It may leave the woman with persistent high blood pressure. Blood pressure may also rise in pregnancy due to kidney disease or essential hypertension. No matter what the cause, severe high blood pressure may have serious consequences for the baby.
Some drugs may cross the placenta and affect the child and others may reduce placental circulation. The blood pressure may rise alarmingly during labor.
If it affects the foetus, it may be necessary to induce labor before term and sometimes to cut short the labor by caesarian section.
High blood pressure has few, if any, symptoms but serious complications. There is evidence that treating this condition can reduce the risk of complications and thus be true preventive medicine.
But problems arise for doctors in deciding when to treat and with what, and for their patients in deciding if the long-term result is worth the short-term discomfort.
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Most who give up an orthodox style of living and opt for the alternative, do so because they believe the new way is better.
Those who adopt a “health foods” diet do so in a belief it will prove healthier than eating meat, food additives and “junk food”.
But those on vegetarian diets may run other risks to health if the diet is not adequately balanced. Strict vegans, who eat no animal products may suffer from vitamin B12 deficiency and so develop a form of pernicious anaemia.
There is now evidence that some pre-school children fed a macrobiotic diet which consists mainly of unrefined cereal grains, vegetables and nuts may develop rickets, a bone disorder where calcium is not laid down properly in the growing bone, due to vitamin D deficiency.
Children on a macrobiotic diet should have a vitamin D supplement, usually cod liver oil and extra calcium and adequate exposure of the skin to sunlight is also necessary as vitamin D is also made in the skin by the action of ultraviolet light.
Things aren’t always as they seem and there are few absolutes. Your alternative healthy diet may still have its problems.
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