Womb News and Research

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The womb is the small, hollow, pear-shaped organ in a woman's pelvis. This is the organ in which a baby grows. Also called uterus.

Study identifies how genetic mutations in the nervous system cause Duane Syndrome

A research team from King's College London and the University of Exeter Medical School has identified how a genetic mutation acts during the development of nerves responsible for controlling eye muscles, resulting in movement disorders such as Duane Syndrome, a form of squint.

22 Aug 2012

Roundup: Abortion cases against Kan. Planned Parenthood dropped; Maine Readies session on money owed hospitals; Calif. suing doc over billing practices

The first criminal prosecution of Planned Parenthood came to an abrupt end Friday when Kansas prosecutors dropped all charges against a local affiliate accused of failing to determine the viability of fetuses before abortions were performed. ... They said that state law did not prohibit Planned Parenthood from using the gestational age of fetuses to determine whether they were viable or could survive outside of the womb.

21 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 20, 2012

Today's headlines focus on how the Medicare story is continuing to unfold on the presidential campaign trail.

20 Aug 2012

Boys are little more susceptible to both bad and good exposures

A new study is the first to find a difference between how boys and girls respond to prenatal exposure to the insecticide chlorpyrifos. Researchers at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health found that, at age 7, boys had greater difficulty with working memory, a key component of IQ, than girls with similar exposures.

10 Aug 2012

Mindfulness yoga may offer effective treatment for depressed new mothers

It's no secret that pregnancy hormones can dampen moods, but for some expectant moms, it's much worse: 1 in 5 experience major depression. Now, new research shows that an age-old recommended stress-buster may actually work for this group of women: yoga.

9 Aug 2012

Obesity in mothers affects growth of children

Pregnant women who are overweight or obese can encounter a host of health complications. The added weight also appears to affect how their children grow and develop, at least initially.

7 Aug 2012

HIV drug resistance: an interview with Dr. Silvia Bertagnolio

Sexual intercourse is the major mode of HIV transmission. HIV may also be transmitted through sharing of needles or contaminated blood products (although this is rare).

27 Jul 2012

Risk of endometrial cancer begins to decrease after age 30 in women

Women who last give birth at age 40 or older have a 44 percent decreased risk of endometrial cancer when compared to women who have their last birth under the age of 25, according to strong evidence in a new, international study led by a researcher at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC).

26 Jul 2012

Researchers discover new cause of congenital myopathy

University of Michigan researchers have discovered a new cause of congenital myopathy: a mutation in a previously uncharacterized gene, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

26 Jul 2012

Researchers identify high ARV drug exposure in hair samples of HIV uninfected infants

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Makerere University in Uganda have used hair and blood samples from three-month old infants born to HIV-positive mothers to measure the uninfected babies' exposure—both in the womb and from breast-feeding—to antiretroviral medications their mothers were taking. The results, they said, are surprising.

23 Jul 2012

Neuroscience 2012 annual meeting to take place from Oct. 13-17

Neuroscience 2012, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, is the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Learn how the brain works and new developments on a range of topics: aging, language, brain injury, parenting, and mental illness, among others. More than 16,000 new discoveries will be presented, with 30,000 attendees from around the world.

21 Jul 2012

Cipla, DNDi to develop ARV combination therapy for children with HIV/AIDS

On the eve of the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a not-for-profit research and development (R&D) organization, announces a new collaboration with Indian drug manufacturer Cipla to develop and produce an improved first-line antiretroviral (ARV) combination therapy specifically adapted to meet the treatment needs of infants and toddlers living with HIV/AIDS.

21 Jul 2012

Mother's exposure to air pollution increases risk of obesity and insulin resistance in offspring

Pregnant mice exposed to high levels of air pollution gave birth to offspring with a significantly higher rate of obesity and insulin resistance in adulthood than those that were not exposed to air pollution. This effect seemed especially prevalent in male mice, which were heavier regardless of diet. These findings, published online in the FASEB Journal, suggests a link between diesel exhaust exposure in utero and bulging waistlines in adulthood.

20 Jul 2012

Seattle summit addresses global crisis of preterm birth

Leaders of prominent, international philanthropic and research organizations are convening in Seattle July 14-16 to address the global crisis of preterm birth and develop an action roadmap of research priorities and opportunities.

16 Jul 2012

Loyola receives Tellabs Foundation grant to help address needs of tiny patients in NICU

A recent $250,000 grant from the Tellabs Foundation of Naperville, Ill., will help address the needs of tiny patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola University Medical Center.

11 Jul 2012

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb.

10 Jul 2012

Scientists reprogram amniotic fluid cells without introduction of extra genes

Stem cells found in amniotic fluid can be transformed into a more versatile state similar to embryonic stem cells, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Therapy. Scientists from Imperial College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health succeeded in reprogramming amniotic fluid cells without having to introduce extra genes.

4 Jul 2012

Prenatal exposure to BPA appears to program uterine estrogen responsiveness in adulthood

Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical found in many common plastic household items, can cause numerous genes in the uterus to respond differently to estrogen in adulthood, according to a study using a mouse model. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston.

27 Jun 2012

Stillbirth rates higher among least well off in England

The rate of stillbirths in England is twice as high among the least well off as it is among the most affluent, shows research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

26 Jun 2012