In tough times, take care to work on sleep hygiene
Q: I have been having a terrible time falling asleep. The nonstop grim news stories about the virus have me on edge. I am tempted to go back on Ambien even though I had a hard time getting off it last year. Do you have any other suggestions?
A: We completely understand why you and millions of other people are feeling anxious. Finding some quiet time to relax before bed is more important now than ever before. That means no news or video at least an hour before bed. Devoting that time to a hot bath instead can help your body prepare for sleep. Magnesium and melatonin may also be beneficial.
Q: My husband and I like to stay active despite the various aches and pains that come from celebrating a bunch of birthdays. What we worry about most, though, is our brain health. We would like to stay sharp for at least a few more decades. Are there any natural remedies that could help?
A: There are many natural compounds that show some promise for keeping your brain working well. We don’t have any research demonstrating that foods, herbs or spices can ward off dementia, though.
You might want to consider drinking a glass of rosemary water daily. A study in 80 healthy adults showed that they performed better on cognitive tasks after consuming 250 ml (about a cup) of rosemary water than after drinking mineral water (Journal of Psychopharmacology, December 2018).
Turmeric, the yellow spice in yellow mustard and curry powder, is another promising compound for both inflammation and cognitive function. Preliminary research suggests that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, may help prevent cognitive decline with aging (Brain Research,
Dec. 15, 2019).
Q: Fast soup products are often packaged in a plastic foam cup. You add water, nuke it and have a hot lunch in seconds. Even healthy organic brands of rice come in pouches suitable for a hot microwaveable lunch.
I recently noticed the noodle soup package says NOT to microwave the product in the plastic foam cup. That defeats the convenience factor!
The rice products instruct you to cook the product in the pouch.
But now health coaches on some TV news shows tell you NOT to cook products in the pouches, because microwave heat releases some undesirable chemical from the pouches.
What is unhealthy about microwaving the soup in the plastic foam cup? And why not cook
Some pregnant women fear giving birth with no loved ones by their side. Others worry about getting sick with COVID-19 and not being able to hold their newborns. The coronavirus pandemic has injected anxiety and uncertainty to an already stressful time and while science about risks is mostly reassuring, doctors want clearer answers too.
“There is very limited information available,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a George Washington University public health specialist, the rice in the package, who gave birth to a girl, or even eat from the Isabelle, on Friday, accordpackage? ing to the physician’s Twit
A: We consulted with ter account.
Dr. Linda Birnbaum, one of Her greatest fear is dethe country’s leading toxiveloping a COVID-19 infeccologists. She was formerly tion or symptoms that director of the National would force her to be sepaInstitute for Environmenrated from her newborn tal Health Sciences and the for days or weeks.
National Toxicology Pro“I would only be able to gram. see my baby through a
Dr. Birnbaum has studglass window,” said Wen, ied endocrine-disrupting former Baltimore health chemicals for decades. The commissioner. “That’s the compounds alter the way one that gives me nightour hormones function mares.” and are found in many To help provide anplastic products. Heating swers, the University of the contents in the microCalifornia, San Francisco, wave could conceivably recently started the first increase the amounts of U.S. registry of COVID-19 these chemicals that leach infected or exposed preginto the food. nant women. At least 60
Most of the experts we women have enrolled so have consulted over the far. past 20 years recommend Not all have confirmed glass, ceramic or paper cases. Women who turn instead of plastic products out not to be infected will in the microwave oven. remain in the registry as a One study reported that comparison group. heating food in plastic The more women in the containers in the microregistry “the more quickly wave increases migration we can provide the anof endocrine-disrupting swers,” said Dr. Vanessa compounds into the food Jacoby, who heads the (Journal of Agricultural effort. and Food Chemistry, The big questions inAug. 9, 2017). clude: Are pregnant women more likely than others to become infected and to develop complications? Preliminary evidence suggests no.
There is also no defini
In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers.
Send questions to them via peoplespharmacy.com. tive evidence that the virus can be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy, although three small and preliminary studies from China raised that possibility. One paper in JAMA Pediatrics included 33 infants born to infected women; only three babies tested positive, two days after birth, and developed symptoms including pneumonia. All three recovered.
It’s likely their mothers transmitted the disease during or after birth, not during pregnancy, said Dr. David Kimberlin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“The numbers are too small to make any conclusions” about how often infants become infected or how sick they become, Kimberlin said.
Guidance from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine says pregnant women with COVID-19 should be considered high-risk patients. That’s because pregnant women who develop flu or other respiratory infections caused by related viruses face increased risks for complications from those illnesses, including premature births and