Nausea And Speeding Heart Can Be Signs Of Flu In Pregnant Women

Nausea in pregnant women tends to fade after the first three months, but during the second and third trimesters it can be a sign of flu, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a study of expectant women who sought medical care.

“People don’t necessarily think of influenza when you include the symptoms of nausea or vomiting, but our study showed that they are common with influenza in pregnancy,” said Dr. Vanessa Rogers, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead author of the study, which appears in the May edition of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

“Both physicians and patients should be aware of these findings so treatment is not delayed,” she said. “I think our findings should encourage people to be vigilant and to take symptoms seriously.”

Adults with flu tend not to have nausea or vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These symptoms are more typical in children.

The researchers studied the cases of pregnant women during the 2003-2004 flu season, when the most common strain of influenza caused more severe symptoms than usual. There also were more cases of flu than expected, because the vaccine given that year didn’t match the strain that was predominant. Read more

Losing Weight Quickly Gives More Lasting Results, Study

If you thought the best way to lose and maintain weight was the slow and steady approach, think again. A new study by Lisa Nackers and colleagues, from the University of Florida in the US, suggests that the key to long-term weight loss and maintenance is to lose weight quickly, not gradually, in the initial stages of obesity treatment. Their findings(1) are published online in Springer’s International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Successful weight loss in obese individuals is defined as a reduction of 10 percent or more of initial body weight maintained for at least a year. The jury is still out, however, as to whether fast or slow initial weight loss is the best approach for long-term weight control in obese patients. On the one hand, there is evidence that losing weight slowly initially results in continued weight loss, reduced risk of weight regain, and successful long-term weight loss maintenance. On the other hand, it has also been shown that the greater the initial weight loss in obese patients, the larger the total weight loss observed longer term.

Nackers and team’s study examines the association between rate of initial weight loss and long-term maintenance of lost weight, by looking specifically at whether losing weight at a slow initial rate results in larger long-term weight reduction and less weight regain than losing weight at a fast initial rate. Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »