In Utero News and Research

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Risk of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease starts in pregnancy

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease is affected by exposures in the uterus. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden are now calling for updated guidelines in light of research evidence from the past decades.

5 Dec 2014

New study finds link between birth weights and academic performance in school

It's no secret that low-birth-weight babies face significantly greater risks for certain health problems early on, such as respiratory distress or infection. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Florida and Northwestern University shows that lower weights at birth also have an adverse effect on children's performance in school, which is likely due to the early health struggles small babies often face.

5 Dec 2014

Study sheds light on how HIV medications cause significant damage to fetal hearts

A study by a Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit Medical Center research team is shedding new light on the troubling question of whether the drugs often given to HIV-positive pregnant women can cause significant long-term heart problems for the non-HIV-infected babies they carry.

21 Nov 2014

Scientists receive NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants for mental health research

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation today announced the award of NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants valued at $1.5 million to 15 scientists, who are full professors or the equivalent, conducting innovative projects in diverse areas of neurobiological and behavioral research.

13 Nov 2014

Preeclampsia study provides pathways for new therapeutic treatments

A team of researchers led by a Wayne State University School of Medicine associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology has published findings that provide novel insight into the cause of preeclampsia, the leading cause of maternal and infant death worldwide, a discovery that could lead to the development of new therapeutic treatments.

27 Oct 2014

Chemotherapy, radiotherapy have no negative effect on unborn babies

Children who are exposed to chemotherapy or radiotherapy while in the womb suffer no negative impacts on mental or cardiac development, international studies presented at the ESMO 2014 Congress in Madrid have shown.

29 Sep 2014

Researchers focus on how exposure to opioids may alter expression of OPRM1 gene

Some infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) secondary to in-utero opioid exposure have a more difficult time going through withdrawal than others, but the underlying reasons are not well understood.

20 Aug 2014

Study: 9/11 dust cloud linked to pregnancy issues

Pregnant women living near the World Trade Center during 9/11 experienced higher-than-normal negative birth outcomes, according to a new working paper by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

16 Aug 2014

Glue produced by sandcastle worm solves premature births that result from fetal surgery

In creating an adhesive patterned after glue produced by the lowly underwater sandcastle worm, researchers are reporting today that they may have solved the problem of premature births that sometimes result from fetal surgery.

12 Aug 2014

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders show weaker brain activation

In the first study of its kind, Prapti Gautam, PhD, and colleagues from The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles found that children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) showed weaker brain activation during specific cognitive tasks than their unaffected counterparts.

5 Aug 2014

Research: Tumor-suppressing protein linked with CHARGE syndrome

CHARGE, which affects 1 in 10,000 babies, is an acronym whose letters stand for some of the more common symptoms of the condition: coloboma of the eye, heart defects, atresia of the choanae, retardation of growth and/or development, genital and/or urinary abnormalities, and ear abnormalities and deafness.

4 Aug 2014

Marmoset's unique rapid reproductive system sheds new light on evolution and primate biology

A team of scientists from around the world led by Baylor College of Medicine and Washington University in St. Louis has completed the genome sequence of the common marmoset - the first sequence of a New World Monkey - providing new information about the marmoset's unique rapid reproductive system, physiology and growth, shedding new light on primate biology and evolution.

21 Jul 2014

Researcher finds genetic identifier that may allow clinicians to determine babies at risk for autism

A researcher at Seattle Children's Hospital and Research Institute has found a genetic identifier for autism that includes physical features that may eventually allow clinicians to identify babies who are at risk for autism before they are born.

17 Jul 2014

Surprising suggestion for why divorce is more common among families with girls

In the U.S., couples with daughters are somewhat more likely to divorce than couples with sons. Many scholars have read those numbers as evidence that daughters cause divorce.

16 Jul 2014

Study: Infant toenails reliable way to estimate arsenic exposure before birth

Infant toenails are a reliable way to estimate arsenic exposure before birth, a Dartmouth College study shows. The findings appear in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology. A PDF of the study is available on request.

8 Jul 2014

CHOP launches Fetal Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity Program

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia today launched the Fetal Neuroprotection and Neuroplasticity Program. Building on growing evidence of the interaction of heart disease and brain development in the fetus, this Program will systematically investigate innovative therapies to protect brain development and to prevent brain injury as early as possible before birth.

26 Jun 2014

Agricultural pesticides raise risk of autism in unborn children

Pregnant women who lived in close proximity to fields and farms where chemical pesticides were applied experienced a two-thirds increased risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental delay, a study by researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute has found. The associations were stronger when the exposures occurred during the second and third trimesters of the women's pregnancies.

23 Jun 2014