Pregnancy health is important, and a new study tells about how pregnant women can help the health of their child’s liver. Watch on this week’s WLS News. Read the full story

This week on WLS News, learn about a new program creating health awareness for students, and find out why carbs might not be so bad after all – and how they can even help burn fat. Plus, discover how where you live can play a part in your health, get the details on a new survey indicating that many pregnant women who are obese don’t even know it, and see why one insurance company changed its policy about providing coverage to overweight babies. Read the full story

Good Germs May Burn Belly Fat

Single-celled organisms have no free will as we know it, and are therefore morally neutral. However, some of them by their nature cause us harm, while others do us good. We call the harmful ones “germs”; the beneficial bacteria we call “probiotics”  –  from the Greek words that mean “beneficial to life”.

Probiotics are tiny critters that live inside us, going wherever we go, and they pay for the ride by aiding our digestion and health. And, what’s more, they may also help women control belly fat during the period after pregnancy.

Researchers from the University of Turku in Finland studied a group of 256 pregnant women during their first trimesters. The group was subdivided into three groups:

•    Women in one of the groups received dietary counseling and capsules containing the probiotic bacteria lactobacillus and bifidobacterium

•    The second group also got the counseling, plus a selection of healthful foods to take home, but received placebo capsules

•    And the third group just got the placebo and nothing else.

One year after giving birth, women in all three groups were measured and weighed. The results: 25% of the women who had been given the probiotics and the counseling were obese – but 43% of the women who got only the counseling had become obese, as had 40% of the women who got neither probiotics nor dietary advice.

So do probiotics help fight belly fat? Researchers behind these findings think so, but stress the need for further study before definitively ruling on the question. It is also unknown what effect (if any) probiotics may have on the health of unborn children. As always, if you are pregnant, consult your obstetrician before making any dietary or lifestyle changes.

In the May 22, 2009 edition of WLS News, learn about the link between allergies and obesity, and find out which friendly bacteria can help you shed those extra pounds. Also, get the scoop on a new initiative to address obesity-related heart disease in women, learn which state is now covering weight loss surgery for state employees, and hear one expert’s recommendation for overcoming our nation’s obesity epidemic. We’ll also tell you which deadly sin might be less deadly than thought, and check in with Yvonne McCarthy about what’s new in weight loss support on the World Wide Web. Read the full story

High Prolactin May Lower Metabolism

A recent doctoral thesis by Louise Nilsson of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden explores the function of the hormone Prolactin, which is naturally high in women who are pregnant or breast feeding. Prolactin is what stimulates the mammary glands right before lactation. It is also present in men at lower levels.

This hormone aids in the function of the nervous system and helps provide humans with sexual pleasure. When present in normal levels, prolactin helps regulate the body.

However, the new thesis proposes that prolactin levels can be raised too high by some prescription drugs, by stress or by hypothyroidism. When this happens, the body responds badly.

Fatty tissue in both genders may respond by reducing the amount of another hormone called adiponectin, which aids in fat metabolism. Prolactin can also reduce the ability that human fatty tissue has to store sugar and fat, thus causing the tissue to release those elements into the bloodstream. This alone can raise a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

Nilsson’s thesis stated more than 30,000 men and women in Sweden may have raised levels of prolactin. And a study from our National Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases Information Service explains that too much of it can be symptomatic of having a tumor in the pituitary gland. Such tumors, however, are almost always benign.

Get the latest updates on research related to the treatment of obesity and related health issues, and lifestyle tips for keeping the pounds off post-op, each week on WLS News!

In the February 27, 2009, edition of WLS News, we’ll look at the relationship between belly fat and migraines, report on how junk food is affecting our teens’ health, and check on the up-sizing of kids’ clothing as a result of rising childhood obesity rates. We’ll also find out which foods can keep your liver healthy, and new research linking obesity during pregnancy with increased birth defects. Plus, WLS Journeys host Yvonne McCarthy will report in with one of her favorite websites for WLS information and support. Click below to tune into this week’s newscast!

Organizations mentioned in this week’s news:

• Migraine Research Foundation
  
• Drexel University College of Medicine
  
• National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
  
• University of Barcelona
  
• Beth Zuber-Beckwith (Registered Dietician)
• UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
• California Health Interview Survey
• Fruit & Veggies Matter (CDC website)
• The Skinny Online (WLS blog by Lisa Sargese)
• Bariatric Girl (Yvonne McCarthy’s WLS support site)
• Journal of the American Medical Association
• Newcastle University (United Kingdom)
• National Childrenswear Survey
• Select Research (U.K. research agency)
• Bariatric Advantage (nutritional supplements)

Bariatric surgeon Dr. Rachael Keilin addresses the benefits of the Lap-Band® for women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant in this quick, informative video.

PREGNANCY WITH THE LAP-BAND®: TRANSCRIPTION

Read the full story

Obesity May Complicate Pregnancy, Studies Say

Women who struggle with their weight and are hoping to have a family should take note. A recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that women who are obese during pregnancy run a higher risk of having children with certain birth defects.

Doctors from Newcastle University in the U.K. examined nearly 40 previous studies of overweight moms and the risk of birth defects. They found that on average, obese mothers were twice as likely to bear children with neural tube problems, including spina bifida, than mothers who were a healthy weight. The risks of other abnormalities, like heart defects, cleft palates, and hydrocephalus, were also higher in studies of overweight moms.

The researchers involved in the analysis say that further study on the relationship between maternal weight and birth defects is needed to accurately assess the danger to babies posed by maternal obesity.

Now, if you’re overweight and pregnant, don’t let these figures make you upset. The data were derived from large-scale studies of pregnant women and infants – statistically speaking, the extra risk involved in any given pregnancy – say, yours – is relatively small. The best thing you can do to protect your baby is to stay healthy, eat right, and follow the advice of your OB-GYN.