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Showing posts with label latest health news. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Research Claims Some People May Be Too Good Looking To Fall Sick
In a new research carried out, researchers explained that our looks affects our risk of illness.
They believe some people may be too fine to to fall ill easily. The research, released this week by US researchers, claims attractive people are less likely to get tinnitus, asthma, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
The research claims the more physically attractive men and women are rated, the more unlikely they are to suffer from a wide range of health problems, from high cholesterol to depression.
They also feel healthier, have less time off work and are diagnosed with fewer physical and mental health conditions during their lifetime.
The findings are based on a study of 15,000 men and women aged 24 to 35 who have been followed since they were ten.
It’s the biggest study yet to find links between attractiveness and good health, and the first to home in on a number of individual diseases.
The researchers, from the University of Cincinnati and other centres, point out that, until now, most studies have been on students.
Unlike earlier studies, this is based on the researchers’ ratings of the participants’ physical attractiveness done face-to-face, rather than assessments based on pictures, drawings or videos.
The researchers, whose work is being published in the journal Evolution And Human Behaviour, say that attractiveness may be a marker of good genes, which also signal good health, as well as increasing the likelihood of having healthy offspring.
The study involved face-to-face interviews and questionnaires, as well as an analysis of health data.
The men and women were quizzed about whether they had been diagnosed with various conditions or suffered symptoms of them.
Attractiveness rating was based on the assessment made by each interviewer after a 90-minute session. The men and women were put into five categories — very unattractive, unattractive, about average, attractive or very attractive.
There were direct links between attractiveness and a number of health conditions, and the more attractive the person was rated, the lower the risk of ill-health.
For each increase in the rating of physical attractiveness for men, there was a 13 per cent reduction in the likelihood of a diagnosis for high cholesterol, a 20 per cent drop in the risk of high blood pressure, a 15 per cent reduction in the probability of being diagnosed with depression, a 23 per cent decrease in the likelihood of an ADHD diagnosis, and a 21 per cent lower likelihood of stuttering.
Women who were rated as more attractive were 21 per cent less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, 22 per cent less likely to have diabetes, 12 per cent less likely to be asthmatic, 17 per cent less likely to suffer from depression, 18 per cent less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, 18 per cent less likely to stutter and 13 per cent less likely to have tinnitus.
Both the men and women who were rated as very physically attractive were also more positive about their own health and had fewer days off work due to illness.
They also had a reduced number of chronic disease diagnoses, of psychological disorders and of disease diagnoses overall.
The researchers suggest their findings support the theory that attractiveness is a marker of healthy genes. Do you agree with this latest research? Source
Monday, September 30, 2013
Health Report: Another Cause Of Breast Cancer Discovered(MUST READ)
Health is wealth, as they say, so why should we use our money to buy things that could harm and k*ll them gradually? Do you know that the combination of anti-perspirant/deodorant can cause breast cancer? Most products on the market are a combination of anti-perspirant/deodorants. Before you purchase anything you would apply in your arm pits Look at the labels! if its written 'Deodorant' its okay, but 'ANTI-PERSPIRANT', NO.
The concentration of toxins causes cell mutation starting from your armpit which will eventually lead to cancer. If you are a woman using antiperspirants and you are reading this now, check yourself, you probably have lumps in your breasts! Here's why: Your body removes toxins from the following 4 areas:
1. Behind your knees
2.Behind your ears
3.Your genital area
4. Armpits.
Those toxins are eliminated through perspiration.The anti-perspirant, as the name says, will block your skins pores and prevent you from sweating in that area. Those toxins get trapped under your skin and cause cell mutation - cancer. This is why most breast cancers occur in the upper outside quadrant of the breast area. Men are also at risk if they keep using anti perspirants instead of soap and water.
But men are of lesser risk because they dont mostly shave before applying the anti perspirants. Women who apply antiperspirant or aftershave shaving the underarms, increase the risk due to tiny injuries and skin irritations which make harmful chemical components to penetrate more quickly into the body. Please take note of this. Spread the information to save lives.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Health Mistakes You Didn't Know You Were Making
March is National Nutrition Month! So what does nutrition have to do with physical therapy? For starters, with downtime spent in rest and healing, calorie needs are lower for most people recovering from an injury. Not only are you less active when you’re recovering from an injury or dealing with pain; but with less to do, it’s especially tempting to snack on less nutritious foods.
How can you keep a healthy balance of rest and recovery, while taking in the nutrients you need to heal? Well, we can tell you what not to do. Here are six common mistakes that could be sabotaging your chance for a healthy recovery (and your chance for a healthy life in general).
MISTAKE # 1: Skipping Breakfast
Even if you aren’t hungry, a healthy breakfast is essential to recovery and overall health. Not only does a good breakfast start your metabolism early in the day, studies have shown that a breakfast high in fiber and carbohydrates can help you feel more energized throughout the day.
MISTAKE # 2: Following the Three-Meals-a-Day Policy
You heard that right. Don’t eat three meals a day. Instead, try to eat 5-6 “mini-meals” to prevent excessive hunger and overeating. This is especially helpful if your recovery leaves you with a lot of time on your hands. Eating five or six mini-meals gives you more to do throughout the day and it can help you avoid constant snacking. Have a good source of protein at all meals (eggs, lean meats, beans or legumes, peanut butter, tofu or low fat cheese) and a complex carbohydrate (high fiber cereal, whole grain toast, or fruit) along with plenty of vegetables.
MISTAKE # 3: Depriving Yourself of Snacks
Yes, I know, we just talked about avoiding constant snacking. But if you’re intentional in your meal planning, you can make snacking a part of your healthy recovery routine. Just use several of your mini-meals as “snack times” and take advantage of some delicious substitutes for traditional unhealthy snacks. Try these, as a start:
Instead of Crackers, Try a handful of nuts
Instead of chips and dip, Try toasted pita chips and hummus
Instead of a candy bar, Try a bowl of fruit
Instead of soda, Try a real fruit juice
If you find yourself wanting to snack even between your mini-meals, try sugarless gum or sugar free mints. They can be a good way to keep your mouth busy without consuming calories. Brushing your teeth is another way to make snacking less pleasurable.
MISTAKE # 4 Choosing Refined Foods Over Whole Foods
Not all rice (or bread or potatoes or cereal or even sugar) is created equal. White rice, white bread, white potatoes, white pasta, sugary or low fiber cereals, juice, Kool Aid or boxed drinks, soft drinks, and refined sugar are all examples of unhealthy nutrition choices. However, most of these foods have healthy alternatives. You can find whole grain bread and pasta in any grocery store, along with brown and/or wild rice. You only have to spend ten seconds in the cereal aisle to see that there are plenty of healthy options to replace your Fruit Loops. Even refined white sugar has a healthy alternative – raw sugar. Avoid refined foods as much as possible and look for raw or whole food alternatives to keep your body healthy and on the road to recovery.
MISTAKE # 5: Ignoring Your Body’s Sleep Needs
We’ve all heard the magic number – eight hours. But that’s not necessarily the magic number for everyone. According to Dr. Christopher Winter, medical director of the Martha Jefferson Hospital Sleep Medicine Center in Charlottesville, VA, individual sleep needs vary greatly.2 Dr. Winter suggests paying attention to your daily routine to discover if you’re getting not enough (or too much) sleep. For instance, if you often wake up before your alarm goes off, you may be getting more sleep than you need. If you have a hard time staying awake during the day, you’re probably not getting enough.
When you’re recovering from an injury, you may have more difficulty maintaining a healthy sleep routine. If you are unable to take part in your normal activities, you may be tempted to fill that time by napping. However, be careful not to oversaturate your body with sleep. Following a healthy sleep routine that fits your individual needs can result in a healthy metabolism, good health and more rapid healing.
MISTAKE # 6: Leaving Your Doctor Out of the Loop
Your doctor can be one of your best resources for staying healthy while recovering from an injury. Not only is your doctor familiar with your injury and with your recovery process so far, he or she also knows your general medical history and understands any medical conditions you might have that could alter your nutritional or health needs. Communication with your doctor is especially important if you plan to make any major changes in your diet.
Above all, remember to give yourself time. When you’re recovering from an injury, the days can feel like weeks and the weeks like years. But if you’re willing to wait it out, and take of yourself in the meantime…well, let’s just say, your body will thank you.
Monday, March 25, 2013
scientists create artificial sperms from stem cells
The Japanese have done it again! For the first time in human history,they have successfully utilized sperm cells created with stem-cell techniques to fertilize eggs and produce live, normal offspring.
They used embryonic stem cells of mice to make primordial germ cells,which are the precursors for sperm cells.
Scientists have for ages tried to create sperm by using stem cells in earlier in-vitro studies using mice and human cells, but up until now they haven’t been successful.
The breakthrough research by the Asian scientists, led by Professor. Mitinori Saitou from the Kyoto University, is published as anabstract in the journal Cell,, entitled: “Reconstitution of the Mouse Germ Cell Specification Pathway in Culture by Pluripotent Stem Cells”.
They then transplanted them into the testicles of infertile mice,
after which the cells produced normal-looking sperm. The mature sperm cells were used to fertilize eggs and produced healthy, fertile offspring.
These findings will encourage further research into the process of how primordial germ cells develop, something that has been difficult to investigate because these cells don’t grow in vitro.
Whether future findings eventually will lead to new discoveries inhuman fertility remains a question. Human and mouse embryonic stem cells have different properties and any research of this kind withhuman stem cells will of course become an ethical issue as well.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Common Diseases In Nigeria And How To Prevent Them
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No matter how careful we are, we can’t always escape the increasing number of diseases lurking in our daily lives in Nigeria, below are the most common of such diseases and how they can be effectively prevented.
1. Malaria: Malaria is leading cause of morbidity and mortality in our country, this disease is caused by plasmodium species whose vector is the anopheles mosquito; it is usually transmitted by mosquito bites.
Malaria can be prevented by eradicating mosquitoes or preventing bites, simple ways to do this include
Keeping a clean environment; clear drainages and gutters
Cut down grasses and clear swamps around your house
Sleep under a mosquito net(preferably the treated ones)
Spray your room with good insecticides twice weekly
Window nets have been found to be helpful in preventing bites
Mosquitoes are attracted by sweat, so it is essentially to take a bath before going to bed and making your bedroom cool
See your physician once you notice this symptoms( fever, joints pain, headache, bitter taste in the mouth and fatigue)
2. Common cold or Flu: Common cold as the name depicts is everywhere, it is also known as nasopharyngitis or acute coryza is a viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract which affects the nose primarily causing sneezing, sore throat, cough and runny nose, it is usually self-resolving after about seven to ten days. The only possible ways to reduce the spread of the viruses are physical measures such as hand washing, reducing contact with anyone with symptoms and wearing of masks amongst health workers
3. HIV/AIDS: Human immunodeficiency virus is a slowly replicating retrovirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; an infectious disease in which progressive decline and failure of the human immune system leads to life threatening opportunistic infections and cancer.it can be prevented by the following practice
Proper use of condom during intimate intercourse
Proper screening of blood before transfusion
Avoid sharing share objects
Safe injection practices
Proper circumcision of male children
Post exposure prophylaxis to health workers and molestation victims
4. Pelvic Inflammatory disease: This is a term for inflammation of the uterus, fallopian tubes and/or ovaries as it may progress and lead to infertility; it is usually caused by bacteria, fungal or parasites. route of spread is usually via intimate intercourse or via post abortal sepsis and intrauterine device insertion. If untreated it could lead to infertility or ectopic pregnancy. Below are ways to prevent PID
Abstinence /proper human intimate behaviour
Use of barrier methods such as condoms or diaphragm
Avoid womanly douching
Good personal hygiene; never wear a panties twice
Periodic pelvic examination and STI testing to screen for symptomless PID
See a gynaecologist once you notice any abnormal womanly discharge
Treating partners to prevent reinfection or spread to other people
5. Hypertension: This is also known as high blood pressure and it simply means that the blood pressures in the arteries are elevated and this requires the heart to work harder than normal to circulate blood through the vessels. Blood pressure is summarised by two measures systolic(when the heart contracts) and diastolic( when the cardiac muscles are relaxed).High blood pressure is present when the pressure is 140/90mmHg and above, this is a major risk factor for stroke, heart failure, myocardial infarction and chronic kidney disease. This disease can be prevented by the following
Maintain normal body weight for adults; body mass index of 20-25kg/m2
Reduce dietary salt intake
Engage in regular aerobic exercise daily
Limit alcohol consumption
Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
6. Acute diarrhoea: Diarrhoea is very common water and food-borne disease. Caused by a wide range of enteric organism, symptoms include passage of loose stools, fever, abdominal cramps and sometimes vomiting. The ways to prevent diarrhoea include
Avoid consumption of uncovered foods such as fruits cut and exposed
Drink only potable water
Avoid eating foods sold by food vendors and bukas
Wash your hands before eating
Wash your hand after you use the toilet
When you have a headache, instead of using pain killers, have s****x!
If you're suffering from a headache, retiring to bed may be the best solution.
S***x can cure head pain, according to scientists – and venturing between the sheets may even be more effective than heading to the medicine cabinet.
More than half of migraine sufferers who had s***x during an attack experienced an improvement in symptoms, the researchers found, and one in five was left without any pain at all.
One theory is that s****x works by triggering the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, which act on the central nervous system to reduce or eliminate the headache.‘Our results show that s***xual activity during a migraine attack might relieve or even stop an attack in some cases, and that sexual activity in the presence of headache is not an unusual behaviour,’ the researchers said.
‘S***x can abort migraine and cluster headache attacks, and se**xual activity is used by some patients as acute headache treatment.’
It has long been thought that s***x can trigger headaches.
But in the new study, reported in Cephalalgia, the journal of the International Headache Society, a team of neurologists investigated whether there was any substance to anecdotal accounts that it could actually ease symptoms of migraine and cluster, or one-sided, headaches.
In the study at the University of Munster in Germany, neurologists collected data on 400 patients with the two types of headache who had been treated over a two-year period.
They found that 33 per cent had made love during a headache. Of those, 60 per cent of migraine patients and 36 per cent of men and women with cluster headaches had an improvement in symptoms.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Double Cure Found For HIV/AIDS At Last
Another major breakthrough was reported in the search for a cure for AIDS. After bone marrow transplantation, two HIV-infected men have no longer any trace of the virus that causes AIDS in their cells, researchers have disclosed.
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cells and are a key part of the immune system...
To United States investigators, the bone marrow transplant, together with the continuation of anti-retroviral therapy is a confirmed positive development as a result of the dramatic effects evident eight months after transplantation. They are scheduled to present their findings on Thursday at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC.
The findings are “exciting,” said Dr. Savita Pahwa, director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. He added that “Each clue that is obtained that it is possible to eliminate latent HIV must be investigated” for the good of humanity.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Diet soda increases the risk of diabetes. Why do we still drink this stuff?
Yet another study confirms what people have been saying for ages: Stop drinking diet soda. Like, right now. Drinking just one 12-ounce can of an artificially sweetened fizzy drink per week can increase your risk of Type 2 diabetes by 33 percent, French researchers found, and given that most people don't stop at a single weekly serving, your real risk for diabetes could actually be much higher.
Diet Soda May Increase Risk of Depression
The study, which was announced Thursday and will be published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was conducted by France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research and covered 66,118 middle-aged women whose dietary habits and health were tracked from 1993 to 2007.
Diet Soda May Be Making You Fat
The results were unexpected. Though it's well-known that people who consume a lot of sugar are more likely to develop diabetes, the researchers found that participants who drank "light" or "diet" soft drinks had a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than those who drank regular, sugar-filled sodas. Those who drank 100 percent natural squeezed fruit juices instead had no additional risk.
Women who choose artificially flavored soft drinks usually drink twice as many of them as women who choose regular soda or juice -- 2.8 glasses per week compared to 1.6 glasses. "Yet when an equal quantity is consumed, the risk of contracting diabetes is higher for 'light' or 'diet' drinks than for 'non-light' or 'non-diet' drinks," the researchers, epidemiologists Francoise Clavel-Chapelon and Guy Fagherazzi, said in a statement. Women who drank up to 500 milliliters (about 12 ounces) of artificially sweetened beverages per week were 33 percent more likely to develop the disease, and women who drank about 600 milliliters (about 20 ounces) per week had a 66 percent increase in risk.
Drinking sweetened beverages increases the risk of becoming overweight, which is itself a risk factor in developing diabetes. But the study didn't found that the results were the same even among overweight women. So how can artificially sweetened drinks be making the problem worse if they're fat- and calorie-free?
"With respect, in particular, to 'light' or 'diet' drinks, the relationship with diabetes can be explained partially by a greater craving for sugar in general by female consumers of this type of soft drink," the researchers explained. "Furthermore, aspartame, one of the main artificial sweeteners used today, causes an increase in glycaemia and consequently a rise in the insulin level in comparison to that produced by sucrose."
Translation: Drinking artificially sweetened drinks makes you crave other sweet things (hello, chocolate!). And your body reacts to aspartame -- also known as NutraSweet and Equal -- much in the same way that it reacts to plain old sugar.
According to the American Diabetes Association, about 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes -- about 8.3 percent of the population. The disease is the leading cause of new cases of blindness in people age 20 and older, and can also causes heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and damage to the nervous system. Type 2 diabetes -- which can be controlled by diet and exercise rather than a daily insulin injection -- is the most common form of diabetes in the United States.
The study's authors cautioned that more research was needed in order to prove a true causal link between diet sodas and Type 2 diabetes. "Information on beverage consumption was not updated during the follow-up, and dietary habits may have changed over time," they admitted in their report. "We cannot rule out that factors other than ASB [artificially sweetened beverages" are responsible for the association with diabetes."
Monday, October 22, 2012
HIV treatment breakthrough – South Africa Scientists Discover how to kill 90% of HIV Strains
South African scientists have discovered how some people can make potent antibodies capable of neutralising strains of HIV, Business Day reported on Monday.
“We’re hoping we can use this information to develop a vaccine that prompts the body’s immune system to make broadly neutralising antibodies,” Penny Moore was quoted saying.
Moore is lead author of a paper describing the discovery, published in Nature Medicine on Sunday.
The scientists have discovered that the virus evolves to evade its host’s immune system by adding a sugar molecule to its surface. The host’s antibodies adapt to recognise the sugar in such a way that they can kill nine of 10 known strains of HIV.
The study is based on blood samples taken at regular intervals over several years from two women infected with HIV, enabling scientists to study how the virus and the women’s antibodies have changed over time, Moore said.
Meanwhile, according to The Gazette (Montreal) newspaper, a new study has found that chemicals commonly found in bananas are as potent in preventing HIV as two synthetic anti-HIV drugs.
Researchers say the findings could lead to a cheap new component for applied microbicides that prevent intimate transmission of HIV.
The miracle substance in bananas is called BanLec, a type of lectin, which are the sugar-binding proteins found in a variety of plants. Scientists have long been interested in lectins because of their ability to halt the chain reaction that leads to certain viral infections. In the case of BanLec, it works by binding naturally to the sugar-rich envelope that encases the HIV virus, thus blocking its entry into the body.
“The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that’s much harder to do in the presence of lectins. Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them,” said lead author Michael D. Swanson.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
At Last A Cure Is Found For HIV and AIDS
Dozens of HIV and AIDS patients in the Gambia, a tiny West African State have been cured using his secret concoction of boiled herbs, according to President Yahya Jammeh.
“Who am I to expect that everybody would praise me," President Jammeh said in a state television broadcast on Sunday evening, announcing that 68 patients had been cured and discharged from a treatment centre.
“Just as the Prophet Mohammed prevailed and established Islam, I have also prevailed to cure HIV/AIDS to the point that 68 are being discharged today," he said.
The World Health Organisation and the UN have said President Jammeh’s HIV/AIDS treatment is alarming mainly because patients are required to cease their anti-retroviral drugs making them more prone to infection.
However, the president said the cured group was the seventh batch of HIV/AIDS patients undergoing his herbal remedy to have been discharged since the treatments began five years ago.
President Jammeh said on Sunday that his government would fully integrate “natural medicine’’ to all the country’s hospitals, to complement Western medical techniques.
Recall that President Jammeh first announced he had found a natural remedy to cure HIV and AIDS in 2007, stirring anger among Western medical experts who claimed he was giving false hope to the sick.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Fertility envy: It should be the greatest joy you can share with a friend, so why does pregnancy often drive such a wedge between women? One writer tells her story
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| Ateh Jewl - pictured with her twin daughters, Adanna, left, and Ola, right - did not receive the support she had hoped she would when she announced her pregnancy to her friends |
From the moment the positive pink lines appeared on my pregnancy test, I couldn't wait to share my news with family and friends.
At 32, I had prepared myself for the fact that I might have problems conceiving, but when it happened as soon as we started trying I couldn't believe my luck.
Ever cautious, my husband urged me to wait until we'd passed the three months mark before I told anyone — and I reluctantly agreed.
I crossed the days off until I could finally pick up the phone to tell my best friends that, not only was I going to be a mother, but I was having twins.
I pictured them screaming with delight, desperate to hear every detail. After all, there had not been a time in my life — from getting my first job to buying my first flat — when they hadn't been there for me.
But, as I announced the news to my closest childhood friend, I was met with a stony silence then a barrage of aggressive questions.
'Why didn’t you tell me you were trying?' she wanted to know. 'Why now? I thought you were going to move house before you started a family.'
The silence returned before she muttered her congratulations and made a hurried excuse about having to go. But as she put down the phone I heard muffled tears and a sob.
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| 'People struggling to have a baby can be in a desperate place and are in some ways not themselves' |
I felt confused and hurt. What had I done wrong? When I called her again a few days later, she broke down. Unbeknown to me, she had been trying to get pregnant for nearly three years and was now forced to start thinking about IVF or adoption.
My good news was salt in her wound — and the fact that it had happened so quickly made matters worse.
I felt terrible to have upset her and guilty that I hadn't known what she’d been going through.
We'd met at primary school and been through everything together: first boyfriends, dodgy hairstyles and an embarrassing obsession with Britney Spears.
As teenagers we'd shared our dreams about getting wed and having children, and laughed about how much fun it would be if we did it at the same time.
The fact that I didn't even know she'd been trying for a baby highlighted the huge gulf that had formed between us — and now it was only going to get bigger.
But it wasn't just her. My pregnancy caused hidden — and sometimes not-so-hidden — tensions with many of my friends, some of whom were struggling to conceive or had gone through the silent anguish of miscarriage.
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| 'When couples first try for a baby they're very optimistic but if they don't succeed they can start to feel like they are the only people on the planet it's not happening for' |
One friend who I'd worked with for seven years suddenly told me she was on her third course of IVF. My news prompted her to break down and blurt out: 'Why should you be able to have two babies when I only want one? It's not fair. I have to go through weeks of needles, injections and surgery, and I might not even get a child at the end of it.'
I didn't know what to say. She was right; it wasn’t fair — but it also wasn't my fault. We'd planned our careers together and always encouraged each other work-wise, yet when it came to babies she couldn't accept that it came more easily to me than her.
In fact, the only friends who were excited for me were the ones who were single or not interested in starting a family yet. I thought they would be the least likely to want to meet up given the fact that now I was pregnant I was 'boring'.
Obviously I couldn't go out drinking with them in the same way as before but that didn't matter — they were overjoyed for me and came round with pregnancy books and presents from Baby Gap.
The difference was they had no reason to feel angry and resentful.
While I was totally unprepared for the reaction my pregnancy prompted, experts say that it's very common for friendships to be affected by fertility issues.
'When couples first try for a baby they're very optimistic but if they don't succeed they can start to feel like they are the only people on the planet it's not happening for,' says fertility expert Zita West.
'It's no surprise that they then dread friends and family announcing their pregnancies. Many women tell me they're happy for their pregnant friends but they also can't help feeling upset, jealous and angry at the unfairness of the situation'.
BABY BOTHER
After pregnancy itself, infertility is the most common reason for women aged 20- to 40 to see their GP.
For some women, it's not even possible to be pleased for their expectant friends — their own feelings of failure and heartbreak about being unable to conceive are so primal they simply cannot put on a brave face.
'People struggling to have a baby can be in a desperate place and are in some ways not themselves,' says psychologist Lucy Beresford.
'Friends you expect to be supportive may be unable to put their emotions aside, grit their teeth and be pleased for you. It can be very hurtful and cause a huge gulf in friendships.'
Another good friend, who'd had numerous rounds of failed IVF, told me quite candidly that she wasn't sure our 15-year friendship could survive my pregnancy.
Friends you expect to be supportive may be unable to put their emotions aside, grit their teeth and be pleased for you. It can be very hurtful and cause a huge gulf in friendships.'
Another good friend, who'd had numerous rounds of failed IVF, told me quite candidly that she wasn't sure our 15-year friendship could survive my pregnancy.
She wrote me an email saying that she felt 'our lives are about to go in two very different directions.'
I was shocked — when I got married she helped me to organise everything from the ceremony to my hen do and I'd done the same for her.
While I respected the fact that she was brave enough to tell me how she felt, I was heartbroken that the happiest news in my life upset her so much that she couldn't bear to be around me.
I also felt scared and alone. Being pregnant with twins was challenging in itself; the morning sickness lasted all day and I was constantly exhausted. More than ever I needed my support network.
I craved people to talk to — and not just about my pregnancy. I still wanted to gossip and discuss EastEnders but my three best friends in the world couldn't even bear to speak to me.
As my bump grew, some friends made excuses when I tried to arrange to meet up.
One was honest, and admitted that it was because looking at my growing tummy was too upsetting.
'I can’t even walk past playgrounds, pregnant women in the street or a buggy without bursting into tears,' she said.
My heart broke for her, but while once upon a time I would have told her it was all going to be OK, that was the last thing she wanted to hear from a pregnant person. Any advice from me simply sounded smug.
I started planning a baby shower but then envisaged myself sitting alone surrounded by pink cupcakes and teddy bears. In the end I felt I had to avoid talking about my pregnancy to certain friends.
I downplayed things I should have been excited to tell them about — like feeling the girls' first kicks, picking out my first pram or going to ante-natal classes.
Instead of talking about my latest doctor's visit or ultrasound — as I was desperate to — I would listen to hours of their conversation about IVF and then share my own good news with taxi drivers, or people in shops who I knew wouldn’t get upset.
I remember going to buy some body oil for my stretchmarks and being asked by an old lady in the queue when I was due.
I broke down and spent the next hour telling her about how scared I was about the birth and whether both babies would be OK.
I got really teary because I realised I should have been able to discuss this with friends I'd known for years rather than a stranger in Boots.
My husband was very protective of me and thought I should avoid or even ditch the friends who were being so negative. He simply couldn't understand why my friends were behaving in such a way.
But I wanted to maintain the relationships — being pregnant made me feel vulnerable and I needed them more than ever.
Also, I was too racked with guilt about my own good luck to tell my friends how I was feeling about their reaction. On one occasion I did confront a friend by saying I felt like she changed the subject any time I mentioned anything to do with the baby. She acted surprised, but afterwards I received a seven-page email with links to articles on how to handle infertile friends.
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