Are Infant Heart Defects Related to This?

Hi and welcome to this week’s look at headlines in natural health on iHealthTube.com…

It’s been known that women with diabetes face certain risks when it comes to giving birth… one of them is the risk of having babies with heart defects.  But now researcher out of Stanford is looking at blood sugar levels in mothers who do NOT have diabetes.  The study looked at over 19 thousand pairs of mothers and their babies born between 2009 and 2015.  Researchers analyzed blood glucose levels, where available, from the mothers between four weeks prior to conception and the end of the first trimester, after the fetal heart has formed.

The study revealed the risk of giving brith to a child with a heart defect rose by 8 percent for every increase of 10 milligrams per deciliter in blood glucose levels of the mother.

Typically blood glucose isn’t routinely measured in non diabetic women until after the fetal heart has formed.

More good news for those of you who like your daily cup of hot tea… it might be helping you prevent a debilitating eye condition…

Research out of Great Britain analyzed data from over 16 hundred participants.  After taking account of factors like diabetes and smoking… the study showed hot tea drinkers were 74 percent less likely to have glaucoma… a condition that causes fluid pressure inside the eye which damages the optic nerve and is a leading cause of blindness.

But research also found no link for coffee… caffeinated or decaf… decaffeinated tea, iced tea or soft drinks.

Finally a study out of Germany is revealing that a many adults are deficient in certain vitamins as they age.

The study looked at over 1000 adults aged 65 to 93 and focused on four micronutrients.  Just over half were deficient in vitamin D and 27 percent had vitamin B12 below the cut-off.  11 percent had low iron and almost 9 percent did not have enough folate in their blood.  The majority of older adults who had suboptimal levels had in common that they were very old, physically inactive or frail.

That’s a look at what’s making headlines in natural health this week… go to iHealthTube.com and sign up for our free email newsletter to stay connected to the latest in natural health news!