Journal of women's health
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Journal of women's health · Feb 2021
Environmental Factors Involved in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality.
Nongenetic, environmental factors contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality through chemical exposures via air, water, soil, food, and consumer products. Pregnancy represents a particularly sensitive window of susceptibility during which physiological changes to every major organ system increase sensitivity to chemicals that can impact a woman's long-term health. Nonchemical stressors, such as low socioeconomic status, may exacerbate the effects of chemical exposures on maternal health. ⋯ Epidemiological studies linking exposures to adverse maternal health outcomes underscore the importance of environmental health impacts, and mechanistic studies in model systems reveal how chemicals perturb biological pathways and processes. Environmental stressors are associated with a variety of immediate maternal health impacts, including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, fibroids, and infertility, as well as long-term maternal health impacts, such as higher risk of breast cancer and metabolic disorders. Identifying and reducing a pregnant woman's environmental exposures is not only beneficial to her offspring but also important to preserve her short- and long-term health.
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Maternal dysglycemia-including diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, and impaired fasting glucose-affects one in six pregnancies worldwide and represents a significant health risk to the mother and the fetus. Maternal dysglycemia is an independent risk factor for perinatal mortality, major congenital anomalies, and miscarriages. Furthermore, it increases the longer-term risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular morbidity, malignancies, and ophthalmic, psychiatric, and renal diseases in the mother. ⋯ Because a precise diagnosis determines the appropriate treatment and outcome of the pregnancy, it is imperative that a better definition of maternal dysglycemia and its treatment be achieved. This article will address some of the controversies related to diagnosing and managing maternal dysglycemia. In addition, the article will discuss the impact of maternal dysglycemia on complications experienced by the mother and infant, both at birth and in later life.
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Journal of women's health · Feb 2021
Immune Regulation, Maternal Infection, Vaccination, and Pregnancy Outcome.
About 12.5% of all maternal deaths in the United States are due to infectious causes. This proportion, although stable during the past three decades, represents an increase in infectious causes of mortality, as the overall mortality rate in U. S. pregnant women had increased steadily during that same period. ⋯ This immunological paradigm, however, results in increased susceptibility to infectious diseases during pregnancy, particularly in later stages and during the early postpartum period. The inflammatory process induced by these infectious insults, as well as some noninfectious insults, occurring during pregnancy can disrupt this carefully achieved balance and, in turn, lead to a state of rampant inflammation, immune activation, and dysregulation with deleterious health outcomes for the mother and fetus. Elucidating mechanisms contributing to the disruption of this immunologic homeostasis, and its disruption by infectious pathogens, might offer opportunities for interventions to reduce maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality.
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Journal of women's health · Feb 2021
Physiological Need for Calcium, Iron, and Folic Acid for Women of Various Subpopulations During Pregnancy and Beyond.
Women tend to supplement their diets with multivitamin/mineral (MVM) supplements more often than men, and reports indicate that more than 90% of pregnant women in the United States supplement their diets with prenatal MVMs. Given the widespread use of MVMs among women and given the increasing efforts to unveil the importance of phenotype-specific health determinants, it seems imperative to review what is known about variations in nutrient physiology among women from different ethnic and racial groups and at different reproductive stages of life. In this study, we embark on an assessment of the scientific evidence and knowledge gaps that impact the precise determination of nutrient levels (specifically calcium, iron, and folic acid) that confer benefits to various subpopulations of women in the United States.
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Journal of women's health · Feb 2021
Clinical Outcomes in High-Risk Pregnancies Due to Advanced Maternal Age.
Although the influence of advanced maternal age (AMA) and delayed childbearing on adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes has been studied extensively, no universal consensus on the definition of AMA exists. This terminology currently refers to the later years of a woman's reproductive life span and generally applies to women age ≥35 years. AMA increases the risk of pregnancy complications, including ectopic pregnancy, spontaneous abortion, fetal chromosomal abnormalities, congenital anomalies, placenta previa and abruption, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and cesarean delivery. ⋯ Links between preeclampsia and the risk of future development of cardiovascular disease require follow-up surveillance. The association between hypertensive pregnancy disorders and cognitive and brain functions needs further investigation of sex-specific risk factors across the life span. Educating providers and women of AMA is crucial to facilitate clinical decision making and such education should consider cultural influences, risk perception, and women's health literacy, as well as providers' biases and system issues.