Preeclampsia, problems for kids linked
Preeclampsia is a condition characterized by high blood pressure and high amounts of protein in the urine, which can damage fetal development and endanger a woman’s health. Afterward, mom may develop high blood pressure and heart disease. Now we know it can cause mental, behavioral and emotional problems in children.
A Finnish study of 4,743 mother-child pairs, published in the journal Hypertension, found that kids had a 66 percent higher risk of mental disorders if their moms had preeclampsia.
The causes of preeclampsia are complex, but you can reduce the risk by losing weight if you are overweight, not smoking anything, getting your blood pressure under control, exercising regularly and, if you have a high-risk pregnancy, taking an 81-milligram aspirin daily after your 12th week.
Early diagnosis and treatment can control preeclampsia and help assure you and your baby will be healthy for years to come. That’s why it is so important for all pregnant women to have regular prenatal visits.
How to brew healthiest coffee
A French press is 1) an exercise that builds triceps strength — you lie on your back and raise and lower a barbell by straightening and bending your arms — and 2) a way to strengthen the flavor of brewed coffee by allowing more of the beans’ oils to permeate the liquid.
Well, we don’t recommend No. 1, because you can injure yourself too easily. Dr. Mike says instead you should try the shoulder matrix exercise, which he described on Sharecare. com: Holding a 2-pound dumbbell in each hand, position the weights at your shoulders. Press them straight over your head. Bring them back down to your shoulders. On your next repetition, press them up and slightly to the left. Next time press to the right, then forward, then slightly backward. Repeat the cycle.
No. 2, French press coffee, turns out not to be a good idea either. A recent study looked at coffee brewing methods and the risk for heart attack and death, and it adds an exclamation point to what we’ve said for years: Unfiltered coffee ups the risk of cardio woes, and filtered coffee is safest — safer even than drinking no coffee at all.
The research, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, reveals that a cup of unfiltered coffee contains about 30 times the concentration of harmful lipid-raising substances compared with filtered coffee.
Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.