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Hormone responsible for types of high blood pressure could also cause preeclampsia

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) Academic Health Center have found evidence of a hormone they say is responsible for certain types of high blood pressure (hypertension), and could also cause preeclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition that occurs during pregnancy.

17 Oct 2005

Innovative therapy lowering body temperature slows down the injury process caused by birth asphyxia

Infants born with oxygen loss who are given an innovative therapy that lowers their entire body temperature by four degrees within the first six hours of life, have a better chance of survival and lower incidence of brain injury

12 Oct 2005

Lowering infant's body temperature within the first six hours of life reduces the chances for disability

Lowering an infant's body temperature to about 92 degrees Fahrenheit within the first six hours of life reduces the chances for disability and death among infants who failed to receive enough oxygen or blood to the brain during birth. The research study findings appear in tomorrow's 2005 New England Journal of Medicine.

12 Oct 2005

Placental tissue could feasibly provide an abundant source of cells with the same potential to treat diseases as embryonic stem cells

Routinely discarded as medical waste, placental tissue could feasibly provide an abundant source of cells with the same potential to treat diseases and regenerate tissues as their more controversial counterparts, embryonic stem cells, suggests a University of Pittsburgh study to be published in the journal Stem Cells and available now as an early online publication in Stem Cells Express.

10 Aug 2005

Important find will help design appropriate screening and therapy for women carrying fetuses impaired in their growth

In her research, Dr. Andree Gruslin encountered many pregnant women who could not carry their fetuses to term because the placenta, and in turn the fetus, were too small. In once case, she followed a woman who had had eight consecutive miscarriages due to this condition. Thanks to this latest discovery, she now understands why.

19 Jul 2005

Uncomplicated twin pregnancies might be more risky than previously thought

As mothers get older and assisted conception becomes more common, the incidence of multiple births - primarily of nonidentical siblings, but also of identical ones - has dramatically increased.

28 Jun 2005

New way of obtaining embryonic stem cells that avoids contamination by other types of cells

Scientists in the USA have discovered a new way of obtaining embryonic stem cells that avoids contamination by other types of cells and reduces the numbers of embryos needed to create embryonic stem cell lines.

20 Jun 2005

Anti-cancer drug may help prevent premature births

A team from University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK have found that the anti-cancer drug Trichostatin A (TSA), has the potential to control early labour contractions. They are optimistic the work, which is still in the early stages, will help to reduce the 70,000 premature births in the UK each year.

14 Jun 2005

Anti-cancer drug could be the first effective treatment for premature births

An anti-cancer drug could potentially be the first effective treatment for the many thousands of premature births that occur worldwide each year, scientific tests have found.

13 Jun 2005

New treatment for retained placenta

An important new study has been launched by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Women’s Hospital (LWH), to test a new treatment for ‘retained placenta’- a condition where the placenta does not come out naturally after childbirth.

12 May 2005

Vitamin C may help unborn of mothers who smoke

Thousands of babies born to mothers who continue to smoke throughout pregnancy despite physician warnings may benefit from new research which suggests that high doses of vitamin C may have the potential to counteract some negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies.

2 May 2005

Vitamin C may have potential to counteract negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies

Research conducted in monkeys at the Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, suggests high doses of vitamin C may have potential to counteract some negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies.

1 May 2005

Baby hormone reduces risk of breast cancer

It has been common knowledge that having a baby by the age of 20 cuts a woman's future risk of breast cancer in half, but now U.S. scientists at the Fox Chase Cancer Centre, Philadelphia, have shown that the hormone that heralds pregnancy could offer a way to prevent breast cancer.

19 Apr 2005

Project to treat infant asphyxia in lower income countries

Scientists in a federally sponsored global research network will undertake a new project that will train midwives and traditional birth attendants in resource poor countries on how to treat newborn asphyxia, a major cause of infant death. The treatment, developed in the United States, is the standard of care provided to infants born in this country.

12 Apr 2005

First evidence that preeclampsia can leave a persistent and potentially fatal imprint in the pulmonary circulation of the fetus

Children born of mothers who had preeclampsia during their pregnancy are more likely to have pulmonary hypertension than similar children born from normal pregnancies, according to a study conducted in Bolivia by Swiss and Bolivian researchers.

4 Apr 2005

Protecting children from industrial chemicals in the environment

American children are likely to face serious health consequences from new and existing industrial chemicals in the environment, argue a group of researchers in a report in this month's premier open-access global health journal PLoS Medicine.

29 Mar 2005

Maternal smoking during pregnancy associated with chromosomal abnormalities

A preliminary report suggests that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased chromosomal abnormalities in fetal cells, according to a study in the current issue of JAMA.

9 Mar 2005

Pregnant women who smoke risk their child getting cancer

Smoking has a wide range of possible consequences during and after pregnancy, such as infertility, coagulation problems, obstetric complications such as extrauterine pregnancy and placenta previa, and intrauterine growth retardation, according to background information in a recent study.

8 Mar 2005

Substances in the urine of pregnant women could serve as a screening/diagnostic tool for preeclampsia

Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found that specific substances in the urine of pregnant women could serve as a screening/diagnostic tool for preeclampsia (hypertension and proteinuria during pregnancy).

7 Mar 2005

Genzyme begins gene transfer trial for peripheral arterial disease

Genzyme Corporation announced today that the first patient has been treated in a new phase 2 clinical trial examining the safety and effectiveness of locally delivered gene transfer for patients with peripheral arterial disease.

24 Feb 2005