Cerebral Palsy News and Research

Latest Cerebral Palsy News and Research

Drug therapy can reduce preterm births and decrease lifetime medical costs

Researchers from MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH found that treating expectant mothers who have had previous spontaneous preterm births with 17 Alpha Hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17P) and reducing the incidence of another preterm birth would consequently reduce both short-term and lifetime medical costs in offspring by $2 billion per year.

27 Apr 2007

Protecting brains of premature infants - new approach needed

A study of how the brain of a premature infant responds to injury has found vulnerabilities similar to those in the mature brain but also identified at least one significant difference, according to neuroscientists and neonatologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

11 Apr 2007

People with physical disabilities endure substandard health care

Rachel steered her wheelchair into a Chicago area medical center for a series of upper gastrointestinal tests.

4 Apr 2007

New program makes movement-based training more convenient and assessable to adults with cerebral palsy

Forty-one-year-old Laura Gable has lived her entire life with cerebral palsy, a neurological disorder that appears in infancy or early childhood, and permanently affects body movement and posture.

4 Apr 2007

Experimental vector vaccine reduces stillbirths from cytomegalovirus

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that reduces stillbirths among rodents born to mothers infected with cytomegalovirus (CMV) - a common virus that can also cause mental retardation and hearing loss in newborn children who were infected in early fetal life.

21 Feb 2007

High-dose progesterone treatment helps at-risk pregnant women avoid premature delivery

In this study, 45 women who experienced premature labor (before 37 weeks gestation) were randomly divided into treatment and observation groups. The treatment group received twice-weekly 341-mg doses of progesterone until week 36.

11 Feb 2007

Spring births increase likelihood of preterm birth

Women who become pregnant in spring are more vulnerable to preterm birth than those who conceive in other seasons, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh.

5 Feb 2007

Apolipoprotein E gene raises newborns' cerebral palsy risk

Apolipoprotein E (APOE), a gene associated with heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease in adults, can also increase the likelihood that brain-injured newborns will develop cerebral palsy, researchers at Children's Memorial Research Center have discovered.

5 Feb 2007

Multiple sclerosis far more common than previously thought

A new review of hundreds of research articles has shown that the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is far higher than previously thought amongst the U.S. population.

29 Jan 2007

Toxic chemicals affecting childrens brains

According to a new report toxic chemicals may be causing a pandemic of brain disorders because of inadequate regulation.

8 Nov 2006

One-third of infant deaths occur in prem babies

Almost twice as many infant deaths than previously estimated, are because babies are born prematurely.

2 Oct 2006

March of Dimes urges FDA to approve Gestiva

The March of Dimes has urged Food and Drug Administration officials to promptly approve a commercial progesterone therapy that appears to prevent some premature births.

30 Aug 2006

British babies to get vaccine against meningitis

Babies in the UK will soon be given a vaccination against the pneumococcal disease meningitis as part and parcel of the standard infant immunisation package.

28 Aug 2006

Rett syndrome can also strike males

The common thinking in the past had been that Rett syndrome only affects girls.

8 Aug 2006

New group B strep test for newborn babies approved

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a new test studied at the University of Florida that could lead to better screening for the most common cause of infection in newborn babies.

27 Jul 2006

Children with eczema have the same impaired quality of life as those with kidney disease

Children with serious skin conditions feel their quality of life is impaired to the same extent as those with chronic illnesses such as epilepsy, renal disease and diabetes, according to research published in the July issue of British Journal of Dermatology.

18 Jul 2006

$26 billion dollar bill for prem babies each year

According to experts one in every eight babies now is born prematurely and they are calling for earlier ultrasound examinations during pregnancy and tighter guidelines for infertility treatment as essential in the battle to control what they say is a growing problem.

17 Jul 2006

If jaundice is detected and treated properly children at no greater risk

Newborn babies who are diagnosed with and treated for jaundice are no more likely than other babies to suffer long-term developmental problems, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

3 May 2006

Single dose of stem cells produce robust behavioral recovery in animal models for stroke, cerebral palsy

A single dose of adult donor stem cells given to animals that have neurological damage similar to that experienced by adults with a stroke or newborns with cerebral palsy can significantly enhance recovery from these types of injuries, researchers say.

11 Apr 2006

Vitamin B3 variant reverses effects of fetal alcohol syndrome in mice

A form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide can reverse the molecular, cellular, and behavioral effects of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in mice, according to a study by physician-scientists at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

21 Feb 2006