CALCIUM MAY LESSEN PRE-ECLAMPSIA RISK.Byline: Paul Simoa Knight-Ridder Tribune News Wire Women who drink more milk during pregnancy may significantly reduce the risk of pre-eclampsia, a toxic condition developing in late pregnancy that can lead to premature birth premature birth Birth less than 37 weeks after conception. Infants born as early as 23–24 weeks may survive but many face lifelong disabilities (e.g., cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness). and even death to the mother or baby, Canadian researchers say. In trials involving 2,460 women, epidemiologists at McMaster University McMaster University, at Hamilton, Ont., Canada; nondenominational; founded 1887. It has faculties of humanities, science, social sciences, business, engineering, and health sciences, as well as a school of graduate studies and a divinity college. , in Hamilton, Ontario, found that a daily calcium supplement of 1,500 to 2,000 milligrams reduced by 62 percent the risk of developing the condition. Pre-eclampsia affects 7 percent of women and is the major cause of premature deliveries premature delivery n. The birth of a premature baby. Premature delivery The birth of a live baby when a pregnancy ends spontaneously after the twentieth week. Mentioned in: Stillbirth in North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. . Its symptoms include a sudden rise in blood pressure, excessive weight gain, water retention, protein in the urine, severe headaches and visual disturbances. ``Because of the dramatic reduction of risk, doctors would be justified in prescribing 2,000 milligrams of calcium a day to pregnant women, even those with low risk of pre-eclampsia,'' says Gordon Guyatt Gordon Henry Guyatt (born 1953) is a physician and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is known for his work on evidence-based medicine, a term that first appeared in a paper he published. , one of the lead researchers of the study. The U.S. National Institutes of Health recommends 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day for pregnant women and nursing mothers, but statistics show most get less than half that amount. |
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