Placentophagy: a controversial trend

This work presents the latest scientific results of research in placenta, highlighting the description of the organ’s associated microbiotic, whose possible deleterious effects will be of greater magnitude in a hemomonochorial placental barrier, as is the case in the human species. We want to make solid scientific evidence available to Health Professionals in the delivery and post-delivery care area, so that they may adequately inform their patients that the supposed benefits of the placentophagy are not supported by scientific studies. On the contrary, they are based on misguided popular beliefs spread on social media and untrustworthy maternity/health blogs and internet pages. None of these sources warn mothers about the fact that placentophagy involves a potential risk of exposure of the baby to vertically transmitted infections, risk of the mother developing a thromboembolism due to the estrogen content in the organ, or that the accumulation of heavy metals and/or environmental toxins in the placenta could prove poisonous to mother and baby. It is also of great concern that the presence of normal prions in the placenta has been reported lately, because, normal prions can be transformed into the infective forms albeit by a mechanism that yet remains unclear. This adds another risk to those previously described. Therefore, it is imperative that Health Professionals warn their patients that placentophagy is not a safe practice and can constitute unnecessary risks for both mother and baby.

Blogging, Microblogging, and Exposure to Health and Risk Messages

The widespread diffusion of social media in recent years has created a number of opportunities and challenges for health and risk communication. Blogs and microblogs are specific forms of social media that appear to be particularly important. Blogs are webpages authored by an individual or group in which entries are published in reverse chronological order; microblogs are largely similar, but limited in the total number of characters that may be published per entry. Researchers have begun exploring the use and consequences of blogs and microblogs among individuals coping with illness as well as for health promotion. Much of this work has focused on better understanding people’s motivations for blogging about illness and the content of illness blogs. Coping with the challenges of illness and connecting with others are two primary motivations for authoring an illness blog, and blogs typically address medical issues (e.g., treatment options) and the author’s thoughts and feelings about experiencing illness. Although less prevalent, there is also evidence that illness blogging can be a resource for social support and facilitate coping efforts. Researchers studying the implications of blogs and microblogs for health promotion and risk communication have tended to focus on the use of these technologies by health professionals and for medical surveillance. Medical professionals appear to compose a noteworthy proportion of all health bloggers. Moreover, blogs and microblogs have been shown to serve a range of surveillance functions. In addition to being used to follow illness outbreaks in real-time, blogs and microblogs have offered a means for understanding public perceptions of health and risk-related issues including medical controversies. Taken as whole, contemporary research on health blogs and microblogs underscores the varied and important functions of these forms of social media for health and risk communication.