INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

BY VICTOR S . SIERPINA , MD , ABFP , ABIHM , Distinguished Teaching Professor , Family and Integrative Medicine , UTMB Health

If you as a health professional are concerned about increasing rates of infertility , premature birth , children with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum and attention deficient disorders , obesity , and diabetes , you are not alone . Many scientists have determined these problems have been increasing rapidly over the last decade and longer .

No single causative agent has been found . However , factors such as brain injury , genetics , behavioral , environmental , and social problems all play a likely role .

A root to some these problems is likely to be traced to pregnancy , when our next generation is most vulnerable . For example , insecticides are essentially neurotoxins . Once they enter the food supply , and their

mother ’ s bodies , it seems likely that their neurotoxicity may be a risk to a developing human nervous system , so much more complex than that of an arthropod . Studies of cord blood in newborns have shown over 200 xenobiotics and chemicals , and new to nature molecules that bathe the emerging infant . Do we really understand the impact of these on growth , development , and fertility ?

Helping us to sort this out and promote healthier babies is a new book by the bestselling author of SuperFoods Rx , Dr . Steven Pratt . An ophthalmologist by training and current practice , Dr . Pratt has made an intense study of the benefits of lifestyle and healthy eating published in several popular books .

His latest work , SuperFoods Rx for Pregnancy : The Right Choices for a Healthy , Smart , Super Baby may seem a long stretch for an eye specialist but it is filled with practical and well-researched suggestions . Among these are the not so radical ideas that problems in the ability to conceive , to have a healthy pregnancy , and a healthy baby are primarily linked by several common causes : nutrition , lifestyle , and environment .

To put it elementally , we are living very different lives than our ancestors whose diet was mainly whole , home-cooked foods ,

without the chemicals that are part of our contemporary environment . Meat and fish was farmed locally or hunted from the wild . Vegetables were gathered or raised in a less chemicalized setting . In the past , babies were all breast-fed and obesity in adults or children was rare . Parents and children were more physically active . Daily stress levels were very different .

Our environment has changed radically . Foods are now highly processed , pesticides and insecticides in them are common , chemicals from plastics disrupt vital hormonal pathways , and nutrient deficiencies alter expression of genes and increase birth defects .

Commonly used chemicals to manufacture omnipresent plastic products include BPA , PCB , and phthalates interrupt hormonal signals , essential to fertility and healthy babies . Some of these chemicals banned for decades , like PCB and insecticides like DDT , or heavy metal like lead remain in our environment as potent neurotoxins and endocrine disruptors .

So let me walk you through this book so you get a sense of the topics . Part 1 , Before You Get Pregnant , has four chapters dedicated to help improving fertility , improving the newborn ’ s environment even before conceiving , preparing your body for baby and a robust , pre-pregnancy

nutrition program . These chapters are heavy on lifestyle , healthy superfoods , and detoxifying the environment , including the uterine environment .

Part 2 , While Baby Is in Your Belly further explores proper diet and lifestyle choices while pregnant and eating for two . This section has in depth nutritional advice including nutrient content of common foods , specific brand names for healthier and organic food choices , and excellent detail on environmental toxins , drugs , prescriptions medications , alcohol and their impact on the fetal environment .

Part 3 is cleverly called the The Fourth Trimester and supports the well-known benefits of breast feeding for both baby and mom . Sleep , post-partum depression , stress , and physical activity are all covered in a welcome and refreshing fashion .

As in the preceding sections , excellent coverage is given to physiology and scientific research while keeping it accessible to the lay audience . Still , it is great refresher for physicians , nurses , midwives , and others that work with pregnancy and offers the kind of language and specific suggestions that anyone interested in conceiving and raising a healthy child will appreciate .

Please see INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE page 14