Getting an Infection during the period of "Morning Sickness", poses Higher Risks of Congenital Heart Disease?

One of the most unexpected parts of the conversation was Jimmy Carr’s discussion of morning sickness. 🫣

It sent me down a rabbit hole because there is an interesting evolutionary theory behind why morning sickness tends to occur during this particular period of pregnancy.

The Maternal and Embryo Protection Hypothesis, an evolutionary theory about morning sickness, where:

1. Organogenesis: Morning sickness typically peaks between weeks 6 and 14 of pregnancy. When the embryo’s major organs (including the heart, brain, and limbs) are forming and are most vulnerable to damage from toxins or pathogens.

2. The "Shield" Effect: Because pregnancy naturally suppresses a woman's immune system (to prevent her body from rejecting the fetus), she becomes more sensitive to foodborne pathogens. Evolutionary biologists believe nausea and vomiting evolved to force mothers to avoid or expel potentially toxic or bacteria-laden foods during this window.

3. The Shift: Once the organs are fully formed (around the second trimester) and the baby enters the growth-only phase, morning sickness usually stops for most women.

EVIDENCE for Infection & Congenital Heart Disease ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ🫀ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ

A link from two meta-analyses, between First Trimester Maternal Infections and Fetal Congenital Heart Defects has been found, especially in regards to rubella virus, coxsackievirus, respiratory infections, and influenza.

⚠️ Though there is an important distinction here to make:

This does NOT mean that morning sickness itself is linked to congenital heart defects.

But the same period of pregnancy in which morning sickness may have evolved to reduce exposure to potentially harmful substances is also a period when the developing embryo is particularly vulnerable to certain environmental insults, including infections.

Amazonian Homeopathy - Which of them Currently have Scientific Backing ❓

Was listening to Dr Mike's podcast with Paul Rosolie and was very intrigued by the effects of the natural plants and treatments mentioned by Paul. 💊🌿

The Ancient Medicine of Uncontacted Amazon Tribes | Paul Rosolie

Thought it be interesting to explore which had some truth to them. 🤔 Some had loads of evidence while other had no clear papers available.

1. sangre de drago: Amazonian dragon's blood resin (from the Croton lechleri tree)

   >> It has been FDA-approved for providing symptomatic relief of non-infectious diarrhea in adults with HIV/AIDS.

   Paul mentions it being good for covering wounds, on top of being good for the GI tract. Though this recent review also mentions C. lechleri resin having anti-inflammatory properties and has potential as an anti-tumour agent but further reseach is still needed.

2. Barbasco: A plant extract obtained from species of Lonchocarpus nicou

   >> A fish stupefacient containing active ingredients like rotenone; used to stun fish in rivers for easy harvesting.

3. Bark of Cetico tree and Amasisa for stingray stings

   There isn't much research available directly addressing stingray sting treatment, this review mentions the Cecropia genus having potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

Overall, it was an interesting episode. it was also fascinating to hear about Amazonian freshwater manatees, freshwater stingrays, and freshwater dolphins and how they came about.👀

Do house plants clean your air?

Verdict: yes, though you'd need a lot (but an achievable amount) of plants.

I saw this hopeful video on 9gag, of researchers studying how well house plants filter out petrol vapour.

Interestingly, most the cleaning is done around the roots of the plants – not the leaves!

I wanted to learn more, and found this Guardian article, which (I think) interviews the same researchers, and the actual research paper.

The researchers "tested commercial green walls measuring 725 by 725 mm, each holding four plants, in sealed 216-liter chambers" and found the "planted walls reduced total VOCs by 42.47% over eight hours" (credo tldr).

Pretty impressive! A caveat of course is the researchers used a lot of plant (~72cm^2 square) for the given volume (~60cm^3 cube). So to have the same effect in a room, you'd need a lot of house plants!

In the Guardian article, researchers recommend using wall mounted plants, to help squish more plants in. Intuitively (looking at the math above), if you cover your whole wall with plants, you'd probably get a noticeable (maybe not ~40%) filtering effect!

Colonial German descendants: 2% of population, but own 70% of Namibian land?

Saw an Instagram post (by @AidanSimardone) with this claim, which caught my attention.

I guess one shouldn't be surprised by the abysmal lasting legacy of colonialism. But nonetheless I looked into the claim to learn more.

TLDR: the claim is an exaggeration/simplification, but the actual figures/stats are "still bad".

The first article I stumbled onto was this BBC article: "What's the right price to pay for genocide?".

It summarises Germany's brutal 1904-1908 colonial campaign in (present day) Namibia, noting:

As many as 65,000 of the 80,000 Herero living in German South West Africa at the start of colonial rule are estimated to have perished, as well as perhaps 10,000 of an estimated 20,000 Nama.

and the two countries' efforts to account for it:

Since 2015, when Germany formally acknowledged that the atrocities constituted genocide, it has been negotiating a restorative justice deal with Namibia that will set a global precedent.

On the 70% land figure, the article highlights the historical land distribution/seizure:

... most of their land was split into private farms for German settlers. And today most Herero and Nama live either on small overcrowded areas of communal land that were later allocated to them ... .

and specifically on today's ownership:

German Namibians are believed to be the biggest group among the white farmers who own about 70% of the country's farmland.

So according to the article, it's not exactly 70% of all land, but 70% of farmland. And it's not "white Germans" only, but they are the biggest group.

So the original claim is off, but the sentiment remains.

So what are the actual numbers?

I found this piece by "Namibia Fact Check" (an initiative by a Namibian think tank) – that did the math based on Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) data:

1. It states "previously advantaged farmers" own ~70% of commercial (freehold) farmland.

2. The piece says "Previously advantaged farmers" isn't strictly speaking "white Germans", and says it's not clear what percentage of the population they make up (but it sounds like that data isn't officially available, and it is understood to mean white Germans and South Africans pretty much. From googling it sounds like white make up ~2-6%).

3. And commercial (freehold) farmland constitutes ~42% of total land surface.

And so, "previously advantaged farmers" (basically white Germans and South Africans, that make up 2-6% of the population) own ~a third of total land (70% x 42%).

So yes, the original claim seems to be an exaggeration – but the sentiment remains. The actual figures aren't exactly rosey.

Creatine for cognitive function?

Eating creatine for physical health has become an accepted thing. But what about for the brain?

A while back, I watched this Huberman Labs episode, that covered this.Huberman podcast (with guest Rhonda Patrick) And I wanted to look at the research myself: here's one 2024 systematic review, covering 16 randomised control trials with a total of 492 participants.

You can see the full methodology and results in the credo summary of the paper -- but essentially the review concluded that creatine did have benefits for cognition.

As per the credo summary tldr:

This supplement may modestly improve memory and help people complete attention and fast-thinking tasks more quickly.

Does “mouth taping” improve sleep?

TLDR: there is some (non-conclusive) evidence mouth taping improves sleep. But if you have trouble breathing through your nose (e.g. have some nasal-blockage condition, or a cold), then give mouth taping a skip.

I’ve been seeing these companies selling mouth tape on instagram — to prevent mouth-breathing when sleeping (which is suppose to help). I have tried them, but I can’t really say for sure if they help me.

Found this aptly titled 2025 review “Breaking social media fads and uncovering the safety and efficacy of mouth taping in patients with mouth breathing, sleep disordered breathing, or obstructive sleep apnea: A systemic review” .

What the review looked at?

• The paper reviewed 10 other studies – that tested either mouth tape, mouth-sealing patches, or chinstraps.

• Those study participants were mostly sleep-clinic patients. (So unclear whether the findings apply more generally)

• It wasn’t a meta-analysis, as the 10 studies weren’t similar enough. The review authors also rated the 10 studies’ methodology poorly (in terms of ability to draw generalised findings). 

• (So all-in-all, take the results (below) with a pinch of salt!)

What the review found? (My interpretation of the findings: check out the credo summary yourself!)

• Some (weak) evidence that mouth taping reduces sleep apnoea. 

• Some evidence mouth taping reduces snoring and “oxygen desaturation” (when blood oxygen go below a certain level)

• Mouth tape likelier to be effective if used with a jaw device.

• Some of the studies excluded people with “nasal obstruction” (which makes sense). So we can’t say mouth taping helps these people (which isn’t surprising).

Another post / paper on creatine.

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