The following complications have been observed to occur among pregnant and lactating women:

• Cervical insufficiency (incompetent cervix)
• Chronic hypertension
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Excessive amniotic fluid (hydramnios or polyhydramnios)
• Gestational diabetes
• Gestational hypertension (pregnancy-induced hypertension)
• Intrauterine growth restriction ( IUGR)
• Iron-deficiency anemia
• Low amniotic fluid (oligohydramnios)
• Placenta previa
• Placenta abruption
• Preeclampsia
• Preterm labor and birth

Infections during pregnancy:

• Bacterial vaginosis (BV)
• Chicken pox
• Chlamydia
• Cholera
• Diphtheria
• Cytomegalovirus
• Fifth disease (parvovirus B19)
• Genital herpes
• Gonorrhea
• Group B streptococcus screening
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B blood test
• Human papillovirus (HPV)
• Infection
• Listeriosis
• Malaria
• Polio
• Rabies
• Rebulla (German measles)
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Syphillis
• Tetanus
• Toxoplasmosis
• Trichomoniasis
• Typhoid
• Urinary tract infections
• Yellow fever

CHOLESTEROL -- The Good and the Bad (Adapted from The Heart of the Matter: What Your Really Need to Know about Heart Attack by Marilyn Johnson, 1992)

Cholesterol is a fatty substance which is always present in the blood and is essential for life. It is important in the digestion of food, and in the body's production of certain hormones. The body itself manufactures most of the cholesterol that it needs. Cholesterol is also found in many of the foods we eat, especially meats, eggs, milk, butter, and other animal products such as the ghee used in Indian cooking.

Cholesterol is constantly circulating in the bloodstream. However, if too much of it is in the blood, fatty deposits or plaques build up in the lining of the arteries. This causes the arteries to become narrower, resulting in the condition known as atherosclerosis. If this plaque build-up continues, one or more of the arteries eventually becomes blocked, the oxygen supply to that part of the heart stops, and the person has what we know as a heart attack.

Good cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; the other form is bad cholesterol, or the low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is harmful if occurring in uncontrollable doses and can block blood vessels. The HDL, on the other hand, helps to protect the body from plaque formation, carrying the cholesterol away from the body. If there is a balance of these two types of cholesterol, the risk of heart disease is generally low.

Many doctors check the blood cholesterol level by asking for a more complete test which shows the HDL and the LDL. A healthy approximate ratio of four-to-one between the total cholesterol and the good HDL is generally considered good.

Many screening tests simply check the total cholesterol level in the blood. Doctors and heart researchers have recommended that the ideal cholesterol level for a person may be found by adding 100 plus the individual's age. In other words, for a 45-year-old person, the blood cholesterol level should be approximately 145 milligrams per deciliter (145 mg./dl.).

Doctors consider that the maximum desirable level of cholesterol is below 200 mg./dl. Studies have shown that 5 percent of the Filipinos has higher than this recommended maximum level.

A blood cholesterol level between 200 and 240 mg./dl. is considered borderline. If your cholesterol is within this range, it would be advisable to reduce the fat and cholesterol content of your diet and to have your cholesterol checked again each year.

If your cholesterol is above 240 mg./dl., you should have it tested again, and you should ask for another blood test to check both the good HDL and the bad LDL. Ideally, the HDL should be approximately 50 mg./dl., and the LDL should be below 100 mg./dl.

If your cholesterol level is high, you must also carefully follow the strict dietary changes prescribed by your doctor, who may also recommend medicines to help reduce the cholesterol level. In many cases, however, positive changes in your lifestyle will be most helpful.

Children and youth who are at high risk should be tested early and regularly for cholesterol level. High risk children include those who:

• Have one parent who has had a heart attack, angina, stroke, or other blood vessel disease before the age of 50 for the father, or before age 60 for the mother; or
• Have two close relatives (grandparent, aunt, uncle) with such blood vessel disease.
• Have close relatives with high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol level, or diabetes.
• Are overweight and inactive.
• Have started smoking.

High cholesterol level has come to be considered as one of the three major risk factors leading to heart disease. (The others are smoking and high blood pressure.) It is well known that when a person has a high level of cholesterol and has one other major risk factor--for example if he is a smoker, or has high blood pressue--he has a tendency to have heart attack. If, however, he has a high blood cholesterol level and has two other risk factors--if he smokes and has high blood pressure--he is potentially at risk. The person with all three of these risk factors is eight times more likely to have a heart attack than a person without any of these conditions.

In other words, the more risk factors a person has, the more likely he is to have a heart attack. Immediate changes in lifestyle are the best way to reduce the chances of heart disease.

The blood cholesterol level also seems to be closely related to obesity, or overweight, and to the amount of physical exercise a person gets.

One thing is certain: a moderate diet, relatively low in fat and fried foods, is best for everyone.



Controlling Your Cholesterol -- Below are effective ways by which you may control your cholesterol at the appropriate level.

Eat less meat or none at all. All kinds of meat contain cholesterol, though some kinds have more cholesterol that others. Shrimp, crab, lobster and prawn, as well as duck meat, are quite high in cholesterol content. Liver and brain contain extremenly high amounts of cholesterol.

A vegetarian diet is actually the most healthful, partly because fruits and vegetables contain no cholesterol at all. In addition, throughout many centuries, vegetarians have been shown to live longer, have greater endurance, and suffer from fewer diseases than meat-eaters.

Eat fewer eggs. If you do eat eggs, it is best to take no more than one to three eggs per week. The yellow yolk of an egg contains a very large amount of cholesterol, more than most other foods, so it is better to avoid eating the egg yolk.

Use less dairy products. If you use milk, ice cream, cheese or yoghurt, choose the non-fat or low-fat varieties. If you use condensed milk as a creamer in hot drinks, reduce the amount you use. Soyamilk, with little or no sugar added, contains no cholesterol and is a good substitute for milk.

Use only unsaturated vegetable fats. These include corn oil, sesame oil, olive oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, or peanut (ground nut) oil. These may have some cholesterol-lowering effect. Even so, they should be used in limited quantitites because they may still contribute to becoming overweight and possibly to certain other serious diseases.

Saturated fats, or "hard fats", are solid at room temperature. Even though they do not actually contain cholesterol, saturated vegetable fats may casue the body to produce more cholesterol. Coconut oil, palm oil, and palm kernel oil are highly saturated vegetable fats. Animal fats such as butter, ghee, lard, dripping, and suet are also highly saturated.

Use less oil or other fat. The body only needs one tablespoon of fat each day, including all of the hidden or unobvious fats in various foods. It is wise to reduce the amount of oil you use in cooking, even in pan frying. Avoid deep-fried foods such as flat rice noodles, flat Indian bread, carrot cake, oyster omelette, and chicharon (fried hog's skin); and many "junk foods" now in the market such as French fries, fried crackers (prawn, fish, vegetable, etc.), fried corn chips and many other snacks which, although tasty, could mean disaster to the heart. Salty, fatty snacks are without doubt one major cause of the increased blood pressure seen among so many teenagers today.

Eat three regular meals each day and avoid between-meal snacks. The heart, the stomach, the brain, and the entire body will function better if we take food only are regular meal times. The best plan is to take a good breakfast and lunch, and a lighter dinner. If you do have snacks, tea breaks or desserts, eat fresh fruits and fruit salads instead of ice cream, cakes, pies, biscuits, and other sweets.

Eat unrefined foods. Take whole grain bread and unrefined cereals instead of white bread or sweetened, refined cereals. The unrefined breads and cereals contain more fiber, which is good for health in many ways.

In digestion, the food passes through the stomach into the intestines, where the nutrients are absorbed into the blood. Fiber causes the food to move more quickly through the intestines, and does not allow digested fats and cholesterol to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Avoid alcoholic drinks. Alcohol slows down the removal of fats from the blood, thus resulting in an increased amount of fats circulating in the bloodstream and weakening the heart muscle. Alcoholic drinks are also fattening because they are high in calories and have virtually no nutrients.

Reduce the amount of sugar in your diet. Sugar reduces the body's resistance to infectious diseases such as cold and flu. It also causes a higher level of fats in the blood. Unnecessarily, parents give sweets to their children as a reward or pacifier and the children grow up loving sweets, not realizing the possible harm to the body.

Avoid drinking coffee or other caffeine drinks. Aside from their harmful effects on the blood pressure, caffeine drinks increase the level of bad cholesterol, or LDL, in the blood.


How much cholesterol is your blood carrying through the arteries? Worse yet, how much fatty plaque is in the lining of your blood vessels? If you know there is too much, begin today to improve your heart health. If you do not know, why not get your blood checked to find out soon. The heart attack you prevent may be your own!



No matter how long you have smoked, the risk of developing heart disease or chronic bronchitis decreases as soon as you give up. Motivation is the key factor in managing to stop successfully. Before you decide to try, ask yourself: 'Do I really want to give up?' If you are not sure, you will find it difficult to keep on when the going gets tough. Wait until you feel certain.

Step one
Analyze your smoking habits carefully. Make a list of every cigarette you usually smoke in a 24-hour period. Give yourself two or three weeks to study when and why you 'need' cigarettes. This increasing concern with the act of smoking is a good way to prepare for the task of giving up.

Step two
Make up your mind that there can be no turning back. List all the reasons why you want to stop, including all the good things that will happen when you have stopped. For instance, you will enjoy the taste of food and drink more, your morning cough may disappear and you will probably have fewer respiratory infections. Convince yourself that it is worth making the effort.

Step three
Name the day, circle it in your diary, and give up smoking completely on that day. Try to get family members or close friends to give up as well, so that you can support each other in the difficult early days. You may also find that it helps if you choose a time when your usual routine is changed anyway -- just before going on holiday, for example.

Step four
Use any device that comes to hand as a cigarette substitute in the early days -- chew gum or hold a pen or pencil if your hand feels empty without a cigarette. Use nicotine substitutes if you need to overcome drug withdrawal symptoms. You could also try relaxation techniques to ease tensions that smoking once relieved. Avoid situations that encourage smoking and make a point of sitting in non-smoking sections of restaurants and transport.

Step five
Enjoy not smoking! Don't forget that you will save a lot of money. Use the extra cash to buy yourself regular rewards.

Step six
Eat as much as you want during the first few weeks, provided it is healthy food. When you are feeling tense and restless (the result of overcoming an addictive habit), you may often want to eat, and may gain a little weight. Remember that the first four weeks are the hardest. You can expect to lost your intense craving for tobacco after about eight weeks, and you should then begin to eat more sparingly.

We hope that your intention to quit smoking will give you many benefits and rewards!!!!!



Bleaching and Blow-drying -- Hair is quick to show damage and rapidly loses shine and condition when subjected to harsh treatment. Repeated bleaching with hydrogen peroxide preparations can be harmful and may lead to rough, dry, brittle hair, with split ends. If you want to continue bleaching, keep a watch on the condition of your hair and stop if it seems to be deteriorating -- or ask your hairdresser about changing to an alternative bleach. Snip the ends off every couple of weeks to prevent split ends.

A blow-dryer will not damage your hair as long as you keep the nozzle at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) away from your head, and do not train it too long on any one spot. A properly functioning dryer heats air to no more than 85 degrees centigrade (185 degrees Fahrenheit) -- a temperature well below the 149 degrees centigrade (300 degrees Fahrenheit) it takes to damage hair.

Conditioners -- Conditioners can also offer some protection. Choose according to hair type and special needs. Cream rinses act on the surface to neutralize static electrical charges and make hair more manageable. Protein conditioners lubricate and add lustre and body.

Frequency of washing the hair -- No hard-and-fast rules about this, only that washing depends on how greasy your scalp is, what sort of environment you live and work in, and what sort of activities you engage in. If you work in heavy industry or work up a sweat at the gym every evening, every-day washing may not be too much. If you have a dry scalp and work in an office, every three or four days may be enough. If your hair is dry, however, try not to shampoo it more than once or twice a week -- overwashing will strip away protective oils. When shampooing, use the smallest amount needed (one teaspoon is plenty). If washing leaves your hair 'squeaky clean' you are doing it too often or using too much shampoo each time.

Hirsutism -- Heavy face and body hair is a much more common problem for women than is often supposed, so you are by no means alone. In a few cases -- usually accompanied by irregular periods -- there is a medical cause which needs treatment by a doctor; but in many more there is no underlying disorder, and is more common after menopause and tends to run in families.

The only method of removing hair permanently is electrolysis, available from qualified beauticians, which uses an electric current to destroy the growing part of the hair. It also destroys the surrounding cells so that hair cannot grow there again. Fine hairs disappear after one treatment; coarser strands may need several, but will grow progressively finer until they disappear. Because only a few hairs can be treated at a time, electrolysis is usually reserved for facial hair. The treatment can be painful and may make surrounding skin temporarily red and sore. It can be expensive if numerous visits are necessary.

Bleaching, although its results are not permanent, is effective for a light growth of dark hair and can be used on the face or body. It may, however, irritate the skin, so always do a patch test first.