Different Types Of Pregnancy
Tests
Prenatal vitamins are an important source of folate and
other vital nutrients during pregnancy. And many women, with
the popularity of herbal medicine, take other herbs during
pregnancy. Some of these herbs they may have been taking
before, for an existing condition. Others, they may take to
help cope with some of the physical difficulties that go with
pregnancy. The following supplements and food additives should
be avoided during pregnancy to avoid potential problems with
the health of the baby.
- Quinine - Quinine is found in many drinks like
tonic water, and these are popular as a result of their
slightly bitter taste. But it was found that one woman who
drunk more than 1 liter of tonic water a day whilst she was
pregnant had a baby that was suffering withdrawal symptoms
when it was born. It had nervous tremors within a day of
being born, which disappeared two months later. Germany's
BfR (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) recommends that
pregnant women treat quinine drinks, no matter how small
the amount of quinine in them, as a medicinal product, and
avoid them as a precaution during pregnancy.
- Ginseng - One of the more than 20 active
constituents of ginseng was found by researchers at the
Chinese University of the Hong Kong Prince of Wales
Hospital to be a possible cause for concern for
pregnant women. These researchers were measuring the effect
of this active principle on fetal development in rats. And
they found that, relating to the dose, rat embryonic
development was affected. Higher doses meant a higher level
of abnormalities, according to the markers of development
their study used.
Now, this study was one done on rat embryos, and so may not
translate into similar effects on humans. And it only studied
the effects of one of ginseng's active constituents, which was
a ginsenoside called Rb1. Ginseng actually has over 20
ginsenosides, and other studies have found that these each have
different actions.
One of the difficulties with studying active constituents in
herbal medicine is that the whole herbal extract may have a
very different overall effect than a single constituent. This
is because of the way active principles both work together and
counteract each other. These two aspects, the fact that the
study was not done on humans, and does not measure the overall
effect of the whole ginseng extract, mean that its results
should be treated cautiously. As a safety precaution, at this
time it is best to at least avoid ginseng supplements during
the first trimester, as the authors of the study suggest, and
probably for the whole of the pregnancy. But ginseng should
certainly not be branded dangerous as a result of this research
as it is only a very preliminary finding in the overall
picture, and more points the way as to where further research
needs to be done.
- Ginkgo Biloba - Ginkgo biloba is another
supplement that is best avoided whilst pregnant.
Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit found one
of the constituents of ginkgo biloba in the placenta of
women who had taken ginkgo supplements. This particular
constituent, an alkaloid called colchicine, can be fatal in
high doses, though medicinally, it has great
anti-inflammatory effects. Other research has found that
cochicine can harm a growing fetus. The potential problem
with taking ginkgo supplements regularly whilst pregnant is
that colchicine can build up in the womb, like caffeine
when taken in excess of the recommended maximum amounts.
The researchers did stress that there was no link
established in the study between ginkgo and complications
in the pregnancy, the study only looked at levels of
colchicine in the womb.
References:
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=60554
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=25810
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?id=20934
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