The bisphenol A (BPA) story is not yet over. More revelations about this chemical found in plastics are coming in as scientists are stepping up on BPA research. The recent undesirable BPA effect is female infertility and this was reported by Yale University researchers at the recent meeting of the Endocrine Society.

The Yale researchers have observed that when pregnant mice were exposed to BPA, the genetic chemistry of their female offspring is irreversibly altered. The researchers have the identified the gene in question as HOXA10, which regulates the normal development of the uterus and fertility, not only in mice, but also in humans. BPA sometimes plays havoc with the gene’s switching on and off. They can conceive but their ability to carry the pregnancy to full term is compromised, leading to permanent fertility loss.

In a way, this doesn’t surprise me, considering that BPA is an endocrine disruptor and mimics the effect of estrogen, and therefore plays havoc with hormonal balance.

However, this isn’t the only bad news about BPA.

University of Cincinnati researchers reported irregular heart rhythms in female mice (but not male!) exposed to BPA.

Now, if ever health authorities claim again that current BPA exposure is too low to cause these effects, University of Missouri-Columbia experts will definitely show their new estimate that BPA exposure among Americans is much higher that the so-called maximum safe dose.

These recent findings are alarming themselves but what concerns me are the following:

• Babies in the uterus are exposed and possibly already damaged by BPA even before they are born.
• Females seem to be strongly affected by BPA, because of its capacity to mimic estrogen.

In other words, BPA is affecting our reproductive cycle and will be affecting or has already affected the next generation of mothers.

The scientists at the Endocrine Society Meeting issued a scientific statement declaring that BPA and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals in food, water and consumer products represent a “significant concern to public health.”

I really hope that the health authorities are listening.

I just got back from my “baby doctor” appointment.

The fourth month is a pretty routine visit.  They screen your urine for protein and sugar and take your vitals.  During the appointment, your doctor or midwife will go over your “symptoms” and ask if you have any concerns.  They will ask to make sure that you have no swelling in your face, hands, or feet.  They will also make sure that you aren’t having contractions, cramping or bleeding.  These symptoms can signal a serious complication.

Some  symptoms that have shown up for me in the past few weeks: nosebleeds and a stuffy nose.  I dislike the stuffy nose thing, but I’ve found that if I use nasal strips, it helps me to sleep better at night.  I also find that I get winded more easily than usual.

The midwife measured me and announced that I am large for my date. I am consistently measuring two weeks larger than I should measure she tells me.  They feel that perhaps my dates are off.  Wouldn’t that be nice to deliver earlier than expected?  Maybe….can I get everything done that I need to do two weeks earlier than planned?  We are remodeling to make a room for the baby.  I’m not sure if it will be done by August!

This baby does not like the doppler and flutters around to get away from it.  They had a hard time finding the heartbeat because of that.  The midwife finally found the heartbeat at the very top of my uterus near my belly button!

My next appointment is at the Maternal Fetal Medicine center locally because of my–ahem–advanced maternal age. They’ll be discussing risk factors and doing a level 2 ultrasound to check on the baby. I’m hoping that we might be able to see if our child is a boy or a girl!  My next regular appointment is two weeks after that.

Hysterectomy is a surgical procedure wherein the uterus of a woman is removed completely. This intervention is usually performed in women with cervical cancer. About 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the US each year and about 50% of these also include oophorectomy, which is the removal of the ovaries. The reason why surgeons tend to remove the ovaries as well is preemptive – to prevent the development of ovarian cancer.

However, a recent review of clinical studies indicate that this intervention is actually unnecessary, even unbeneficial to the health of the patient that it is supposed to protect.

Once the ovaries are removed, premature menopause sets in. Under such circumstances, women who are at premenopausal age are placed under hormone replacement therapy which, in recent years, has been linked to many health problems.

However, when the ovaries are left alone, they will continue to produce female hormones that provide protection from many of these problems including heart disease, stroke and age-related disorders such as osteoporosis and dementia.

Another advantage of leaving the ovaries in place is the fact that young women can still have children even if they don’t have a uterus. They can still produce eggs which can then be fertilized and implanted in a surrogate mother’s womb.

There are of course women who have high risks for ovarian cancer and for them, this oophorectomy might be necessary. But for a large of number of premenopausal women, ovary removal is not justified, the study says.

Sources:

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jul 16;(3):CD005638

MedicineNet.com, 18 July 2008

We are in an era of middle-aged moms even though teen pregnancies are always in the limelight. This is the reason why the rate of Cesarean sections has been steadily increasing. The longer women delay in having children, the higher is the risk of having a Cesarean delivery due to impaired womb function. These findings were based on a large body of data collected in Scotland by scientists at Cambridge University.

The research team examined more than 500,000 record entries from 1980 to 2005 to evaluate the relationship between maternal age and labor outcome. Here are some of their results:

• There was a 7-fold increase in the proportion of women aged 35-39 entering their first pregnancy
• There was a 10-fold increase for women aged 40 or older also having their first pregnancy.
• The rate of Cesarean sections has also more than doubled in the same period of time.

This trend seems to be the same in many developed countries as well.

The researchers went on further and looked into the women’s womb. Samples of myometrium which is the muscle from the middle of the uterine wall were taken from 62 women who had elective C-sections.

Their analysis showed that older women tend to have impaired uterine function which results in reduced ability of the uterus to spontaneously contract as well in changes in the type of contraction. This impairment in contraction leads to problems during delivery which eventually ends in a C-section.

C-deliveries can present a lot of risks for the mother and for the child and can lead to a lot of complications, including preterm delivery and low birth weights.