Does inflammation contribute to infertility? - Harvard Health

186 million people worldwide. A thorough medical evaluation can spot key contributing issues in many cases — whether in a woman, a man, or both partners — that might respond to treatment, or call for assisted reproductive tools like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

But in a substantial number of cases, no cause is found for infertility. Could inflammation be to blame for some of those cases, as recent research suggests? And if so, will an anti-inflammatory diet or lifestyle boost fertility?

Exploring the connection between inflammation and infertility

Chronic inflammation has been linked to many health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer.

While its importance in infertility is far from clear, some evidence supports a connection:

The risk of infertility is higher in conditions marked by inflammation, including infection, endometriosis, and polycystic ovary syndrome.

Bodywide (systemic) inflammation may affect the uterus, cervix, and placenta, thus impairing fertility.

Women with infertility who had IVF and followed an anti-inflammatory diet tended to have higher rates of successful pregnancy than women who did not follow the diet.

Could an anti-inflammatory diet improve fertility?

It’s a real possibility. Decades ago, researchers observed that women following a prescribed fertility diet ovulated more regularly and were more likely to get pregnant. Now a 2022 review of multiple studies in Nutrients suggests that following an anti-inflammatory diet holds promise for people experiencing infertility. The research was done years apart, but the diets in these two studies share many elements.

The 2022 review found that an anti-inflammatory diet may help

improve pregnancy rates (though exactly how is uncertain)

increase success rates of assisted reproductive measures, such as IVF

improve sperm quality in men.

The authors add that improving diet might even reduce the need for invasive, prolonged, and costly fertility treatments. However, the quality of studies and consistency of findings varied, so more high-quality research is needed to support this.

Will adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle improve fertility?

While recent research is intriguing, there’s not enough evidence to show that an anti-inflammation action plan will improve fertility. A plant-based diet such as the Mediterranean diet, and other measures considered part of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, improve heart health and have many other benefits.

It’s not clear if this is directly due to reducing inflammation. But this approach comes with little to no risk. And abundant convincing evidence suggests it can improve health and even fight disease.

What is an anti-inflammatory lifestyle?

Health experts have not agreed on a single definition. Here are some common recommendations:

Adopt a diet that encourages plant-based foods, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil while discouraging red meat, highly processed food, and saturated fats.

Stop smoking or vaping.

Lose excess weight.

Be physically active.

Get enough sleep.

Treat inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis or allergies.

Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.

Control stress.

Anti-inflammatory medicines may help in certain situations — for example, treatments for autoimmune disease. However, they are not warranted for everyone. And for people trying to conceive, it’s far from clear that any potential benefit would exceed the risk of side effects for parent and child.

The bottom line

It’s possible that inflammation plays an important and underappreciated role in infertility and that an anti-inflammatory diet or lifestyle could help. But we need more evidence to confirm this. Until we know more, taking measures to improve your overall health and possibly reduce chronic inflammation makes sense.

n ","excerpt":"n

Infertility affects millions of people worldwide. Chronic inflammation has been linked to many health conditions and some research suggests it might be a contributing factor for some cases of infertility. And if true, would an anti-inflammatory diet or lifestyle boost fertility?

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n ","description":null,"author":null,"slug":"does-inflammation-contribute-to-infertility-202302102888","sort_date":"2023-02-10T05:00:00.000000Z","contentable_type":"App\Models\Marketing\BlogPost","contentable_id":2888,"replacement_content_id":null,"landing_page_landing_page_group_id":null,"ucr_content_id":"BL021023","publication_date":"2023-02-10T11:30:00.000000Z","last_review_date":null,"imported_at":"2023-02-11T10:00:03.000000Z","last_import_type":"update","last_modified_date":"2023-02-10T05:00:00.000000Z","active":1,"created_at":"2023-02-09T21:38:41.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-02-11T10:00:03.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"images_remapped":0,"old_product_id":null,"old_content_id":null,"hide_ads":0,"primary_content_topic_id":46,"ecommerce_type":"CATALOG","authors":[{"id":23,"cr_id":2,"featured":1,"hhp_staff":1,"hidden":0,"name":"Robert H. Shmerling, MD","title":null,"first_name":"Robert","middle_name":"H.","last_name":"Shmerling","suffix":"MD","slug":"robert-h-shmerling-md","byline":"Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing","description":"

Dr. Robert H. Shmerling is the former clinical chief of the division of rheumatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and is a current member of the corresponding faculty in medicine at Harvard Medical School. As a practicing rheumatologist for over 30 years, Dr. Shmerling engaged in a mix of patient care, teaching, and research. His research interests center on diagnostic studies in patients with musculoskeletal symptoms, and rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. He has published research regarding infectious arthritis, medical ethics, and diagnostic test performance in rheumatic disease. Having retired from patient care in 2019, Dr. Shmerling now works as a senior faculty editor for Harvard Health Publishing.

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Women have many unique health concerns — menstrual cycles, pregnancy, birth control, menopause — and that's just the beginning. A number of health issues affect only women and others are more common in women. What's more, men and women may have the same condition, but different symptoms. Many diseases affect women differently and may even require distinct treatment.

Treatments for breast cancer include removal of the affected breast (mastectomy), removal of the tumor and small amount of surrounding tissue (lumpectomy), radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy.

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Weight can be a sensitive topic with children and teens, and sometimes a child needs to gain some weight. Checking with your doctor before working on adding weight and emphasizing healthy, high-calorie foods are important.

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Understandably, the sensitive topic of weight in children and teens often focuses on the health costs of overweight and obesity. Sometimes, though, a child needs to gain some weight. And while there are lots of ways to make that happen, not all of them are healthy.

What to do if your child seems underweight

If you are worried about whether your child needs to gain weight, it’s very important to check with your doctor before getting to work on fattening them up. It’s entirely possible that your child’s weight is absolutely fine. Given that one in five children in the US is obese and another one in six is overweight, it’s easy to see how a parent might think their child is too thin in comparison. One way to find out if your child’s weight is healthy is to check their body mass index, a calculation using height and weight that is used for children ages 2 and up.

Losing weight or being underweight can be a sign of a medical or emotional problem, so be sure to let your doctor know about your concerns. They may want to see your child to help decide if any evaluations are needed. If your child is less than 2 years old, it’s particularly important that you check in with your doctor about weight concerns, and follow their advice exactly.

Choosing healthy foods when a child needs to gain weight

If your child is older than 2 and the doctor agrees that gaining weight is a good idea, the best way to approach it is by using healthy foods and healthy habits.

Three ways to help encourage healthy weight gain:

Give your child three meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and two healthy snacks (mid-morning and mid-afternoon). If your child eats dinner early, you could consider a small snack before bedtime. Try to avoid snacks in between or drinking anything other than some water; you want them to be hungry when you give them food.

Offer healthy high-calorie foods. Think in terms of healthy fats and protein. Some examples are:nt
- nuts and nut butters, as well as seeds like pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- full-fat dairy, such as whole milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, and other cheeses
- avocados
- hummus
- olive oil and other vegetable oils
- whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread or granola (look for granola sweetened with juice or fruit rather than sugar)
- meat if your diet includes it

Every time you prepare a meal or snack, think about how you might add some calories to it. For example, you could add some extra oil, butter, or cheese to pasta — or some nut butter on a slice of apple or piece of toast.

Three traps to avoid:

Giving your child more sweets or junk food. It’s tempting, as children generally want to eat sweets and junk food, and both have calories. But they aren’t healthy foods, and it’s not a good idea to build a sweets and junk food habit.

Giving your child unlimited access to food. This, too, is tempting — after all, you want them to eat! But not only does that make it hard to be sure that what they are eating is healthy, snacking can make them less hungry when it’s time for an actual meal.

Letting your child fill up on milk and other drinks — including nutritional supplement drinks. This, too, makes it less likely that they will eat at mealtime, and they are unlikely to get all the nutrients they need. Don’t give your child nutritional supplements unless your doctor advises you to do so.

Be sure you schedule regular check-ins with your doctor to monitor your child’s progress. Hopefully your child will soon be at a healthier weight that helps them to thrive as they grow.

Follow me on Twitter @drClaire

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"Mature

A positive outlook has been linked to better heart health and a longer life. But is that true for Black Americans, whose average lifespan is about 72 years, compared with an average lifespan of 77 years for all Americans?

Recent findings from the nation’s largest and longest-running study of cardiovascular risk factors in Black Americans, the Jackson Heart Study, suggest that the answer is a qualified yes. Cardiovascular diseases, which give rise to heart attack and stroke, are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Perhaps not surprisingly, the association between optimism and longevity in Black Americans appears to be strongest among people with higher education or income levels, and those ages 55 and younger. It also proved stronger among men than among women.

Is optimism the only key to longevity in this study?

Probably not. There’s another possible explanation for the findings, says Dr. Rishi Wadhera, a cardiologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

"Instead of optimism leading to better health, it’s possible that healthier individuals are simply more optimistic, or less healthy individuals are less optimistic," he says. This so-called reverse causality — when cause and effect are the opposite of what one assumes — is always a possibility in observational studies, even when scientists take pains to control for possible confounding factors such as health conditions and behaviors, as they did in this study.

"Nonetheless, these findings contribute to a body of evidence that suggests that psychosocial resources, mood, and mental health are all associated with health," says Dr. Wadhera, who is section head of health policy and equity research at the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology at BIDMC.

Measuring optimism in the study

Led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the study included 2,652 women and 1,444 men who were part of the Jackson Heart Study. Researchers measured optimism using the Life Orientation Test-Revised, which includes questions such as "In uncertain times, I usually expect the best." Responses are scored on a scale of 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). The researchers administered this test and others between 2000 and 2004, and tracked mortality among the study participants until 2018.

Optimism — the general belief that good things will happen — may be partly inherited, although genetic factors are thought to explain only about 20% to 30% of this trait. Some research suggests that people can enhance their feelings of optimism either through cognitive behavioral therapy or writing exercises that focus on imagining their "best possible future self."

Looking forward

Still, optimism is but one of many intertwined social factors that influence how long people live. A better understanding of biological pathways that could potentially explain the outcomes observed in this study may help, says Dr. Wadhera.

n"But to meaningfully address the alarming and ubiquitous health inequities that exist in our country, we need to tackle the unacceptable gaps in care and resources that exist between different racial and ethnic groups," he adds. This includes disparities in health insurance coverage, access to health care, neighborhood factors such as access to green space and healthy foods, and environmental stressors such as pollution exposure. "Doing so may help people and communities from all backgrounds live happier and longer lives," Dr. Wadhera says.nn

","excerpt":"Recent findings from the largest and longest-running study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Black Americans suggest that a positive outlook can lead to longer life. But while optimism may boost heart health and overall health, the full picture is more complicated.","short_excerpt":"Recent findings from the largest and longest-running study of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in Black Americans suggest that a positive outlook can lead to longer life. But while optimism may boost heart health and overall health, the full picture is more complicated.","description":null,"author":null,"slug":"optimism-heart-health-and-longevity-unraveling-the-link-for-black-americans-202202142689","sort_date":"2022-02-14T05:00:00.000000Z","contentable_type":"App\Models\Marketing\BlogPost","contentable_id":2689,"replacement_content_id":null,"landing_page_landing_page_group_id":null,"ucr_content_id":"BL021422","publication_date":"2022-02-14T15:30:00.000000Z","last_review_date":null,"imported_at":"2022-02-15T10:00:06.000000Z","last_import_type":"update","last_modified_date":"2022-02-14T05:00:00.000000Z","active":1,"created_at":"2022-02-12T10:00:04.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-02-15T10:00:06.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"images_remapped":0,"old_product_id":null,"old_content_id":null,"hide_ads":0,"primary_content_topic_id":44,"ecommerce_type":"CATALOG","authors":[{"id":14,"cr_id":157,"featured":1,"hhp_staff":0,"hidden":0,"name":"Julie Corliss","title":null,"first_name":"Julie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Corliss","suffix":null,"slug":"julie-corliss","byline":"Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter","description":"

Julie Corliss is the executive editor of the Harvard Heart Letter. Before working at Harvard, she was a medical writer and editor at HealthNews, a consumer newsletter affiliated with The New England Journal of Medicine. She is co-author of Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep it Off. Julie earned a BA in biology from Oberlin College and a master’s certificate in science communication from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

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Maintaining good health doesn't happen by accident. It requires work, smart lifestyle choices, and the occasional checkup and test.

A healthy diet is rich in fiber, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, "good" or unsaturated fats, and omega-3 fatty acids. These dietary components turn down inflammation, which can damage tissue, joints, artery walls, and organs. Going easy on processed foods is another element of healthy eating. Sweets, foods made with highly refined grains, and sugar-sweetened beverages can cause spikes in blood sugar that can lead to early hunger. High blood sugar is linked to the development of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and even dementia.

The Mediterranean diet meets all of the criteria for good health, and there is convincing evidence that it is effective at warding off heart attack, stroke, and premature death. The diet is rich in olive oil, fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish; low in red meats or processed meats; and includes a moderate amount of cheese and wine.

Physical activity is also necessary for good health. It can greatly reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, depression, and falls. Physical activity improves sleep, endurance, and even sex. Aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise every week, such as brisk walking. Strength training, important for balance, bone health, controlling blood sugar, and mobility, is recommended 2-3 times per week.

Finding ways to reduce stress is another strategy that can help you stay healthy, given the connection between stress and a variety of disorders. There are many ways to bust stress. Try, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, playing on weekends, and taking vacations.

Finally, establish a good relationship with a primary care physician. If something happens to your health, a physician you know —and who knows you — is in the best position to help. He or she will also recommend tests to check for hidden cancer or other conditions.

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Cervical cancer is curable when caught early through routine screening, so research showing a surprising rise in advanced cancer cases in some groups is worrisome. Two Harvard experts share insights about the research and advice on how people can best protect themselves.

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When caught early through routine screening, cervical cancer is curable. In the US, roughly 92% of women with early-stage cervical cancer survive five years or longer, compared with only 17% of women with late-stage cervical cancer. So recent research that shows a steep rise in new cases of advanced cervical cancer among white Southern women, and underscores the disproportionate burden of advanced cases among Black Southern women, is worrisome.

What factors might be at play, and how can people best protect themselves? Two Harvard experts share their insights.

Human papilloma virus and cervical cancer: What to know

Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes nine out of 10 cervical cancers. In 2023, 13,960 women in the US will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and 4,310 will die from it, according to American Cancer Society estimates.

Pap test screening can detect this cancer early, when it’s easiest to treat. And testing for HPV has been approved as an additional screening test for cervical cancer. It can be used alone or with a Pap test.

What did the research focus on and learn?

The study was published online in International Journal of Gynecological Cancer. Researchers combed through cervical cancer data submitted to the United States Cancer Statistics program between 2001 and 2018, and national survey findings on Pap screening and HPV vaccination. During this period, nearly 30,000 women were diagnosed with late-stage cervical cancer, which has spread to other parts of the abdomen and body.

Early-stage cervical cancer cases have been dropping for most groups in the US in recent years. But advanced cervical cancer cases have not declined within any US racial, ethnic, or age group over the last 18 years.

New diagnoses of advanced disease rose 1.3% annually during the study period. Southern white women ages 40 to 44 saw an annual rise of 4.5% in advanced cases. Southern Black women ages 55 to 59 were diagnosed nearly twice as often as white women with early and advanced cases.

What else is important to understand?

The new study showed that women living in the South are less likely to be vaccinated against HPV or screened for cervical cancer. But lower screening rates likely don’t fully explain the rise in late-stage cases in that region, says Dr. Ursula Matulonis, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

"Most cervical cancer cases continue to be diagnosed early," Dr. Matulonis says. "These new findings suggest that cases involving a more aggressive cell type called adenocarcinoma are also increasing. Often found higher up in the cervical canal, this is harder to detect with a Pap smear."

Older women are especially vulnerable. Rates of late-stage cervical cancer are higher — and survival is worse — among women 65 and older than among younger women, according to a study in California. One possible reason? They may not have received the recommended number of screening tests with normal results before they stopped having Pap smears, says Dr. Sarah Feldman, a gynecologic oncologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

HPV vaccine protects against cervical cancer

The HPV vaccine is FDA-approved for use in females ages 9 through 26. The first group of vaccinated adolescents, now in their 20s, have clearly benefited: invasive cervical cancer rates among women 20 to 24 dropped by 3% each year from 1998 through 2012.

"That’s pretty impressive," Dr. Matulonis says. "And those decreases span race and ethnicity, which isn’t always the case in women’s cancers."

What steps can you take to protect against cervical cancer?

Dr. Feldman offers this guidance around cervical cancer prevention and detection.

HPV vaccination. All children should be vaccinated against HPV between ages 9 and 12, well before sexual activity begins. "The most important thing for future generations in cervical cancer prevention is vaccinating that generation," Dr. Feldman says.

Routine screening. Regardless of vaccination status or whether they’re sexually active, women should begin having screening tests for cervical cancer in their 20s and continue through age 65. Discuss the right intervals with your doctor. Current screening guidelines take into account when you start screening and whether results of tests are normal:nt
- If you start at 21: Have a Pap test every three years until 30.
- If you start at 25: Seek an HPV test first.
- At age 30: If all screening tests so far have been normal, have HPV testing every five years. Continue this screening until age 65.
- Don’t stop screening at 65 unless all test results are normal, including at least two results in the last 10 years and one in the last five years.
- If any testing led to abnormal results, you may need to continue screening beyond age 65.

An HPV infection, rather than sexual activity alone, is the factor that places people at risk, Dr. Feldman says.

"A lot of older women may have a new sexual partner in their 50s. A new HPV infection raises risk for cervical cancer roughly 20 years later," Dr. Feldman says. "If HPV test results are persistently negative through age 65, the risk of developing cervical cancer in your 70s is low."

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n ","description":null,"author":null,"slug":"late-stage-cervical-cancer-on-the-rise-what-to-know-202302072886","sort_date":"2023-02-07T05:00:00.000000Z","contentable_type":"App\Models\Marketing\BlogPost","contentable_id":2886,"replacement_content_id":null,"landing_page_landing_page_group_id":null,"ucr_content_id":"BL020723","publication_date":"2023-02-07T15:30:00.000000Z","last_review_date":null,"imported_at":"2023-02-10T10:00:04.000000Z","last_import_type":"update","last_modified_date":"2023-02-07T05:00:00.000000Z","active":1,"created_at":"2023-02-07T10:00:02.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-02-10T10:00:04.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"images_remapped":0,"old_product_id":null,"old_content_id":null,"hide_ads":0,"primary_content_topic_id":6,"ecommerce_type":"CATALOG","authors":[{"id":420,"cr_id":779,"featured":0,"hhp_staff":0,"hidden":0,"name":"Maureen Salamon","title":null,"first_name":"Maureen","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Salamon","suffix":null,"slug":"maureen-salamon","byline":"Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch","description":"

Maureen Salamon is executive editor of Harvard Women’s Health Watch. She began her career as a newspaper reporter and later covered health and medicine for a wide variety of websites, magazines, and hospitals. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN.com, WebMD, Medscape and HealthDay, among other major outlets. Maureen earned a BA in print journalism from Penn State University.

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Cancer is the catchall term applied to diseases caused by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. Cancer isn't one disease. It is many different diseases, more than 100 and counting.

Each kind of cancer is usually named for the cell type in which it begins — cancer that starts in a lung is called lung cancer; cancer that starts in pigment cells in the skin, which are known as melanocytes, is called melanoma.

When detected and treated early, cancer can often be stopped. That said, cancer is a leading cause of death and disability around the world.

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Lifestyle changes like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sufficient sleep are cornerstones of self-care for people with type 2 diabetes. But can mind-body practices help people manage or even treat type 2 diabetes? An analysis of multiple studies suggests they might.

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Lifestyle changes like regular exercise, a healthy diet, and sufficient sleep are cornerstones of self-care for people with type 2 diabetes.

But what about mind-body practices? Can they also help people manage or even treat type 2 diabetes? An analysis of multiple studies, published in the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine, suggests they might.

Which mindfulness practices did the study look at?

Researchers analyzed 28 studies that explored the effect of mind-body practices on people with type 2 diabetes. Those participating in the studies did not need insulin to control their diabetes, or have certain health conditions such as heart or kidney disease. The mind-body activities used in the research were:

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qigong, a slow-moving martial art similar to tai chi

mindfulness-based stress reduction, a training program designed to help people manage stress and anxiety

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guided imagery, visualizing positive images to relax the mind.

How often and over what time period people engaged in the activities varied, ranging from daily to several times a week, and from four weeks to six months.

What did the study find about people with diabetes who practiced mindfulness?

Those who participated in any of the mind-body activities for any length of time lowered their levels of hemoglobin A1C, a key marker for diabetes. On average, A1C levels dropped by 0.84%. This is similar to the effect of taking metformin (Glucophage), a first-line medication for treating type 2 diabetes, according to the researchers.

A1C levels are determined by a blood test that shows a person’s average blood sugar levels over the past two to three months. Levels below 5.7% are deemed normal, levels from 5.7% to less than 6.5% are considered prediabetes, and levels 6.5% and higher are in the diabetes range.

How can mind-body practices help control blood sugar?

Their ability to reduce stress may play a big part. "Yoga and other mindfulness practices elicit a relaxation response — the opposite of the stress response," says Dr. Shalu Ramchandani, a health coach and internist at the Harvard-affiliated Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "A relaxation response can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. This improves insulin resistance and keeps blood sugar levels in check, thus lowering A1C levels."

A relaxation response can help people with diabetes in other ways, such as by improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure, which protects against heart attacks and strokes.

What else should you know about this study?

The results of studies like this suggest a link between various mind-body practices and lower A1C levels, but do not offer firm proof of it. Levels of participation varied widely. But because all mindfulness practices studied had a modest positive effect, the researchers suggested that these types of activities could become part of diabetes therapy along with standard lifestyle treatments.

Could mind-body practices protect people against developing type 2 diabetes, especially for those at high risk? While this study wasn’t designed to look at this, Dr. Ramchandani again points to the long-range benefits of the relaxation response.

"Reducing and managing stress leads to improved moods, and greater self-awareness and self-regulation," she says. "This can lead to more mindful eating, such as fighting cravings for unhealthy foods, adhering to a good diet, and committing to regular exercise, all of which can help reduce one’s risk for type 2 diabetes."

Trying mind-body practices

There are many ways to adopt mind-body practices that can create relaxation responses. Here are some suggestions from Dr. Ramchandani:

Do a daily 10-minute or longer meditation using an app like Insight Timer, Calm, or Headspace.

Attend a gentle yoga, qigong, or tai chi class at a local yoga studio or community center.

Try videos and exercises to help reduce stress and initiate relaxation responses.

Practice slow controlled breathing. Lie on your back with one or both of your hands on your abdomen. Inhale slowly and deeply, drawing air into the lowest part of your lungs so your hand rises. Your belly should expand and rise as you inhale, then contract and lower as you exhale. Repeat for several minutes.

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Matthew Solan is the executive editor of Harvard Men’s Health Watch. He previously served as executive editor for UCLA Health’s Healthy Years and as a contributor to Duke Medicine’s Health News and Weill Cornell Medical College’s Women Nutrition Connection and Women’s Health Advisor. Matthew’s articles on medicine, exercise science, and nutrition have appeared in Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle & Fitness, Runner’s World, and Yoga Journal. He earned a master of fine arts in writing from the University of San Francisco and a bachelor of science in journalism from the University of Florida.

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The human body is a remarkable structure. It’s designed to efficiently manage the wear and tear of everyday life and fend off all sorts of threats. Most of us are healthy for most of our lives. But we’re also susceptible to hundreds of injuries, diseases, and conditions. Some are quite common, others are extremely rare. Here are some of the most common conditions that affect humans.

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A study of Black adults living in the Atlanta area suggests that feeling rooted in community and socializing with neighbors may strongly contribute to better cardiovascular health, which might lower risk for heart attacks and strokes.

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Feeling rooted in community and socializing with neighbors may strongly contribute to better cardiovascular health by improving diet, exercise habits, and weight control, new research among Black adults in Georgia suggests. And better cardiovascular health may add up to fewer heart attacks and strokes, two leading causes of disability and death.

"There’s a range of interactions within the community that can improve one’s cardiovascular health, not to mention the effect on mental health — the sense of belonging, of being seen — which is tightly related to cardiovascular outcomes in the long run," says Dr. Dhruv Kazi, director of the cardiac critical care unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and associate director of the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research in Cardiology.

"Another way to put it is that these unique sources of resilience in communities may directly affect diet, exercise, weight, and mental well-being, all of which lead to improved cardiovascular health," he adds.

A positive perspective on health within Black communities

The new analysis is part of the ongoing Morehouse-Emory Cardiovascular Center for Health Equity (MECA) study in Atlanta. MECA builds on prior research indicating that living in disadvantaged areas is associated with higher rates of having heart disease or dying from it. But unlike much of that research — which focused on negative aspects of Black neighborhoods that may contribute to poor cardiovascular health — the new study fills a gap. It zeroes in on positive neighborhood features, especially social interactions, that can promote ideal cardiovascular health despite higher risks related to race or socioeconomic status.

"Typically, researchers are identifying factors that result in health disparities on the negative side, such as deaths or co-existing diseases, or that cause increased rates of a particular disease," explains Dr. Fidencio Saldana, dean for students at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician in medicine and cardiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), whose research interests include racial disparities and outcomes in cardiovascular disease. "It’s quite unique to be able to look for solutions, or to look at these positive attributes of communities and think about how to replicate them."

Measuring social environment and heart health

The study included 392 Black men and women between the ages of 30 and 70 living in the Atlanta area. None had existing cardiovascular disease. About four in 10 participants were men.

Social environment includes perceptions of neighbors and any support system, as well as how often neighbors interact. Participants answered questions about seven neighborhood features: aesthetics, walking environment, availability of healthy foods, safety, social cohesion, activity with neighbors, and violence.

Heart health was measured using Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) scores, developed by the American Heart Association to determine ideal cardiovascular health. LS7 calculates seven elements that influence cardiovascular health: self-reported exercise, diet, and smoking history, as well as measured blood pressure, sugar level, cholesterol level, and body mass index (BMI). Researchers also gathered information about annual income, education, and marital and employment status, and physical exams that included blood tests.

What did the researchers learn?

After controlling for factors that could skew results, researchers found participants who reported more social connection and activity with neighbors were about twice as likely to record ideal LS7 scores. The association was even stronger among Black women than men.

"Our health is more closely related to these social networks than we appreciate," Dr. Kazi says, noting that individual efforts to combat obesity and smoking, for instance, are more likely to gain steam "when shared by neighbors."

"The more we’re able to engage with our neighbors and the communities we live in, the better it probably is for our cardiovascular health," he says.

The study was observational, so it cannot prove cause and effect. It’s also possible that those who are already healthier are more likely to engage with their neighbors, Dr. Kazi notes. Other limitations are the location of all participants in a single metropolitan area, and the self-reported nature of neighborhood characteristics. Another key area that went unexamined, Dr. Kazi says, involves a "missing piece" in LS7 scores: mental health.

"Living in a community where you feel safe and know your neighbors — where you feel part of the social fabric — is critically important to mental health, and therefore cardiovascular health," he explains. "If anything, this study underestimates the health benefits of feeling part of a cohesive neighborhood."

What are a few takeaways from this study?

Social environment and feeling rooted within a community matter to health, and may even help counter negative risk factors. However, long-term lack of investment and the effects of gentrification threaten many Black neighborhoods in cities throughout the US.

"When a neighborhood gets gentrified and longstanding residents are forced to leave, the community is gone forever," Dr. Kazi adds. "Simply offering the departing residents housing elsewhere doesn’t make up for what is lost. Going forward, we need to be cognizant of the value of community, and invest in our neighborhoods that allow people to safely engage in physical and community activities."

Dr. Saldana agrees. "Our system is not set up for some communities to have those advantages. It’s important to look to the positive aspects of our communities, and as a system encourage those positive traits in other communities."

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","image_url":"https://d2icykjy7h7x7e.cloudfront.net/authors/MWQyHwiFAPooqhDKsjTfFjCCCoIooqQNLj1M7LRO.jpg","twitter_username":null,"sort_order":0,"created_at":"2022-02-24T21:39:38.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-07-17T15:04:53.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"pivot":{"content_id":17102,"author_id":420,"sort_order":1}}],"contentable":{"id":2699,"comments_open":1,"created_at":"2022-03-03T10:00:06.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-03-03T10:00:06.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"media":[]},"content_type":{"id":18,"name":"blog","slug":"blog","created_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","updated_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","deleted_at":null},"media":[{"id":12414,"model_type":"App\Models\Marketing\Content","model_id":17102,"uuid":"53fb6285-266b-415d-bd3e-317498df085f","collection_name":"contents","name":"2ed8b688-c7f5-49ee-9f9c-e52662c760be","file_name":"2ed8b688-c7f5-49ee-9f9c-e52662c760be.jpg","mime_type":"image/jpeg","disk":"s3","conversions_disk":"s3","size":63413,"manipulations":[],"custom_properties":{"alt":"A tree with healthy green leaves close together and spreading roots; a heart-shape in the middle of its branches. Concept is connected and strongly rooted."},"generated_conversions":{"micro":true,"thumb":true},"responsive_images":[],"order_column":12400,"created_at":"2022-03-03T10:00:06.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-04-25T18:37:30.000000Z","full_url":"https://domf5oio6qrcr.cloudfront.net/medialibrary/12414/2ed8b688-c7f5-49ee-9f9c-e52662c760be.jpg"}],"primary_content_topic":{"id":13,"name":"Heart Health","old_names":null,"slug":"heart-health","description":"

The heart beats about 2.5 billion times over the average lifetime, pushing millions of gallons of blood to every part of the body. This steady flow carries with it oxygen, fuel, hormones, other compounds, and a host of essential cells. It also whisks away the waste products of metabolism. When the heart stops, essential functions fail, some almost instantly.

Given the heart's never-ending workload, it's a wonder it performs so well, for so long, for so many people. But it can also fail, brought down by a poor diet and lack of exercise, smoking, infection, unlucky genes, and more.

A key problem is atherosclerosis. This is the accumulation of pockets of cholesterol-rich gunk inside the arteries. These pockets, called plaque, can limit blood flow through arteries that nourish the heart — the coronary arteries — and other arteries throughout the body. When a plaque breaks apart, it can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Although many people develop some form of cardiovascular disease (a catch-all term for all of the diseases affecting the heart and blood vessels) as they get older, it isn't inevitable. A healthy lifestyle, especially when started at a young age, goes a long way to preventing cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle changes and medications can nip heart-harming trends, like high blood pressure or high cholesterol, in the bud before they cause damage. And a variety of medications, operations, and devices can help support the heart if damage occurs.

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More than a million nerve connections are made in the brain in the first few years of life. Babies and young children thrive with responsive caregiving, such as engaging a child in playful games that change as they grow.

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Want your child to grow up healthy, happy, smart, capable, and resilient? Play with them. Infants and toddlers thrive on playful games that change as they grow.

Why does play matter during the first few years of life?

More than a million new nerve connections are made in the brain in the first few years of life. And pruning of these neural connections makes them more efficient. These processes literally build the brain and help guide how it functions for the rest of that child’s life. While biology — particularly genetics — affects this, so does a child’s environment and experiences.

Babies and children thrive with responsive caregiving. Serve and return, a term used by the Harvard Center on the Developing Child, describes this well: back-and-forth interactions, in which the child and caregiver react to and interact with each other in a loving, nurturing way, are the building blocks of a healthy brain and a happy child, who will have a better chance of growing into a healthy, happy, competent, and successful adult.

Play is one of the best ways to do responsive caregiving. To maximize the benefits of play:

Bring your full attention. Put the phone down, don’t multitask.

Be reciprocal. That’s the "serve and return" part. Even little babies can interact with their caregivers, and that’s what you want to encourage. It doesn’t have to be reciprocal in an equal way — you might be talking in sentences while your baby is just smiling or cooing — but the idea is to build responsiveness into the play.

Be attuned to developmental stages. That way your child can fully engage — and you can encourage their development as well.

Great games to play with infants: 6 to 9 months

The Center for the Developing Child has some great ideas and handouts for parents about specific games to play with their children at different ages.

6-month-olds and 9-month-olds are learning imitation and other building blocks of language. They are also starting to learn movement and explore the world around them.

Here are some play ideas for this age group:

Play peek-a-boo or patty-cake.

Play games of hiding toys under a blanket or another toy, and then "find" them, or let the baby find them.

Have back-and-forth conversations. The baby’s contribution might just be a "ma" or "ba" sound. You can make the same sound back, or pretend that your baby is saying something ("You don’t say! Really? Tell me more!").

Play imitation games: if your baby sticks out their tongue, you do it too, for example. Older babies will start to be able to imitate things like clapping or banging, and love when grownups do that with them.

Sing songs that involve movement, like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Trot, Trot to Boston" with words and motions.

Play simple games with objects, like putting toys into a bucket and taking them out, or dropping them and saying "boom!"

Great games to play with toddlers

Between 12 months and 18 months, young toddlers are gaining more language and movement skills, and love to imitate. You can:

Play with blocks, building simple things and knocking them down together.

Do imaginative play with dolls or stuffed animals, or pretend phone calls.

Use pillows and blankets to build little forts and places to climb and play.

Play some rudimentary hide-and-seek, like hiding yourself under a blanket next to the baby.

Continue singing songs that involve movement and interaction, like "If You’re Happy And You Know It."

Go on outings and explore the world together. Even just going to the grocery store can be an adventure for a baby. Narrate everything. Don’t worry about using words your baby doesn’t understand; eventually they will, and hearing lots of different words is good for them.

Older toddlers, who are 2 or 3 years old, are able to do more complicated versions of these games. They can do matching, sorting, and counting games, as well as imitation and movement games like "follow the leader" (you can get quite creative and silly with that one).

As much as you can, give yourself over to play and have fun. Work and chores can wait, or you can actually involve young children in chores, making that more fun for both of you. Checking social media can definitely wait.

Playing with your child is an investment in your child’s future — and a great way to build your relationship and make both of you happy.

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Five numbers give a thumbnail assessment of overall heart health and what factors people might need to address to lower the risk of a heart attack or stroke. These numbers offer ideal goals for most people, although targets vary for individuals based on age or other health conditions.

n ","content":"n

n n

How well are you protecting yourself against heart disease, the nation’s leading cause of death? A check of five important numbers can give you a good idea: blood pressure, blood sugar, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and waist circumference. Those values provide a picture of a person’s overall health and, more specifically, what factors they may need to address to lower their chance of a heart attack or stroke.

Below are the ideal values for each measurement, along with why they’re important and targeted advice for improving them. Universal suggestions for improving all five measurements appear at the very end.

How do your heart health numbers stack up?

While the ideal values are good goals for most people, your doctor may recommend different targets based on your age or other health conditions.

n Blood pressuren

n n Less than 120/80 mm Hgn n

Blood pressure readings tell you the force of blood pushing against your arteries when your heart contracts (systolic blood pressure, the first number) and relaxes (diastolic blood pressure, the second number). Your blood pressure reflects how hard your heart is working (when you’re resting or exercising, for example) and the condition of your blood vessels. Narrowed, inflexible arteries cause blood pressure to rise.

Why it matters to heart health: High blood pressure accelerates damage to blood vessels, encouraging a buildup of fatty plaque (atherosclerosis). This sets the stage for a heart attack. High blood pressure forces the heart’s main pumping chamber to enlarge, which can lead to heart failure. Finally, high blood pressure raises the risk of strokes due to a blocked or burst blood vessel in the brain.

What helps: A diet rich in potassium (found in many vegetables, fruits, and beans) and low in sodium (found in excess in many processed and restaurant foods); minimizing alcohol.

n LDL cholesteroln

n n Less than 70 mg/dLn n

A cholesterol test (or lipid profile) shows many numbers. Doctors are usually most concerned about low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, particles that makes up about two-thirds of the cholesterol in the blood.

Why it matters to heart health: Excess LDL particles lodge inside artery walls. Once there, they are engulfed by white blood cells, forming fat-laden foam cells that make up atherosclerosis.

What helps: Limiting saturated fat (found in meat, dairy, and eggs) and replacing those lost calories with unsaturated fat (found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils).

n Triglyceridesn

n n Less than 150 mg/dLn n

Perhaps less well-known than cholesterol, triglycerides are the most common form of fat in the bloodstream. Derived from food, these molecules provide energy for your body. But excess calories, alcohol, and sugar the body can’t use are turned into triglycerides and stored in fat cells.

Why it matters to heart health: Like high LDL cholesterol, elevated triglyceride values have been linked to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.

What helps: Limiting foods that are high in unhealthy fats, sugar, or both; eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (such as fish); avoiding alcohol.

n Blood sugarn

n n Less than 100 mg/dL (fasting)n n

High blood sugar defines the diagnosis of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is most common. It occurs when the body develops insulin resistance (insulin enables cells to take in sugar) and does not produce enough insulin to overcome the resistance.

Why it matters to heart health: High blood sugar levels damage blood vessel walls and cause sugar (glucose) to attach to LDL. This makes LDL more likely to oxidize — another factor that promotes atherosclerosis. Excess sugar in the blood also makes cell fragments called platelets stickier so they’re more likely to form clots, which can trigger a heart attack or stroke.

What helps: Avoiding sugary beverages and foods high in sugar; eating whole, unprocessed grains instead of foods made with refined grains (white flour, white rice).

n Waist circumferencen

n n Whichever number is lower:n n

n n Less than half your height in inchesn n

n n ORn n

n n Women: Less than 35 inchesn n

n n Men: Less than 40 inchesn n

Measure your waist around your bare abdomen just above your navel (belly button). A big belly — what doctors call abdominal or visceral obesity — usually means fat surrounding internal organs.

Why it matters to heart health: Visceral fat secretes hormones and other factors that encourage inflammation, which triggers the release of white blood cells involved in atherosclerosis.

What helps: Consuming fewer calories, especially those from highly processed foods full of sugar, salt, and unhealthy types of fat.

Universal advice to improve all five measures of heart health

If one or more of your numbers is above ideal levels, you’re far from alone. Most Americans are overweight or obese and have bigger-than-healthy bellies. Excess weight and waist circumference affect blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar. Eating a healthy, plant-based diet can help. Regular exercise also helps: aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise like brisk walking most days. Other lifestyle habits that can lower your heart disease risk include getting seven to eight hours of sleep nightly and managing your stress level.

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","image_url":"https://d2icykjy7h7x7e.cloudfront.net/authors/yjasvaKFF0xhmqdSxslYrcQbI4yDn08soiRjfMAq.jpg","twitter_username":null,"sort_order":0,"created_at":"2021-05-11T09:59:48.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-05-16T18:02:57.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"pivot":{"content_id":16912,"author_id":14,"sort_order":1}}],"contentable":{"id":2660,"comments_open":1,"created_at":"2021-12-16T10:00:05.000000Z","updated_at":"2021-12-16T10:00:05.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"media":[]},"content_type":{"id":18,"name":"blog","slug":"blog","created_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","updated_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","deleted_at":null},"media":[{"id":12031,"model_type":"App\Models\Marketing\Content","model_id":16912,"uuid":"61895188-ae94-4d9c-852f-e98727ca0ef7","collection_name":"contents","name":"e8e80fe7-0a4a-40f2-9163-b773c86e52e4","file_name":"e8e80fe7-0a4a-40f2-9163-b773c86e52e4.jpg","mime_type":"image/jpeg","disk":"s3","conversions_disk":"s3","size":155030,"manipulations":[],"custom_properties":{"alt":"A collection of items: a heart-shaped bowl containing fruits & vegetables, a stethoscope, a pair of dumbbells, a measuring tape, sphygmomanometer, and a wooden scooper with beans on it"},"generated_conversions":{"micro":true,"thumb":true},"responsive_images":[],"order_column":12021,"created_at":"2021-12-16T10:00:05.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-06-25T09:00:39.000000Z","full_url":"https://domf5oio6qrcr.cloudfront.net/medialibrary/12031/e8e80fe7-0a4a-40f2-9163-b773c86e52e4.jpg"}],"primary_content_topic":{"id":13,"name":"Heart Health","old_names":null,"slug":"heart-health","description":"

","is_primary":1,"additional_content":null,"created_at":"2021-03-02T16:37:04.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-02-10T13:47:19.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"canonical":"https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/heart-health"}},{"id":17842,"content_source_id":2,"content_type_id":18,"content_access_type_id":1,"title":"Rating the drugs in drug ads","short_title":"","subheading":"New reason to be skeptical about whether highly promoted medications are better than other treatments.","summary":"n

Drug ads appear everywhere in the US, but how do highly promoted new medications stack up against other available treatments? Aside from cost –– including billions spent on marketing –– there may also be health implications.

n ","content":"n

n "illustration n

I admit it: I’m not a fan of drug ads. I think the information provided is often confusing and rarely well-balanced. Plus, there are just so many ads. They show up on TV and streaming programs, on social media, on billboards and the sides of busses, on tote bags, and in public bathrooms. Yes, there’s no refuge — even there — from the billions spent on direct-to-consumer ads in the US.

I’ve often wondered how highly-promoted, expensive new drugs stack up against other available treatments. Now a new study in JAMA Network Open considers exactly that.

Many advertised drugs are no better than older drugs

The study assessed 73 of the most heavily advertised drugs in the US between 2015 and 2021. Each drug had been rated by at least one independent health agency. Researchers tallied how many of these drugs received a high therapeutic value rating, indicating that a drug had at least a moderate advantage compared with previously available treatments.

The results? Only about one in four of these heavily advertised drugs had high therapeutic value. During the six years of the study, pharmaceutical companies spent an estimated $15.9 billion promoting drugs on TV that showed no major advantage over less costly drugs!

Why drug ads are not popular

Only the US and New Zealand allow direct-to-consumer medication marketing. The American Medical Association recommended a ban in 2015. While I’ve often written about reasons to be skeptical, let’s focus here on three potential harms to your wallet and your health.

Drug ads may

raise already astronomical health care costs by increasing requests for unnecessary treatment and promoting much costlier medicines than older or generic drugs.

create diseases to be treated. Everyday experiences, such as fatigue or occasional dryness in the eyes, may be framed in drug ads as medical conditions warranting immediate treatment. Yet often, such symptoms are minor, temporary experiences. Another example is "low T" (referring to low blood testosterone). While it’s not a recognized illness on its own, ads for it have likely contributed to increased prescriptions for testosterone-containing medicines.

promote new drugs before enough is known about long-term safety. The pain reliever rofecoxib (Vioxx) is one example. This anti-inflammatory medicine was supposed to be safer than older medicines. It was withdrawn from the market when evidence emerged that it might increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Four questions to ask your doctor if you’re curious about a drug ad

Wondering whether you should be taking an advertised drug? Ask your doctor:

Do I have a condition for which this drug is recommended?

Is there any reason to expect this drug will be more helpful than what I’m already taking?

Is this drug more expensive than my current treatment?

Do my health conditions or the medications I already take make the drug in the ad a poor choice for me?

The bottom line

The AMA recommended banning drug ads nearly a decade ago. But a drug ad ban seems unlikely, given strong lobbying by the pharmaceutical companies and concerns about violating their freedom of speech.

Still, cigarette commercials were banned in 1971, so it’s not an impossible dream. Meanwhile, my advice is to be skeptical about information in drug ads, and rely on more reliable sources of medical information, including your doctor. Consider contacting the Federal Communications Commission if you have complaints about these ads — a step few Americans seem to take. And try this: mute the TV, fast-forward your podcast, and close pop-ups as soon as drug ads appear.

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","image_url":"https://www.wazupnaija.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/does-inflammation-contribute-to-infertility-harvard-health-1.jpg","twitter_username":"RobShmerling","sort_order":30,"created_at":"2021-05-11T10:05:10.000000Z","updated_at":"2022-06-21T18:41:05.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"pivot":{"content_id":17842,"author_id":23,"sort_order":1}}],"contentable":{"id":2883,"comments_open":1,"created_at":"2023-01-31T19:15:57.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-01-31T19:15:57.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"media":[]},"content_type":{"id":18,"name":"blog","slug":"blog","created_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","updated_at":"2021-05-11T08:30:32.000000Z","deleted_at":null},"media":[{"id":13510,"model_type":"App\Models\Marketing\Content","model_id":17842,"uuid":"fa4bb8d0-75e8-45c2-9a50-3174c933e35c","collection_name":"contents","name":"1f532be3-82fc-4d23-89b8-f6b9940c9661","file_name":"1f532be3-82fc-4d23-89b8-f6b9940c9661.jpg","mime_type":"image/jpeg","disk":"s3","conversions_disk":"s3","size":37383,"manipulations":[],"custom_properties":{"alt":"illustration of the word new written in comic book style lettering, centered in a white burst on a red background"},"generated_conversions":{"micro":true,"thumb":true},"responsive_images":[],"order_column":13481,"created_at":"2023-01-31T19:15:57.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-01-31T19:15:59.000000Z","full_url":"https://domf5oio6qrcr.cloudfront.net/medialibrary/13510/1f532be3-82fc-4d23-89b8-f6b9940c9661.jpg"}],"primary_content_topic":{"id":44,"name":"Staying Healthy","old_names":null,"slug":"staying-healthy","description":"

Maintaining good health doesn't happen by accident. It requires work, smart lifestyle choices, and the occasional checkup and test.

","is_primary":1,"additional_content":null,"created_at":"2021-03-02T16:37:04.000000Z","updated_at":"2023-02-10T14:00:21.000000Z","deleted_at":null,"canonical":"https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/staying-healthy"}},{"id":16568,"content_source_id":2,"content_type_id":18,"content_access_type_id":1,"title":"Postpartum anxiety is invisible, but common and treatable","short_title":"","subheading":null,"summary":"n

It’s not unusual for women to feel down or depressed after giving birth, but if the feelings persist or become debilitating, it’s cause for concern. Many of the symptoms overlap between postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety, but some women do not respond as well to some treatments for depression, so it’s important to establish the correct diagnosis.

n ","content":"

n "An n

The wait is finally over: after 40 weeks of medical appointments, nursery planning, and anticipation, your baby has finally arrived. She is perfect in your eyes, healthy and adorable. Yet over the next few weeks, your initial joy is replaced by all-consuming worries: Is she feeding enough? Why is she crying so often? Is something medically wrong with her? These worries are constant during the day and keep you up at night. You feel tense and irritable, your heart races, and you feel panicky. Your family members start to express their concern —not just about the baby, but about you. You wonder whether your anxiety is normal.

Baby blues, postpartum depression, or postpartum anxiety?

Chances are, you have heard about the baby blues or postpartum depression. You may have even filled out questionnaires about your mood during your postpartum doctor’s visit. The baby blues are a very common reaction to decreasing hormone levels after delivery, and may leave you feeling sad, weepy, and overwhelmed. However, these symptoms are mild and only last for a couple of weeks. When the symptoms persist and become debilitating, something else could be going on.

Many symptoms overlap between postpartum depression and postpartum anxiety (such as poor sleep, trouble relaxing, and irritability). Mothers experiencing postpartum depression commonly experience symptoms of anxiety, although not all mothers suffering from anxiety are depressed. Establishing the correct diagnosis is important, as women with postpartum anxiety may not respond as well to certain treatments for depression, such as interpersonal psychotherapy or medications such as bupropion (Wellbutrin).

Similar to postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety may spike due to hormonal changes in the postpartum period. It may also increase as a response to real stressors — whether it’s the health of the baby, finances, or in response to navigating new roles in your relationships. A history of pregnancy loss (miscarriage or stillbirth) also increases your risk for developing postpartum anxiety. If you have a history of anxiety before or during pregnancy, postpartum anxiety symptoms may also return after delivery. Anxiety and sadness may also appear after weaning from breastfeeding due to hormonal changes.

Some women experience panic attacks or symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in the postpartum period. Panic attacks are distinct episodes of intense anxiety accompanied by physical symptoms including a rapidly beating heart, feelings of doom, shortness of breath, and dizziness. Obsessions are intrusive, unwanted thoughts and may be accompanied by compulsions, or purposeful behaviors to relieve distress. These symptoms may be frightening to a new mother, especially when these thoughts involve harming the baby. Fortunately, when obsessions are due to an anxiety disorder, mothers are extremely unlikely to harm their babies.

What are the treatments for postpartum anxiety?

In general, postpartum anxiety is less studied than its cousin postpartum depression; however, it is estimated that at least one in five women has postpartum anxiety. We do know that therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are excellent treatments for anxiety disorders, including OCD. For some women, medications can be helpful and are more effective when combined with therapy. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are generally the first-line medications (and the best studied medication class) for anxiety disorders, whereas benzodiazepines are rapidly acting anti-anxiety medications that are often used while waiting for an SSRI to take effect.

Should you take medications when breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding provides many benefits to the baby: it’s the perfect nutrition, it helps build a baby’s immune system, it may help prevent adulthood obesity, and it provides comfort and security. Breastfeeding also provides benefits for the mother: it releases prolactin and oxytocin (the love and cuddle hormones), which help a mother bond with her baby and provide a sense of relaxation. When considering whether to start a medication, it is important to be aware that all psychiatric medications are excreted into the breast milk. Your doctor can help you think through the risks and benefits of medications based on the severity of your illness, medication preference, and previous response, as well as factors unique to your baby, such as medical illness or prematurity.

What non-medication strategies are helpful in decreasing postpartum anxiety?

Cuddle your baby (a lot). This releases oxytocin, which can lower anxiety levels.

Try to maximize sleep. Although the baby may wake you every three hours (or 45 minutes) to feed, your partner should not. Sleeping in separate rooms or taking shifts caring for the baby may be necessary during the first few months. Aim for at least one uninterrupted four-hour stretch of sleep, and be mindful about caffeine intake.

Spend time with other mothers. Although you may feel like you don’t have the time, connecting with other mothers (even online) can do wonders in lowering your fears and validating your emotions. Chances are you are not the only one worrying up a storm.

Increase your physical activity. In spite of the physical toll that pregnancy, delivery, and milk production take on your body, physical activity is one of the most powerful anti-anxiety strategies. Activities that incorporate breathing exercises, such as yoga, may be particularly helpful.

Wean gradually. If you are breastfeeding and make the decision to wean, try to do so gently (when possible) to minimize sudden hormonal changes.

Ask for help. Caring for a baby often requires a village. If you are feeding the baby, ask someone else to help with household chores. There is an old saying "sleep when the baby sleeps." You may prefer "do laundry when the baby does laundry."

And finally, give yourself a break — after all, you just had a baby. Postpartum anxiety is common, and in many cases, it will pass with time.

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Dr. Stephanie Collier is the director of education in the division of geriatric psychiatry at McLean Hospital; consulting psychiatrist for the population health management team at Newton-Wellesley Hospital; and instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her professional interests include the interface of medicine and psychiatry, the treatment of mental illnesses in the primary care setting, and the optimization of training and supervision of non-specialist clinicians to deliver mental health interventions in resource-limited settings.

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Anti-inflammatory diets or lifestyles are often suggested for people with infertility, but do they help?

February 10, 2023

An array of brightly colored foods found in the Mediterranean diet, including vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, fish, olive oil, and meat.

Infertility is a remarkably common problem. It affects up to one in five people in the US who are trying to become pregnant, and 186 million people worldwide. A thorough medical evaluation can spot key contributing issues in many cases — whether in a woman, a man, or both partners — that might respond to treatment, or call for assisted reproductive tools like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Exploring the connection between inflammation and infertility

Chronic inflammation has been linked to many health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer.

While its importance in infertility is far from clear, some evidence supports a connection:

Could an anti-inflammatory diet improve fertility?

The 2022 review found that an anti-inflammatory diet may help

improve pregnancy rates (though exactly how is uncertain)
increase success rates of assisted reproductive measures, such as IVF
improve sperm quality in men.

Will adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle improve fertility?

What is an anti-inflammatory lifestyle?

Health experts have not agreed on a single definition. Here are some common recommendations:

Adopt a diet that encourages plant-based foods, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil while discouraging red meat, highly processed food, and saturated fats.
Stop smoking or vaping.
Lose excess weight.
Be physically active.
Get enough sleep.
Treat inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis or allergies.
Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.
Control stress.

The bottom line

About the Author

Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

View all posts by Robert H. Shmerling, MD

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