Miracle Pregnancy

We want our kids to eat healthy, but what happens when certain foods are hard to swallow?

We recently got this question from a viewer:

Q: Hi Dr. Manny. Every once in a while, if my sons have strawberries or apples, their throats itch. They’re not typically allergic to these foods. Is this something I should be concerned about?

A: For some people who have hay fever, fresh fruits, vegetables and certain nuts and spices can trigger an allergic reaction that causes the mouth to tingle or itch.

Pollen-food allergy syndrome – sometimes known as “oral allergy syndrome” – can cause these symptoms. In more severe cases, it can even lead to swelling of the throat or worse.

These reactions are caused by specific proteins found in certain fruits and vegetables, which are similar to the allergy-causing proteins found in pollens.

For example, if you’re allergic to ragweed, you might also have a reaction when eating melons. If you’re allergic to birch pollen, apples may be the trigger.

Cooking fruits and vegetables can help avoid allergic reactions, but it is important to visit an allergist to get tested.

A recent study showed that about two percent of patients with oral allergy syndrome may suffer from anaphylactic shock, a serious reaction that could be deadly without immediate treatment.

No matter how young an individual may feel at heart, little can currently be done to counteract the effects of natural cardiovascular aging. As an adults ages, his or her heart grows larger and its walls thicken, often leading to a disease known as diastolic heart failure. This is the most common form of age-related heart failure and despite the fact that it affects millions, there is no known treatment.

However, in a breakthrough discovery, researchers at Harvard University have pinpointed a protein that, when injected into the blood of mice, is able to reverse aging in the heart within 30 days – effectively turning old hearts young again.

“We’ve developed this potentially broadly-acting rejuvenative protein and we are excited to understand its potential in humans,” study author Amy Wagers, a professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, told FoxNews.com.

Wagers and her colleagues identified the protein, known as GDF-11, over many years of research. Because aging occurs more or less uniformly throughout the body, the researchers had long suspected that one specific factor essentially signals to all of the body’s tissues how they should function as a context of age.

“We looked in the blood stream, because the blood carries things to all parts of the body; that would be a logical place for that substance to be traveling,” Wagers said.

Eventually, they zeroed in on the protein GDF-11.

“(The protein) was very high in the blood of young mice and low in the blood of old mice, suggesting that could have an impact on aging,” Wagers said.

After discovering the protein, Wagers and her colleagues decided to study the impact it had on cardiovascular aging. They injected GDF-11 into the blood streams of older mice in order to increase their GDF-11 levels to match the levels found in younger mice.

After 30 days, the researchers examined the hearts of the older mice, which had previously shown thickened walls similar to those in older humans. The researchers found that the thickening had reversed, and the hearts of the older mice now looked almost identical to those of the younger mice.  

“The older hearts really did look almost the same at a gross anatomy level. I’m certain there are still some differences, but it was quite dramatic how much rejuvenation (there was),” Wagers said.

While previous research has shown regenerative treatment through the use of stem cells in spinal and muscular-skeletal systems, Wagers and her team were shocked to discover that a protein could have a regenerative effect on the heart.

“I was very surprised, actually,” Wagers said. “The process I had in my mind was that it was a process of controlling function in normally regenerative tissues and replacing cells all the time.”

Because GDF-11 can be circulated through the blood system, it offers a “very therapeutically accessible opportunity,” Wagers noted.

Researchers estimate that four to five more years of testing and research still needs to be done before clinical trials could begin.  However, Wagers and her colleagues hope to one day use this discovery to help reverse cardiovascular aging in humans as well.

“We hope that by providing this protein, we could reverse that heart enlargement, and that would have a benefit to the many patients who have this form of heart disease,” Wagers said.

This research was published on May 9 in the journal Cell. 

If expectant mothers catch the flu during pregnancy, their babies could be four times as likely to develop bipolar disorder later in life, BBC News reported.

Bipolar disorder, typically diagnosed in the late teens or twenties, causes intense mood swings ranging from depression to feelings of manic joy. The majority of bipolar cases have no relation to the flu.

Researchers emphasized that the overall risk of flu-related bipolar remained low, leading to only a 3 to 4 percent increased chance that the child will later develop the disorder.

“The chances are still quite small. I don’t think it should raise alarms for mothers,” lead study author Alan Brown said.

Brown advised expectant mothers to get a seasonal flu vaccine to reduce their chances of catching the virus.  

The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, followed 814 expectant women that gave birth in the 1960s.

Similar studies have indicated there may also be a link between the flu and schizophrenia, BBC News reported.

Dr. Fiona Gaughran, lead consultant psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust, said, “This highly regarded group of researchers has reported similar links between schizophrenia and various maternal infections.

“If future work confirms the link reported here, policymakers may need to consider implications for flu prevention pre-pregnancy, but mothers need not be worried.”

Click here for more from BBC News. 

An 87-year-old Swiss woman who suffered painful spasms in her chest turned out to have an esophagus that twisted itself into a corkscrew shape whenever she swallowed, according to a report of her case.

The woman had lost 11 pounds in the past several months, and told doctors she had cramplike spasms shortly after eating.

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Her doctors performed an endoscopy and found that, when she swallowed, her esophagus had the same helical shape as a playground twisty slide.  

X-ray images revealed the startling, corkscrew shape taking form.

“The magnitude of this finding was extraordinary,” said Dr. Luc Biedermann, of the University Hospital Zurich, who treated the woman and reported the case in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

Although the condition is unusual, it has been encountered before. In fact, another elderly female patient, 89 years old, who complained of difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain and frequent belching, also turned out to have her esophagus twisting into a helical shape when she swallowed, according to a 2003 case report in the same journal.

Dr. Michael Vaezi, who specializes in treating “esophageal motility disorders” at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, said he has seen the condition many times.

While primary care doctors may rarely see this disorder, at his center, they “encounter these patients on weekly basis.”

Dr. John Pandolfino, a gastroenterologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, explained that this strange phenomenon occurs because of the way the muscles of the esophagus contract. Normally when a person swallows, the muscle fibers that encircle the top of the esophagus contract first, and then as they relax, the muscles just below them contract, and this wave of contraction continues all the way down to the stomach.

But in a person with this condition, all the muscles contract simultaneously. As a result, rather than moving food downward toward the stomach, the muscles pull the esophagus itself into a spiral shape.

Why this happens, however, is still unknown. Vaezi said “some have speculated that gastroesophageal reflux (GERD) could be playing a role.”

While there is no cure for the condition, the doctors in the study tried to treat the patient’s symptoms by giving her high-dose proton-pump inhibitor drugs, which are typically used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, and long-acting calcium channel-blockers, which Vaezi said can help to scale down the “squeeze” of the esophagus’s contractions.  

In this patient’s case, neither drug had much of an effect.

In some cases, “Botox of the esophagus has also been tried with limited success,” Pandolfino said, “but it only lasts six to 12 months, so it’s not a good long-term solution.” A last-resort solution may include surgery of the esophageal muscles.

Copyright 2013 MyHealthNewsDaily, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

For George Estreich, the decision to write a book about his daughter, Laura, and her diagnosis of Down syndrome came naturally.

A college writing professor and former poet, Estreich started documenting his life with Laura in 2001, when she was 3 ½ months old, shortly after she had undergone heart surgery. 

This month, he released his book “The Shape of the Eye,” in which he aims to change the negative connotations associated with Down syndrome. When Estreich looks at Laura’s face, he doesn’t see her disability, he sees his lovely daughter – and wants others to see the same thing.

Laura wasn’t diagnosed with Down syndrome until she was 2-weeks-old. At the time of her birth, doctors noticed that she had almond-shaped eyes, which are often a characteristic of Down syndrome. But Estreich brushed off their concerns, attributing the feature to his  Japanese ancestry. Still, doctors wanted “peace of mind.”

“For those first two weeks, we just didn’t know,” Estreich, 48, told FoxNews.com. “We were just waiting for the results.”

Estreich, and his wife Theresa, had an older daughter, Ellie, who is now 17 – and at the time, life seemed pretty good. Estreich had stopped teaching to focus on raising Ellie, while Theresa worked full-time as a scientist.

But upon Laura’s diagnosis, their lives changed.

“Things were difficult at first,” Estreich admitted. 

Unknown territory 

Laura had a congenital heart defect, which was ultimately fixed during surgery, and a feeding disorder that required her to be fed through a tube in her nose about six months, which was difficult for Theresa, who had wanted to continue breastfeeding.

Once they got through those challenges, Estreich and his wife had to figure out how to cope with Laura’s developmental issues. With Ellie, Estreich and his wife knew what to expect – they had an idea of when she would crawl or walk or say her first words. With Laura, it was all unknown territory.

Estreich set out to research and learn everything he could about Down syndrome, which was named after Dr. John Langdon Down, who first recognized the genetic condition in the 19th century. Individuals with Down syndrome develop a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21 at conception, which causes subtle changes in development, according to Estreich.

Physical traits of Down syndrome may include low muscle tone, small stature, a slant to the eyes and a single deep crease across the center of the palm; however, each individual is different and may have varying degrees of these characteristics, according to the National Down Syndrome Society.

The Society estimates one in every 691 babies born in the U.S. have Down syndrome, or approximately 400,000 Americans.

Though the risk of giving birth to a baby with Down syndrome increases with a mother’s age, doctors don’t know exactly what causes Down syndrome. With recent advancements in medical technology, the lifespan of individuals with Down syndrome has gone up tremendously: As many as 80 percent of adults with the condition reach the age of 60 or older, according to the National Down Syndrome Society. This is largely due to corrective heart surgeries, like the one Laura had in her first year of life.

The Estreichs, who now live in Corvallis, Ore., opted not to do any prenatal screening during Theresa’s pregnancy; they figured it was pointless since false-positive rates are so high, and they didn’t want to have an amniocentesis, which can increase the chance of a miscarriage. Theresa insisted no matter what a test discovered, she wouldn’t have terminated the pregnancy anyway.

Still, the diagnosis was a shock to the couple.

By 21 months old, Laura was able to walk, crawl and eat. As she grew older, she continued to thrive, even if it was at a slower pace.

Now, at the age of 12, Estreich said she’s pretty much like any other girl on the verge of being a teenager. She enjoys playing video games, especially Minecraft, Halo and Just Dance. She loves going out to eat – especially if it involves pizza, and she participates in a national program called Girls on the Run. Laura has completed three 5K runs in the past few years, improving her time with each race.

And, much to Estreich’s delight, she enjoys assisting him in house renovations, something he talks about throughout the book.

“I don’t know what it is for boys; it’s therapeutic to break things,” Estreich said of his obsession with home-renovations.

‘There are no special needs’

At school, Laura is included in mainstream classes about 60 percent of the time, Estreich said, adding that she has a wide variety of friends – including those with disabilities and those without.

Asked whether Laura knows she has Down syndrome, Estreich said he isn’t sure. “As far as she’s concerned, it’s Tuesday, she’s going to school, and she’s putting on a tutu and a tiara. I’m not even sure how she gets away with that.”

Estreich said he doesn’t think she really identifies with the condition – but doesn’t think it matters too much.

“The term special needs – well, someone made a point – there are no special needs,” Estreich said. “For my older and younger daughter, the needs are the same: to thrive and belong, and the way they go about that will be different. We’re trying to help her the best we can, (to) be what she can be. If we have to address Down syndrome to do that, we do. Otherwise, it’s ‘do your homework.’”

As for the future, Estreich hopes Laura can hold down a job, have friends and live with as much independence as possible. Estreich said he believes that Laura will even be able to live on her own someday.

And when people read his book, Estreich wants them to take away this message: They should see a person first – as opposed to the disability. Laura isn’t defined by the shape of her eyes, but rather her cheerful personality.

“I’d like people to think about who belongs in our society, and the obstacles to belonging,” Estreich said.  “And (the book is) not just about (Laura) developing and getting through her medical troubles – but about my development as a parent.”

Over the years, many of my clients on quests to eat healthier and lose weight have told me, “I do great all day, but at night, everything just seems to fall apart.” Sometimes this happens because evening hours are less busy and structured, or because we create patterns that once formed are difficult to break, like nibbling while cooking, or always eating a sweet treat after dinner. But now, new research shows that our bodies may be physiologically programmed to crave cookies after dark.

A study in the journal Obesity concludes that our internal clock, the circadian system, prompts us to reach for sweet, starchy, and salty foods in the evenings, especially around 8:00 p.m. Throughout history, this built-in need to feed may have helped our ancestors store fat to survive when food was scarce, but today, it can take a hefty toll on your health and your waistline. So, how do you fight it? Here are six tips to prevent going overboard in the evening.

Connect the dots

For many people, eating in general, regardless of what time, tends to be mindless. But when you start thinking about food as fuel for activity, it can help bring the importance of quality and balance into focus. In a nutshell, the fate of a meal or snack depends on what’s going in your body during your post-noshing hours. Eating the bulk of your food in the evening, when your activity level is low, results in winding up with far more fuel than you body needs, and the surplus gets sent straight to your fat cells.

Your body also does the bulk of its maintenance, healing, and repair work while you sleep, so the quality of the food you eat close to bedtime is key. Processed junk won’t provide the building blocks that go to work to build muscle tissue, maintain a healthy immune system, and keep your skin looking radiant.

Health.com: Best Superfoods for Weight Loss

Break associations

If your nightly routine involves eating more than you’d like, consciously break the pattern. Just changing the order of your evening activities can help. For example, if you tend to munch while going through your mail, as you stand in the kitchen, sort it in the bedroom instead. If you tend to grab snacks during TV commercials, use those breaks to get small tasks done—fold laundry, iron, pick out your clothes for work the next day, load or unload the dishwasher, or groom your pet.

Simply breaking the connections between certain activities and eating can help your brain let go of the notion that it doesn’t feel “right” not to follow through. Setting up new routines may seem forced or awkward at first, but before long, the healthier pattern will become your new normal.

Health.com: 16 Ways to Lose Weight Fast

Pre-plan meals

If you’re worn out after a long day, thinking about what to make for dinner can feel like a burden, or at the very least a chore. Without healthy options in place, it’s so easy to order take out, make a meal out of less than optimal snacks, or reach for comfort foods. But putting healthy options in place doesn’t have to be a time suck. If you don’t feel like being creative, keep the ingredients for a few quick go-to meals on hand, so you can whip them up in a jiffy.

One of my favorite quickies is a simple lentil salad. I always keep my fridge stocked with organic greens, and steamed vacuum-sealed lentils (you can find these in the produce section). I simply toss the greens with balsamic vinegar, add a scoop of lentils, sprinkle with sliced almonds, and pair with a serving of 100 percent whole grain crackers (or crush them on top). While not as fancy as my usual fare, within minutes, dinner is done, and far more nourishing and satisfying than a frozen entrée or bowl of cereal.

Health.com: 30 Quick-and-Easy Fat-Burning Recipes

Keep a journal

I know, I know, you’ve heard this a million times, but it’s one of those tried and true tools that just works. One recent study found that women who kept food diaries lost about six more pounds than those who did not. Another discovered that keeping a food diary doubled weight loss results. If you’ve been overestimating your body’s needs, underestimating how much you eat, and engaging in a lot of mindless eating (three common missteps), journaling will keep you aware and honest, and can allow you to identify unhealthy patterns, which is the first step to changing them.

Set yourself up for sleep

Staying up late, during the hours you should be sleeping, increases the odds of overeating at night. And numerous studies over the past few years have connected a lack of adequate sleep to weight gain. Prior to the invention of the light bulb (not to mention TVs, smart phones, and laptops), we slept about 10 hours a night. Today, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours on weekends.

Health.com: 7 Tips for the Best Sleep Ever

Believe you can

If you believe you can change your habits and routines, you will. It sounds oversimplified, but that’s the conclusion of a recent study that analyzed data on the diet, exercise, and personality types of over 7,000 people. Those who believed they have the ability to change their lives through their own actions tended to eat healthier, exercise more, smoke less, and avoid binge drinking. When I have clients say things like, “I’ll never be able to change” I ask them to name something else they changed or achieved that they felt doubtful about, but ultimately accomplished. Reminding yourself of your past successes can help you feel more confident about your ability to transform your lifestyle.

If you need support, reach out for it. Friends, family members, co-workers, or even an online community to connect to can help immensely, especially during those moments when you just want to fall back into your old (unhealthy) comfortable routines!

This article originally appeared on Health.com.

A California teen discovered the magnets in iPad 2 tablets and covers are capable of interfering with cardiac rhythm devices, like pacemakers, according to the Heart Rhythm Society.

The research, conducted by 14-year-old Gianna Chien of Stockton, Calif , was presented Thursday at Heart Rhythm 2013, the Society’s 34th Annual Scientific Sessions.

“iPad 2s use magnets to help secure the cover to the tablet. Since people hold tablets so close to their chest, I wanted to see if these magnets could affect cardiac device performance,” said Chien, who initially organized the study as part of a school science fair project.  

Cardiac rhythm devices can be affected by magnets and radiofrequency energy in products ranging from cellphones to MRI machines, the Heart Rhythm Society reported. When cardiac devices are near magnets, they switch into “magnet mode,” which could potentially disrupt function.

With the help of her cardiologist father, Chien asked 26 patients with implantable cardiac devices (ICDs) to hold the iPad 2 at reading distance. At this length, the iPad caused no electromagnetic interference.

However, when participants placed the tablet on their chests, as if they had fallen asleep with the iPad there, “magnet mode” was triggered in 30 percent of patients’ ICDs, the Heart Rhythm Society reported.

“Since tablets are becoming more common, I hope these findings will encourage patients who have or may be a candidate for implantable defibrillators to talk to their doctor about precautions if they use a tablet like the iPad 2,” Chien said.

While previous studies have tested magnet interference in various products, this is the first to look at the iPad 2, the Heart Rhythm Society reported.

Click here for more from the Heart Rhythm Society.