Читать книгу You: Having a Baby: The Owner’s Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy - Michael Roizen F. - Страница 45

Of course, your partner is already doing everything he can to help you during your pregnancy (including making you scrambled egg tacos at four in the morning). Add this one to the list. If you have a cat, put your partner in charge of taking out the kitty litter. The litter of some cats includes a parasite that can lead to toxoplasmosis, a condition that can restrict the growth of the fetus. Your cat is the primary host of the toxo parasite and can shed egg cysts in its feces that survive for a long time. But don’t worry: It’s still okay to pet Mr. Moo-Moo. Just be sure to wash your hands very well in running water after doing so. The parasite can also infect raw food (via a fly that flits from the litter box to your hamburger meat). So wash and cook your food to a temperature of 145 degrees for beef, lamb, steak, and veal roasts; 160 degrees for pork, ground meat, and wild game; and 180 degrees for whole poultry. And clean all surfaces that have touched raw meat.

Toxoplasmosis causes flulike symptoms, with muscle aches, brain fog, and swollen glands. Toxo is a threat to your baby only if you’re infected for the first time during pregnancy. (You may have immunity to it if you’ve already been exposed.) Your provider can perform a simple blood test to check whether or not you have antibodies. If not, try to avoid exposure to litter while pregnant. If you don’t have an alternative to changing the litter while pregnant, either wear gloves or wash your hands thoroughly afterward. Toxoplasmosis egg cysts can survive for up to a year in soil, so wear gloves when gardening as well.

Figure 2.3 Good Soldiers A fetus’s early immunity comes in the form of T cells and the primitive toll-like receptors, which work together to identify and fight off potential invaders. The immunity process in pregnancy is one of a kind, as the mom’s body must help protect what it might initially see as a potential invader.

^* The placenta is named after the Greek word plakos, which means “flat cake,” because of its appearance.

^* After all, ain’t enough room for a restroom down there.

^† Some bigger substances, like immunoglobulins, can pass through by folding themselves into smaller

^* Morning sickness may seem like a form of rebellion, but it’s really more of an ally, as we’ll explain in a few pages.

^* This gland shrinks dramatically with age; in fact extracts of thymus are injected by suspect antiaging docs, supposedly to bring vitality to aging clients.

^† TLRs are the oldest immune system and the dominant system in ancient species, like the shark.