Up to 90% of pregnant women will develop striae gravidarum (stretch marks) by their third trimester of pregnancy. These purple-pink bands are often considered aesthetically unsightly and can remain forever as a reminder of pregnancy. This is the reason why numerous creams and emollients claim to rid or reduce stretch marks – one of the most common being cocoa butter. To put this natural lotion to the test, researchers from the American University of Beirut Medical Center compared women who applied cocoa butter to those who applied an inactive placebo lotion throughout pregnancy. The results showed that 45% of cocoa butter treated women, compared with 49% of placebo treated women, went on to develop stretch marks – a statistically insignificant difference, according to the researchers. Furthermore, there was no difference in terms of the severity of the stretch marks between the two groups. Full story.
Tags: cocoa butter, lotion, Pregnancy, stretch marks, striae gravidarum
Dr. Steven Chang, the author of DailyDose, is a staff physician with Kosmix RightHealth. Dr. Chang practices Family Medicine at the University of California Davis Medical Center, where his medical interests include both pediatric and geriatric care, public health, gay and lesbian health, and sleep medicine. Dr. Chang trained at the Stanford University affiliated O'Connor Hospital, and was a research fellow at the National Institute of Health. He holds an M.D. from McGill University and a BA in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:31 am
you want to look into it