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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

Basically eating fish may protect against type of blindness

Increasing intake of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, found in popular fish-oil supplements, may protect against blindness resulting from abnormal blood vessel growth in the eye, according to a study published online by the journal Nature Medicine on June 24.

26 Jun 2007

Vaccine for human cytomegalovirus

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have patented a strategy for developing a human vaccine to prevent against Human Cytomegalovirus (hCMV) infection and disease.

23 Jun 2007

New target for therapies for retinopathy

A protein long thought to be one of the body's supporting players has quietly been taking a lead role in healthy eyesight, a discovery that could rapidly lead to treatments for babies born before their eyes are finished growing, University of Florida and Harvard Medical School researchers have found.

19 Jun 2007

Researchers shed light on congenital diaphragmatic hernia

The diaphragm, a shelf of muscle that separates the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity, is critical to sustaining life.

8 Jun 2007

Exposure to flu vaccine kick-starts fetal immune system in pregnant mothers

Some researchers have hypothesized that the fetus can be exposed to and mount an immune response against allergens to which the mother has been exposed, and this may have an effect on the development of allergic sensitivity (e.g. eczema and asthma) later in an infant's life.

3 Jun 2007

In utero exposure to smoking associated with ADHD problems in genetically susceptible children

Women smokers who become pregnant have long been encouraged to reduce or eliminate their nicotine intake.

24 May 2007

Low-birth-weight babies at significantly greater risk for early respiratory symptoms

Through age 5, children born at full term with low birth weight show significantly greater risk for developing respiratory symptoms, including wheezing, coughing and pulmonary infections, according to a large longitudinal study on birth weight and development.

16 May 2007