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Comparable data on maternal and infant in Europe available for the first time

Promoting healthy pregnancy and safe childbirth is a goal of all European health care systems.

12 Dec 2008

Men inherit tendency to have more sons or more daughters from their parents

A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents work out whether they are likely to have sons or daughters.

12 Dec 2008

Enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

Rockefeller University scientists have discovered that the same enzyme that enables the immune system's defensive creativity is also responsible for a particular genetic malfunction - a translocation of one piece of DNA to the wrong chromosome - that causes Burkitt's lymphoma.

12 Dec 2008

Researchers create model of different components that contribute to an obesity-prone home food environment

What parents make available for their children to eat can contribute to an obesity-prone home food environment, according to researchers at Kansas State University.

12 Dec 2008

Losing sense of smell may indicate Parkinson's

Many individuals with Parkinson's disease are able to recall losing their sense of smell well before the onset of more commonly recognized symptoms such as tremors, impaired dexterity, speech problems, memory loss and decreased cognitive ability.

12 Dec 2008

Warning on heavy toilet seats and toddler penis injuries

UK doctors have expressed considerable concerns about the growing trend for heavy wooden and ornamental toilet seats after a number of male toddlers were admitted with crush injuries to their penises.

11 Dec 2008

An enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

The human immune system is in a perpetual state of self-experimentation. It expertly mutates and shuffles the DNA of its own cells to evolve new defenses against the vast array of microbes that try to invade our bodies. But when the genetic experiment goes awry, the result can be a deadly cancer.

11 Dec 2008

University at Buffalo driver simulation study targets high-risk teen drivers

Using the bells and whistles of a state-of-the-art entertainment arcade, a University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education project aims to improve the driving habits of teenagers at the very top of the risk pool, and at the same time bring child and parent together for a happier, better functioning family.

11 Dec 2008

RNA interference can facilitate vaccine development

Pharmaceutical companies and universities are racing to develop drugs that use the gene silencing mechanism known as RNA interference to treat a host of diseases.

10 Dec 2008

Eating disorders in diabetic children

Children with diabetes are at an increased risk for developing eating disorders and researchers want to know if it's their disease or treatment that's to blame.

10 Dec 2008

Magnets in toys pose serious health risks

While the danger of magnets for children is increasingly recognized, they don't receive treatment for swallowing them as quickly as needed, and parents don't receive sufficient warning on toys, according to a new study.

10 Dec 2008

Children who are overweight or obese have increased risk of arm and leg injuries following motor vehicle crash

Children who are overweight or obese are over two and a half times more likely to suffer injuries to their upper and lower extremities following a motor vehicle crash compared with normal weight children, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Injury Research and Policy.

10 Dec 2008

Insufficient vitamin D causes weight gain and stunts growth in girls

Even in sun-drenched California, where scientists from the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and the University of Southern California conducted their study, vitamin D deficiency was found to cause higher body mass and shorter stature in girls at the peak of their growing spurt.

10 Dec 2008

12 percent of U.S. children use alternative medicine

Approximately 38 percent of adults in the United States aged 18 years and over and nearly 12 percent of U.S. children aged 17 years and under use some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), according to a new nationwide government survey.

10 Dec 2008

Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy should be offered to all couples

Carrier screening for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) - a serious genetic disease affecting approximately 1 in 10,000 infants that causes progressive muscle weakness and death - should be made available to all families, according to a new practice guideline issued by the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

10 Dec 2008

Rosiglitazone shows potential for treating focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

The antidiabetes drug rosiglitazone may have the potential to protect kidney function in patients with a condition called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), according to a study appearing in the January 2009 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

10 Dec 2008