Chinese Herbs during Pregnancy: We chat to the Expert!

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A traditional treatment for thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has long been favoured for its medicinal-like purposes, helping treat everything from infertility and reproductive disorders to common everyday ailments. Wanting to know more about how Chinese Medicine can help during the long (and uncomfortable!) months of pregnancy, we turned to Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Mark Chern from Urban Rehabto get his best advice for how to safely useChineseHerbs when youre expecting.

Can I take Chinese herbs when Im pregnant? Is there anything I need to be aware of?Traditionally TCM experts dont usually recommend taking Chinese herbs during pregnancy unless the benefits from using herbs outweigh the possible risks. While herbs are seen as natural and perhaps less harmful than drugs, they may also possess side effects.

Take for example, the use of ginger to combat morning sickness. Despite it having been used empirically for the longest time in history, there is now suggestion that excessive exposure to its aromatic oil gingerol may affect cell reproduction.

The first ten weeks of pregnancy are considered most crucial for the formation and development of the embryo. This is the time when one has to be make important decisions. For example, if there is an infection in the lower reproductive tract, do we use a strong antimicrobial like metronidazole or do we use a herbal equivalent? While metronidazole is not used in early pregnancy for safety reasons, we dont have enough information at present to list all the herbs that are safe for use during pregnancy. All we know is that it is safest to wait till the end of the first trimester to be sure that the baby is well-formed, before dedicating to a course of Chinese herbs.

Are there any Chinese herbs that are safe to take during pregnancy? If so, what are they and how do they help?The most common reason for wanting to use Chinese herbs during the first trimester is to protect the foetus. If a woman has already had one or more previous miscarriages, or is experiencing a threatened miscarriage (that may include pain in the lower abdomen and back, as well as uterine bleeding) then it is natural to ask, Should I protect the foetus?

If you are reassured by the fact that the Chinese have been obsessed with and refining the art of protecting the foetus for more than two thousand years, then making a choice to protect the baby wont be that difficult!

Some of the more common formulas prescribed for protecting the foetus include Foetus Longevity Pill and Calming the Foetus Drink. Some herbs with the specific function of protecting the foetus include Eucommia Bark and Astragalus. Eucommia Bark is often used to treat pain in the lower back. It is especially useful for colder constitutional types, due to its warming and strengthening qualities. Astragalus is a Chinese herb well-known in the West as a valuable adaptogen it is able to improve overall functioning of the body.

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Chinese Herbs during Pregnancy: We chat to the Expert!

Risk of Obesity From Regular Consumption of Fried Foods May Depend on Genetic Makeup

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Newswise Boston, MA People with a genetic predisposition to obesity are at a higher risk of obesity and related chronic diseases from eating fried foods than those with a lower genetic risk, according to a new study from researchers from Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Womens Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. It is the first study to show that the adverse effects of fried foods may vary depending on the genetic makeup of the individual.

Our study shows that a higher genetic risk of obesity may amplify the adverse effects of fried food consumption on body weight, and high intakes of fried food may also exacerbate the deleterious genetic effects, said Lu Qi, lead author and assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at HSPH and Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

The study appears online March 18, 2014 in the British Medical Journal.

The researchers analyzed data from 9,623 women in the Nurses Health Study, 6,379 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and 21,426 women in the Womens Genome Health Study. Participants filled out food frequency questionnaires that asked how often they ate fried foods both at home and away from home. Body mass index (BMI) and lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, were also assessed. Genetic risk scores were calculated based on genetic variants associated with BMI.

The results showed that regular consumption of fried foods was associated with higher BMI, after taking into account other dietary and lifestyle factors. In addition, the study showed that the association between overconsumption of fried foods and obesity was particularly pronounced among people with a greater genetic predisposition to obesity. On the other hand, the genetic effect on BMI among those who ate fried foods more than four times a week was about twice as large compared with those who ate them less than once a week.

Our findings indicate that genetic risk of obesity could be mitigated by simply changing an eating habit, said Frank Hu, co-author and professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH. From a public health point of view, everyone should be encouraged to adopt healthy eating habits, not just those who are genetically susceptible.

This study was supported by grants DK091718, HL071981, HL073168, CA87969, CA49449, CA055075, HL34594, HL088521, U01HG004399, DK080140, P30DK46200, U01CA137088, U54CA155626, DK58845, DK098311, U01HG004728, EY015473, CA134958, DK70756 and DK46200 from the National Institutes of Health, with additional support for genotyping from Merck Research Laboratories.

Fried food consumption, genetic risk, and body mass index: gene-diet interaction analysis in three U.S. cohort studies, Qibin Qi, Audrey Y. Chu, Jae H. Kang, Jinyan Huang, Lynda M. Rose, Majken K. Jensen, Liming Liang, Gary C. Curhan, Louis R. Pasquale, Janey L. Wiggs, Immaculata De Vivo, Andrew T. Chan, Hyon K. Choi, Rulla M. Tamimi, Paul M. Ridker, David J. Hunter, Walter C. Willett, Eric B. Rimm, Daniel I. Chasman, Frank B. Hu, Lu Qi, British Medical Journal, online March 18, 2014

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Risk of Obesity From Regular Consumption of Fried Foods May Depend on Genetic Makeup

Guest column: Libertarianism 101, by leader of The Cato Institute

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By Robert A. Levy

Naples

Chairman, The Cato Institute

Libertarianism is a political philosophy grounded on these propositions: Adult individuals have the right and responsibility to decide important matters about their own lives, but they may not infringe on the equal rights of others. Governments role is to secure those rights. The key word, from the Declaration of Independence, is secure, not grant. We do not get our rights from government. Individuals have natural rights, independent of government. Thats a bedrock libertarian principle and, its fair to say, the Founders were libertarians.

Within that framework, consider the polemic against libertarianism by Rev. Michael P. Orsi (Libertarian Candidate Not Good, Naples Daily News, March 16) as reduced to five assertions:

1. Extreme individualism is contrary to the common good.

Libertarians understand the necessity of cooperation to attain personals goals. My colleague, Tom Palmer, observes that individuals can never actually be self-sufficient, which is precisely why we must have rules to make peaceful cooperation possible. Government enforces those rules. The risk, however, is that rules too extensive will produce, not a common good for all, but rather a veneer for a system of special favors to secure largesse for the politically connected at the expense of others. By contrast, individualism promotes the common good, spontaneously, as long as no commanding power preempts freely chosen actions.

2. Belief in every man for himself is incompatible with concern for the poor.

From an ethical perspective, it may be morally right to help the poor; but in a completely free society we should have a political right not to do so. Put differently, a theory of justice is not always congruent with a theory of politics. One can condemn bad conduct without empowering government to take remedial action. Yes, charity is a virtue. But government-compelled charity is a contradiction in terms a political act that negates real charity, which must be voluntary, not coerced.

As it happens, the evidence proves conclusively that more wealth including a greater abundance for the poor is a by-product of individual liberty.

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Guest column: Libertarianism 101, by leader of The Cato Institute

Rand Paul 2016: Front-runner or overrated? (+video)

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Sen. Rand Paul has won several recent straw polls and surveys, and his brand of libertarianism seems to be on the rise in his party. But anointing him the early GOP front-runner for 2016 may be going too far.

Is Rand Paul really the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination? Theres some chatter to that effect at the moment among Washingtons pundit class. It was sparked by last weekends victory for the Kentucky senator in another straw poll, this one at the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference. Then CNN/ORC released a poll on Sunday with Senator Paul leading the list of potential nominees for GOP and GOP-leaning voters.

Washington Editor

Peter Grier is The Christian Science Monitor's Washington editor. In this capacity, he helps direct coverage for the paper on most news events in the nation's capital.

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As CNN notes, thats a feat that Pauls father, Ron Paul, never accomplished in all his years running for president.

Plus, Paul is already making good use of his fathers base of committed donors, notes Washington Post political expert Chris Cillizza. Hes done well in the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Pauls brand of libertarianism seems to be on the rise in his party, particularly among young Republicans.

Its past time people start taking him seriously as a potential Republican nominee, Mr. Cillizza writes.

Well, sure. Paul himself seems intent on making a serious run. Where his fathers presidential efforts seemed more purely ideological, based on promoting the libertarian brand, Paul is doing the sort of stuff you do if you actually plan on trying to win the thing. Thus hes established an alliance of sorts with the very establishment Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, his fellow Kentuckian.

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Rand Paul 2016: Front-runner or overrated? (+video)