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Quest Diagnostics' Fragile X Syndrome test receives New York State health department approval

An accurate, faster testing option to identify female carriers and other patients with genetic abnormalities that cause Fragile X Syndrome is now available to physicians in all fifty states with the recent approval in New York. Fragile X is the leading cause of inherited mental retardation and the most common known single gene cause of autism.

From Quest Diagnostics 29 Jul 2010

At summit, AU leaders discuss funding challenges for maternal, child health

African leaders focused on the theme of the 15th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday: maternal and infant mortality on the continent, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports (7/26).

28 Jul 2010

FDA clears IL's new point-of-care total bilirubin assay

Instrumentation Laboratory (IL) today announced that it has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the first-ever, rapid point-of-care, lab-quality blood test for measuring total bilirubin (tBili) in newborns.

28 Jul 2010

Life-saving interventions can save 11 million African women, children over next five years: Countdown report

In the next five years, 11 million African women and children could be saved by creating near-universal availability of key life-saving interventions, according to The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health and the Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010).

27 Jul 2010

AU leaders summit kicks off, focus on maternal and child health

Heads of state from the African Union (AU) started a three-day meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on Sunday as part of the 15th AU Summit, People's Daily Online reports. Leaders will focus on maternal and child health and will discuss several other issues, including agricultural development, food security, infrastructure development and economic integration (7/26).

27 Jul 2010

AU Summit panel focuses on water, sanitation to meet MDG targets in Africa

African countries should focus on preventing diarrhea - the biggest killer of children in Africa - in order to achieve Millennium Development Goal targets, Yunia Musaazi, WaterAid's East Africa policy advisor, told delegates at the 15th African Union Summit, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.

26 Jul 2010

Organizations highlight plight of HIV-positive Haitians, call for donors to support 'whole of society' health system strengthening

Organizations attending the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010 highlighted the plight of HIV-positive earthquake survivors in Haiti who are "still waiting for aid promised to them before" the quake as rebuilding efforts slowly move along, Agence France-Presse reports.

23 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 studies, releases: PMTCT, treating children, male circumcision; National prevention programs; IDUs

"In parts of Africa, only about half of babies born to mothers with HIV receive the HIV prevention drug nevirapine," according to a study published Wednesday, HealthDay News/U.S. News & World Report reports.

22 Jul 2010

Gene essential for respiration and survival at birth identified

How do mammals prepare themselves in utero for a radical modification to their respiration at the time of birth, when they move abruptly from an aquatic medium to air? CNRS researchers, working in collaboration with teams from the Universities of the Méditerranée, Paris-Sud 11 and Paul Cézanne have identified a gene in the mouse that is essential to respiration and consequently to survival at birth.

21 Jul 2010

WHO, UNAIDS and PSI call for scale up of male circumcision in Eastern, Southern Africa

The U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and the World Health Organization's Director of HIV, TB, and Malaria, Africa Regional Office, Dr. David Okello, joined PSI (Population Services International) today in calling for greater efforts to rapidly and efficiently scale up male circumcision service delivery in Eastern and Southern Africa.

21 Jul 2010

International organizations mutually agree to eradicate pediatric HIV/AIDS by 2015

A global alliance of international organizations, including the heads of UNICEF, UNAIDS and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as other NGOs including the Pan African Treatment Access Movement, Health GAP, Ugandan Pediatric Association and the Global AIDS Alliance today agreed to take concerted action to eliminate pediatric HIV/AIDS over the next five years, preventing nearly 400,000 children annually from beginning their lives infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

20 Jul 2010

Sec. of State Clinton announces $500M health, development projects for Pakistan

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday announced several new development- and health-related aid projects for Pakistan worth more than $500 million, Reuters reports (Quinn, 7/19).

20 Jul 2010

$125,000 grant to study impact of delayed umbilical cord clamping on surgical outcomes

A newly funded study is set to determine whether waiting two minutes to clamp a newborn's umbilical cord after delivery could improve how well he or she recovers from corrective heart surgery.

16 Jul 2010

i26 hyperimmune egg balances improper immune inflammatory response

Our immune systems are in a constant battle with foreign invaders to keep our bodies healthy. Outside forces like pollution, poor nutrition and new strains of disease keep our immune systems at an overly boosted or inflamed state, which affects energy levels, body and emotional health and overall quality of life. Through inflammatory immune cells, our bodies fight to defend us from this onslaught. Too few of these cells can result in illness, while too many could lead to a high immune response, resulting in heightened inflammation and collateral damage to the body's once-healthy tissues.

16 Jul 2010

Research supports population screening for fragile X syndrome in women of reproductive age

There's adequate research data to support population screening of women of childbearing age for fragile X syndrome—the most common inherited cause of cognitive impairment, according to a report in the July issue of Genetics in Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

14 Jul 2010

Tips for first-time moms to enjoy feeding moments with their baby

For a majority of first-time moms feeding their baby can be an emotional and stressful experience. New moms encountering these common, yet unexpected feeding challenges are not alone. A recent national survey, commissioned by Playtex®, revealed that 85 percent of first-time moms have experienced at least one feeding-related problem when caring for their new baby.

14 Jul 2010

FRC refutes RCOG claims on fetal pain

The Family Research Council today released a new report that refutes claims made recently by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' (RCOG) that a fetus is not able to feel pain before 24 weeks of development. RCOG's study is being used to uphold Britain's current legalization of abortions up to 24 weeks.

13 Jul 2010

Subtle mutation affecting epigenome may lead to inherited form of mental retardation: Researchers

A subtle mutation affecting the epigenome –- a set of dynamic factors that influence gene activity -- may lead to an inherited form of mental retardation that affects boys, find researchers at Children's Hospital Boston. The disorder, which also involves cleft lip or cleft palate, appears to hinge on an enzyme working in a biological pathway that may offer several potential drug targets.

12 Jul 2010

Map of herpes virus "cell-entry machinery" provides new target for antiviral drugs

The mechanism by which a herpes virus invades cells has remained a mystery to scientists seeking to thwart this family of viruses. New research funded by the National Institutes of Health and published online in advance of print in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology reveals the unusual structure of the protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells. This detailed map of a key piece of the herpes virus "cell-entry machinery" gives scientists a new target for antiviral drugs.

7 Jul 2010

Canadian press/globe and mail examine 'loose ends' in G8's maternal, child health initiative

The G8's $5-billion initiative to improve maternal and child health "left many loose ends that need to be tied up before the countries can begin to make good on their commitment to save the lives of 1.3 million children under age five, and 64,000 mothers," the Canadian Press/Globe and Mail reports. According to the article, while stakeholders welcome the G8 initiative, many find it "deeply underfunded and lacking in detail."

3 Jul 2010