Study: Moms-to-be should skip licorice

Pregnant women should avoid licorice, which could affect the cognitive abilities of their children, a study suggests.

Licorice contains glycyrrhizin, a sweetener derived from the root of the licorice plant, and is used to flavor candies, soft drinks, herbal teas and other products. Pills and supplements containing concentrated licorice are also a popular herbal remedy for respiratory ailments and other ills.

The analysis, in The American Journal of Epidemiology,

included 1,049 mothers and their healthy infants born in Finland in 1998. Eleven percent of the mothers consumed more than 500 milligrams of glycyrrhizin a week, the amount found in about 8.8 ounces of pure licorice (many licorice candies and foods contain anise flavorings and only small amounts of glycyrrhizin).

At age 13, compared with those whose mothers ate the least licorice, those whose mothers consumed the most averaged 7 points lower on IQ tests and had triple the risk for attention deficit disorder problems. Girls in the high-consumption group also tended to reach puberty earlier and have a higher body mass index.

Glycyrrhizin increases levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, which may affect development of the fetal nervous system.

SPEEDIER DELIVERY

There is a simple, safe and inexpensive method for speeding delivery in women who are in prolonged labor: Add dextrose to the intravenous saline solution.

Prolonged labor can be dangerous for mother and child, but there are a limited number of proven methods for speeding the process. Canadian researchers theorized that injecting dextrose, a simple sugar, during labor might improve muscle performance, leading to speedier delivery. Their study is in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

They randomly assigned 193 first-time mothers to either regular IV saline or a look-alike bag of saline supplemented by a solution of 5 percent dextrose.

Total duration of labor in the dextrose group was, on average, 76 minutes shorter than in the saline group. There was no difference in the mode of delivery between the two groups — unassisted, forceps or cesarean — and no differences in any measure of the baby’s or mother’s health.