Dr. Ardyce Yik ND

How a mother’s love changes her child’s brain growth

Researchers have found that a mother’s nurturing love physically fosters the growth of a region in the child’s brain that is key to learning, memory and responding to stress.

In a study funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, the researchers found that some children had a hippocampus almost 10% larger than their peers whose mothers who didn’t show as much care. The brain’s hippocampus is important for learning, memory and coping with stress.

While almost 97% of the caregivers in the study were mothers, the researchers point out these effects would probably apply to the primary caregiver.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (January 2012)

Pets boost children’s immunity

Studies show that children who have pets at home are more likely to have stronger immune systems and take fewer days off school. Researchers at Warwick University found that antibody levels in pet-owning children were significantly more stable, indicating that they had robust immune systems.

These findings apparently support the “dirty hypothesis”, the researchers say. It suggests that too much cleanliness early in life can leave the immune system weakened later on. It has also been linked to soaring rates of childhood asthma in recent years.

Dr. June McNicholas, a health psychologist who led the study, said, “Pet ownership was significantly associated with better school attendance rates. This was apparent across all classes, but was most pronounced in the lower school (classes one to three, aged groups five to eight)”.

Another study polled over 3,000 children whose health state was followed-up from birth to 6 years old. Blood analyses revealed that, in households with dogs, children had a decreased risk of asthma, wheezing, allergic rhinitis and eczema, compared to those living in dog-less homes.

“Early exposure to germs brought into the house on dog fur could stimulate maturation of the immune system,” Dr. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology at the Heimholtz Center in Munich, explained. Thus, the early stimulation of the body’s defenses help the immune system not to run into allergic overdrive when facing sudden exposure to dust house mites, pollens and other triggers.

SOURCE: University of Warwick Press Release, February 1999; European Respiratory Journal (http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/31/5/963.short)

You, your developing baby and environmental toxins to avoid

Preconception and prenatal exposure to environmental toxins can have a detrimental impact on fetal development and lead to potentially long-lasting health effects. Though the evidence is mounting, the majority of reproductive health professionals have little training on how to effectively counsel patients in this regard.

Seattle Children’s Research Institute’s Sheela Sathyanarayana, MD, MPH, and her team have created guidelines on exposure risks and reduction tips for some of the most common environmental toxins, listed below:

Mercury

Risk Factors: eating fish and seafood, contact with quicksilver, and use of skin-lightening creams. Exposure during pregnancy can lead to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes that include lower IQ, poor language and motor development.

How to reduce exposure: Pregnant, preconception and breastfeeding women should follow U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state-specific fish consumption guidelines. Avoid shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tile fish and large tuna. Hong Kong’s surrounding waters are polluted, so I typically advise pregnant and lactating women to limit local seafood consumption.

2. Lead

Risk Factors: occupational exposure, imported cosmetics, renovating or remodeling a home built before 1970, contaminated water, contaminated food (including medicinal herbs). Lead is neurotoxic to a developing fetus.

How to reduce exposure: Never eat nonfood items (clay, soil, pottery or paint chips); avoid jobs or hobbies that may involve lead exposure; stay away from repair, repainting, renovation and remodeling work conducted in homes built before 1978; eat a balanced diet with adequate intakes of iron and calcium; avoid cosmetics, food additives, medicines imported from overseas or without proper regulation standards; remove shoes at the door to prevent tracking in lead and other pollutants; use a high quality water filter.

3. Pesticides

Risk Factors: eating produce laden with pesticides; using pesticides in your home or on your pets. Exposure to pesticides in pregnancy has been shown to increase risk of intrauterine growth retardation, congenital anomalies, leukemia, and poor performance on neurodevelopmental testing.

How to reduce exposure: do not use chemical tick and flea collars or dips; avoid application of pesticides indoors and outdoors; consider buying organic produce when possible; wash all fruits and vegetables before eating; remove shoes at the door.

4. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals

Risk factors: human prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with changes in male reproductive anatomy and behavioral changes primarily in young girls. Animal studies suggest prenatal exposure to BPA is associated with obesity, reproductive abnormalities and neurodevelopmental abnormalities in offspring. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals mimic or change the effects of hormones in the endocrine system and can cause adverse health effects that can be passed on to future generations.

How to reduce exposure: decrease consumption of processed foods; increase fresh whole foods; reduce consumption of canned foods; avoid use of plastics with recycled codes #3, #4 (*see below) and #7; be careful when removing old carpet because padding may contain chemicals; and use a vacuum machine fitted with a HEPA filter to get rid of dust that may contain chemicals

These guidelines were published online in February in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. If you are pregnant and want to know how Dr. Yik can support you through a natural and healthy pregnancy, click here.

SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

*there was an error in the manuscript after the press release was distributed- recycling reference #4 should be #6

Study: Vitamin D in pre-teen girls protects from bone injuries

A new study reveals that girls and young women who get lots of vitamin D through their diet and supplements are half as likely to suffer a stress fracture as those who don’t.

Stress fractures are small cracks in the bone that typically results from high-impact exercise, including running or gymnastics. Bone strength in teenage girls is linked to the risk of osteoporosis and more serious injuries later in life.

High dietary calcium was always thought to be protective against stress fractures. But according to findings published yesterday in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, it was higher levels of vitamin D in girls aged 9 to 15 that were tied to fewer injuries, not calcium.

“We know that calcium is important for bone health, so we were surprised to find that vitamin D was only found to be protective,” Kendrin Sonneville, an author of the study, remarked. “Our findings in no way suggest that calcium is not important.”

Milk, fortified foods such as breakfast cereals and soy products, and foods that naturally contain vitamin D such as salmon and eggs are good sources of this vitamin. Still, Sonneville said, doctors typically recommend girls and young women take a supplement that includes vitamin D, because it’s not always easy to get enough through food.

Vitamin D is needed for the absorption of calcium and has been shown to boost immunity and prevent certain ailments. I have found in practice that many people with chronic or recurrent conditions are deficient in vitamin D. It’s important to know your status so the appropriate dosage can be prescribed. Speak to your medical or naturopathic doctor about having your vitamin D levels tested.

Read more about vitamin D deficiency here.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, March 2012

Arsenic found in baby food (again)

A sweetener used in many organic foods may be a hidden source of arsenic, new research suggests. The sweetener, organic brown rice syrup, is found in some infant formulas.

Of the 17 infant milk formulas tested, 2 had listed organic brown rice syrup as the primary ingredient. These two formulas, one dairy-based and one soy-based, had arsenic levels that were more than 20 times greater than the other formulas, the researchers found.

One of the “organic” infant formulas had a total arsenic concentration that was 6 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safe drinking water limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for total arsenic.

Arsenic is a natural element that can contaminate groundwater. Rice may be particularly prone to contamination because it pulls in arsenic.

Dr. Brian Jackson, author of the study, advises parents to avoid formulas that use organic brown rice syrup as a sweetener until arsenic levels in these products are regulated.

Arsenic is toxic (and deadly) at high doses. It can damage the liver, kidneys, skin and heart. Babies are especially vulnerable because of their size, the research team warns. The report appears in the February 16th issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

This is not the first time scientists have found baby foods to be contaminated (Arsenic and other toxins were found in organic baby foods in April 2011- read about it here). A hair mineral test could help determine your heavy metal status. Click here to read more on how you can determine your heavy metal toxicity status.

SOURCE: Environmental Health Perspectives

Frito-Lay chips not “all natural”: lawsuit

Frito-Lay’s All-Natural chips may not be so natural after all. A New York man is suing Frito-Lay, claiming that the company misleads consumers with the claim that its popular Tostitos and SunChips products are made with “all-natural ingredients.”

The plaintiff Chris Shake said the snacks actually contain corn and oils made from genetically engineered plants.

In the proposed class-action lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court, Shake said he paid an additional 10 cents per ounce of chips to buy the allegedly “all-natural” Tostitos and SunChips instead of a product such as Doritos, which makes no such claim.

Independent testing conducted on samples of Frito-Lay products which were labeled “all natural” uncovered the presence of ingredients made from genetically modified plants, the lawsuit said.

The New York lawsuit estimates the amount of total damages to exceed $5 million.

According to the Center for Food Safety, there is currently no comprehensive definition of the term “natural” when it is used on food labels, with the exception of some meat products regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In 2011, the Center for Food Safety petitioned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require food containing genetically modified ingredients be clearly labeled.

The case is Shake et al v. Frito-Lay North America Inc and Pepsico Inc, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 12-408.

Some natural snack alternatives to store-bought chips:

1) Home-made potato or sweet potato chips (slice these root vegetables up, sprinkle with paprika and a little sea salt, then bake).

2) Fruit such as papayas, berries, pomegranates, cherries and grapefruit. They not only contain vitamins and fibre but are also packed with antioxidants.

3) Nuts such as walnuts and almonds. Just make sure you stick to a handful a day- nuts are high in calories.

Fish oil supplementation during pregnancy: what’s best?

Eating fish during pregnancy is a controversial topic.

We all know fish are very nutritious and packed with B vitamins, lean protein, and omega-3 fats which are beneficial for the baby’s brain and cognitive development, visual development, prevention of hypertension during pregnancy as well as prevention of postpartum depression. But unfortunately, fish can also have some unhealthy contaminants, including mercury.

Because of this, many pregnant women are opting to take fish oil supplements during pregnancy instead of eating mercury-laden fish. But not all fish oils are the same; not all fish oils are “clean” or free from heavy metal contaminants.

When considering a fish oil during pregnancy and lactation, keep in mind the following:

1) Find a fish oil that has been purified. Raw fish oils contain environmental toxins that accumulate in a fish during its life span, so find a product that has been molecularly distilled, with the potential environmental toxins (such as heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs, etc.) removed. A good quality fish oil will have independent (3rd party) laboratory testing which documents the absence of PCBs, heavy metals, and dioxins.

2) Make sure the product contains a higher DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) to EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) ratio. “If [pregnant and lactating women] don’t eat fish, [they] should take fish oil pills or supplements that have a 3-to-1 ratio of DHA to EPA,” says nutritional scientist Dr. Bruce Holub of the University of Guelph in Ontario and executive director of the DHA/EPA Omega-3 Institute there. “That’s the same ratio found naturally in fish,and getting too much EPA compared to DHA during pregnancy might diminish DHA’s benefits,” he explains.

3) Ensure a daily intake of at least 200 to 300mg of DHA.

SOURCE: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17185423; http://articles.latimes.com/2010/apr/26/health/la-he-omega-3s-how-much-20100426; http://www.cmaj.ca/content/145/5/445.abstract; https://drardyceyik.com/2010/12/31/omega-3-and-your-babys-eye-health/

Narcissistic men more prone to health problems?

Narcissism is a condition which is characterized by excessive love of oneself. It can be characterized by a sense of grandiosity and entitlement. A new study published this week indicates that narcissism is not only an irritating psychological glitch but it may be physically damaging for men. However, this does not appear to be the case for women.

The team of researchers gave 106 students a questionnaire that assessed components of narcissism. They found an unhealthy narcissism score by adding up the entitlement and exploitative-ness subscales, and then generated a healthy narcissism score by summing up others, including authority, superiority, vanity and self-sufficiency. The researchers took salivary samples to assess the undergraduate students’ cortisol levels. Cortisol is the primary hormone secreted by the body to manage stress.

Individuals with certain narcissistic personality traits may have elevated levels of cortisol, which put them at a higher risk for long term health problems, particularly cardiovascular events (i.e. incidences that cause damage to the heart such as a heart attack).

In general, narcissism was not predictive of cortisol in females, but did correlate to cortisol levels in men.

“Past research has stressed narcissists out and then looked at their cortisol levels, which were higher in men,” explained senior author Sara Konrath, an assistant research professor with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, referencing a study from another University of Michigan researcher from 2010. “Here, we didn’t have that stress, but they still had high cortisol [levels]. If men’s bodies are always kind of ‘activated’ like this, it can predict cardiovascular problems in the long term.”

Dr. Yik offers salivary testing of cortisol and other hormones, and treats a variety of health conditions. To learn more, click here.

SOURCE: PLos ONE

Study: IVF- miscarriage linked to age and embryo type

A recent study reveals that a woman’s age and the type of embryo(s) used affect the outcome of IVF procedures.

The retrospective analysis of 52,874 pregnancies recorded on the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Database (ANZARD) showed that women younger than 35 years old are almost 3 times less likely to miscarry compared with women over the age of 40. Miscarriage is also less likely to occur after the transfer of fresh embryos compared with frozen-thawed embryos.

Women who had a single embryo transfer were less likely to miscarry than if two embryos were transferred. Also, transferring thawed embryos which were frozen at an earlier stage of development than the blastocyst were less likely to miscarry.

“It is interesting that miscarriage rates of frozen blastocysts were higher in the Australian study, particularly since it is well known that blastocysts have a lower frequency of chromosomal anomalies than cleaved embryos. Blastocyst culture is still a relatively new approach and culture-related factors such as selection for freezing at blastocyst stage may have affected early learning experiences in some clinics. It is therefore important to repeat a similar analysis of Australian clinic data during subsequent years,” remarks Dr. Jacques Cohen, senior editor of Reproductive BioMedicine Online.

If you would like to boost fertility naturally or if you want adjunct support before or during IVF to improve chances of success, click here to find out how Dr. Yik can help you.

SOURCE: Reproductive BioMedicine Online, Vol. 23, Issue 6, Pages 777-788.