home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- THE WEEK, Page 20HEALTH & SCIENCEEt Cetera
-
-
- STAY COOL
-
- Pregnant women may have to add another activity to the list of
- things that can harm fetuses: the use of hot tubs and saunas. A
- report in the Journal of the A.M.A. suggests that excessive heat
- exposure in early pregnancy can increase the chance of spina
- bifida and brain abnormalities in their offspring. Hot tubs are
- the worst offenders, boosting the risk from the normal 2 in
- 1,000 nearly threefold. Saunas just about double the risk, as
- do fevers above 100 degrees F. Women exposed to two kinds of
- heat had six times the chance of bearing afflicted children. But
- electric blankets had no effect.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-