Pregnancy in a new town with limited rsources

Reese01 · Guest

I have just recently moved to a small town in northern BC. Within weeks of moving we found out that we are going to have our first child. Being a health consious, spirit minded person I would like to be involed in thing like prenatal yoga and other parenting groups that will allow me to stay connected with my spirit and child. Unfortunealty because the town is so small there are very limited resources and the nearest midwife is 3 hrs away. Does anyone have and advice or support of ways that I can stay connected or know of any groups in the Chetwynd area that may be helpfull??????

mavis · Guest

hi beloved mother to be. I was living in Mexico City when i was expecting my first baby. Not the ideal conditions and any type of alternative classes were over my budget so while i was in canada visiting i took books out of the library to learn the lamaze breathing and excercise tecniques, and some yoga for pregnancy as well. I began my own regimen at home on my own. it would have been fun to be involved in a group but at the time i didn't have the self confidence or vision to create a group with other women. Maybe you can call out to other young mothers in the area and create a group that shares information and gets together for regular activities. The excercises and breathing should be done daily. They are wonderful and helped me immensely during labor, and post-partum to recover, and have since showed them to many other expectant moms. You are very lucky to have the vast resources of the internet at your convenience to utilize as well. I highly recomment that you use coconut, almond, or olive oil on your tummy once or more a day also to create moist elastic skin and this will greatly reduce stretch marks...i have 4 kids and absolutely no stretch marks at all...good luck with your journey!!

chelsea8611 · Joined: 27 Jul 2008 Posts: 4

Red-Eyed tree Frog skin can inhibit HIV virus

A little red-eyed frog could hold the key to ending the scourge of AIDS.

Scientists have found that a chemical in the skin of the Australian red-eyed tree frog can block infection by HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - by destroying the viral particles.

They hope further research could lead to an "after-exposure" lotion to protect against HIV and AIDS.

The chemical is part of the frog's defences. Special glands on their skin produce and store packets of the compound, which is released when they are injured or alarmed and acts to protect them from infection by killing fungi, bacteria and viruses.

The ability to target HIV was discovered when researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, decided to investigate whether the chemical was effective against viruses that infect humans.

In tests using human immune system cells, the chemical killed HIV particles but left the immune cells unharmed. It is thought to work by damaging the membrane of each viral particle, either by punching holes which cause it to fall apart, or through a "detergent effect" which breaks apart fatty molecules in the membrane.

Research leader Dr Scott Van-Compernolle said: "There are lots of substances which destroy viruses but the trick is finding one that doesn't also destroy the membrane of our cells. That is why these frog [url]peptides [/http://www.lookchem.com/cas-545/54577-99-0.html url]are unique."

Further tests showed the chemical could stop the virus being passed between cells, thus blocking infection. The scientists infected cells with HIV, treated them with the frog chemical and then exposed them to healthy cells. The virus appeared to have vanished.

They hope it will be possible to develop a cream to target infected cells. Dr Van-Compernolle said: "It seems it would work really well in just the way the frogs use it - as a cream. We envisage something prophylactic so if you were exposed to HIV through unprotected sex, you could use this cream or a suppository to give you a fairly high dose of the proteins in the region where you thought the virus might be."

It could still be effective if used hours after exposure. "We showed you can successfully treat the infected cells up to eight hours after they were exposed to the virus," said Dr VanCompernolle. "The virus has already got in those cells but this is still able to block the infection." The scientists have now won a grant from the American Foundation for AIDS Research to continue the work. Its director of research, Dr Rowena Johnston, said no creams exist which could be applied to the body after exposure to HIV.

But she added: "The first generation of these products is now not far from being developed. They could be applied prior to sex or perhaps taken in the same way as the contraceptive pill.