The Health Risks of Uncircumcision

For my dearest blog fellows who are pregnant with baby boy, this is the time to think about circumcision. Especially for Asian people, circumcision is not widely practised as in Western countries.

Keep reading below and you will know how important is circumcision, BOTH for your boy and for his future wife.

Let's go back in history. If you happened to think that circumcision is unimportant as our ancestors back then never even have this procedures done, you are correct! But, only applicable for that period of ancient time, when our ancestors are still naked. In fact, the foreskin plays important role to protect the tip of penis from dust, sand, insects, and infections.

The above doesn't apply anymore in our time, where we are all wrapped in clothes, often dirty and sweaty. This has made it became unhygienic, especially for people who live in hot weather countries.

The reason why circumcision is important, because the inner lining of the foreskin is very thin. This does not give protection against injury and infection like normal skin does. In fact, 'smegma' or a whitish residue of dead cells and other material, is collected under the foreskin. This attracts bacteria and other microorganisms.

Statistically, uncircumcised men are more exposed to infectious diseases such as:

• Thrush
• Human papilloma virus
• Syphilis
• HIV
• Urinary tract infections
• Other inflammatory conditions of the skin
• Phimosis, a narrowing of the opening the foreskin that prevents it being retracted and makes sex painful
• Higher chance of prostate cancer

Meanwhile, their female partners are more prone to:

• Genital herpes
• Chlamydia
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Infertility
• Higher chance of cervix cancer

There is a one-in-three chance of an uncircumcised man developing one or more of these conditions over his lifetime.

However, there are always risks involving with any surgical procedure. In one in 500 circumcisions there's some minor bleeding. In about 1 in 1000, the circumcision needs to be redone. It is noteworthy though, that complications are fewest when it's done between birth and 4 months, although the procedure can be done at any age. Serious complications that requires hospitalisation is very rare. Mutilation or loss of the penis, and death, are practically unheard of if the surgeon is competent.

All in all, the benefits of circumcision still outweigh the risks of the procedure.

And to mothers to baby boys, now you can make your informed decision on whether or not to circumcised your boy, or leave it to him to decide later in his life.

---------------------

For reference:
• World Health Organization's website : http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2007/pr10/en/index.html
• Professor Brian Morris's website : www.circinfo.net
• The Royal Australasian College of Physicians policy statement on circumcision : http://www.racp.edu.au/
• Why circumcision is a biomedical imperative for the 21st century - BioEssays abstract : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

Decaffeinated Coffee is No Safer than Caffeinated Coffee for Pregnant Women

Just drank my cup of coffee for today. Loves the smell of strong black coffee. It has been way too long I've stopped drinking coffee, all were due to being pregnant and breastfeeding back then. My gynae told me though, that I could still take 1 cup of coffee, tea, or chocolate each day. But I didn't want to take any risks by drinking these beverages. It was very hard to part from coffee as I used to drink at least 5 cups of coffee every day. I was really addicted to coffee. But again, since coffee is not that good for pregnant woman, I really didn't drink coffee for full 16 months.

My friends though, they kept on drinking coffee, 1 glass per day. They had decaf coffee, which was thought to be safer than caffeinated coffee.

Oh I gotta tell you fellows who are coffee addicts and are pregnant now, this doesn't hold true. Decaffeinated coffee is NOT any safer than caffeinated coffee.

It has been known though, that coffee drinking in early pregnancy is linked with miscarriage. Coffee drinking later in pregnancy is associated with low birth weight of the baby.

The current study by Danish researchers, was performed on preggars drinking caffeinated and decaffeinated instant coffee from about 20 weeks of gestation. The results showed that there is no differences in birth weight or prematurity, despite the fact that the caffeinated coffee group had about 180mg of caffeine more per day. And for preggars who drank caffeinated coffee and smoked, they had smaller babies.

So, to all my pregnant friends, please steer clear from coffee. Also avoid tea or chocolate whenever possible. Subsitute with fruit juices instead. Do the best we can do as a mom, and we will have nothing we could regret about in the future

Condolences to Victims of Padang Quake and Samoan Tsunami

My deepest condolences go to the victims of quake in Padang, Indonesia. Also for victims of tsunami in Samoan islands.

The tremor from quake in Padang, Indonesia, which happened on 30 September 2009, could be felt as far as in Singapore and Malaysia. I was inside my apartment on 17th floor, and I felt the building is shaking. It wasn't as bad as reported in some other parts of Singapore where it was so shaky that people escaped from the building.

The quake was 7.9 in magnitude and causing buildings, hospital, shopping malls, houses to collapse. Fire was also broken out in some area.

This quake was only few hours apart from 8 magnitude quake that caused tsunami waves in Samoan islands. This caused at least 113 people dead.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Padang has reached more than 1,100 people and is still rising as of today.

Together let's extend our helping hand to the victims, pray for the victims and families left behind. Let's open our heart and donate for these people in needs.

List of Foods Having Aphrodisiac Qualities

Apart from satisfying our hunger and taste buds, foods also have fringe benefits to them. Some foods are claimed to be able to increase arousal in both male and female. Here are the theories behind the aphrodisiac potential foods.

Arousal for Men
There are some components in oysters that have aphrodisiac qualities. For one thing, oysters contain varying levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects the arousal center in our brain. The effect is straight away. Secondly, oysters contain high level of zinc, that is important in raising level of testosterone in men. The effect, though, is not immediate.

Arousal for Women

Parsley and truffles may have aphrodisiac potential, as these food smell like that of androsterone, a pheromone usually responsible for men's musky body smell. This smell can influence arousal in women.

More Arousal
Ginger, cayenne pepper and garlic also can stimulate the arousal centers in the brain. Garlic which has anti-clotting properties can affect libido by increasing blood flow to brain and sex organs.

The smooth texture of chocolate and the cocoa's serotonin creating chemical, tryptophan, contributes to chocolate's aphrodisiac potential.

Happy experimenting potentially aphrodisiac foods! Best served with soft dimmed light or maybe during candlelight dinner. Do share stories of your experiences with these food (^-^)

Can Milk Consumption Increase Mucus Production

Milk has been long blamed for increasing mucus production. New studies concluded that there was no link between milk consumption and increased mucus production or asthma.

In one study, participants infected with the common cold virus reported symptoms of increased in mucus production after drinking milk, but when their mucus production was actually measured there was no statistical difference. In another study, there was no difference in the sensation experienced between drinking soy milk and cow's milk.

Many people also wrongfully claim mucus-milk phenomena as an allergy. The fact is that true cow's milk allergy is rare in adults. Children who have allergy to cow's milk usually outgrow the allergy when they are teenagers or even earlier. The symptoms are severe, rather than increased mucus production. The symptoms include rashes, vomiting and breathing difficulties. These symptoms appear within first 15 minutes to an hour after consumption.

On the other hand, lactose intolerance, causes diarrhoea, nausea or bloating. But lactose intolerance doesn't cause rashes or mucus. Lactose intolerance is caused by lack of enzymes required to process the sugar lactose.

Any suspicion on food allergy has to be confirmed by dietitian. Exclusion of milk in babies will cause unmet needs of nutritions, and lack of calcium in adults.

Poisonous Houseplants

My baby has just started to crawl around pretty quickly. She's been trying to crawl since last 2 months ago, not too much improvements since then, but she is one patient girl and keep on trying despite how many falls she had. All with no signs of frustation.

It is now the high time to start clearing away objects that are hazardous in nature when she can really crawl smoothly. Not only objects that can be hazardous, some houseplants are also potentially hazardous. Some poisonous houseplants include but not limited to the following:

- Azalea
- Bird of paradise flower
- Lily of the valley
- Caladium
- Mistletoe
- Morning glory
- Daffodil
- Philodendron
- English ivy
- Holly
- Hyacinth
- Hydrangea
- Iris
- Wisteria

Diet During Pregnancy Affects Your Child's Puberty

It is becoming a common knowledge that kids nowadays tend to have early puberty. Quite a lot of them start puberty as early as 7 years old! Young girls start menstruating at this age and their body start to change to become more womanly. Gosh. I remember back in my days, puberty starts around 10-12 years old. What a huge difference.

Apparently, what a pregnant mother eats during her pregnancy, and also lactation, affects her child's puberty. Researchers from Auckland University, New Zealand, found that the offspring of rats given high-fat diets started puberty significantly earlier compared to those rats given healthy diets. The same thing applies for rats given a calorie restricted diet.

The disadvantages of having early puberty would involve:
- changes in mood disorder
- increased prevalence in depression in adolescence
- increases in sexual activity in teenagers
- early puberty and early menopause in female
- link between early first period and breast cancer in female
- increased aggressive behaviour and risk taking behaviour in male

This study has just been published in the online journal PLoS ONE. Further research is needed though to replicate the study using different strains of rats, because different strains behave differently to diets and hence its impact.