Pesticide exposure could increase risk of early onset of Parkinson's disease
...y, by the same Emory/Georgia Tech team, found that fetal rodents exposed to dieldrin had brain alterations that made them more susceptible to Parkinson's-inducing toxins. "All of the evidence that has been accumulating suggests that exposure to pesticides increases the risk of Parkinson's disease," Mille...Mount Sinai researcher finds drinking water safe to drink
...ge commonly encountered in the US -- do not affect fetal survival. This finding is particularly important because previous research has suggested that exposure to elevated levels of drinking water DBPs might cause pregnancy loss. The interaction of chlorine with organic material in raw water supplies pro...Examination not sensitive enough to detect breech babies
... Introduction of routine ultrasonography to assess fetal presentation in late pregnancy would improve diagn...omen is required. Clinical examination to assess fetal presentation is a relatively simple procedure and, with ongoing diligence and regular audit and feed...UCLA develops unique nerve-stimulation epilepsy treatment
...ecial risk because of the effect of these drugs on fetal growth and development. "For all of these reasons, we need to find non-drug alternative treatments," DeGiorgio said. "The results of our pilot study support further investigation into the safety and efficacy of TNS for epilepsy." Forty percent ...Violence from male partners associated with serious health threats to pregnant women and newborns
...lt from abuse, has been shown to negatively affect fetal development. Sexual assault commonly co-occurs wit...re known to compromise health during pregnancy and fetal development. We need to conduct far more research in this area to understand the mechanisms at work,...New insights into the impact of pregnancy on inflammatory arthritis
...al diagnostic tests have recently established that fetal cells and cell-free DNA routinely flow into the mo...h, set out to investigate whether changes in serum fetal DNA levels correlate with changes in arthritis activity during and after pregnancy. They conducted ...Pre-scan warnings would have caused extra distress say women with problem fetuses
Warning pregnant mothers about fetal abnormalities before scans would only have caused ... women are likely to be told that their baby has a fetal anomaly when they have their 20 week scan, providing extensive details of what could go wrong would ...Hopkins scientists use embryonic stem cells, new cues to awaken latent motor nerve repair
...supply of GDNF, the researchers relied on injected fetal mouse neural stem cells, a known source of the molecule. Of some 4,100 new motor neurons created in the spinal cord, roughly 200 exited the cord and 120 reached skeletal muscle, forming typical nerve-muscle junctions, with appropriate, typical c...Queen's-led network looks at FAS aiming to minimize life-long learning problems
... first time researchers are testing to see whether fetal exposure to methanol, a contaminant found in many ...lcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). By understanding fetal brain injury caused by exposure to methanol and related toxins, an emerging team of researchers is l...First trimester use of ACE inhibitors implicated in birth defects
...ew ACE inhibitors were a possible cause of adverse fetal outcomes when exposure occurred later in pregnancy, but it has not been well studied in the first trimester," Cooper said. "We were very surprised that even after controlling for other risk factors, the TennCare records we examined showed a clear inc...Early estrogen exposure leads to later prostate cancer risk
...ated, turns up in human blood and in placental and fetal tissues in even higher concentrations. In this study, a research team led by Dr. Gail Prins of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Dr. Shuk-Mei Ho of the University of Cincinnati exposed rats to low doses of estradiol, a natural estrogen, or t...Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy
...ng during pregnancy can harm the fetus, leading to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or other prenatal alcohol-related conditions such as alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). In the June issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research , an examination of the most recent data on alcohol co...Mild maternal stress may actually help children mature
...gical stress during pregnancy may actually enhance fetal maturation, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins University and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The findings are contrary to expectations, generated primarily by animal studies, which have reported that stress...Penn Scientist receives first annual prize for scientific contributions to women's health
...eas are being applied to the study of maternal and fetal health. Bartolomei also studies a phenomenon called X inactivation, how a given X chromosome is activated or inactivated in an embryo. Understanding this process will also shed light on the genetics of X-chromosome-related diseases. "All of my lab's...In utero exposure to urban air pollutants can increase risk
...have shown that the same air pollutants can reduce fetal growth (both weight and head circumference at birth), but this study, which examined a group of the same children at three years of age, is the first to reveal that those pollutants can also affect cognitive development during childhood. The study w...Low intake of milk in pregnancy associated with decreased birth weight
...D. They believe that vitamin D may not only affect fetal skeletal formation, but also neurodevelopment, immune function and chronic disease susceptibility later in life....Prenatal alcohol exposure can alter circadian rhythms in offspring
Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders exhibit altered sleepin...e circadian rhythms to light cues. Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) suffer from a variety of behavioral alterations. For example, the...Preconception health care can improve the lives of mothers and babies
...nant is crucial because many factors that can harm fetal development do serious damage early in pregnancy, often before a woman realizes she is pregnant. For example, women can be told of the dangers to the fetus of smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy, and informed of the benefits of taking fol...Fetuses cannot feel pain, says expert
...and psychological evidence to support a concept of fetal pain. Although still immature, the neural circuitr...ns, risks, and distress. "Avoiding a discussion of fetal pain with women requesting abortions is not misguided paternalism but a sound policy based on good e......pidemic in the early 1960s caused more than 11,000 fetal deaths and 20,000 infants to be born with congenital rubella syndrome, but a more effective vaccine introduced in the 1970s has helped in eliminating transmission of rubella from expectant mothers to their unborn babies. "Effectively, congenital rub...