Monthly Archives: January 2020

Mental Health after Childbirth, Parenting, Postpartum Depression, Pregnancy

Baby Blues

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Emotions run high following any birth. Especially with a first baby, in addition to joy, a new mother may feel anxious and fearful due to a lack of experience in caring for her newborn. No mother expects to be sad following the birth of a child, but about fifty percent of new mothers experience Baby Blues.

Worry, unexplained bouts of crying, a slow physical recovery and lack of sleep impact postpartum emotional states. Usually the rollercoaster emotions resolve within two to three weeks, but some women are left with prolonged unexplained sadness. Pregnant women often joyfully await the birth and are caught off guard by serious emotional changes ranging from the blues to prolonged depression and even psychosis.

Postpartum Depression

Emotional swings extending beyond a few weeks mean Postpartum Depression and require medical attention. This prolonged depression following delivery is associated with physiological, social and psychological changes. Symptoms may begin immediately following the birth and increase if untreated. About 1 in 10 new mothers experience postpartum depression. Once experienced, the percentage rises with each baby thereafter.

Intense mood changes and inability to bond with the baby can swing to fears she might harm herself or the newborn. Additional symptoms include loss of appetite, lost interest in being around others, hopelessness and inadequacy compounded with panic attacks and inability to make decisions. Seeking professional help is essential if these symptoms last longer than a month.

Antidepressants and counseling are very effective.

Postpartum Psychosis

A third more serious but less common condition affecting 1 in 1000 women is Postpartum Psychosis. Symptoms beginning within a week can include rapid speech, insomnia, manic behaviors, obsessive thoughts, agitation, paranoia, and hallucinations.  This condition requires immediate medical intervention for dangerous life-threatening behaviors including attempts to inflict self-harm or harm to the baby.

Call for Help

A phone call and follow-up care from your medical provider is important when depression persists, or in the case of psychosis, immediate care is needed. Prolonged depression of any nature is serious. If untreated, it can affect the entire family. Because of added financial and parenting responsibilities associated with a new baby, fathers can experience depression following a birth, too. Untreated depression in either parent impacts other children in the family.

More information is available on the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic websites.

 

Betty and Bev

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Autoimmune disorders, Pregnancy

A Silent Change in Motherhood

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Motherhood is a variable experience. Some women find the nine-month incubation of a pregnancy enjoyable. But when hormones surge and nausea sets in, exhaustion makes Free Pixabay Stocksnap pg womanthe date of delivery seem faraway.

Dramatic physical changes occur. Blood volume doubles. The placenta nourishes the fetus and provides a natural protective barrier.

As the fetus grows, maternal weight increases and endurance wanes. Nausea from day-one often ends at three months but can continue until the birth. The mother wonders when her life will return to normal and if her clothes will ever fit again.

Miscarriages are common, bringing physical and emotional adjustment, but even following an uncomplicated delivery, life doesn’t suddenly normalize. A usually joyous time getting to know the newborn is interrupted by sleepless nights and sometimes complicated by feelings of inadequacy and depression.

A new mother must juggle schedules and if breast feeding, may pump breast milk for months so she can return to work. To communicate with her baby, she may learn and teach the infant sign-language or find herself babbling baby-talk. After an unpredictable adjustment period, a new norm is reached.

Getting back into shape, eating right, sleeping and taking care of mothering tasks prevail, but during the pregnancy, silent changes evolved in the maternal body that may impact her health for life. Fetal and maternal blood circulation are separate except for a nutritional interface. No maternal-fetal blood is exchanged but fetal deoxygenated blood passes through umbilical cord arteries to the placenta. There maternal nutrients and oxygen are exchanged through the mesh of an arterio-capillary-venous system, much like oxygen/carbon dioxide transfer occurs in adult lungs.

Despite clear separation of fetal and maternal circulation, an article published by researchers at the University of Arizona reported some fetal blood cells migrate through the placenta and are carried in the mothers’ blood. The fetal cells lodge in various maternal locations where they exist for years. Foreign cells in maternal tissue turn mothers into chimeras. The term alludes to Greek mythology and creatures built from different animal parts, in this case: fetal microchimerism. Fetal cells are detectable in 90% of healthy women after a pregnancy.

Researchers found fetal cells migrated to damaged tissue following a C-section delivery where they were actively involved in healing. In other cases, fetal cells were swept through the bloodstream into maternal areas including the lungs, where they appeared to be inactive bystanders. Some of the escaped fetal cells were pluripotent, like stem cells, able to change into different cells and impact body processes in both positive and possibly negative ways.

Health issues including autoimmune diseases might be triggered by the foreign fetal cells. In these common diseases, the body’s immune system attacks normal cells. Of note, women are more likely to develop autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, MS and lupus than men.

Male fetal cells are found in women who have not given birth to a male child. How could that happen? This may occur when a male embryo fails to develop properly and aborts or is absorbed by maternal processes but some of the fetal cells live on.

Another field of research has shown a reverse transfer of cells, where maternal cells migrate to the fetus. This may explain autoimmune diseases in offspring, including inflammatory bowel disease and biliary cirrhosis.

Although effects of fetal microchimerism have been studied over decades, their impact remains incompletely understood and vigorously debated within the biological research community.

Betty Kuffel, MD

Better Health Through Science, Exercise, Healthy Eating, Lifestyle

Weight Control in the New Year

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Simple Solutions for a Healthy 2020

The new year dawns.

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If you are happy with your health, keep up the good work. It takes effort to remain healthy.

If you always eat right, didn’t overeat over the holidays and aren’t overweight, you are either lucky or very disciplined.

If neither statement above applies to you and you want to drop a few pounds and bump up your energy level, this short blog is for you. We’d like to challenge you to try a simple solution to shed adipose (fat) and become healthier.

General guidelines for heart health and weight reduction are everywhere and yet we’ve all seen grocery carts filled with cookies, chips, crackers, sweetened & sugar-free beverages, boxes of quick-fix mac ‘n cheese items and other unhealthy processed foods. How often do you see carts filled with fresh fruits, salad greens, broccoli, carrots and colorful peppers? Probably not often enough.

Before you head to the grocery store, make a list of healthy foods to prepare at home and stay out of the center isles of the store. Buy fresh whenever possible and choose lean protein sources like chicken or fish.

Not only what you eat, but the way you eat can help you drop unwanted pounds and regain your health. To achieve a better body weight and a healthier heart, try this simple solution: 

Combine intermittent fasting

with a plant-based or Mediterranean diet

Limiting food intake is beneficial. Numerous scientific studies show dietary restriction can lead to a longer life. Intermittent fasting is an easy effective approach to weight control and diabetes prevention. If you already have Type 2 diabetes, intermittent fasting is an excellent way to reduce glucose levels and bring your hemoglobin A1c into normal range. Intermittent fasting is not new. Studies over the years of fasting have shown similar positive effects, so in 2020, why not give Intermittent Fasting a try.

There are numerous ways to intermittently fast. One easy way is to restrict the hours when you eat. For example, pick an eight-hour period during the day when to eat and don’t snack beyond that time period.

One study showed an eight-hour eating time frame proved more beneficial than a twelve-hour schedule. Neither group in the study lost weight, but the eight-hour group lowered their blood pressure, improved their insulin sensitivity and experienced a significant decrease in appetite. By simply extending your overnight fasting period, metabolism improves, and appetite is reduced. Choose a time period to match your activity schedule, like 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Don’t eat before or after your chosen eight hours.

To lose weight, restrict your calorie intake for two days of the week, drink more water and eat only a plant based or Mediterranean diet the remaining days. It is best to split the days (ex. Monday and Thursday) to avoid triggering a starvation response that slows calorie burn.

To reduce calories simply eat small meals for two days of each week. Over the other five days only eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes (beans, chickpeas lentils), potatoes, whole grains, breads, herbs, spices, fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, cheese and yogurt. Use only extra virgin olive oil when cooking and rarely, if ever, eat red meat.

This combination is a proven pathway to health and an easy way to drop pounds. In 2013, we published Your Heart a medical guide on heart health. In Part Two of Your Heart, healthy options of eating a plant-based or Mediterranean diet were discussed in detail, along with an intermittent fasting plan.

 Your Heart: Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease in Women, Men & Children by Betty Kuffel MD, is available on Amazon as an E-book or paperback.

Your Heart Book Cover- Final FINALAmazon author

In December 2019, Mark Mattson, PhD, Johns Hopkins professor of neuroscience, published a review article in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluding intermittent fasting is not only healthy, but prolongs life.

To become healthier and more disciplined, think about:

  • When to Eat: Limit all eating to an eight-hour period. No snacking beyond the eight hours.
  • What to Eat:

 Fresh fruits and vegetables and legumes:  apples, carrots, lettuce, kale, celery, cauliflower and broccoli, colorful peppers, asparagus – check out the produce isle, the options are numerous.  Also include beans, chickpeas, and lentils.

Fish and chicken (boil/bake/broil). Avoid all fried and processed foods for a healthier heart and weight.

Unprocessed grains: oatmeal, steel cut oats, brown rice, wild rice, barley, whole grain breads. Add a few almonds, walnuts and olives to your diet. Avoid sugar-rich granola, sugary cereals and white breads.

 Low calorie examples: Egg whites are a great protein choice at only 10 calories per one egg white.  A three egg-white omelet with mushrooms, veggies and a slice of wholegrain bread is a filling meal. Replace one meal with a low calorie protein drink. For a meal, eat a heaping plate of roast or steamed vegetables.

Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes three times a week. 

Sometimes, the easiest method works best.

  • Eat wisely during only an eight-hour period
  • Eat fresh foods you prepare at home
  • Drink more water and limit alcohol
  • Weigh yourself every day
  • Exercise, preferably  daily

Do the above for one month and send us your success stories.

Note: Calorie intake = fuel   Excess fuel = fat.  If you eat less than your baseline needs and exercise, you will lose weight. Be patient. Set a goal. One pound down is a 3500 calorie deficit. If you reduce your calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories a day from your typical diet, you’ll lose weight each week. To calculate baseline calories needed to maintain your ideal weight, use this estimate: https://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/calories

Betty and Bev