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Should pregnancy be treated as a disability?

A recent study by a University of Dayton law professor, Jeannette Cox, asserts that pregnant women should be covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, to protect them from being fired or forced to perform labor that could be harmful to mother or child. (The paper is forthcoming in March in ?the Boston College Law Review.)

The ADA doesn?t recognize pregnancy as a disability, leaving pregnant women physically and financially vulnerable on the job, concluded Cox, who studies employment discrimination. She found that pregnant women are at risk for losing their jobs when ?reasonable adjustments? aren?t made, such as retail workers fired for drinking water at work or pregnant police officers forced to perform rigorous assignments (while injured officers were given lighter duty).

Cox argues that the ADA currently covers people with ?minor temporary physical limitations comparable to pregnancy’s physical effects.” under current ADA protections, disabled workers may forgo tasks involving heavy lifting, repetitive bending, reaching, prolonged sitting or standing or working under high-temperature conditions. not so for pregnant women.

The women most affected are low-income workers who are more likely to work in physically demanding jobs than higher-paid desk jockeys, Cox found. Lower-income workers often face the dilemma of continuing to work in high-risk jobs or leaving work altogether, forgoing income.

At this point, Cox? argument is merely academic. Extending the ADA?s protections would involve significant legal and political hurdles, and business groups would probably oppose such measures as costly, burdensome and over-reaching. In addition, some women may object to pregnancy being classified as a disability because it may signal to employers that they are less fit to work. (There are some six million pregnancies a year in the U.S., according to the American Pregnancy Association.)

Courts, meanwhile, have reasoned that the ADA does not require employers to accommodate pregnant employees because judges have considered “all of these symptoms, at some degree of severity … part and parcel of a normal pregnancy,? Cox wrote.

Readers, what do you think? Should pregnancy be treated like a short-term disability, with employer accommodations? ?Did your workplace make any accommodations for you?

Just drink plenty of liquids and get plenty of rest. Chicken noodle soup might be something good to eat

Keep hydrated, with drinking water or sports drinks, and using a humidifier if possible. Tylenol will temporarily bring your fever down. and rest, rest, rest. Work, School, hobbies, friends, etc. will just have to wait until you are better.

Drink orange juice (plenty of it),theroflu, and nightquyl. put p.j.s on along with some socks and sweat it out. If you do it right you should feel better with in a day or two.

I have been having nausea which is eased by burping, I also have a bitter taste in my mouth..I also have severe muscle aches and pains and I had sex with a guy from April 15 to about May 20th.
Wondering if the symptoms match up and the time symptoms start emerging match up too? I have an appointment soon and I also went to the hospital recently, they took blood but told me everything was fine..I don't know if they had checked for any of that I am wondering if they would have saw it in the blood work?
I am very worried right now.

With hepatitis A is transmitted by the fecal-oral route via contaminated food or drinking water

Early symptoms of hepatitis A infection can be mistaken for flu, but some sufferers, especially children, exhibit no symptoms at all. Symptoms typically appear 2 to 6 weeks

Hepatitis B Transmission results from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood

Acute infection with hepatitis B virus is associated with acute viral hepatitis – an illness that begins with general ill-health, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, body aches, mild fever, dark urine, and then progresses to development of jaundice.

Hepatitis C is transmitted by blood-to-blood contact

In the minority of patients who experience acute phase symptoms, they are generally mild and nonspecific, and rarely lead to a specific diagnosis of hepatitis C. Symptoms of acute hepatitis C infection include decreased appetite, fatigue, abdominal pain, jaundice, itching, and flu-like symptoms

it is very unlikely that you do NOT have hepatitis A, B, or C

I do not think you have Hep.. I think you have Helicobacter pylori

Get somes meds and your cured.

Actually, you could have B or C. You have all the symptoms.
ie, metallic, bitter taste in your mouth, your muscle and joint pain is probably fibromyalgia, or it could be true arthritis- both of which are seen in a many a hepatitis c patients.
You could have had hcv much longer and have not known it.
HCV is not typically spread via sexual intercourse but it can happen if somehow there was a cross contamination of infectious blood to your bloodstream (blood to blood).

I went almost an entire life full of symtpoms and no one knew what it was until I was 34.

I would ask the doctor to run a hepatitis panel because not always will there be an indication of disease because often the ALT and AST levels will not show an abnormal reading- hence not being further tested for HCV. there are still many doctors out there who do not understand that many have active chronic hcv and have normal enzymes.

Hepatitis Panel- at least rule it out!

A standard blood lab doesn't always indicate disease. I reccomend further testing.

Good luck!

hep c is not an STD. it's only blood to blood, not from vaginal secretions, semen or kissing.

The Disasters Emergency Committee in the UK has expressed grave concern following reports of cholera in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

With floodwaters affecting a fifth of the country, and stretching for more than 600 miles, the DEC warned that millions of people are at risk of potentially deadly water borne diseases.

Disasters Emergency Committee chief executive Brendan Gormley says: “We are extremely concerned by reports of cholera in the Swat valley. The numbers reportedly affected so far appear to be small but cholera causes acute watery diarrhoea which allows it to spread very quickly in cramped, unhygienic conditions.”

“Aid workers greatly fear cholera after a disaster because, without treatment, more than half those infected are likely to die. Cholera can be prevented by providing clean drinking water, good sanitation and rapid treatment of those affected. Our member agencies will be redoubling their efforts to improve the provision of clean water and sanitation to the huge number of people affected by the flooding. any outbreaks of highly infectious diarrhoeal diseases need to be contained as quickly as possible in order to prevent further deaths,” he added.

Millions of survivors are currently struggling without access to safe water, more than two weeks after the disaster first struck. Merlin, a member agency of the DEC, has seen a significant rise in cases of acute watery diarrhoea throughout the worst affected areas, particularly in young children. With as many as 20% of patients in some areas affected.

Linda Doull, Director of Health and Policy at Merlin, commented: “If left untreated, the rapid loss of fluids caused by acute watery diarrhoea, such as with cholera, can prove fatal within hours.”

She continued: “We need to ensure patients have access to medical staff, that enough diarrhoea treatment units are set up swiftly and that the delivery of safe water is made an absolute priority.”

“Most cholera cases can be effectively and easily treated with oral rehydration salts, costing just 3p per sachet,” she said.

UN officials have said there have been 86,000 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea reported so far. Acute watery diarrhoea is one of the main symptoms of cholera although it can also be caused by other water borne diseases.

DEC member agency efforts to treat and prevent waterborne diseases include:

* Oxfam has provided clean water for over 150,000 people by fixing water systems and trucking clean water supplies. As well as purchasing aid in- country, they have sent 19,000 water purification tablets, 455 latrine slabs/squatting plates and six de-watering kits (pumps for cleaning contaminated wells).

* Merlin has delivered 4,000 packets of water purification tablets – enough to make 400,000 litres of safe drinking water – 48,000 packs of oral rehydration salts and 20,000 doses of antibiotics to help fight the rising number of diarrhoeal disease and other infections. They are also setting up 3 Diarrhoea Treatment Units in three districts, capable of treating 300 patients at any one time.

* Save the Children has established a diarrhoea treatment center in Swat for children and adults, and is distributing hygiene kits, and conducting hygiene promotion to prevent rise in water-borne diseases like acute watery diarrhoea.

* Concern have given clean drinking water to 12,400 in Swat and Charsadda.

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707