It’s every couple’s dream to start building a family of their own by having a healthy baby. Pregnancy appears to be a natural expectation from any healthy couple but in a world where lifestyles are always on the go, planning is necessary to make sure that everything goes well.
Being a party animal, getting by on a little sleep, too much alcohol and cigars all these will have to take a back seat in order to accommodate the beginning of a new life.
Several months prior to conception, both the man and the woman should make sure they are practicing a healthy lifestyle to keep their body in a good condition. This can help minimize risk factors that can hurt the baby or the future parents.
Sometimes, it only takes a healthy lifestyle change to boost the chances of pregnancy especially those who are having problems with infertility and other medical conditions.
The first two to four weeks of pregnancy is very critical. During this time, a tiny placenta and embryo are already attached to the uterine wall. The baby’s development can be greatly affected by the following health and lifestyle issues
Serious birth defect called spina bifida is a condition characterized by a baby born with a spine that is not closed. To help prevent this condition, many food items, such as bread, bagels and breakfast cereal, are fortified with folic acid which is effective in reducing the risk of this birth defect.
Alcohol is associated to premature delivery, mental retardation, birth defects and low-birth-weight babies.
Smoking can cause conception difficulties and may increase the risk of preterm labor and low birth weight.
Pregnant women should consult their physicians before taking any over-the-counter and prescription drugs due to the health risk it may cause to the unborn. Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs NSAIDs such as aspirin, aspirin compounds and ibuprofen can cause a decrease in the amount of amniotic fluid and cause closure of the ductus arteriosa, an important blood vessel in the baby.
Cocaine use is detrimental and life-threatening to both mother and baby.
Pregnant women who have periodontal infections and gum disease can increase the risk of pre-term delivery up to eightfold. Babies born to mothers with these infections are twice as likely to be admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, and three times more likely to need hospitalization beyond seven days.
According to Michael Greene, MD, Director of Obstetrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, obesity is an especially critical issue for women of childbearing age. “Obesity is associated with many complications, because it greatly increases a woman’s risk of developing high blood sugar and diabeteseither before they get pregnant or during their pregnancy,” adds Greene.
The unborn is placed at high risk for a variety of congenital malformations, including defects of the brain and spinal cord brought about by the mother’s obesity and diabetes. The babies are likely to grow large in size making it difficult to have normal delivery and may require ceasarean section.
Depression can also affect pregnancy. Women who get depressed when during pregnancy tend to smoke, drink alcohol or use illegal drugs which are harmful to the baby. Difficulty bonding with the baby and postpartum depression may also occur which is usual in women with a history of depressive illness. The cortisol hormone that the body releases during times of stress seems to make conception more difficult. However, exercise and getting plenty of sleep can help reduce stress.
Women are adviced to see either a doctor or midwife at least 3 months before getting pregnant for pre-conception counseling. This will help women learn about what steps to take to ensure a healthy pregnancy. Keeping a healthy lifestyle over the years can translate into a healthy pregnancy especially when it’s past the prime of fertility years.

Are you engaged in any physical activity? You might have tried swimming, cycling, jogging, brisk walking, or even stretching? Medical experts say that these activities help promote cardiovascular health. According to the latest guidelines released by the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine, all healthy adults ages 1865 should be getting at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity five days of the week. However, there are additional guidelines for older adults, ages 65 and older, or for those adults aged 50-64 with chronic conditions or physical functional limitations that affect movement ability or physical fitness.

Physical exercise can improve both your mental and physical health. The benefits of aerobic exercise include improved cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility. Exercise pumps more blood through your veins. This increases the size of your arteries, prevents fat from clogging your arteries, and helps prevent blood clots. A strong heart does not have to work so hard so you are less likely to have a heart attack. Regular exercise also increases your good cholesterol and helps lower your total cholesterol level. In addition, exercise helps lower your blood pressure. Your lungs benefit from exercise by becoming better conditioned. As a result, a person no longer breathes heavily after doing a physical activity like climbing a long flight of stairs. Muscles that are not used or exercised become small and inelastic. On the other hand, aerobic exercise helps tone the body by increasing muscle size, strength, and flexibility — while burning calories at the same time. Moreover, exercise is also a good depression treatment. Depression can be one of the most debilitating experiences in life. Depression is a disorder that affects your thoughts, moods, feelings, behavior and even your physical health. It makes you tired, so tired you want to go to bed and never get up. It can be a challenge to pull yourself out of that dark hole. People used to think that dealing with depression is easy or one can just get away with it. But doctors now know that depression is not a weakness, and it’s not something you can treat on your own. Depression is a medical disorder with a biological and chemical basis. Seeing your doctor should always be your first step in dealing with depression, but there are some ways you can deal with depression on a daily basis such as engaging in exercise.

Exercise has long been touted as a way to maintain physical fitness. It is a proven aid in preventing high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and other diseases. A growing volume of research shows that exercise also can help improve symptoms of certain mental conditions, such as depression. Exercise also may help prevent a relapse after treatment for depression. Research suggests that it may take at least 30 minutes of exercise a day for at least three to five days a week to significantly improve symptoms of depression. However, smaller amounts of activity such as little as 10 to 15 minutes at a time have been shown to improve mood in the short term. Just how exercise reduces symptoms of depression isn’t fully understood. Researchers believe that exercise prompts changes in both mind and body. Medical experts proved that exercise positively affects the levels of certain mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the brain. Exercise may also boost feel-good endorphins, release tension in muscles, help you sleep better and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. It also increases body temperature, which may have calming effects. All of these changes in your mind and body can improve such symptoms as sadness, anxiety, irritability, stress, fatigue, anger, self-doubt and hopelessness.

If you exercise regularly but depression or anxiety still impairs your daily functioning, seek professional help. Exercise isn’t meant to replace medical treatment of depression. No matter how tired you may feel, getting up and moving around can bring some immediate relief for depression. Engaging yourself in a little exercise is an excellent way to work off some of that added stress you’re carrying around. It may seem impossible to get moving when you feel depressed but that’s exactly what you have to do.

We all experience fear once at least once in our lives. When we were kids, we were very frightened to go to school on the very first day knowing that the people there would be total strangers. We were also terrified by the thought of having to go to the dentist. Some had lesser degree of fear such as dreading the thought of having to speak before a crowd or reciting in front of the class. Some manage to overcome those fears, but there are others who are still weighed down by their fears and anxiety.

Fear plays a very important part in our daily life, and in human society as a whole. Fear comes in many shapes and forms, but it could be described as an unpleasant feeling of perceived risk or danger, real or not. It functions to make us alert and ready for action while expecting specific problems. We feel fearful when we believe we do not have the ability to cope with something. This fear may be grounded in reality, as when we fear being knocked down by a car when trying to cross a busy road. Or the fear may be irrational as when we fear a tiny harmless spider. Many of our fears are a mix of reality and misinterpretation of our ability to cope. When there is a large degree of of misinterpretation it is likely that it is a phobia rather than a fear.

Phobias involve the experience of persistent fear that is excessive and unreasonable. It is the most common mental disorder and research shows that more than 12 percent of the American population will develop a phobia. Phobias are among several anxiety disorders, which also include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Phobias are cued when a person approaches a particular situation or object, or even anticipates the approach of it. The individual experiencing a phobia understands the fear they will experience as a result of that situation will be unreasonable and excessive.

Phobias come in many different forms, some of the examples of phobias are arachnophobia; the fear of spiders, acrophobia; the fear of heights. aviophobia; the fear of flying, felinophobia; the fear of cats, apiphobia; the fear of bees, and the list goes on. Some phobias are well-recognized, others are unheard of.

But one kind of phobia that can be seriously disabling to an individual is called agoraphobia. The term agoraphobia is translated from Greek as fear of the marketplace. Its literal definition suggests a fear of open spaces, but the term agoraphobia has been widely misunderstood and misleading. Agoraphobics are not necessarily afraid of open spaces. Rather, they are afraid of having panicky feelings, wherever these fearful feelings may occur. For many, they happen at home, in houses of worship, or in crowded supermarkets, places that are certainly not open.

Agoraphobia is a condition which develops when a person begins to avoid spaces or situations associated with anxiety. Typical phobic situations might include driving, shopping, crowded places, traveling, standing in line, being alone, meetings and social gatherings. Agoraphobia arises from an internal anxiety condition that has become so intense that the suffering individual fears going anywhere or doing anything where these feelings of panic have repeatedly occurred before. Once the panic attacks have started, these episodes become the ongoing stress, even when other more obvious pressures have diminished. It sets up a feedback condition which generally leads to increased numbers of panic attacks.

Typically, people with agoraphobia restrict themselves to their comfort zone that may include only their home or the immediate neighborhood. Any movement beyond the edges of this zone creates a rise in anxiety. Sometimes, a person with agoraphobia is unable to leave home alone, but can travel if accompanied by a particular family member or friend. Even when they restrict themselves to safe situations, most people with agoraphobia continue to have panic attacks at least a few times a month. Researchers are still trying to understand what causes someone to have agoraphobia. As with most mental illnesses, agoraphobia is probably caused by a complex mix of biology and genetics, life’s experiences, temperament and traits. But researchers do know several risk factors involved that make a person more likely to get agoraphobia. These factors include

Having panic disorder
Experiencing stressful life events
Having a tendency to be nervous or anxious
Alcohol and substance use disorders
Female gender

Agoraphobia usually starts during late adolescence or early adulthood, but younger children and older adults also can develop it. Research also shows that more women are diagnosed with agoraphobia than men. As with many other mental disorders, agoraphobia treatment typically includes a combination of medication and psychotherapy. Depression treatments and anti-anxiety medications are commonly used to treat agoraphobia and panic symptoms. Among antidepressants, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors SSRIs fluoxetine Prozac, Prozac Weekly, paroxetine Paxil, Paxil CR and sertraline Zoloft are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat panic disorder and also may help agoraphobia. Other types of antidepressants, such as tricyclic antidepressants TCAs and monoamine oxidase inhibitors MAOIs also are sometimes used to treat agoraphobia. But TCAs and MAOIs tend to have more side effects and more serious side effects than do SSRIs. Anti-anxiety medications, also called benzodiazepines, can also help control symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, and are often used in agoraphobia treatment. These may include alprazolam Xanax, clonazepam Klonopin, to name a few. Treatment of agoraphobia is often successful, and you can overcome agoraphobia and learn to keep it under control.

A phobia can make one’s life miserable, cause embarrassment, and undermine self confidence and self esteem. However, you do not have to learn to live with a phobia, there are positive and pro-active manner which will help you conquer and get out of the marketplace of fear.