Birth Defects News and Research

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Warning to parents-to-be that non-medical ultrasounds are unapproved, inappropriate, and possibly even risky

For many expectant parents, ultrasounds offer a window into the world of their growing unborn baby. Unlike most standard prenatal tests that involve nothing more than a urine cup or a needle

1 May 2004

Scientists have discovered a genetic cause of cleft lip and palate in mice

By watching mice “dance” and comparing the DNA of the dancers to their flat-footed siblings, scientists have discovered a genetic cause of cleft lip and palate in mice, a finding that is already being used to search for a similar genetic defect in humans.

29 Apr 2004

Polio victory remembered on 50th anniversary of Salk Vaccine field trials

Fifty years ago today, thousands of parents drove their school-age children to designated sites across the country for immunizations of an experimental vaccine that they hoped would stop, once and for all, the raging polio epidemic that was leaving young Americans paralyzed and sometimes dead. Organized and funded by the March of Dimes, this was the largest voluntary clinical trial ever undertaken.

26 Apr 2004

Common anemia drug may protect hearts of infants undergoing surgical repair of congenital defects

Medical College of Wisconsin researchers may have promising news for the many infants who are born with a congenital heart defect serious enough to require surgery before their first birthday.

21 Apr 2004

Black women with high blood pressure during pregnancy have higher homocysteine levels

Black women with pregnancy-induced high blood pressure have more homocysteine (an amino acid linked with atherosclerosis) and less folic acid in their blood than white women.

19 Apr 2004

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). It is expected to be diagnosed in 38,000 men and 15,000 women in the United States in 2003. Treatment is most successful when the disease is caught early.

18 Apr 2004

New information on genetic shuffling before egg or sperm formation rewrites genetic theory

Key decisions in the genetic shuffling that occurs before eggs or sperm are formed are made earlier than thought, rewriting textbook genetics, according to recent papers from researchers at UC Davis, Harvard University and UC San Diego.

16 Apr 2004

Alcohol screening can spot addiction

Have you ever felt like you needed a drink? If an occasional cocktail changes into a need, it could mean an alcohol problem. National Alcohol Screening Day is April 8. In cities and towns throughout the United States, screening programs will be offered to help people determine whether they exhibit drinking behaviors that could be signs of alcohol addiction.

7 Apr 2004

Research suggests protein released from lungs could initiate labour

A protein released from the lungs of a developing mouse fetus initiates a cascade of chemical events leading to the mother's initiation of labor, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have found.

22 Mar 2004

Spina bifida on the decline

The incidence of spina bifida has decreased by 32 percent in the United States over the past decade. The decrease indicates the success of the Public Health Service’s recommendations released in 1992 urging women to increase their levels of folic acid intake prior to becoming pregnant.

22 Mar 2004

Breast feeding increases choline which means more brain cells

Five years ago, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers first reported finding that the nutrient choline played a critical role in memory and brain function by positively affecting the brain’s physical development. Differences in development influenced action, the scientists and their colleagues found. In animal experiments conducted at Duke University, both young and old rats performed significantly better on memory tasks if they received enough choline before birth compared with same-age rats whose mothers were fed choline-deficient diets. The latter showed deficits in the hippocampus and septums of their brains.

22 Mar 2004