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The anaemia of pregnancy
365
ABS'l'RAC'l'S
Smallwood, W. Carey:
The Anaemia of Pregnancy, Brit. M. J. 2: 573, 1!)36.
The author presents a classification of the disease based on other recent classifications of blood dyscrasias. He eoncludes that there exist mild degrees of hypochromic anemia of pregnancy which, though not dangerous to life, are responsible for minor ailments and ill-health in both mother and child and may be prevented or cured by a generous diet and the administration of iron. Occasionally, severe degrees of anemia develop during and as a result of pregnancy in the last trimester. These conditions require detailed blood studies, accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment directed toward the type of anemia present. A routine hemoglobin estimation at about the seventh month of pregnaney and a uetailed hematologic analyRis of all cases showing severe degrees of anemia should form part of antenatal supervision.
F. L.
ADAIR AND
S.
A. PEARL.
Fullerton, Harold W.: Hypochromic Anaemias of Pregnancy and the Puerperium, Brit. M. J. 2: 577, 1936. The author presents a study of hypochromic anemia occurring dming pregnaney and the puerperium. The average hemoglobin levels of poor women fell during pregnancy up to the thirty-seventh week of gestation then rose slightly before delivery. A rise in hemoglobin level occurred from forty-eight hours postpartum to six to eleven months after delivery. Even in women of poor classes the transfer o£ iron from the mother to the fetus is compensated wholly or to a large extent by dietary iron. In cases where this demand exceeds the retention of dietary iron, the degree o£ matemal iron de:ficiency which results is only slight. Where hypochromic anemia in pregnancy is marked, anem'ia has probably existed before the pregnancy but has been made more apparent by a physiologic hydremia. Therefore, the conception that uncomplicated pregnancy frequently produces a severe degree of hypochromic anemia should be discarded. The blood loss during parturition varies greatly in degree and often produces severe hypochromic anemia. F. L. ADAIR AND S. A. PEARL.
Moore, Jocelyn, and Pillman-Williams, E. M.: nancy, Brit. M. J. 2: 528, 1936.
Anaemia and Toxaemia of Preg-
The authors present a clinieal and biochemic study of a group of antenatal patients. Some were treated with iron as a routine throughout pregnancy and others not so treated served as controls. One patient in the iron-treated group of 35 and 6 patients in the control group of 34 showed degrees of toxemia. Only one case had a toxic albuminuria and blood pressure of 160/90. The toxic cases showed a rise in hemoglobin under iron therapy. The hemoglobin fell in the control cases before toxic symptoms became apparent. In the nontoxic group of patients the hemoglobin varied from a rise of 17 per eent in iron-treated cases and a fall of 8 per cent in the untreated cases. The iron therapy was associated with an improved general well-being and a reduction in the number of colds, etc. No seasonal variation was noted. Blood urea studies in these groups are reported as well as msults of gastric analysis. Sugar tolerance tests on both groups are described. The results were within normal variations in the latter study, except in the postconfinement curve in the toxic group where the fall was more delayed. In the more toxic patients the sugar curves were more markedly raised coincident with the time of the onset of toxemia and in
ABS'l'RAC'l'S
Smallwood, W. Carey:
The Anaemia of Pregnancy, Brit. M. J. 2: 573, 1!)36.
The author presents a classification of the disease based on other recent classifications of blood dyscrasias. He eoncludes that there exist mild degrees of hypochromic anemia of pregnancy which, though not dangerous to life, are responsible for minor ailments and ill-health in both mother and child and may be prevented or cured by a generous diet and the administration of iron. Occasionally, severe degrees of anemia develop during and as a result of pregnancy in the last trimester. These conditions require detailed blood studies, accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment directed toward the type of anemia present. A routine hemoglobin estimation at about the seventh month of pregnaney and a uetailed hematologic analyRis of all cases showing severe degrees of anemia should form part of antenatal supervision.
F. L.
ADAIR AND
S.
A. PEARL.
Fullerton, Harold W.: Hypochromic Anaemias of Pregnancy and the Puerperium, Brit. M. J. 2: 577, 1936. The author presents a study of hypochromic anemia occurring dming pregnaney and the puerperium. The average hemoglobin levels of poor women fell during pregnancy up to the thirty-seventh week of gestation then rose slightly before delivery. A rise in hemoglobin level occurred from forty-eight hours postpartum to six to eleven months after delivery. Even in women of poor classes the transfer o£ iron from the mother to the fetus is compensated wholly or to a large extent by dietary iron. In cases where this demand exceeds the retention of dietary iron, the degree o£ matemal iron de:ficiency which results is only slight. Where hypochromic anemia in pregnancy is marked, anem'ia has probably existed before the pregnancy but has been made more apparent by a physiologic hydremia. Therefore, the conception that uncomplicated pregnancy frequently produces a severe degree of hypochromic anemia should be discarded. The blood loss during parturition varies greatly in degree and often produces severe hypochromic anemia. F. L. ADAIR AND S. A. PEARL.
Moore, Jocelyn, and Pillman-Williams, E. M.: nancy, Brit. M. J. 2: 528, 1936.
Anaemia and Toxaemia of Preg-
The authors present a clinieal and biochemic study of a group of antenatal patients. Some were treated with iron as a routine throughout pregnancy and others not so treated served as controls. One patient in the iron-treated group of 35 and 6 patients in the control group of 34 showed degrees of toxemia. Only one case had a toxic albuminuria and blood pressure of 160/90. The toxic cases showed a rise in hemoglobin under iron therapy. The hemoglobin fell in the control cases before toxic symptoms became apparent. In the nontoxic group of patients the hemoglobin varied from a rise of 17 per eent in iron-treated cases and a fall of 8 per cent in the untreated cases. The iron therapy was associated with an improved general well-being and a reduction in the number of colds, etc. No seasonal variation was noted. Blood urea studies in these groups are reported as well as msults of gastric analysis. Sugar tolerance tests on both groups are described. The results were within normal variations in the latter study, except in the postconfinement curve in the toxic group where the fall was more delayed. In the more toxic patients the sugar curves were more markedly raised coincident with the time of the onset of toxemia and in