Conversations… | with Dr. Greene

When a nursing woman has a contagious illness, it.s usually safer to keep nursing . perhaps because the breast milk does not contain the germ and also because the milk does contain immune properties to fight the infection. In some situations, however, such as a mother with active phase hepatitis C, HIV, and HTLV-1 infections, it may be wisest to suspend nursing to prevent giving your child the infection. What about cows with mad cow disease? Is their milk safe for our children?

The right type of pregnancy weight gain benefits both you and your baby. Happily, the right type of weight gain is also the kind that turns out to be easiest to shed, according to research published in the November 2003 American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. We’ve known for awhile that the right amount of weight gain is important. Too little, and your baby doesn’t get all she needs to grow. But too much may lead to gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, or a difficult delivery. For most healthy American women the best amount is between 25 and 35 pounds. But not all weight gain is the same. During pregnancy you add both lean body mass (protein and water weight) and fat. It’s normal and healthy to add some of both. It turns out, though, that the added lean body mass is the weight that has been shown to benefit you the most, your baby the most, and to disappear easily after pregnancy. In this study, gains in lean body mass literally vanished, having no effect on post-pregnancy weight. Gaining weight too quickly or without enough exercise leads to packing the extra weight on as fat storage. But gradual weight gain accompanied by moderate, weight -bearing exercise throughout pregnancy can help pack the extra weight on as lean body mass - a great gift to yourself and your baby.

In the U.S., more than $300 million are spent each year on echinacea, mostly in an attempt to treat and prevent the common cold. Colds are especially common in children, who average 3 to 8 colds a year, each lasting about a week. Parents want something natural and gentle that works. But does echinacea work in children? Researchers from the University of Washington and from Bastyr University (an alternative medicine institution) decided to find out.

The cover of the November 14, 2003 Science features a stunning photograph of earth from space, as seen from Apollo 17 in 1972. It boasts the bold headline, .State of the Planet.. Inside is a landmark Harvard study where researchers were able to permanently cure type 1 diabetes in mice by injecting them with spleen cells and a protein to tame the immune system. In type 1 diabetes, the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas have been destroyed by one.s own immune system (autoimmunity). The injected spleen cells functioned as stem cells, and rapidly reproduced into new pancreas cells in the mice.