Obstetrics News and Research

RSS

Gynecology and obstetrics are twin subjects that deal with the female reproductive system. While obstetrics deals with pregnancy and its associated procedures and complications, gynaecology involves treating women who are not pregnant.

Debate over medical malpractice litigation continues

The Senate is expected to vote soon on legislation to impose a federal cap on noneconomic damages in malpractice suits, following on similar bills that passed the House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate last year.

10 May 2006

Study shows rapid return to menstrual flow once oral contraception stopped

A study by a Columbia University Medical Center researcher shows that 99 percent of participants experienced either a return to menstruation or became pregnant within 90 days after stopping an investigational, low-dose oral contraceptive taken every day without placebo.

8 May 2006

Concerns for inexpensive fertility drug appears to be unfounded

Concerns about the use of letrozole, an easy-to-use and inexpensive drug for the treatment of infertility, appear to be unfounded, according to a major study co-authored by Dr. Togas Tulandi, Director of Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Chief of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Jewish General Hospital, and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at McGill University.

23 Apr 2006

Birth defects from rubella almost eradicated in the USA

Congenital rubella syndrome, a birth defect caused by the rubella virus (also known as German measles), has practically been eliminated in the U.S., according to a statement published in the April 2006 issue of Birth Defects Research Part A, the official journal of The Teratology Society.

23 Apr 2006

Popular antidepressants may affect fetus

A team from the Ottawa Health Research Institute, the University of Ottawa, and The Ottawa Hospital has found an increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, fetal death, and infant seizures among pregnant women who used a popular class of antidepressants during pregnancy.

20 Apr 2006

Burch colposuspension can prevent urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery

Women who undergo surgery to correct pelvic organ prolapse - a condition in which the vagina and nearby organs lose support and fall out of position - often find that the surgery comes with a bothersome tradeoff: urinary stress incontinence.

19 Apr 2006

Significant differences in the patterns of mammography by race and ethnicity

Inadequate use of screening mammography may be an important reason that African-American women are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer than members of other ethnic groups, according to a new study led by a University of California, San Francisco imaging specialist.

18 Apr 2006

Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy as an indicator of liver and biliary diseases

A retrospective case-control study of 21,008 women in Finland has found that those with intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP), an itchy skin condition when bile gets backed up in the liver, are significantly more likely to suffer other liver diseases later in life.

7 Apr 2006

Ginger causes ovarian cancer cells to die

Ginger is known to ease nausea and control inflammation. But researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are investigating a new use for this age-old remedy: treating ovarian cancer.

6 Apr 2006

Link between bacteria found in the mouth and the amniotic fluid of a woman in preterm labor

A 37-year-old-mother, who gave birth to a low-weight preemie at 24 weeks, exhibited the first-found link in a human between bacteria found in the mouth and the amniotic fluid of a woman in preterm labor.

6 Apr 2006

High glucose-uptake tumors can be identified with PET scans

Cervical cancers that take up a lot of blood sugar, or glucose, are more resistant to treatment than those that are less glucose-hungry, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

4 Apr 2006

HPV vaccines provide hope for major international programmes of primary prevention

Parents of young girls may soon be offered the opportunity to have their daughters immunised against a sexually transmitted virus that is the major cause of cervical cancer, the 4th International Conference on Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Medicine.

3 Apr 2006

Few young Americans tested for common STD's

New data indicate the average age of people who are tested for chlamydia, the most reported sexually transmitted disease (STD), is 28.9 for women and 30.5 for men, yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 79 percent of new infections annually are in people between ages 15 and 24.

28 Mar 2006

Patent filed for method to prevent early labor and premature delivery of low-birth-weight babies

The discovery is an incremental step in an area of obstetrics that has seen little improvement in 20 years.

28 Mar 2006

Quality medical care should include a patient-centered approach

A study of Mayo Clinic patients has found seven behaviors define the 'ideal' physician and supports an Institute of Medicine recommendation that quality medical care should include a patient-centered approach.

13 Mar 2006

Study to explore whether hormone therapy in women during menopause protects against atherosclerosis

Researchers in The Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale have launched the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study (KEEPS), which will further understanding of the possible beneficial effects on the heart and arteries and/or quality of life in recently menopausal women.

7 Mar 2006

New neoprene suit helps save the lives of women suffering from obstetrical hemorrhaging due to childbirth

A simple, low-tech garment has the potential to prevent a major cause of death among women who give birth in many Third World countries, according to a new study by maternal health researchers.

1 Mar 2006

We may learn best on an empty stomach!

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found evidence that a hormone produced in the stomach directly stimulates the higher brain functions of spatial learning and memory development.

23 Feb 2006

New tool helps predict pregnancy outcomes

Physicians must consider a number of variables when treating couples who cannot naturally conceive because of factors involving both the woman and man.

23 Feb 2006

More time exercising not intensity results in long-term weight loss

Women fighting the post-pregnancy weight battle face a lot of challenges, not the least of which is just finding the time to exercise. New research from Duke University suggests that more time exercising -- not intensity -- results in long-term weight loss.

21 Feb 2006