cells involved in developing the heart and face. When those neural crest cells were subjected to conditions mimicking a transient fever, the embryos developed craniofacial irregularities and heart defects, including double outlet right ventricle, Tetralogy of Fallot and other outflow obstructions. The type of defect depends on whether the fever occurs during heart development or head and face development.
          haleplushearty.blogspot.com

Folic acid may reduce autism risk from pesticide

Taking folic acid during the window around conception reduced the risk associated with pesticides, researchers examined many children who had been diagnosed with ASD, the researchers interviewed their mothers about their household pesticide exposure during pregnancy, folic acid and B vitamin intake.

Children whose mothers took 800 or more micrograms of folic acid and other prenatal vitamins had a lower risk of developing autism spectrum disorder ASD even when their mothers were exposed to household or agricultural pesticides.

Mothers who took less than 800 micrograms and encountered household pesticides had higher risk of having a child who developed an ASD than their counterparts who took 800 micrograms of folic acid or more and were not exposed to pesticides.

The risk increased for women exposed several times, women with low folic acid intake who were exposed to agricultural pesticides during a window from three months before conception to three months afterward were at higher risk. Folic acid can reduce the risk of developing autism but it can not prevent it completely. Avoiding chronic pesticide before and during pregnancy can prevents ASD.

Folate plays a critical role in DNA methylation- a process by which genes are turned off or on, as well as in DNA repair and synthesis. These are important during periods of rapid growth when there are lots of cells dividing in developing fetus. Taking folic acid can improve genomic functions.
          haleplushearty.blogspot.com

How to prepare your body for IVF

For a woman to get pregnant, her reproductive organs like ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes need to be in good condition and function properly. Conditions that affect these organs may render a woman infertile. Looking at
polycystic ovary syndrome - a condition which causes irregular or no menstruation.

 Another problem is functional hypothalamic amenorrhea - a condition caused by low body weight or excessive exercise. Premature ovarian insufficiency - a condition which causes a woman's ovaries to cease to function before age 40.

Infertility in men can be determined through a semen analysis, which studies a man's sperm count, the motility and shape of sperm. If a man's testicular or ejaculatory functions are disrupted, this may cause infertility. These disruptions can be caused by
varicoceles - a condition which causes the veins on a man's testicles to overheat.

During IVF treatments, woman’s eggs are extracted and fertilized outside of her body. The resulting embryos are then implanted in her uterus. One IVF cycle lasts about two weeks, receiving IVF treatments increases a woman's chances of conceiving, it does not always result in pregnancy.

Having more than one round of IVF can increase the chance of becoming pregnant, women can prepare their body for pregnancy by getting acupuncture two to three times a week before IVF treatments.

Acupuncture leads to better blood flow, which will result in higher quality eggs. Engaging in exercise can also ease women's stress levels, which will help the process to work better. Avoid any stressful activities and reduce work load, eat balanced diet regularly especially fruits and vegetables, avoid fish. Take folic acid and vitamin D in moderation.
          haleplushearty.blogspot.com

New drug for ovarian cancer

The drug, known as ONX-0801 in the phase 1 clinical trial, was tested in 15 women with advanced ovarian cancer as part of a wider trial run by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London.

The aim was to test its safety, but the results were so good that researchers are keen to move the drug to the next stage of research.

ONX-0801 is the first in a new class of drugs discovered at the ICR.
It attacks ovarian cancer by mimicking folic acid to enter the cancer cells.

The drug  kills these cells by blocking a molecule called thymidylate synthase, thereby causing irreparable DNA damage.

Ovarian cancer cells have an abnormally large number of receptors for folic acid, called alpha folate receptors. This means these cancer cells respond particularly well to the treatment.

The drug targeted cancer cell with little side-effects, making it a kinder treatment for ovarian cancer patients.