Aurora magazine

Pregnancy folic acid is essential for the proper development of the fetus. Supplements help prevent malformations in the neural tube and abnormalities in cerebral development. Too much folic acid, however, could cause cognitive deficits in the baby. It is therefore important to take supplements only in the presence of an actual need.

The researchers followed 1682 mothers recruited between 2003 and 2008 when they were between 10th and 13th week of gestation. They gave them questionnaires about their diet and the assumption of any supplements. In this way they determined folic acid levels throughout gestation. Five years after delivery, doctors determined the level of cognitive development of children.

54.8% of women had not taken folic acid supplements during gestation. 29.8% had taken too much folic acid than the recommended one. Children who had taken less than 400 milligrams of folic acid per day had less verbal memory than the average. However, children of women who had taken more than 1000 milligrams a day showed less cognitive abilities than the average.

The study shows that too many folic acid supplements not only do not serve, but they do well. However, the results are only partial, since many women have not continued for all five years. Forward, the researchers did not notice the socio-economic conditions of the participants. They therefore excluded many possible determinants of cognitive development.

Source: medicalnewsbulletin.com

Quitting smoking is difficult for everyone, including future moms. A study on the dependencies of the University of Buffalo showed that managing negative emotions could help with the purpose.

Research involved 70 pregnant smokers and intend to quit. Many of them were going through a difficult time, due to economic insecurity and unemployment. Women have noted all the stress episodes, reporting how many times they had smoked in those occasions. It turned out that negative emotions were making it harder to quit smoking.

Half of the women underwent psychological therapy alone, with tips on improving their lifestyle. The other half underwent psychological therapy, combined with a treatment for emotion management. The therapists urged the participants to imagine stressful situations, helping them overcome the negative moment without smoking.

Compared with the patients in the first group, the second group women who stopped smoking were many more. 23% of them remained "smoke-free" for two months after the start of treatment against 0% of the first group. Even the women of the second group who have not stopped, have however reduced the daily number of cigarettes.

Source: buffalo.edu

A woman is in menopause when it is at least one year since the last menstruation. It coincides with the end of feminine fertility and is a normal stage in each woman's life. It is not a disease, although sometimes it has negative consequences on physics, solvable only with pharmacological treatments.

We talk about menopause when the ovaries cease to produce estrogen, the reproductive hormones. It is a process that may be more or less long depending on the woman. Even the period following the last menstruation has a variable duration and thus the symptoms. While in some cases change is almost imperceptible, in others it has very important consequences on everyday life.

Physiological menopause occurs between the ages of 48 and 52, although there may be cases of early menopause. The most obvious symptoms, apart from cessation of the cycle, are the hot flashes and redistribution of body fat. However, the fluctuation and decline in estrogen levels have consequences also on the psychological side. In fact, there are frequent changes in mood, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, and loss of libido.
Diagnostic tests are available to diagnose menopause. The appearance of symptoms is enough in most cases to signal the big change coming. However, a visit from the specialist is needed to break any doubts and to define a clear clinical picture.

Today, menopause is not avoidable, but you can prepare yourself to deal with it as painfully as possible. In view of change, it is good to adopt a healthy lifestyle: increasing physical activity and reducing calories fight weight gain. Since hormonal loss leads to an increase in cardiovascular risk, it is also recommended to stop smoking.

Already 13 years ago, Professor Jonathan Tilly discovered that mammalian females produce new eggs every day. The discovery was in open contradiction with the common belief that the number of eggs would be fixed by birth. Now Tilly and her team have tried the theory: females - and women - have stem cells specializing in egg production.

Jonathan Tilly described stem cells that support the production of new ovules in 2012. The new study condenses eight years of research and describes three different experiments, confirming what has already been said. Researchers have isolated stem cells from the ovarian tissue of some cavities. They have thus monitored the transit of cells and their role in conception.

To test the importance of egg-producing stem cells, they used the suicide gene. The technology allows you to turn off and reactivate the control cells. In this way, the researchers could turn off and restart the stem, testing the effects on the ovaries.

Each female mouse has about 1,000 to 2,000 eggs. The study reveals that every female produces 60-70 eggs a day, but production slows down and stops as the subject ages. At some point the ovaries continue to work, but they have no more eggs.

Ovules from adenoid stem cells from stem cells were functioning. By fertilizing them, the researchers have obtained healthy puppies and can conceive in their own right. Then adjusting ovarian stem cells could facilitate conception and perhaps delay menopause. This latter goal has already been achieved in the lab on some cavities.

The stop of menopause would have beneficial effects that would far be far from being conceived. It would be a way to prevent the problems associated with this phase of aging. Mice treated for not having menopause had less bone problems and gained cognitive benefits.

Source: neu.edu