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International Journal of Environmental... Sep 2022Hyperemesis gravidarum is characterized by severe nausea and vomiting. This study aims to illustrate the efficacy of acupressure at P6 in treating nausea and vomiting in... (Randomized Controlled Trial)
Randomized Controlled Trial
Hyperemesis gravidarum is characterized by severe nausea and vomiting. This study aims to illustrate the efficacy of acupressure at P6 in treating nausea and vomiting in hyperemesis gravidarum. This parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted from 2016-2017 in a tertiary hospital. Hospitalized women with ≤16 weeks of gestation and moderate to severe nausea and vomiting classified using a modified PUQE score were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either apply an acupressure wristband at the P6 point three times daily or to receive regular doses of intravenous antiemetics. The primary outcome was differences in modified PUQE scores among the groups. The secondary outcomes were differences in the rate of urine ketone clearance and the frequency of requiring rescue antiemetics. Ninety women were equally randomized into two groups, with no dropout. There was a statistically significant difference in the degrees of nausea and vomiting between the groups at 8, 16, and 24 hours post-admission (p= 0.001, p = 0.006, and p = 0.001). The requirement of antiemetics and the rate of urine ketone clearance between the two groups were also statistically significant, at = 0.001 and = 0.02 respectively. There were no side effects in either group. The P6 acupressure was efficacious in alleviating nausea and vomiting among hyperemesis gravidarum women. The trial was retrospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05175079).
Topics: Acupressure; Antiemetics; Female; Humans; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Ketones; Nausea; Pregnancy
PubMed: 36078602
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191710886 -
Journal of the Chinese Medical... Sep 2018
Topics: Female; Humans; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Interleukin-6; Pregnancy; Receptors, Urokinase Plasminogen Activator; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 28969993
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcma.2017.09.001 -
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association... Jun 2024
Review
Topics: Humans; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Pregnancy; Female; Antiemetics
PubMed: 38830681
DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.221502-f -
BMJ Case Reports Feb 2020Hyperparathyroidism is a rare disease during pregnancy, which has increased risks, including miscarriage and fetal growth restriction. However, the diagnosis of...
Hyperparathyroidism is a rare disease during pregnancy, which has increased risks, including miscarriage and fetal growth restriction. However, the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism is frequently not recognised or delayed as symptoms are non-specific and calcium is not routinely measured. With a thorough medical history and clinical suspicion, early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of some pregnancy complications. A 35-year-old woman presented at 13/40 with hyperemesis gravidarum. She had elevated serum calcium and a parathyroid lesion on ultrasound. She underwent a parathyroidectomy with rapid normalisation of her calcium. Histopathology confirmed a parafibromin-deficient parathyroid tumour, suggestive of hyperparathyroidism jaw tumour syndrome. At 30/40, she presented with pre-eclampsia (hypertension, hyper-reflexia, proteinuria and intrauterine growth restriction) and had a caesarean section at 30+1/40, delivering a male infant, 897 g (fifth percentile). She had a prior 12-month history of chronic constipation and nephrolithiasis but was not investigated further despite elevated calcium (2.82 mmol/L).
Topics: Adult; Calcium; Cesarean Section; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Humans; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Hyperparathyroidism, Primary; Parathyroid Neoplasms; Parathyroidectomy; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Pregnancy Outcome
PubMed: 32066577
DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2019-232653 -
Tobacco Control 1998To describe the health impact of harvesting tobacco and to suggest prevention and risk reduction strategies to avoid contracting green tobacco sickness (GTS). (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
To describe the health impact of harvesting tobacco and to suggest prevention and risk reduction strategies to avoid contracting green tobacco sickness (GTS).
DATA SOURCES
A literature search of Medline, Toxline, and Toxline65 with the terms "green", "tobacco", and "sickness" covering the years 1966-1998.
STUDY SELECTION
All studies, reviews, and commentaries that provided information on the health effects of harvesting green tobacco and disease prevention strategies.
DATA SYNTHESIS
GTS occurs when tobacco workers hand-harvest, cut, or load tobacco plants, usually in the early morning or after a rainfall when tobacco plants are covered with moisture. GTS occurs through skin exposure to dissolved nicotine from tobacco leaves. Symptoms of GTS include weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, abdominal cramps, breathing difficulty, abnormal temperature, pallor, diarrhoea, chills, fluctuations in blood pressure or heart rate, and increased perspiration and salivation. The onset of the illness is three to 17 hours after exposure and the duration of illness is one to three days. Initial treatment includes cessation of work, change of clothing, showering, fluid intake, and rest. In more extreme cases, intravenous rehydration, anti-emetics, and dimenhydrinate are administered. Protective, water-resistant clothing; chemical-resistant gloves, boots, and socks; working in dry conditions; and dimenhydrinate can reduce the likelihood of contracting GTS.
CONCLUSIONS
It is important to provide education to tobacco workers and employers about GTS. An international public awareness campaign about GTS timed to coincide with the tobacco harvest, along with enforced worker safety regulations, should be undertaken to protect the health of individuals working in tobacco production.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Employment; Female; Health Status; Humans; Male; Nicotine; Occupational Exposure; Plants, Toxic; Nicotiana
PubMed: 9825425
DOI: 10.1136/tc.7.3.294 -
The British Journal of General Practice... Aug 2020Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is usually called 'morning sickness'. This is felt by sufferers to trivialise the condition. Symptoms have been described as occurring...
BACKGROUND
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is usually called 'morning sickness'. This is felt by sufferers to trivialise the condition. Symptoms have been described as occurring both before and after noon, but daily symptom patterns have not been clearly described and statistically modelled to enable the term 'morning sickness' to be accurately analysed.
AIM
To describe the daily variation in nausea and vomiting symptoms during early pregnancy in a group of sufferers.
DESIGN AND SETTING
A prospective cohort study of females recruited from 15 May 2014 to 17 February 2017 by Swiss Precision Diagnostics (SPD) Development Company Limited, which was researching hormone levels in early pregnancy and extended its study to include the description of pregnancy symptoms.
METHOD
Daily symptom diaries of nausea and vomiting were kept by females who were trying to conceive. They also provided daily urine samples, which when analysed enabled the date of ovulation to be determined. Data from 256 females who conceived during the first month of the study are included in this article. Daily symptom patterns and changes in daily patterns by week of pregnancy were modelled. Functional data analysis was used to produce estimated symptom probability functions.
RESULTS
There was a peak probability of nausea in the morning, a lower but sustained probability of nausea throughout the day, and a slight peak in the evening. Vomiting had a defined peak incidence in the morning.
CONCLUSION
Referring to nausea and vomiting in pregnancy as simply 'morning sickness' is inaccurate, simplistic, and therefore unhelpful.
Topics: Female; Humans; Morning Sickness; Nausea; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; United Kingdom; Vomiting
PubMed: 32601054
DOI: 10.3399/bjgp20X710885 -
Placenta Apr 2023Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing. The improvement of pregnancy-related symptoms including morning sickness and management of mood and stress are among the... (Review)
Review
Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing. The improvement of pregnancy-related symptoms including morning sickness and management of mood and stress are among the most reported reasons for its use. Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most abundant cannabinoids found within the cannabis flower. The concentration of these components has drastically increased in the past 20 years. Additionally, many edibles contain only one cannabinoid and are marketed to achieve a specific goal, meaning there are an increasing number of pregnancies that are exposed to isolated cannabinoids. Both Δ9-THC and CBD cross the placenta and can impact the fetus directly, but the receptors through which cannabinoids act are also expressed throughout the placenta, suggesting that the effects of in-utero cannabinoid exposure may include indirect effects from the placenta. In-utero cannabis research focuses on short and long-term fetal health and development; however, these studies include little to no placenta analysis. Prenatal cannabinoid exposure is linked to small for gestational age and fetal growth-restricted babies. Compromised placental development is also associated with fetal growth restriction and the few studies (clinical and animal models) that included placental analysis, identify changes in placental vasculature and function in these cannabinoid-exposed pregnancies. In vitro studies further support cannabinoid impact on cell function in the different populations that comprise the placenta. In this article, we aim to summarize how phytocannabinoids can impact placental development and function. Specifically, the cannabinoids and their actions at the different receptors are described, with receptor localization throughout the human and murine placenta discussed. Findings from studies that included placental analysis and how cannabinoid signaling may modulate critical developmental processing including cell proliferation, angiogenesis and migration are described. Considering the current research, prenatal cannabinoid exposure may significantly impact placental development, and, as such, identifying windows of placental vulnerability for each cannabinoid will be critical to elucidate the etiology of fetal outcome studies.
Topics: Female; Humans; Mice; Animals; Pregnancy; Cannabinoids; Dronabinol; Placenta; Cannabidiol; Signal Transduction; Fetal Growth Retardation
PubMed: 36965349
DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2023.03.002 -
Acta Obstetricia Et Gynecologica... Jan 2024Hyperemesis gravidarum affects 0.3%-3% of pregnant women each year and is the leading cause of hospitalization in early pregnancy. Previous systematic reviews of...
INTRODUCTION
Hyperemesis gravidarum affects 0.3%-3% of pregnant women each year and is the leading cause of hospitalization in early pregnancy. Previous systematic reviews of available treatments have found a lack of consistent evidence, and few studies of high quality. Since 2016, no systematic review has been conducted and an up-to date review is requested. In a recent James Lind Alliance collaboration, it was clear that research on effective treatments is a high priority for both patients and clinicians.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Searches without time limits were performed in the AMED, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases until June 26, 2023. Studies published before October 1, 2014 were identified from the review by O'Donnell et al., 2016. Selection criteria were randomized clinical trials and non-randomized studies of interventions comparing treatment of hyperemesis gravidarum with another treatment or placebo. Outcome variables included were: degree of nausea; vomiting; inability to tolerate oral fluids or food; hospital treatment; health-related quality of life, small-for-gestational-age infant; and preterm birth. Abstracts and full texts were screened, and risk of bias of the studies was assessed independently by two authors. Synthesis without meta-analysis was performed, and certainty of evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach. PROSPERO (CRD42022303150).
RESULTS
Twenty treatments were included in 25 studies with low or moderate risk of bias. The certainty of evidence was very low for all treatments except for acupressure in addition to standard care, which showed a possible moderate decrease in nausea and vomiting, with low certainty of evidence.
CONCLUSIONS
Several scientific knowledge gaps were identified. Studies on treatments for hyperemesis gravidarum are few, and the certainty of evidence for different treatments is either low or very low. To establish more robust evidence, it is essential to use validated scoring systems, the recently established diagnostic criteria, clear descriptions and measurements of core outcomes and to perform larger studies.
Topics: Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Pregnancy; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Nausea; Pregnant Women; Premature Birth; Quality of Life
PubMed: 37891710
DOI: 10.1111/aogs.14706 -
Cells Mar 2019In the sanctity of pure drug discovery, objective reasoning can become clouded when pursuing ideas that appear unorthodox, but are spot on physiologically. To put this... (Review)
Review
In the sanctity of pure drug discovery, objective reasoning can become clouded when pursuing ideas that appear unorthodox, but are spot on physiologically. To put this into historical perspective, it was an unorthodox idea in the 1950's to suggest that warfarin, a rat poison, could be repositioned into a breakthrough drug in humans to protect against strokes as a blood thinner. Yet it was approved in 1954 as Coumadin and has been prescribed to billions of patients as a standard of care. Similarly, no one can forget the horrific effects of thalidomide, prescribed or available without a prescription, as both a sleeping pill and "morning sickness" anti-nausea medication targeting pregnant women in the 1950's. The "thalidomide babies" became the case-in-point for the need of strict guidelines by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) or full multi-species teratogenicity testing before drug approval. More recently it was found that thalidomide is useful in graft versus host disease, leprosy and resistant tuberculosis treatment, and as an anti-angiogenesis agent as a breakthrough drug for multiple myeloma (except for pregnant female patients). Decades of diabetes drug discovery research has historically focused on every possible angle, except, the energy-out side of the equation, namely, raising mitochondrial energy expenditure with chemical uncouplers. The idea of "social responsibility" allowed energy-in agents to be explored and the portfolio is robust with medicines of insulin sensitizers, insulin analogues, secretagogues, SGLT2 inhibitors, etc., but not energy-out medicines. The primary reason? It appeared unorthodox, to return to exploring a drug platform used in the 1930s in over 100,000 obese patients used for weight loss. This is over 80-years ago and prior to Dr Peter Mitchell explaining the mechanism of how mitochondrial uncouplers, like 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) even worked by three decades later in 1961. Although there is a clear application for metabolic disease, it was not until recently that this platform was explored for its merit at very low, weight-neutral doses, for treating insidious human illnesses and completely unrelated to weight reduction. It is known that mitochondrial uncouplers specifically target the entire organelle's physiology non-genomically. It has been known for years that many neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases are associated with overt production of reactive oxygen species (ROSs), a rise in isoprostanes (biomarker of mitochondrial ROSs in urine or blood) and poor calcium (Ca) handing. It has also been known that mitochondrial uncouplers lower ROS production and Ca overload. There is evidence that elevation of isoprostanes disease onset, in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). It is also curious, why so many neurodegenerative diseases of known and unknown etiology start at mid-life or later, such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Huntington Disease (HD), AD, Parkinson Disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Is there a relationship to a buildup of mutations that are sequestered over time due to ROSs exceeding the rate of repair? If ROS production were managed, could disease onset due to aging be delayed or prevented? Is it possible that most, if not all neurodegenerative diseases are manifested through mitochondrial dysfunction? Although DNP, a historic mitochondrial uncoupler, was used in the 1930s at high doses for obesity in well over 100,000 humans, and so far, it has never been an FDA-approved drug. This review will focus on the application of using DNP, but now, repositioned as a potential disease-modifying drug for a legion of insidious diseases at much lower and paradoxically, weight doses. DNP will be addressed as a treatment for "metabesity", an emerging term related to the global comorbidities associated with the over-nutritional phenotype; obesity, diabetes, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, but including neurodegenerative disorders and accelerated aging. Some unexpected drug findings will be discussed, such as DNP's induction of neurotrophic growth factors involved in neuronal heath, learning and cognition. For the first time in 80's years, the FDA has granted (to Mitochon Pharmaceutical, Inc., Blue Bell, PA, USA) an open Investigational New Drug (IND) approval to begin rigorous clinical testing of DNP for safety and tolerability, including for the first ever, pharmacokinetic profiling in humans. Successful completion of Phase I clinical trial will open the door to explore the merits of DNP as a possible treatment of people with many truly unmet medical needs, including those suffering from HD, MS, PD, AD, ALS, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
Topics: 2,4-Dinitrophenol; Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Calcium; Cognition; Humans; Medicine; Reactive Oxygen Species
PubMed: 30909602
DOI: 10.3390/cells8030280 -
Journal of Cannabis Research Jun 2023Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing, with 19-22% of patients testing positive at delivery in Colorado and California. Patients report using cannabis to alleviate... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Cannabis use during pregnancy is increasing, with 19-22% of patients testing positive at delivery in Colorado and California. Patients report using cannabis to alleviate their nausea and vomiting, anxiety, and pain. However, preclinical and clinical data highlight harmful effects to offspring physiology and behavior following fetal cannabis exposure. This narrative review identifies potential areas for intervention to decrease cannabis consumption during pregnancy.
METHODS
A combination of keywords, including "cannabis", "cannabis", "weed", "pregnancy", "morning sickness", "child protective services", and "budtender" were searched in databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as in social media forums, governmental webpages, and other publicly available sources.
RESULTS
The literature search identified several areas for intervention to reduce cannabis use during pregnancy, including physician and pharmacist training, engagement with pregnant patients, regulation of dispensary workers, and the role of child protective services.
DISCUSSION
This comprehensive review identifies multiple areas for improvement to benefit pregnant patients. Recommendations are independent and can be implemented simultaneously by the identified groups. Limitations of this research includes the relatively limited availability of data focused specifically on cannabis consumption during pregnancy and the complexity of the sociopolitical field of substance use during pregnancy.
CONCLUSIONS
Cannabis consumption during pregnancy is increasing and causes harm to the developing fetus. To educate pregnant patients about these risks, we must address the gaps in education from multiple contact points.
PubMed: 37330589
DOI: 10.1186/s42238-023-00184-x