In Utero News and Research

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New 3-D ultrasound provides clear images of the major arteries within the brain

Using 3-D ultrasound technology they designed, Duke University bioengineers can compensate for the thickness and unevenness of the skull to see in real-time the arteries within the brain that most often clog up and cause strokes.

24 Apr 2008

Breastfeeding during anti-epilepsy drug treatment does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development

A first of its kind study finds breastfeeding while taking certain seizure medications does not appear to harm a child's cognitive development. The research will be presented at the upcoming American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

What we eat and drink affects our risk of cancer

A healthy diet and lifestyle protect against a wide range of diseases, and new research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 2008 Annual Meeting, April 12-16, shows that cancer is no exception.

13 Apr 2008

Healthcare providers who discuss intimate piercings earn patients' trust

On April 2, 2008, UC San Diego Medical Center-Hillcrest celebrated the opening of an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) designed for the 24-hour specialized care of premature infants and newborns with complications.

4 Apr 2008

Grhelin hormone that controls hunger and appetite also linked to reduced fertility

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that in-utero exposure to the hormone grhelin, a molecule that controls appetite and hunger and nutrition, can result in decreased fertility and fewer offspring.

1 Apr 2008

Study looks at bisphenol A exposure in boys and prostate cancer later in life

Does exposure of baby boys -- in utero or in infancy -- to bisphenol A, a man-made chemical which mimics natural estrogens, predispose them to prostate cancer later in life?

21 Feb 2008

Cellcept immunosuppressant further linked to birth defects

A new study documents malformations seen in an infant born to a kidney transplant recipient who had taken mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), a widely used immunosuppressant available commercially as Cellcept.

7 Feb 2008

Stem cell treatment for babies with brittle bones in the womb

The extraordinary results of an in utero stem cell treatment could lead to a new treatment for babies with brittle bones, as well as a range of other disabling conditions, according to a maternal-fetal medicine researcher, now based at The University of Queensland (UQ).

31 Jan 2008

Pregnant women who are overweight/obese set the stage for offspring's obesity risk

The number of overweight and obese Americans continues to grow rapidly. Today, 50 percent of adults are overweight and up to 20 percent are obese. While the number of overweight/obese children is at an all time high, the steady increase of overweight infants -- individuals under 11 months old -- is alarming.

4 Jan 2008

Laser procedure may treat vasa previa

A University of South Florida fetal surgeon at Tampa General Hospital successfully treated in utero a rare but potentially devastating condition in which placental blood vessels block the birth canal and can rupture during labor, leaving the baby without vital blood and oxygen.

20 Dec 2007

Researchers reveal repressor protein blocks neural stem cell development

A protein known to repress gene transcription at the molecular level in a variety of processes also blocks embryonic neural stem cells from differentiating into neurons, according to a study by University of California, San Diego and Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers published online October 10 in Nature.

10 Oct 2007

Genetic risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder identified

New research in primates suggests that infants and children who carry a certain gene variant may be more vulnerable to the ill effects of fetal alcohol exposure.

24 Sep 2007

Zebrafish shed light on human mitochondrial diseases

Zebrafish can now be used to study COX deficiencies in humans, a discovery that gives scientists an unprecedented window to view the earliest stages of mitochondrial impairments that lead to potentially fatal metabolic disorders, according to researchers at the University of Oregon.

13 Sep 2007

8.7 percent of US children age 8 to 15 meet criteria for having ADHD

An estimated 8.7 percent of U.S. children age 8 to 15 meet diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but fewer than half receive treatment, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Adult offspring of parents with PTSD have lower cortisol levels

A small study suggests that adults whose parents are Holocaust survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to have lower average levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the adult offspring of parents without PTSD, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

4 Sep 2007

Babies born to mothers who smoked have higher systolic blood pressures

Infants whose mothers smoke during pregnancy have substantially higher blood pressures in their first months of life, Dutch researchers reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Aug 2007

Prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency

Boston, MA:In a review article to appear in the July 19th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Michael Holick, an internationally recognized expert in vitamin D, provides an overview of his pioneering work that expounds on the important role vitamin D plays in a wide variety of chronic health conditions, as well as suggesting strategies for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency.

19 Jul 2007

Cicardian system suffers and protects from prenatal cocaine exposure

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that prenatal cocaine exposure in zebrafish (which share the majority of the same genes with humans) can alter neuronal development and acutely dysregulate the expression of circadian genes and those affecting melatonin signaling, growth and neurotransmission.

11 Jul 2007

Scientists discover protein instrumental to brain development and repair

Scientists at Children's National Medical Center have demonstrated conclusively that a specific protein and its signaling activity are instrumental in myelination and remyelination, processes essential to the creation and repair of the brain's white matter.

9 Jul 2007

Mothers' second-hand smoke exposure while pregnant linked to children's ADHD

Children whose mothers were exposed to second-hand smoke while they were pregnant have more symptoms of serious psychological problems compared to the offspring of women who had no prenatal exposure to smoke, according to a new University of Washington study.

28 Jun 2007