Do you have to be skinny to look toned?

Who said weight training makes you fat, and that skinny equates to toned? We unpack some of the many misconceptions about starting out with weights with Alexa Towersey:

Tell us, honestly, does strength training make us 'fat'?
"'Getting big' is one of the most common stigmas that is attached to lifting weights; however, most women do not have the genetic or hormonal makeup, enough testosterone, to really develop muscular size and definition, certainly not in the timeframe that they think. Lifting weights encourages the development of lean muscle, which increases your resting metabolism, and can make you hungrier. This is where most people come undone: you won't 'get big' from lifting weights, you'll get big from eating crap while you're lifting weights. To stay long and lean, pick the right exercises in the right rep range and support your training with optimal nutrition."

But what if I gain weight?
"Most people do not understand the difference between 'weight loss' and 'fat loss' – muscle weighs more than fat, but is smaller in size. Would you rather be bigger and weigh less, or smaller and weigh more? Know your own objective, and train for it."

Do I need to be 'skinny' to look toned?
"The training you do in the gym creates the muscle tone or muscle mass, and the correct nutrition allows you to get lean enough to show it off at its full potential.
If you're looking for clear muscle definition, you need to lose the subcutaneous, or surface, fat. It's true when they say, 'abs are made in the gym and revealed in the kitchen'."

NEXT:  How to look toned (not skinny), or find out how many reps you should be doing.

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12 Ways Adults Can Get That Back-To-School Buzz

Photo: Getty Images

My kids’ glee about going back to school—New class! New teachers! New supplies!—makes me happy. And just a little wistful. Come September, I miss that fresh-start feeling. Although raiding the office supply closet likely won’t help, it turns out there are proven tactics that can bring the bliss.

Break out of routine

Just having something different for breakfast, walking to work in a new way, trying a workout at the gym, or otherwise breaking free from your usual routine can give you uplifting perspective on your daily existence.

Stop and smell the rosy shower gel

A whole lot of people seem to operate on one speed these days: rush. One problem with a fast-paced existence is that if you never take time to savor life’s pleasant moments, you’re missing out on a whole lot of joy. In a study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, 101 men and women recorded whether or not they savored positive activities; those who did had higher levels of happiness. Go on, inhale the pinot grigio, and feel the soft rug beneath your bare feet.

Talk with strangers

The monotony of commuting can be a real buzzkill (taking the bus to school: so much more entertaining). One effective remedy is to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger. In a study done at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, people headed to work by train either chatted with fellow commuters or didn’t engage. The talkers reported having the most pleasant commute. Psychologists refer to these interactions as “social snacking,” small ways of connecting with other people. Bonus: They’re calorie free!

RELATED: Your Back-to-School Reboot

Plan for fun

If you fail to plan for happiness, it usually won’t happen; good times don’t just show up on your doorstep like a pizza delivery. As happiness researcher Robert Biswas-Diener, PhD, founder and managing director of the consulting firm Positive Acorn in Milwaukie, Ore., notes, church devotees don’t say, “Can we reschedule church because something came up?” You need to have that church mentality about whatever it is that gives you pleasure. If your weeks are full, find the next blank spot on your calendar.

Deal with time nibblers

Manage the people who eat into your free time, aka your family. Productivity consultant Julie Morgenstern, author of Time Management from the Inside Out ($12, amazon.com), suggests announcing to everyone that it’s your time to recharge your batteries. Plan something you enjoy doing and rope in a friend to make sure you use that time for fun.

Have a lunchtime happy meal

Consider nutrient-rich meals that taste as good as they make you feel, including Salmon Salad with Vinaigrette and a Flaxseed Falafel Sandwich.

RELATED: 19 Superfoods That Make You Happy

Take a walk in the park

A growing body of research has established a link between nature, feelings of vitality, and generally good mental health. One 2014 study featured in the journal Environmental Science & Technology compared 100 people who moved from the city to more natural settings to those who did the reverse; the rural dwellers were found to be overall happier over the course of three years.

A quick walk on a trail in the morning before you head to the office or cruising the park during a work break will also give you a rush of endorphins. Suddenly, that work deadline won’t seem nearly as bad.

Buy some joy

And by that experts don’t mean a latté or some overpriced accessory. Purchasing experiences maximizes happiness, says Michael Norton, PhD, associate professor of business administration at Harvard Business School and co-author of Happy Money: The Science of Smarter Spending ($13, amazon.com). Studies show that people who forked up for music concerts, a series of crochet lessons, or just a dinner out had more bliss than those who paid for tangible goods.

Think yourself less busy

One of the job hazards of being an adult: the pressure of an endless to-do list. Look at the positives of your workload, encourages Amit Sood, MD, author of the Mayo Handbook For Happiness ($11, amazon.com) and chair of the Mind-Body Initiative at Mayo. Tell yourself, say, I’m glad to help so many people. Or, It’s awesome I can work from home some days. With practice, he says, your gratitude threshold changes and you become automatically grateful for the many little—and larger—gifts that life offers.

RELATED: 10 Make-Ahead Breakfasts for Back-to-School

Crush the stress

The anxiety over who to sit next to in the school cafeteria when you’re a kid pales next to the stressful realities of grown-up life. For calmer days ask yourself, Will this matter five years from now? Dr. Sood notes that he tries to zoom out of the experience and get a big-picture perspective; if the unpleasant event or situation won’t matter five years from now, he won’t let it mater in the moment.

Relish what makes you rock

So maybe you won’t be scoring Most Valuable Player at the office this year, unlike the glory days of your high-school athletic career. Still, there’s plenty of admirable stuff about you to bask in. It’s a more effective route to joy than trying to fix what’s not, says Willibald Ruch, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Zurich who studies happiness and character strength. A good way to pinpoint your strong suits: fill out the free Values in Action Inventory of Strength Survey, developed by experts; you’ll get a ranked list of your 24 strongest qualities.

Be a kid again

Do something a little silly or fun, recommends Gabrielle Bernstein, author of Add More -ing To Your Life: A Hip Guide to Happiness ($11, amazon.com). Even jumping on your bike for a post-work ride with friends will make you feel more carefree. There you go: that back-to-school buzz, without the homework or tests.

RELATED: 15 Back-to-School Recipes

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Forgiveness May Boost Older Women’s Moods

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — The old adage that forgiveness is divine may be true for older women, but it may always not make men feel any better, a new study suggests.

The researchers found that older women who forgave others were less likely to be depressed. And, that was true even if they felt unforgiven by others. However, men who forgave others, but also felt unforgiven had the highest levels of depression, the study revealed.

The research stemmed from a survey of more than 1,000 American adults. The study participants were all aged 67 and older. The survey asked about their mental and physical health, as well as their religious beliefs.

“When we think about forgiveness and characteristics of people who are forgiving — altruistic, compassionate, empathetic — these people forgive others and seem to compensate for the fact that others aren’t forgiving them,” study co-author Christine Proulx, an associate professor in the department of human development and family science at the University of Missouri, said in a university news release.

“It sounds like moral superiority, but it’s not about being a better person. It’s ‘I know that this hurts because it’s hurting me,’ and those people are more likely to forgive others, which appears to help decrease levels of depression, particularly for women,” Proulx said.

The findings suggest that mental health counselors may have to use different, gender-specific approaches when dealing with older women and older men, the researchers said.

Many people begin to reflect on their lives as they get older, including how they may have been hurt by or hurt others, Proulx noted.

And while forgiving others may reduce some people’s risk of depression, forgiving oneself doesn’t seem to help.

“Self-forgiveness didn’t act as the protector against depression. It’s really about whether individuals can forgive other people and their willingness to forgive others,” Proulx said.

The study was published recently in the journal Aging & Mental Health.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about depression.

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Zelda Williams on Depression: ‘Hold on to the Possibility of Hope’

Photo: Getty Images

Just over a year after Robin William’s death, the beloved comedian’s daughter Zelda Williams has opened up about coping with grief and depression in a touching new Instagram post.

“Avoiding fear, sadness, or anger is not the same thing as being happy. I live my sadness every day, but I don’t resent it anymore,” she wrote, accompanying a photo of a moon reflecting upon a lake. “Instead, I do it now so that the wonderful moments of joy I do find are not in order to forget, but to inhabit and enjoy for their own sake.”

She continued, “And for those suffering from depression, I know how dark and endless that tunnel can feel, but if happiness seems impossible to find, please hold on to the possibility of hope, faint though it may be.”

RELATED: 20 Celebrities Who Battled Depression

Her famous father was battling depression, anxiety, and dealing with a Parkinson’s Disease diagnosis before he died by suicide. Zelda Williams has since been an advocate for open discussion about mental health issues.

On World Mental Health Day last year, she tweeted: “Let’s stop the misconceptions & support those who need our help. Healing the whole starts with healing minds. No matter what the misinformed say, you can’t simply CHOOSE to make mental illness go away. It is NOT cowardly to suffer or seek help. Lastly, my dad openly fought depression his whole life, both in general and his own. No matter what anyone says, it is a FIGHT. Fight on.”

Read her latest post below.

RELATED: 10 Signs You Should See a Doctor for Depression

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Anti-Tobacco Policies Cut Youth Smoking Rates: Study

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — As smoking has become more expensive and inconvenient in the United States, fewer young people are lighting up, a new study shows.

“Because smoking initiation typically occurs before youth enter the workplace, smoke-free workplace laws likely affect smoking initiation by showing kids that adult smoking norms reject smoking,” said study first author Anna Song, an associate professor of psychological sciences at the University of California, Merced, Health Sciences Research Institute.

In a news release from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Song said that the effects of smoke-free laws are similar or larger than other factors linked to smoking, such as age, race and poverty level.

The study looked at information collected in 1997 on the smoking habits of nearly 4,000 young people in the United States. The participants were between 12 and 18 years old.

Researchers monitored the teens for 11 years. During that time, state, county and citywide smoke-free laws became more prevalent and comprehensive. Cigarette taxes also increased during this time, the study found.

While the study can’t definitively show a cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers found that a 100 percent smoke-free environment seemed to lower the odds of young people taking up smoking by one-third. The number of new smokers during the study period dropped significantly, and the number of nonsmokers being exposed to harmful secondhand smoke also went down, the researchers reported.

During the study period, the number of people protected by smoking bans at work, restaurants and bars increased.

Young people living in areas where smoking bans were enforced in bars were 20 percent less likely to start smoking. Teens and young adults who already smoked when these laws were implemented smoked 15 percent fewer days each month, the study showed.

Findings were published Sept. 8 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

Senior study author Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine at UCSF, said in the news release, “Smoke-free workplace laws have the most powerful effect on smoking initiation, equivalent to the deterrent impact of a $1.57 tax increase.”

Making cigarettes more expensive had an impact, too. The researchers noted that each 10-cent tax increase was followed by a 3 percent decline in the odds of starting to smoke. The federal tax increased from 24 cents per pack in 1995 to $1.01 per pack in 2009. The average state tax increased from nearly 33 cents per pack in 1995 to $1.20 per pack in 2009, the researchers said.

“Our results suggest that the $2 tax increase being discussed in the California legislature would cut youth smoking initiation nearly in half,” Glantz said.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health provides more information on smoking and youth.

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Comedian’s ‘Dear Fat People’ Video Sparks Major Controversy

Comedian Nicole Arbour shared a YouTube video last week criticicizing fat people, and her controversial jokes quickly swept the Internet. But a certain TLC star—not to mention thousands of commenters—isn’t having it.

Last week, the Canadian actress and Youtuber, 30, uploaded what she called a  “satire” piece, titled “Dear Fat People,” in which she goes on a rant encouraging society to “shame people who have bad habits until they f—— stop.” She also compares fat people to zombies and the Frankenstein monster, and claims that “helping” obese people is like assisting suicide. (The video had half a million views before her channel was suspended by Youtube.)

It now has close to 21 million views on Facebook, and 1.3 million on YouTube since Arbour’s account was reinstated.

Though Arbour’s not without supporters, the backlash was immediate. Writer Lindy West at The Guardian called it “six minutes of tired cruelty filed under ‘entertainment.'” And countless others slammed it on social media.

Nicole Arbour, you're what's WRONG with this world. #disgusted

— Kathleen Fuentes (@KathleenLights1) September 6, 2015

Nicole Arbour may be many things but she is not a comedian.

— Katrin (@KatraHigher) September 8, 2015

I'd rather be overweight than be #nicolearbour

— Jaime Primak (@JaimePrimak) September 7, 2015

TLC’s Whitney Way Thore, who stars in the reality series My Big Fat Fabulous Life, issued a 6 and a 1/2-minute video rebuttal refuting Arbour’s controversial statements point-by-point. The clip has already collected nearly 150,000 views and more than 2,000 comments in just a few days.

RELATED: Plus-Size Model Tess Holliday’s Inspiring Message: ‘It’s All About Accepting Yourself’

In Arbour’s original post, she says that “fat-shaming is not a thing” and that “fat people made that up,” even going as far as to liken it to playing the “race card with no race.”

Thore, 31, right off the bat calls out Arbour in her own video for disregarding fat-shaming all together: “Fat-shaming is a thing. It’s a really big thing—no pun intended. It is the really nasty spawn of a larger problem called body-shaming, which I’m fairly certain everyone on the planet, especially women, has experienced.”

Thore also didn’t take too kindly to Arbour’s attempt to exclude people with specific health conditions from her rant. Thore has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal problem, which is often associated with weight gain.

RELATED: 4 Tricks to Make a Healthy Habit Stick for Good

“So I’m so glad you’re not talking about me, except you are talking about me because you can’t see a person’s health from looking at them,” Thore says. “The next time you see a fat person, you don’t know whether that person has a medical condition that caused them to gain weight. You don’t know if their mother just died. You don’t know if they’re depressed or suicidal or if they just lost 100 pounds … Let me hammer this one home; You cannot tell a person’s health, physical or otherwise, from looking at them.”

Research has shown that fat-shaming doesn’t aid weight loss. In fact, a study published last year in Obesity found that people who have experienced ridicule or abuse due to being overweight are actually more likely to gain weight.

Thore’s full take-down of Arbour’s unfunny (if not mean and unhelpful) video covers everything wrong with this line of thinking better than we ever could. Be sure to watch it in full.

RELATED: Taylor Swift, Thin Shaming, and the Definition of “Real Women”

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Kids’ ER Visits for Medicine Overdoses Dropping: Report

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Fewer children are winding up in emergency rooms for accidental poisonings involving commonly used medications, a new U.S. government study finds.

“We think these declines are real,” said lead researcher Maribeth Lovegrove, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of healthcare quality promotion.

Between 2004 and 2013, approximately 640,000 children aged 5 and younger were seen in emergency rooms for ingesting drugs. Of these, 70 percent were 1- or 2-year-olds, and nearly one in five were hospitalized, according to the report.

The number of pediatric emergency room visits rose during the early 2000s, peaking at approximately 76,000 in 2010, but declined to approximately 59,000 visits in 2013, Lovegrove said.

While there has been a decline in emergency room visits, 59,000 visits a year for young children is still too many, Lovegrove said.

“Innovative approaches, such as improved safety packaging and targeted educational messages, may be needed to continue or even accelerate this decline,” she said.

The report will appear in the October print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The CDC researchers found that between 2010 and 2013, 91 percent of emergency room visits involved ingestion of one medicine.

Nearly half involved prescription pills, tablets or capsules. Almost a quarter involved over-the-counter pills, tablets or capsules, Lovegrove said. In addition, about 12 percent involved an over-the-counter liquid medicine, such as cough syrup.

Four medications caused almost all (91 percent) of the emergency room visits for over-the-counter liquid medication exposures. And these were almost always (87 percent) children’s or infants’ versions, Lovegrove said.

The four are:

• Acetaminophen (Tylenol), which was the cause of 33 percent of visits for liquid exposures — about 2,600 annual visits.
• Cough and cold medicines, such as Robitussin and Delsym, which were involved in nearly 28 percent of visits for over-the-counter liquid exposures — about 2,200 annual visits.
• Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), which were involved in 16 percent of visits — about 1,200 annual visits.
• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which was involved in 16 percent of visits — about 1,200 annual visits.

“In contrast, more than 260 different prescription pills, typically intended for adults, were involved in emergency room visits for unsupervised exposures in young children,” Lovegrove said.

The most common ones were narcotics, such as buprenorphine, oxycodone or hydrocodone. Those were involved in 14 percent of visits. They were followed by the psychiatric drugs known as benzodiazepines, including clonazepam (Klonopin) and alprazolam (Xanax), which were involved in 13 percent of visits.

Dr. Rodney Baker, clinical director of the division of emergency medicine at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, said, “I’ve seen the numbers go down over the last several years.”

Baker thinks whatever pediatricians are doing to warn parents to keep medicines out of kids’ hands is working.

Tamper-proof packaging may also be helping keep kids from getting into medications, Baker said.

“Unsupervised medication exposures are preventable,” Lovegrove said. “Curious young children can act quickly, but following a few simple steps every time medicines are used can help decrease the chance of a child getting into medicines and ending up in the emergency room,” she said.

Lovegrove said parents and other caregivers can:

• Keep all medicines in a safe location that is too high for young children to reach or see.
• Always relock the safety cap on a medicine bottle, and return all medicines to the safe storage location after each use.
• Never tell children medicine is candy so they’ll take it, even if your child does not like to take medicine.
• Remind babysitters, family members and other visitors to keep purses, bags or coats that have medicines in them out of sight when they are in your home.
• Whenever possible, keep medicines in the original child-resistant containers. Other containers, such as pill organizers or plastic bags, often lack child safety features and can be easily opened.
• Program the Poison Help number (1-800-222-1222) into your home phone and cellphone so you will have it when you need it.

More information

Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on kids and drugs.

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Think Genes Drive Obesity? You May Eat Less Healthy

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — People with a family history of obesity who believe their genes doom them to the same may “give up” and eat worse, a new study suggests.

The study found that when it comes to weight, feelings of powerlessness against one’s DNA was tied to a higher body mass index — a measurement that takes into account weight and height.

A person with such an outlook “may engage in more behaviors that are rewarding in the short term, such as eating unhealthful foods and avoiding exercise,” wrote study co-authors Drs. Jessica Alquist and Mike Parent. People who believe that genes dictate body weight may also avoid “healthful behaviors with more long-term benefits for weight management,” the researchers said.

However, if doctors fight the notion that a patient’s weight is “unchangeable,” they might help a person’s motivation to eat better and exercise more, the investigators said.

One expert in nutrition and obesity agreed.

“We are predisposed to our genetic makeup, but we can still control our environment, physical activity — anything is better than nothing — and, like everything else in life, a change in one area will necessitate change in other areas,” said Sharon Zarabi, a nutritionist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

In their study, Alquist and Parent looked at data from almost 4,200 men and nearly 4,700 women. The study found that as people get older, the idea that weight is determined more by DNA than factors people can control — such as diet and exercise — is associated with poor eating habits. These included markers for poor diets such as eating fewer fruits and vegetables, dining out a lot, eating lots of frozen or ready-to-eat meals (such as frozen pizzas), and paying little attention to nutrition labels on food products.

Men and women who believed their weight was genetically determined and out of their control were also less likely to exercise, according to the study.

However, according to Zarabi, people need to understand that genes are not necessarily destiny, including when it comes to body weight.

While giving “excuses” for overeating is common, “when we assume responsibility for making changes — whatever the sacrifice may be — we are investing a part of ourselves in the planning process,” she said. “This is what will ultimately increase our motivation to achieve long-term success.”

The study was published Sept. 8 in Health Education and Behavior.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about how to maintain a healthy weight.

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Could Psychedelic Drugs Be Good Medicine for Some?

By Alan Mozes
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 8, 2015 (HealthDay News) — In a carefully controlled setting, psychedelic drugs such as LSD or “magic mushrooms” may benefit patients with hard-to-treat anxiety, addiction or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), new research suggests.

The finding comes from a review of small-scale and preliminary studies conducted recently in the United States, Canada and Europe, all of which await follow-up.

These preliminary results show that “in the right context, these drugs can help people a lot, especially people who have disorders that we generally treat poorly, such as end-of-life distress, PTSD, and addiction issues involving tobacco or alcohol,” said study co-author Matthew Johnson. Johnson is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.

The research Johnson and his colleagues point to includes a 2008 study that found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy resulted in lower anxiety and improved mood, without negative side effects. Psilocybin is the hallucinogenic compound in “magic mushrooms.”

And a Swiss study published last year looked at LSD’s effect on terminally ill patients who were battling anxiety. Two months after two LSD-enhanced psychotherapy sessions, the patients experienced “significant” reductions in some forms of anxiety, a benefit that endured one year out, without long-lasting side effects.

Despite these findings, Johnson cautioned, “people should not go out on their own to treat themselves with these drugs. These drugs need to be researched according to a strict regulatory process, the same as you would develop any drug.”

The notion that “street drugs” might successfully treat serious mental illness flies in the face of the widely held perception that psychedelics are dangerous. It also represents a dramatic turnaround from earlier research — much of it conducted in the counter-culture heyday of the 1960s — that was largely discredited by the medical community.

Besides LSD and psilocybin, the drugs examined in the new review included mescaline; DMT, the common name for the hallucinogenic drug dimethyltryptamine; and the mood-elevating drug MDMA, or methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, also known as Ecstasy or Molly.

This fresh look at psychedelics should be viewed as an attempt to “further our understanding of how the brain works,” suggested Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, president of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation in New York City. Borenstein wasn’t involved in the research.

“We certainly have to be careful,” he said. “Some of these drugs clearly have the potential for misuse and addiction. But there may be aspects that perhaps have a potential benefit, particularly if we could find a way to isolate their helpful mechanisms of action.”

For example, this might mean finding a way to separate and deploy a drug’s therapeutic antidepressant effect, without the negative impact of, say, dislocation or hallucination, he said.

“To my mind, if working with these agents can lead to new approaches to treat serious conditions, that is all to the good,” Borenstein added. “While we currently have some effective methods of treatment for a number of these conditions, we are always looking for improvement.”

The findings are published in the Sept. 8 issue of CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Other studies mentioned in the review include one that found that psilocybin helped 12 out of 15 smokers kick their tobacco habit by the six-month post-treatment mark.

In another, more than 80 percent of PTSD patients who underwent two-sessions of psychotherapy coupled with MDMA experienced a more than 30 percent drop in the severity of their symptoms, compared with 25 percent of those who didn’t take MDMA. The benefits held up for nearly three-quarters of the patients three and half years out.

And researchers studying alcoholism in New Mexico found that coupling “motivational enhancement therapy” with magic mushrooms halved heavy drinking without any significant or long-lasting side effects.

“The biological and psychological evidence seems to show that these drugs can have a unique effect on altering the patient’s subjective experience in a very powerful and meaningful way,” said Johnson. He added the drugs “can help people who are in a very difficult place psychologically break out and get unstuck.”

However, he added, “these are experiences that happen in a psycho-therapeutic context, which is critical to increasing the chances for a life-changing positive experience without any long-term harmful effects.”

More information

There’s more on psychedelics at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

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Kim Kardashian’s Dangerous Pregnancy Complication, Explained

Photo: Getty Images

You aren’t born with a placenta. Instead it develops in your uterus during pregnancy and acts as life-support for your growing baby. Then once delivery is said and done, it, too, is expelled from the uterus. But for a number of women, this doesn’t happen, and instead a potentially life-threatening condition—called placenta accreta—keeps the organ from leaving the body as it should.

Kim Kardashian West recently opened up about her experience with it while pregnant with her daughter North. Now that she’s pregnant with a second child, she told C Magazine: “They think I’ll have placenta accreta again, so if the placenta grows a little bit deeper than it did last time, then they are prepared to have my uterus removed, which is a little scary for me.”

Scary, indeed. Here are the facts about this potentially serious—but rare—condition.

RELATED: Pregnancy 101

What exactly is placenta accreta?

During a normal pregnancy, the pancake-shaped placenta is supposed to lightly attach to the lining of the uterus, allowing nutrients and oxygen to pass from the mother’s womb to the baby via the umbilical cord. At the time of birth, the placenta detaches itself from the uterine wall and comes out via the birth canal shortly after the baby is born.

“But in rare cases, the placenta will have grown into the wall of the womb itself, preventing it from easily detaching at the time of birth,” explains Jan Rydfors, MD, a board-certified ob/gyn who specializes in fertility and high risk pregnancy and co-founder of the app Pregnancy Companion. “This deeply imbedded and stuck placenta is called a placenta accreta.”

It’s also referred to as placenta increta or placenta percreta, depending how deeply or severely the placenta is attached, according to the American Pregnancy Association.

While it’s still pretty rare—placenta accreta occurs in 3 in 1,000 pregnancies, according to the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine—it’s on the rise. In the 1970s the incidence was closer to one in 4,000 pregnancies.

It can lead to health risks for the mother and affect future pregnancies.

RELATED: All of Your Pregnancy Questions, Answered

It’s unclear what causes it

The number of placenta accreta cases has risen in step with the increase in Cesarean sections, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologsists (ACOG) says. That’s because damage to the uterine wall during a C-section seems to play a role in developing the condition.

“The highest risk is when a pregnant woman has had one or more Cesareans in the past,” explains Dr. Rydfors, “and the current placenta appears to be growing over the Cesarean scar.” (In these cases, a third or more of women will have a placenta accreta.)

However, it’s not totally clear why it occurs during a first-time pregnancy.

RELATED: 10 Foods Pregnant Women Shouldn’t Eat

There aren’t many symptoms

One warning sign of placenta accreta is bleeding during the third trimester, according to the American Pregnancy Association. But more often, it is symptomless. “Fortunately, ultrasounds and MRIs can often pick up more than 90% of them in the second trimester of the pregnancy,” says Dr. Rydfors.

However, some women aren’t diagnosed until delivery.

It can be life-threatening

The biggest risk to the mother is severe bleeding that can occur once the placenta is disconnected. “If the placenta accreta is a very minor one—where the placenta is only slightly stuck to the womb—it will usually come out with an extra tug,” Dr. Rydfors says, but more bleeding than average is expected.

But if the placenta is deeply attached, the hemorrhaging can be life-threatening.

RELATED: There Are Really Zero Health Benefits from Eating Placenta After Giving Birth

Treatment is often surgical

If the condition is detected before birth (or your risk is high), most doctors will recommend doing an early C-section, explains Dr. Rydfors. “It’s typically performed a month or more before the due date to make sure the delivery happens before spontaneous labor occurs,” he says.

Then, depending on severity, a hysterectomy, with the placenta in place, may be done immediately following birth in order to avoid the severe bleeding from attempting to disconnect it. “The most extreme case I’ve seen is when nearly the whole placenta had grown into the womb, and it [was] literally impossible to separate it,” Dr. Rydfors says. That case required a full hysterectomy to remove both the placenta and the woman’s uterus.

In certain cases, the mother can conceive again

There are instances (though sadly, they are less common) where the uterus can be spared by using special treatments to remove it, while still trying to control the bleeding. “Not removing the uterus may be an option,” Dr. Rydfors says, “but it’s not risk-free, and it’s often associated with very heavy bleeding and potential scarring inside the womb.”

The good news: Though risk of placenta accreta is high the second time around, a majority of those women who did not have to have a hysterectomy will be able to have another baby.

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from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1iuQtyu