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UC Davis professor receives supplemental funds from Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) has awarded Dr. Craig McDonald of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) $175,000 in supplemental funds to expand his ongoing study through the 20 CINRG (Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group) centers to better understand the progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne) and determine the impact of the Duchenne standards of care established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

19 Jan 2013

Review underscores safety of federal childhood immunization schedule

A review of the available evidence underscores the safety of the federal childhood immunization schedule, according to a report released today by the Institute of Medicine. University of Michigan population ecologist Pejman Rohani served on the 13-person committee that wrote the report.

19 Jan 2013

Researchers disagree over ethics of HIV treatment clinical trial in Africa, Nature reports

Nature reports how "a potential breakthrough in the quest to prevent HIV and AIDS has collided with sensitivities about testing expensive drugs in poor parts of the world."

18 Jan 2013

Lack of Mthfd1l enzyme causes neural tube defects in developing embryos

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered that the lack of a critical enzyme in the folic acid metabolic pathway leads to neural tube birth defects in developing embryos.

18 Jan 2013

Centerstone praises mental health recommendations made by President Obama

Centerstone and Centerstone Research Institute today praised mental health recommendations made by President Barack Obama as part of his Plan to Protect our Children and our Communities by Reducing Gun Violence and called on government leaders to assist in enacting the recommendations as quickly as possible.

18 Jan 2013

Children's Oakland recruits patients for deferiprone clinical trial to treat PKAN

A groundbreaking, international clinical trial of an iron chelation drug, deferiprone, to treat the rare and devastating neurodegenerative disease, pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN), began last month at the trial's only North American site, Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland.

17 Jan 2013

Many mothers of newborns in NICUs lack privacy to breastfeed

Many mothers of newborns in neonatal intensive care units have difficulty finding private, quiet places in the hospital to express milk, according to a new study from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

17 Jan 2013

Preterm infants with slower growth have delayed development in the cerebral cortex

Preterm infants who grow more slowly as they approached what would have been their due dates also have slower development in an area of the brain called the cerebral cortex, report Canadian researchers in a new study published today in Science Translational Medicine.

17 Jan 2013

Miscarriage and molecular signals: an interview with Prof Brosens and Prof Quenby

Miscarriage is defined as the spontaneous loss of pregnancy before the baby reaches viability. Besides the physical trauma, miscarriage causes considerable anxiety, stress, and depression.

17 Jan 2013

Continued investment needed to maintain gains against malaria

In this post in Management Sciences for Health's (MSH) "Global Health Impact" blog, Frederick Hartman, the global technical lead for communicable diseases and epidemic preparedness, and regional portfolio director, East Africa at the Center for Health Services at MSH, examines advances made in malaria control over the past decade, writing, "Malaria is still one of the five leading causes of child under-five mortality worldwide, and deserves continuing attention."

17 Jan 2013

H1N1 flu vaccination during pregnancy does not increase risk of fetal loss

Norwegian pregnant women who received a vaccine against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus showed no increased risk of pregnancy loss, while pregnant women who experienced influenza during pregnancy had an increased risk of miscarriages and still births, a study has found. The study suggests that influenza infection may increase the risk of fetal loss.

17 Jan 2013

Eyes also need light to develop normally during pregnancy

New research in Nature concludes the eye – which depends on light to see – also needs light to develop normally during pregnancy.

17 Jan 2013

U-M researchers to develop disorders of sex development decision-making tools for parents

When a child is born with a disorder of sex development, decisions regarding gender assignment and genital surgery are often made quickly and under pressure.

17 Jan 2013

UCI study identifies transgenerational effects of tributyltin

Exposing pregnant mice to low doses of the chemical tributyltin - which is used in marine hull paint and PVC plastic - can lead to obesity for multiple generations without subsequent exposure, a UC Irvine study has found.

17 Jan 2013

Some children with autism lose symptoms and diagnosis as they grow older

Some children who are accurately diagnosed in early childhood with autism lose the symptoms and the diagnosis as they grow older, a study supported by the National Institutes of Health has confirmed. The research team made the finding by carefully documenting a prior diagnosis of autism in a small group of school-age children and young adults with no current symptoms of the disorder.

16 Jan 2013

India marks two years since last diagnosed polio case

On January 13, India "completed two years since the last case of the crippling disease was reported ... a huge achievement for a country that as recently as 2009 reported 741 cases of polio -- more than any other country in the world, and almost half of cases reported globally that year," the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog reports.

16 Jan 2013

WHO recommends switching to injectable polio vaccine

"[T]his month the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland, proposed a shift in [polio] vaccination strategy from oral vaccines to injected ones that may have to be administered in clinics," Nature reports, adding, "The change is needed to mop up the last remaining pockets of polio, but experts say that it poses challenges in [rural areas], which have poor access to health care."

16 Jan 2013

Stem cell transplantation prevents decrease in heart function associated with DMD

Researchers have shown that transplanting stem cells derived from normal mouse blood vessels into the hearts of mice that model the pathology associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) prevents the decrease in heart function associated with DMD.

16 Jan 2013

Study identifies 24 new copy number variants linked with autism

University of Utah (the U) researchers, in collaboration with several groups from around the country, published a paper on Monday, Jan. 14, 2013, following one of the biggest studies of its kind, that extends our understanding of genes related to autism spectrum diseases (ASDs) and advances methods for early detection and treatment.

16 Jan 2013

Experts blame lack of immunization coverage for Pakistan's measles outbreak

In 2012, measles "claimed the lives of more than 300 children in Pakistan," with more than 200 of those deaths from Sindh province, and health experts and the WHO are saying "the huge difference in routine immunization coverage between the provinces, districts and cities is at the root of the measles outbreak," Inter Press Service reports.

16 Jan 2013