Tag: anemia

How to Eat for A Healthy Pregnancy

You found out you are pregnant. Never has it been more crucial to eat well. Not eating well during your pregnancy can increase your risk of complications. Eating well has never been easier during pregnancy than it is now.

First, remember that once you hit the second trimester, you should be eating about 300 more calories a day. Calories provide you with the extra energy that your body needs to grow your baby. Now these extra calories should not give you the right to chow down on every food in your line of site. After all, it is only 300 calories that your are getting. A glass of milk or one banana equals 100 calories and a slice of whole wheat bread, and ounce of cheese and a half of cup of grapes equal 200 calories. See how much more you are eating than if you decide to eat a donut instead.

Remember that you need at least three servings of protein each day. Protein contains amino acid which is one of the most important building block for your baby’s tissue. Protein is very easy to come by and your options are endless. You can drink 3 glasses of milk, and you can have 2 cups of yogurt along with 3 ounces of cheese.

Next, you need at least four servings of calcium every day. Calcium is going to help grow your baby’s bones and help protect yours. Milk is the best way to get your fill of calcium, but you can also get your fill of calcium from cheeses, yogurt and even ice cream.

Aim for at least three servings of vitamin C. Your body does not store vitamin C so you need a fresh supply of it every day. You can eat fruit or almost any vegetable to get your vitamin C in. You also want to make sure you get three to four servings of green leafy and yellow vegetables and fruits. Most of these veggies and fruits will also count toward your vitamin C intake, so that is double the benefit.

You should get in one to two servings of all other fruit and vegetables that are not known for their vitamin A and C value, but are still good for you all the same. Apples, banana, and onions are just a few that are in this category. Eat six or more servings of whole grains and legumes. These are filled with vitamins E and B and they help you battle constipation. Try eating brown rice, whole wheat breads and even air popped corn to get your servings of whole grains and legumes in.

Perhaps one of the most important nutrients you and your body need is iron. Your body’s demand for iron will never be greater than it is while you are pregnant. You want to make sure you are able to keep up with it. Not enough iron could lead to anemia so you want to make sure you are getting enough iron. If you feel that you are not, talk to your doctor and he might be able to prescribe you a iron supplement.

It is always a good idea to eat well every day. However when you are pregnant it is essential that you eat well every day.

Anemia in Adolescents

To understand what is anemia one should begin with breathing. The oxygen that is inhaled simply doesnt stop in lungs. It circulates though out the body and fuels the brains also. Oxygen travels to all parts of the body though bloodstream and to be precise in the RBCs I.e. red blood cells. Now, these RBCs are produced in the bone marrow of the body and they serve as boats carrying oxygen in the bloodstream. RBCs have something called hemoglobin, a protein which holds oxygen. To make adequate hemoglobin body requires iron in plenty. The iron is supplied by the foods that we take along with other nutrients. When these RBCs are fewer in number than what is needed anemia occurs in the body. There can be 3 primary reasons: RBCs are lost due to some reason, the production of RBCs is slower than what is needed and lastly the body is destroying the RBCs. Different types of anemia are linked to at least one of these causes.

The bone marrow replaces small amounts of blood is lost due to some reason without making a person anemic. But in cases where considerable amount of blood flows in small amount of time as a result of an injury due to a serious example for instance, it may not be possible for bone marrow to replace RBCs so quickly resulting in anemia. Also, losing small amounts of blood over long periods of time may also lead to anemia. Example of this situation can be seen in girls who get heavy periods attributed mainly to deficiency of iron in the diet.

Anemia due to iron deficiency is the most common kind of anemia in the United States. It occurs mainly due to lack of iron in a persons diet. A teen with iron deficiency would have lower hemoglobin production and consequently lower RBCs. When the production of RBCs is low the person is regarded as anemic. The signs of anemia are paleness and tiredness. There can be other reasons as to why enough RBCs are not produced in the body. Folic acid and Vitamin B-12 are also essential to produce RBCs. Getting these in adequate quantities is this important too. There can be a problem with bone marrows working too resulting in anemia.

Hemolytic anemia occurs when a person has RBCs whose lifespan is shorter. The bone marrow may not be able to produce new blood cells if the blood cells die too early. This can result due to many reasons including person having disorders like sphenocytosis or sickle cell anemia. In some cases the immune system of the body may itself destroy the RBCs. In some cases certain antibodies can form in the blood as a result of reaction to certain drugs or infections and may attack the RBCs.

Teens get anemia as they grow rapidly the amount of iron intake may not be enough to keep up with the pace of the growth as it needs more nutrients in this process. In the case of girls they need more iron after puberty and are at risk due to heavy blood loss during menstrual periods. In some cases pregnancies also leads to anemia. Also, teens who diet excessively to lose weight may also be at risk of having iron deficiency. Meat eaters especially red meat eaters are at less risk compared to vegetarians as meat has rich iron in it.

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Adolescent Pregnancy

Adolescent pregnancy in ninety nine percent of the cases is unwanted and is the major consequence of adolescent sexual activity, other than STDs. This issue has affected youth, families, educators, health care professionals, and government official. A study on the high school adolescents has concluded that forty eight percent of the males and forty five percent of the females are sexually active. One fourth of the high school students had sexual contact by fifteen years of age. The average age of boys is sixteen and a girl is seventeen, who have had intercourse. Ninety percent of adolescents, in the age range of fifteen to nineteen, say their pregnancy is unintended.

Seventy four percent of females above fourteen years and sixty percent of females below fifteen years have reported to have involuntary sex. Fifty percent of the adolescent pregnancies are within the time period of six months after the initial sexual intercourse. More than nine hundred thousand teenagers are reported to have become pregnant every year in the United States. Fifty one percent of the adolescent pregnancies result in live birth, thirty five percent result in induced abortion and fourteen percent result in stillbirths or miscarriages. Four out of ten adolescent females get pregnant, before they turn twenty, at least once. Twenty five percent of adolescent deliveries arent the mothers first child. When a teenager gives birth to her first child, she increases the risk of begetting another child. One third of the adolescent parents are themselves result of adolescent pregnancies.

There are many reasons why adolescents choose to become sexually active at an early stage in life. The reasons can be early pubertal development, poverty, sexual abuse in childhood, lack of parents attention, lack of career goals, family and cultural patterns of early sex, substance abuse, dropping out from school and poor school performance. Factors which discourage an adolescent to become sexually active are stable family environment, parental supervision, good family income, regular prayers, connectedness with parents and living with complete family and both the parents. The factors which are responsible for the consistent use of contraceptive among adolescents are academic success, anticipation for successful future, and involvement in a stable relationship.

There are many medical risks associated with adolescent pregnancies. Adolescents who are less than seventeen years are at a greater risk of developing medical complications, when compared to adult females. The risk is even more in teenagers below seventeen. The weight of the child, given birth by an adolescent, is very low in these pregnancies. It is usually below 2.5 kilogram. The rate of neonatal birth is also three times greater in adolescents, when compared to adults. Other problems caused by adolescent pregnancies are prematurity of the child, birth of underweight child, poor maternal weight gain, poor nutritional status, anemia, STDs and hypertension induced due to pregnancy.

Although there is an increase in the use of contraceptive methods by adolescents during their first sexual contact, only sixty three percent of the high school students have said to use condom while having sex previously. Adolescents, who use prescription contraceptives, delay their doctors visit until the time they become sexually active for over a year.

According to a research, youngsters who have participated in sex education programs which gave them knowledge about contraception methods, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and youngsters who involved in discussions in order to get a clear picture, used contraceptives and condoms effectively without any increase in sexual activity. The Center for Disease Control & Prevention has said that the solution for unwanted adolescent pregnancies and STDs are barrier contraceptive use and abstinence.

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Celiac Disease- Digesting The Root Of The Problem

Theres no one symptom that can be used to diagnose Celiac disease. The condition, which simply can be described as a form of gluten intolerance, is a combination of symptoms. In fact, there are many cases where the disease has been misdiagnosed because the symptoms it shares with other digestive and allergy related diseases. Among the symptoms that manifest in children include abdominal pain, diarrhea, not gaining weight, nausea, anemia, mouth sores, lack of appetite, hair loss, bloated abdomen, not growing in height, dermatitis, and behavioral disorders. In adults, it is common to exhibit fatigue, depression, osteoporosis, irritability, and lactose intolerance. The importance in diagnosis celiac disease is getting to the root of the problem to diagnose it properly.

As we all know, celiac disease is a condition where the inner lining of the small intestines gets inflamed due to the contact with gluten. Gluten is a protein that is commonly found in wheat, barley and rye. Once inflammation of the small intestines occurs, the body is unable to absorb the necessary nutrients from the food you eat. So no matter how much you gobble up food, you will still experience malnutrition. And because youre not receiving the right amounts of nutrients, your body will get weaker and becomes more susceptible to other diseases.

Diagnosing the condition is somewhat troublesome due to the fact that the exact cause of the disease is still unknown. Research and studies, however, have proven that the disease is genetic based. So this means that if someone in your family has it, theres a chance that you can have it as well.

Tests and diagnosing the disease can be done through laboratory analysis of blood samples. What doctors will be looking for is the high levels of antibodies, more specifically anti-gliadin, anti-endomysium, and anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies, in your blood. It has been found out that people with celiac disease has high levels of these antibodies in their system. These antibodies identify gluten as a threat to the body and try to get rid of it just like the immune system trying to get rid of virus and bacteria.

However, there are times that the levels of these antibodies were found to be normal, and yet patients still exhibit symptoms of celiac disease. Only once gluten is removed from their diet did they only started feeling a lot better. The disease is really a tricky one to diagnose but through observations and laboratory analysis the task is not impossible.

If left undiagnosed, the disease can potentially lead to complications and other more dangerous disease. Some of the risks the people with the disease have to be ready for include lupus, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, microscopic colitis, and autoimmune thyroid disease.

Of course, malnutrition will be a starting point for deficiencies in vitamins A, B-12, De, E, and K which can cause anemia and weight loss. The body will be lacking in calcium as well which greatly affects the bone density. The damage caused by the disease can also result to developing other allergic reactions from foods that dont even contain gluten, such as lactose.

So it is really important that people who exhibit symptoms of the disease get some medical attention get to the root of the problem. And if the doctors found out that the disease is not celiac, then thats still good. However, leaving everything as it is will never turn out good.