Health Issue: Sweet tidings

Sweet tidings: Chocolate cuts premature birth risk          London: Pregnant women can now have the perfect excuse to munch on few chocolate bars, as a new study has claimed eating chocolates regularly may halve a woman's risk of giving birth prematurely.            Researchers at the Yale university in the US found that those who consume higher rates of chocolatey snacks - including hot chocolate drinks - were less likely to develop pre-eclampsia, one of the most common causes of premature birth that affects that affects nearly 6 million births annually.            It is characterised byhigh blood pressure and can cause convulsions, blood clots, liver damage and Kidney failure, leading to the death of the baby and sometimes the mother, the Daily Mail reported. The findings of the new study are based on the dietary habits of about 2,500 women during pregnancy.           "Women who reported regular chocolate consumption of more than three week had a 50% or greater reduced risk of pre-eclampsia."the researchers wrote in the journal Annals of Epidemiology. "Regular chocolate intake during the first or third trimester was equally protective."            There have been a number of studies which suggested that chocolate has some health benefits if eaten moderately. Last year, Swedish scientists found heart attack survivors who snacked on women who eat over 3 servings a week of chocolate have 50% less risk of premature delivery chocolate at least twice a week could slash their risk of dying from heart disease by up to 70% And in 2008. a team at Georgetown University in Washington discovered a chemical found in chocolate could hold the key to stopping bowel cancer in its tracks.           They tested a man-made version of the naturally occurring ingredient and found it halved the rate at which tumours grew, while leaving healthy cells untouched.