Harvard Health Content API

Without a medical reason for a cesarean section (C-section), doctors should recommend vaginal delivery to pregnant women. This is a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). About 2.5% of pregnant women choose to have a C-section with no medical reason. A C-section involves risks, including bladder injuries, bowel injuries and complications in future pregnancies. Women who have C-sections also have longer hospital stays and recovery times. ACOG notes that voluntary C-section is particularly not recommended for women who want to have more than one child. This is because the risk of complications increases with each C-section. The guideline was published March 22 in the April issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Vitamin D pills may help reduce blood pressure in blacks, a new study suggests. Many blacks have low blood levels of vitamin D. With darker skin, less sunlight is available for the body to use to make vitamin D. Blacks also are more likely to have high blood pressure than whites. The study included 250 African-American adults. They were randomly divided into 4 groups. Three of the groups received daily vitamin D pills, in different doses. The fourth group took placebo (fake) pills. Three months later, researchers checked their blood pressure. Systolic blood pressure had dropped by 4 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) for people taking the largest vitamin D dose, 4,000 international units (IU). It fell 3.4 mmHg for those taking 2,000 IU. The drop was 0.7 mmHg for the smallest dose, 1,000 IU. Systolic pressure rose 1.7 mmHg for those who got placebo pills.

Veterans with symptoms of Gulf War Illness have more activity in part of their brains. Researchers saw the activity using functional MRI scans. They did the scans on 31 veterans, as well as 12 people without symptoms. Gulf War Illness is also called Gulf War Syndrome. As many as 30% of veterans deployed to the Persian Gulf have reported similar symptoms. They include pain, headaches, digestive problems and fatigue. The study was published March 20 in the journal PLOS ONE. USA Today wrote about it March 21.