Caffeine linked to miscarriage....Caffeine linked to miscarriage... There's nothing quite like the buzz from a cup of steaming java. However, a new study adds to evidence suggesting that pregnant women may want to limit or end their consumption of caffeine-containing drinks. Claire Infante-Rivard of McGill University McGill University, at Montreal, Que., Canada; coeducational; chartered 1821, opened 1829. It was named for James McGill, who left a bequest to establish it. Its real development dates from 1855 when John W. Dawson became principal. in Quebec and her co-workers began their investigation of caffeine by recruiting 331 women who had been hospitalized for a miscarriage sometime between May 1987 and November 1989. They matched those cases with 993 controls who had experienced a normal pregnancy during the same period. The team asked the women about their caffeine habits, including their use of coffee, tea, and cola drinks, during the month prior to conception and throughout pregnancy. The researchers discovered that miscarriage was strongly linked to a woman's reported caffeine intake during pregnancy and moderately associated with caffeine use during the month before conception. That association remained even when the researchers adjusted for factors known to increase the chances of miscarriage, they report in the December 22/29 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. (JAMA JAMA abbr. Journal of the American Medical Association ). Previous research suggests that caffeine, a stimulant stimulant, any substance that causes an increase in activity in various parts of the nervous system or directly increases muscle activity. Cerebral, or psychic, stimulants act on the central nervous system and provide a temporary sense of alertness and well-being as , may prove hazardous to the developing embryo or fetus. Animal studies have demonstrated a link between caffeine intake and stillbirth Stillbirth Definition A stillbirth is defined as the death of a fetus at any time after the twentieth week of pregnancy. Stillbirth is also referred to as intrauterine fetal death (IUFD). , miscarriage, growth retardation, and other ills. Indeed, such evidence convinced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. ) in 1980 to advise pregnant women to limit their consumption of caffeine. Yet some human studies have failed to find a link between moderate caffeine consumption and adverse effects on the embryo or fetus. "Given these study results and the inconsistencies in the literature, how should we advise pregnant women?" asks Brenda Eskenazi of the University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. Commonly referred to as UC Berkeley, Berkeley and Cal , in an editorial accompanying the JAMA study. Eskenazi believes women and physicians should err on the side of caution. The weight of scientific evidence seems to indicate that high caffeine intake (more than three cups of coffee per day) can prove harmful. She says it's prudent to follow FDA's advice to limit caffeine consumption during pregnancy. |
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