Category Archives: Diet and Exercise

Exploring importance of maintaining personal and family health in today’s society.

11 Facts about In Vitro Fertilisation

facts about in vitro fertisation

Infertility affects couples around the globe with the inability to produce their own genetic offspring.

Conception will depend on the health status, and production of healthy sperm by the Man, and healthy eggs by the Woman. Both sperm and egg must be able to meet, and ‘implantation‘ of a fertilized egg must be able to take place in the womb.

Natural abilities are sometimes amiss for couples. This inability to attain a pregnancy will cause great anxiety, anger, grief and helplessness. Luckily, health science and research have been developed to help couples with medically assisted reproduction.

Causes of Infertility

Factors that can affect conception to occur for males can be, low/no sperm, malformed sperm, short life sperm, spermatic tube blockage, undeveloped or damaged testes, from STD and/or trauma, or genetic disease.

Mutual immunological incompatibility (blood serum) may be suspect, exposure to pollutants is also another consideration, age, trauma, infections, medications, disease, reproductive organ malformations, high temperatures of male scrotal sac.

Women may face anovulation (failure to ovulate) due to stress, hormonal imbalance, tumor, cyst, ovary disorder, obstructed fallopian tubes, pelvic endometriosis, poor embryo implantation. It’s estimated that 40% of couples are affected with infertility cases.

conception meets
conception meets

Facts about In Vitro Fertilisation Treatment

The use of ‘in vitro fertilisation‘ techniques are one of the treatments offered to help. A few facts about this treatment are:

  1. Dr Edwards, Embryologist, develops human culture media for embryo fertilisation aka the ‘petri dish’ and partners with Dr. Steptoe, Gynecologist, who develops the method of using laparoscopy to implant embryos.
  2. Hostility and criticism was endured by both pioneers, from their peers, government, religious sectors as saying that IVF was creating ‘Frankenbabies’.
  3. Lesley Brown volunteers to undergo the IVF technique and succeeds in conception, declared officially pregnant.
  4. The birth is attended by government officials to document the baby is truly Lesley Brown’s child.
  5. July 1978, England, is the first to announce successful birth of a ‘test tube baby’ with no defects or abnormalities.
  6. IVF treatment availability comes with strict regulations such as specific age, diet, number of embryo transfers and weight next to differing costs.
  7. Medical tourism provides couples to opt for lower cost and regulations, of IVF treatment, in developing nations vs developed nations.
  8. Research today, is exploring how embryos attach to the lining of the womb when implanted thus possibly answering why the IVF cycle can prove unsuccessful.
  9. A high incidence of miscarriages with IVF treatment are common. Studies have shown miscarriages occur due to Aneuploidy, abnormal numbers of chromosomes.
  10. Stem cell research has succeeded in creation of viable offspring in animals but no reports of live human births from artificial gametes has been recorded yet.
  11. Research has shown that approximately 50% of Western men have decreased sperm counts.
artificial insemination procedure

Diagnostics help find Causes

Investigating the underlying causes of infertility are performed for both partners. This may require sensitive and specialized tests to determine if infertility is due to one or both partners.

Most specialists will require both partners to participate in a infertility study. Treatment for infertility are approached specifically with the results from each partner. Basic tests start with physical exams, endoscopy exams, laparoscopy exams, history of traumas, and family history of disease.

infertility diagnostic tests
infertility diagnostic tests

Alternatives to Infertility

Medical studies are on-going, and research never sleeps. A news story reported how a woman had a womb transplant and successful birth, there are Surrogate mothers, artificial insemination, and adoption.

It’s important to keep an open mind after all even science cannot cure infertility. It is a condition that nobody expects and blame is not on any one person. A child of one’s own genes is desirable, and children, all children, are deserving of our love and care.

New methods and discoveries will be, and have been found. One must keep their faith strong whether successful or unsuccessful.

I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments or share with your Friends. Use the ‘Ask a Question’ form and request a topic of your own interest for the next Post.

Learning in Action

Learning Resources

ABO Incompatibility in Newborns

Insurance Coverage for Infertility Treatment PDF

Miscarriage

ACI| An Informal Cornr, all rights reserved. Ginsense writes articles on business skills, development, health, science, technology and society and enjoys advocating for independence, security and a better world for all of us.

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Heart Lesson – Torsades de Pointes

heart issues torsades de pointes
heart waves arrythmia

A healthy heart as we know is a pump that delivers oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood for our bodies to survive.

Our hearts can contract up to 2.5 billion times during a person’s average life. We recognize the heart as one of the most major organs since without it, there’s no life.

Unfortunately, one can be born or acquire ailments that affect our heart, such as ‘Torsades de Pointes‘.

 Learning Heart Arrhythmia

Torsades de pointes refers to a dangerous arrhythmia of the heart. It’s usually not diagnosed or treated correctly, and still a somewhat, difficult condition to identify. Arrhythmias are viewed as a disorder in the normal rhythm and rate of the heartbeat.

Studies have revealed common characteristics of this condition for improved care and treatment depending on which variation exists. These variations refer to congenital or acquired torsades.

Types of Torsades + Heart Rates

Inherited Torsades is due to an inability for ‘ion channels‘ to correctly carry the electrical action/impulse of the heart and acquired version refers to drugs triggering Torsades due to ‘blocking‘ these ion currents. Ion channels describes the flow and rate of electrolytes, sodium and potassium in the heart.

Torsades in action has the heart in a state of ‘polymorphic ventricular tachycardia’. This refers to the heart rate increasing to 150 beats per minute (bpm) and up to 250 bpm. A normal heart rate is anywhere from 60 to 100 bpm.

Athletes can have lower heart rates than 60 bmp. This abnormal heart rate will ‘spontaneously‘ return to a normal beat but can recur and/or progress into ‘ventricular fibrillation ‘(VF) symptoms which can lead to death, if it persists. It is this ‘return to normal‘ action that has made identifying Torsades difficult.

LQTS heart beat wave patterns
LQTS heart beat wave patterns

Onset Signs and Symptoms

Medical research and studies have shown that people with Torsades have their beginnings with ‘fainting‘ due to a drop in blood pressure causing dizziness . Use of an electrocardiogram (ECG) have revealed a ‘long QT interval’ and another term, ‘Long QT Syndrome‘ (LQTS).

A recording of the heart rate may not reveal Torsades in action but definitely that ‘long QT’ or ‘short variant‘ characteristics of Torsades, help provide clues for physicians and health care professionals.

An ECG showing Torsades in action displays an illusion of a swirled rotation (like a ballet dancers’ pirhouette hence it’s name Pointes) on it’s electrical axis, a long and short RR – interval precedes the arrhythmia and follows a premature ventricular contraction (R-on-T PVC). Other symptoms reported are palpitations, rapid pulse, nausea, cold sweats, lightheadedness (short episode) and outright fainting.

Where Torsades gets Found

Torsades is usually found in people that are malnourished, chronic alcoholics, or with hypokalemia (abnormally low potassium), diarrhea, and/or hypomagnesemia (abnormally low magnesium), heart failure, left ventricular hypertrophy (enlarged left ventricle), bradycardia (slow heart rate), hypothermia and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

It is these symptoms and existing disorders that are critical for a physician or health care team to be aware and identify quickly especially before giving medications, known to trigger Torsades.

Torsades can be found in many age groups. When identified in children, it is congenital and may accompany disorders such as Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome, Romano-Ward syndrome and triggered by effects of stress, fear or physical exertion (usually prohibited from competitive sports), whearas in adult years, it is considered acquired.

Treatment and Outcomes

Electrolyte disorders are usually the cause of acquired Torsades and treatable with correcting the imbalance and/or removal of triggering medications.

Treatment for Torsades is available and it’s known there are six different variants of Torsades. Effective treatment will depend on identifying the specific ‘genotype‘ which identifies whether it’s  sodium or potassium channels that are affected.

A family physician may refer their client to a cardiologist, electrophysiologist, or geneticist. Again, failure to identify Torsades has been due to it’s ‘return to normal’ activities and complications of persistent ‘ventricular fibrillations‘ that arise.

Continuous Medical Research

 The existence of Torsades has been known for a few years, and further studies at the molecular and cellular levels have provided leaps forward in better care and treatment. The ‘prevalence‘ of Torsades in the general population is an unknown. Could this be a cause of death for the homeless, mentally or medically challenged people, that have occurred when getting tasered by police?

Learning in Motion

Further Learning Resources

 Drugs with Risk of Torsades de Pointes

 My Majors

 Living with Heart Rhythms

 I hope you found this article informative. Please feel free to leave your comments and Share your friends and family. Use the ‘Ask a Question’ form and Send me request on a topic of interest you have, or to say hello.

 All rights reserved by AIC|An Informal Cornr. Ginsense creates and posts articles about business development, micro business, health, science, technology and society.

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How Healthy can you Get?

jump rope exercising

The days recalling our youth and childhood, brings nostalgic memories of those times when we were footloose and fancy free. Life held mysteries and dread, that beckoned us to step a little closer and dare to seek out the answers, or run as quickly as possible, back home.

Which ever choice you made, it required us to move our bodies. Those were days when our energy levels seemed to be unbearable to contain, and moving whether running, skipping, skating, sledding, was fun! So, what the hey happened that has stopped you?

Days of Yesteryear

Days of high school were spent worrying about what others were thinking of us, or learned to care not an iota, about their opinion. Some had greater worries, bad homes, unstable lives, next to the piles of homework our teachers heaped on us every night.

For some teens life was a struggle or battle, to juggle our worries with so many demands depending on our home environments. Not everybody’s life is idyllic or picture perfect as it seems especially in the suburbs.

Yet, some may have managed to be part of their school’s extracurricular activities such as being part of sports, music or hobby teams. Some teens still got to mix fun, into their daily routines.

school recess exercising
school recess exercises

Obesity moved In

Recent news stories have stated that North Americans have quite high levels of obesity. Parents really should take note to observe their family’s over all activities. There may be quite a few latch-key children that parents prefer to be home or some may allow their child(ren) to be part of their school’s extracurricular activities. Today’s society does require parents ensure the safety and security of their child(ren).

Parents can still provide activities for their children, and teach them early on how to learn and maintain their health. I would highly recommend sitting down together and having a discussion about long term health and importance of staying active.

Active Living Plan

Brainstorm idea’s together, which can be applied. It can start with taking a drive to the nearest park in winters and tobogganing, going out skating, hiking through a national park, swimming at the local public pool, biking through the neighborhood.

fun exercise planning
family exercise planning

The simplest of activities that are great can be walking and dancing. One can add investing in small dumbbells, a skipping rope, and even ankle weights. It’s said that the amount of calories you take in with eating should equal the amount of calories you burn.

A little online research will reveal just how many calories we consume with our diets, as there is a lot of information available. Note the following chart in regards to calories that can be burned with walking at a comfortable pace of 2 m/hr.

Exercise and Calorie Burn Charts

Weight Est. Calorie Burn 30 Minutes

150

105

X

200

145

X

150

180

X

2

200

115

X

350

250

X

400

285

X

 Now, let’s take a look at hiking and how many calories can be burned not to forget, it’s fun! A hilly landscape would burn more. Additional fun would include bringing along your camera, some water and dress appropriately. Good footwear is important and pay attention to your local weather report.

Weight Est. Calorie Burn 30 Minutes

150

215

X

200

285

X

250

360

X

300

430

X

350

500

X

400

575

X

Minding the Calculations of Time

I also have to add here that you can still accomplish the numbers of calorie burning with whatever method you choose. If you split the 30 minutes into two, you have 15 minutes one direction and return trip home, will give you that 30 minutes. A straight 30 minutes one way and another 30 minutes return home will double your number. Got to keep the math in mind.

The following chart reveals just how many calories is burned with my own various exercise activities. Note that they are a MIX of activities. I stand at 5’8 and my weight ranges from 145 – 155 lbs. It doesn’t include my running up and down the stairs with ankle weights and totally missed including the jumping rope exercise.

I don’t even do these exercises all at once but only in quick five minute intervals (except my canoe outings!) throughout my day, since I do work and have parental responsibilities too. A life of leisure sounds great but I get bored too easily.

acalburn

Keep Healthy Foods in your Diet

Diet plays a large part here too. I eat a lot of foods that many, including my own sons, is considered, too healthy. They run away to their extended families some days, yes but I do cook meals they love also. The following chart shows the calories of some of the foods that my own diet provides. Yes, I always have a side of veggies and fruit too. I don’t always eat healthy 24/7/364 either! shhh 😉

Food

Calories

Gram of Fat

McDonalds Salad w/ Ranch

310

23

Chicken Salad, 1 cup

360

18

Steak, 4 oz

218

7

Tuna, in water

110

Trace

Peanut Butter Jelly sandwich

330

15

Bran muffin

140

6

Eggs, boiled, poached

140

12

Vegetable soup

80

2

Regular but not Perfect

Moderation is said to be KEY to maintaining one’s weight with diet. As you can see with the above chart, I don’t totally stay away from ‘bad’ foods. I get my cravings too especially for chocolate. One just has to learn to mix the healthy foods into their diet and practice self-discipline with the ‘bad’ foods then balance it with exercise.

I do this due to a heart defect and recent diagnosis of pre-diabetes. Between my diet and exercise, I get great reports from my doctor. It can be a struggle but at least once you learn, healthy practices can become habit and your children will greatly benefit, for the rest of their lives. So, how healthy do you want to get?

Learning in Motion

Extra Resources

Calorie Calculator

Calorie Burn Calculator

Food Calorie and Nutrition Chart

An Informal Cornr, all rights reserved. Ginsense writes articles on business skills, development, health, science, technology and society and enjoys advocating for independence, security and a better world for all of us.

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