New research, though, shows that chemotherapy during pregnancy “may not harm the baby”.

The researchers studied seventy children who were in utero when their mothers were undergoing chemotherapy. The children had been in the second and third trimesters of development when the chemotherapy was given.

The children were examined to monitor their health, heart and brain function between the ages of 18 months to 18 years. The results were that their development was comparable to children whose mothers did not undergo chemotherapy. However, those who were born prematurely (perhaps to enable the mother to have further chemotherapy, with their believing that it was better to deliver the baby than to risk further exposure to chemotherapy drugs in the womb) had lower IQ scores.

The results, from the Leuven Cancer Institute and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, have led researchers to advise doctors not to deliver babies early so as to avoid chemotherapy exposure, since the exposure doesn’t seem to have any effect on development (whereas premature delivery does). The researchers also say that there is no need to delay delivering chemotherapy to a patient merely because she is pregnant.

The study will be followed by more research over a greater number of children. The existing study included children whose mothers had received several different types of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy and there were no difference between the results. The children were mostly born prematurely, with only a third being born at full term.

If you are pregnant and undergoing treatment for cancer, hopefully this research will give you some measure of comfort, that the medicines you are being given to keep you alive won’t harm your baby, and you should discuss with your doctor whether it is indeed necessary to deliver your baby prematurely if that is being considered.

The rate of women with diabetes who went on to have babies with defects that were not caused by chromosomal abnormalities was about 3.8 times higher than that of women without diabetes.

Diabetes in pregnancy has long been known to add to complications (such as miscarriage, still birth and neonatal death) – often because it is associated with obesity – but this is the first evidence that it causes birth defects.
If you have diabetes when pregnant, you will have extra care given to you by your midwife and may have additional tests and scans. But the research says that as soon as it becomes possible to conceive (i.e. any time after puberty) women with diabetes should be given advice on making sure they get proper, specialists care during any future pregnancies, including early scans to detect and manage any deformities.

The study was carried out at Newcastle University, South Tees NHS Trust and Newcastle’s Regional Maternity Survey Office. As the results are based on findings gathered from women who had diabetes prior to conception, it is not known whether developing diabetes during pregnancy (known as gestational diabetes) could have a similar effect on the risk of birth defects.

Guidelines already in place, from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends that women with diabetes should wait until they have a HcA1c of under 6.1% before trying to conceive, and that women with HbA1c of 10% and over should avoid falling pregnant.

So if you’ve fallen off the wagon, diet-wise, and are looking for an alternative, what can you try?

There are several eating plans and diet plans available out there. Going to classes (with companies like Slimming World and Weight Watchers, to name but two) are said to be effective because of the motivation they provide in the form of a weekly weigh-in and support from your ‘consultant’.
But can you follow a good diet at home? How do you go about motivating yourself?

Perhaps the first step is to find a diet that works for you. There are hundreds to choose from, but the basics remain the same: you need to be consuming less energy than you are burning off. If you burn off more (by exercising) then you can eat more.

You could limit the number of calories you consume. The average woman will burn off 2,000 calories per day. If you eat 1,000 – 1,500 per day, you will lose weight, even if you do no exercise. You need to lose 3,500 calories in order to lose one pound of weight. That is, if you burn off 2,000 calories in a day and have only eaten 1,500 that day, your body will have used the other 500 from its stores (i.e. from your fat). Do that for 7 days and you’ll have lost a pound. Add some exercise and you’ll lose the weight quicker.

Or you can try limiting the amount of fat and simple carbohydrates you eat. Limit your white bread (severely) and keep your fat intake to under 10g per day (check the packets for information) and you’ll lose weight.

You’re more likely to stick to your diet if you allow yourself a treat each day – you won’t feel as deprived and bitter. That might be a bar of chocolate in the evening, or an ice cream cone. If you’re due to go for a night out one week, then skip those treats on the other nights of that week and you’ll still lose weight.

Certain circumstances definitely precipitate the need for taking out a life insurance policy. Rather than specifying a specific age for taking out life insurance, it is more important to think about the events going on in our lives. Sometimes, events happen sooner than one thinks or earlier than planned.

One time in life that is an appropriate time to start thinking about getting a life insurance policy would be marriage. When one marries, they no longer are a single person thinking entirely of themselves. As a married couple, they depend upon one another. With a life insurance policy, the surviving spouse will be covered in the event of the other spouse’s death. This can help with certain expenses such as the funeral. Also, as a married couple, people become dependent on two incomes. No longer having that second income could be financially damaging.

Another time in one’s life that would necessitate the new for life insurance would be the birth of one’s first child. Again, you are bringing another person until your life that you must support. Even if a couple already has life insurance, they will probably want to increase their coverage now that there is a child in the home.

If at some point in your life you seek a job that is risky to your life, this would be another time to think about getting life insurance if you do not have it already. Depending upon your industry and employer, you may be required to obtain life insurance as a condition of employment.

If any of these situations apply to you or you have another situation that you think might need life insurance, then contact Endsleigh insurance at www.endsleigh.co.uk for further information.

It seems that the ‘Jade Goody Effect’, seen at its peak in 2008 when her death raised awareness and screening of cervical cancer, is wearing off. When Jade died, there was a huge increase in the number of women attending for routine cervical smear tests. Sadly, that effect has not lasted long and numbers of smear tests are dwindling once again, with approximately one in five women failing to attend for their routine screening tests.

This week is Cervical Cancer Prevention week and experts are trying once again to raise awareness and prompt women to get checked by having regular smear tests.

Cervical cancer is a killer if not detected early. Around a thousand women per year die from the disease out of 2,800 annual new diagnoses. It affects just as many women under 50 as over, and it is the second most common type of cancer amongst women under the age of 35.

As part of Cervical Cancer Prevention Week, charities and the NHS alike are stressing that it is a preventable cancer on the whole. NHS Cancer Screening deputy director Richard Winder said, “A woman can control her risk of developing the disease by being screened regularly. Any abnormalities that might be found can then be treated in order that they do not go on to develop into cancer. Where a cervical cancer is found through screening, it is usually at a very early stage where treatment has a greater chance of success.

“It is essential that women are aware of this when deciding whether or not to be screened. Cervical screening is estimated to save 4,500 lives a year in England alone.”

It’s also possible to prevent the most common cause of the disease by being vaccinated against the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), which is known to cause about 70% of cases of cervical cancer and is therefore a highly deadly STD. Vaccination is routinely offered the immunisation nationally to under-18s. A new version of the vaccine will also protect against genital warts as of later this year.

Routine smear tests are available to all women aged 25 – 65 years (every 3 years for women age 25 – 49 and every 5 years for women age 50 and over).

A representative, Gemma Byrne, from the charity called ‘The Eve Appeal’ stresses that it is important that women should educate themselves as to the early warning signs of the disease as well as getting the routine screening and vaccinations. “The earlier cervical cancer is diagnosed, the better the outcome will be, so even if women have been vaccinated and had regular screening, none of these is 100 per cent effective so women owe it to themselves to be aware of the early warning signs”

The early warning signs don’t happen in the very early stages of the disease but when they do occur they include unusual bleeding (e.g. after sexual intercourse; between periods; post-menopause), pain in or around the vaginal area during sex; discharge that smells unpleasant; pain or blood during urination; bone pain and weight-loss.

Seeing your GP at the earliest opportunity, and undergoing the screening process might save your life, so make time.

The French-made breast implants that have featured so much in the news lately have caused widespread concern amongst the 40,000 or so women who have had breast augmentation surgery using implants manufactured by PIP. Approximately 95% of women who have had the French PIP implants did so for cosmetic reasons, whilst the remaining 5% had the implants fitted for medical reasons, usually following mastectomies for cancer treatment.

Concerns were first raised in December 2011 when a French investigation into the implants was launched and the widespread nature of the problem with the implants was discovered and reported worldwide. The investigation revealed that the implants were made with industrial silicone (they are supposed to be filled with medical-grade silicone or equivalent); further, the structure and design of the implants leaves them susceptible to leakage or even rupture. There is no link to cancer from the implants.

The news alarmed many women, who were often unaware of the name or manufacturer of their breast implants and flooded their GPs with enquiries about whether they were at risk. Medical notes will reveal the make and maker of the implants, so if you think you may be affected you can easily find out from your notes if you paid privately for your implants. The NHS is writing to all women who have the PIP implants that were fitted on the NHS.

If the original implants were fitted by the NHS, the NHS will remove and replace the implants, free of charge, if you wish after talking with the consultant about your options and the risk to your health. If the implants were fitted privately, you should speak to the clinic where they were fitted to see what their policy is. Unfortunately, because the company that made the implants went bust (no pun intended), there is no way for private clinics or the NHS to claim their costs back from them, and whilst the NHS has done the right thing by offering replacements, private clinics are not all minded to do likewise. If the private clinic won’t act, you could get the implants replaced on the NHS for free, but only if it is clinically necessary.

If the private clinic that fitted your implants refuses to remove and replace them, and you cannot get them replaced on the NHS, you might have to consult a solicitor about your options.

Research into the implants has found that there isn’t normally a need to remove them earlier than they would have been removed and replaced normally (usually 10 – 15 years), but naturally women will be very anxious and concerned, and it is for this reason that the NHS is offering the removal and replacement.

If you are concerned, speak to your GP or clinic in the first instance.

If you experience a rupture, you would need urgent medical help. Ruptures can happen as the implants get older, or if they are damaged when inserted (or during manufacture) or if your breast gets injured. Signs of a rupture include:

• lumpiness in the breast
• lumpy or swollen areas around the breast (e.g. under the arms)
• redness and/or tenderness
• the breast gets smaller, looking ‘deflated’
• the breast changes shape or swells
• the breast becomes painful or sensitive.

If you experience any of those symptoms, see your GP immediately.

If you’re being honest with yourself about the calories your consuming and the exercise you’re undertaking then it would become clear if you were taking in more than you were burning off, and that’s the obvious explanation for why you’re getting a bit more cuddly. But what if you’re doing everything you can to lose weight, or even just eating sensibly and exercising regularly to maintain a healthy weight – and you’re still gaining? What could be going on there?

Here are some causes of weight gain that you might want to consider.

1. Stress: we feel stress in the same way that our ancestors felt it, and our ‘fight or flight’ mechanisms kick in. This can mean an increase in cortisol, our ‘stress hormone’, which can increase appetite.

2. Lack of sleep: often related to stress or over-work, biochemically a lack of sleep affects our hormones and increase hunger. If you’re really tired, you’ll often automatically reach for high-sugar, high-energy foods to keep you going. Plus, if you’re awake, you’re more likely to have the opportunity to eat.

3. Medication: some prescribed medication including antidepressants have a side-effect of weight gain. Check the leaflet in the pack for known side-effects and speak to your GP if you think it’s having an adverse effect.

4. Hypothyroidism: how many fat people have you heard bemoaning ‘it’s my thyroid’ as they tuck into a plate of pie and peas? Well, they give the rest of hypothyroidism sufferers a bad name because genuine sufferers can eat relatively little and still gain weight because a reduction of thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland slows the metabolism down. Other symptoms include feeling cold, weak and tired.

5. Age: changes in hormones during the menopause in women don’t actually affect weight, but the aging process does slow down the metabolism.

6. Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS): this is a common problem suffered by women from puberty to menopause that causes lots of little cysts on the ovaries. It changes their hormones and leads to weight gain, lots more body hair, and acne.

7. Stopping smoking: nicotine is an appetite suppressant, so people who have stopped smoking sometimes find themselves hungry for the first time in years. Others just pick things up (like biscuits) and put them in their mouth in substitution of their cigarettes.

If you think that any of the above might apply to you, see your GP. But it’s a good idea to write a food diary – listing everything that passes your lips – for a couple of weeks or even a month, so that you can prove that you’re not gaining weight because of your diet. Also jot down any exercise you take. That might show the doctor that there is a problem to be investigated – or you might realise just how many treats have been creeping into your diet.

However, it would seem that such efforts may be being thwarted by an irregularity in the amount of caffeine contained in coffee served in different cafés and coffee shops. This irregularity could be posing a health risk to pregnant women and their foetuses and scientists have called for information to be made freely available about the levels of caffeine being served.

Research published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal ‘Food and Function’ examined coffee from 20 coffee shops in Glasgow. The difference in caffeine content varied so much that one cup contained six times as much caffeine as another. The research, carried out by the University of Glasgow, suggested that drinking just one cup of espresso (which contained higher levels of caffeine in one coffee shop than another) could create caffeine toxicity in pregnant women, women taking oral contraceptives, children and people suffering from liver disease.

The advice from the Government’s Food Standards Agency currently recommends that pregnant women consume no more than 200mg of caffeine per day. Four of the 20 samples examined by the researchers contained more than 200mg in a single shot of espresso. In a Starbucks, the espresso contained 51mg of caffeine; in a coffee shop called Pattiserie Francoise their espresso contained 322mg. The shots of espresso are also used in preparing milky drinks like cappuccino.

The differences can be caused by the type of coffee used and/or by the way in which it is prepared. Lead researcher Professor Alan Crozier said, “The variations in the amount of caffeine reflect differences in the batch-to-batch bean composition, roasting procedures, grinding conditions and the many variables in the coffee-making process such as water temperature and the ratio of water to coffee.”

At the moment, there is no way for consumers to know how much caffeine is contained in their drinks served in coffee shops. Labels on caffeine-containing soft drinks like cola normally provide information about how much caffeine is contained though.

Caffeine is cleared by the body normally in about five hours, but it can take far longer for women on oral contraceptives, people with liver disease, and pregnant women to process the caffeine and clear it from their systems (up to 30 hours), and this is what makes them more prone to caffeine toxicity.

Professor Crozier added, “The data we have gathered suggests there is a real need for a definitive study of caffeine content and consumption of coffees, and for customers to be given the information they need to make an informed choice about their intake.”

If you’re struggling to conceive, or are wanting to know when your body is most likely to conceive, you might want to just check up on these basics to help you to get to know your body a bit better and understand the science behind conception.

Firstly, you should know about how your body works when it ovulates. Perhaps the only time we get to learn about our menstrual cycle is during sex education lessons in secondary school, when we’re told what to expect when we have our first period. At that time, though, we were probably more interested in knowing when our boobs would grow than what was actually happening to our womb lining.

So, the long and the short of it is: your ‘cycle’ starts on the first day of your period. That’s when your hormones kick in to start eggs growing in follicles in your ovaries. Between days 7 and 11, the hormones tell your womb lining to thicken, to prepare it for the arrival of an egg which will (your body hopes) be fertilised during sex.

Most cycles last between 26 and 35 days. You ovulate normally 10 – 16 days before day one of your next period, so once you’ve worked out when your period is due you can aim to have sex more in the 10 – 16 days before then, since that is when your egg is released and makes its way to your womb.

A good way to tell when you are ovulating is to examine yourself – if you have a slightly sticky discharge, then that is when your body is most fertile. There are online ovulation calculators available, so use those to help once you’ve got an idea of how long your cycles are.

If your periods are irregular (or even if they aren’t) you can use your temperature to measure your ovulation. Progesterone is the hormone released to make the womb lining thicker, and progesterone raises the body temperature slightly. Check your temperature each morning before you get out of bed.

There are also ovulation kits that check your hormone levels present in your urine. These are more reliable than temperature checks, which can be affected by things other than progesterone.

If your egg isn’t fertilised during the cycle, then your womb lining breaks down with the egg and you have a period.

Things that can affect your ovulation include foods (use ‘good’ fats like olive oil rather than ‘bad’ fats like in fastfood and pastries; favour a vegetarian diet over a meat-rich one, though make sure you get enough protein; eat lots of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains), and your weight. Being overweight can significantly affect your ability to fall pregnant. Being 20lbs overweight can make you 10% less likely to get pregnant.

You’re also less likely to fall pregnant the older you get. This doesn’t even mean you have to be ‘old’, either – your fertility starts to decline from the age of 30. If you do fall pregnant, from the age of about 35 your egg production can go a bit haywire, spitting out multiple eggs at a time and increasing the chances of multiple births.

Although there are many cases of older men having babies, in fact sperm count and sperm-motility decrease as the man gets older (from the age of about 45).  

If you’re concerned about the length of time it’s taking you to fall pregnant, particularly if you are age 35 plus then you should see your GP and discuss your options.

There are things you can do to reduce the chances of getting wrinkles (or at least reduce the severity of them) – like wearing SPF factor 15 or above every day (rain or shine) to reduce the exposure to UVA rays that break down the elastic in the skin, or quitting smoking and reducing drinking.

But what do you do if it’s too late for all that, the wrinkles are here??

Many women are turning increasingly to cosmetic fillers, which are substances injected under the skin to plump it up and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Of course, putting on a stone or two will plump out your face just as well, and is more fun in the short-term (though perhaps more unhealthy in the long-run).

Anti-wrinkle treatments are as old as dirt, and people have been trying to convince women to buy products to make them look younger since money was invented. Most products haven’t been tested out properly and offer ridiculous, short-term promises, and may have side-effects. Injectable fillers are nothing new, but are becoming longer-lasting (even permanent in some cases) so it’s important to get them right first time or you’ll have a long time to have to get used to the results.

There are several types of cosmetic filler, with collagen being the most well-known. Here is a sample of some of the treatments available.

1. Collagen: this can be bovine (from cows) or human. Bovine collagen can cause allergic reactions, and to get the best results (assuming no allergic reaction has occurred) the treatment needs to be repeated every 3 to 6 months. Human collagen gives fewer allergic reactions, but is more expensive and has to be repeated at the same rate as bovine collagen.
2. Fat injection fillers: this takes the fat from where you don’t want it (usually thighs or bottom) and puts it where it might do some good by hiding those wrinkles. Sometimes permanent, and few allergic reactions because it’s your own tissue they’re injecting.
3. Hyaluronic acid fillers: this acid is something that occurs naturally in your body but depletes with age. This treatment adds injections of the substance under the skin to top up your body’s natural levels. The effects last longer than collagen (around 9 months or more) and don’t often cause allergic reactions.
4. Synthetic permanent dermal fillers: these generally use a substance called methylmethacrylate microspheres (methylmethacrylate is actually a sort of cement used normally to glue joints back together). It’s used in combination with bovine collagen to be delivered into the skin via several injections. Allergic reactions are possible.
5. Poly-L lactic acid fillers: this stimulates the body’s own skin cells to make their own collagen. It’s not toxic, and because it’s encouraging a natural process allergic reactions are rare. The results can last for several months or even years.

Whatever option you may choose, make sure that you choose a reputable cosmetic surgeon and spend some time discussing the risks and benefits. In particular, make sure that the surgeon you use routinely offers allergy-testing as part of the service.