Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Administration of N2O + ISO appears to have negative effect on fetal development

An anesthetic regimen typically used during surgery on pregnant mothers appears to have a negative effect on the development of the fetus, according to a new study on mice conducted by neurobiologists from the National Center for Toxicological Research, in Arizona.

14 Dec 2012

TUBB5 gene responsible for microcephaly: IMP study

Neurobiologists at the Research institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna have discovered one of the key genes required to make a brain. Mutations in this gene, called TUBB5, cause neurodevelopmental disease in children.

14 Dec 2012

New global disease burden data should inform global health spending

"On Dec. 14, the Lancet together with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation [IHME] will release their study on global burden of disease, injuries and risk factors in 2010," Karl Hofmann, president and CEO of Population Services International, writes in a Devex opinion piece, adding, "These 'gold standard' data will quantify the world's health problems by examining statistics for 291 diseases and injuries and 67 different risk factors for 21 regions across three time periods -- 1990, 2005 and 2010."

14 Dec 2012

New evidence about benefits of marriage

There's new evidence about the benefits of marriage. Women who are married suffer less partner abuse, substance abuse or post-partum depression around the time of pregnancy than women who are cohabitating or do not have a partner, a new study has found.

14 Dec 2012

Texas Governor calls for late-term abortion ban

Citing what he called fetal pain, former GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry urged state lawmakers to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. He said his ultimate goal was to eliminate abortions altogether.

13 Dec 2012

Reproductive Health Matters' supplement issue focuses on pregnancy decisions of HIV-positive women

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today publication of Reproductive Health Matters' 2012 supplement issue "Pregnancy decisions of women living with HIV".

13 Dec 2012

Delayed childbearing may protect against triple-negative breast cancer

Younger women who wait at least 15 years after their first menstrual period to give birth to their first child may reduce their risk of an aggressive form of breast cancer by up to 60 percent, according to a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study.

12 Dec 2012

Adversity in childhood can shape long-term health outcomes

Noting the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence," Neil Boothby, U.S. government special adviser and senior coordinator to the USAID administrator on children in adversity, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," "The science is clear -- childhood experiences shape adult outcomes, including long-term health, cognitive development, academic achievement, and one's ability to be gainfully and safely employed."

12 Dec 2012

CYP2J2 implicated in preeclampsia

Study findings suggest that uteroplacental cytochrome P450 subfamily 2J polypeptide 2 overexpression contributes to preeclampsia.

11 Dec 2012

Pay attention to pregnant workers with pelvic girdle pain

Researchers say that clinicians must give more attention to working women who experience pelvic girdle pain during pregnancy to prevent recurrence during the postpartum period.

11 Dec 2012

Text4baby initiative effective service for pregnant women

Following last week's mHealth Summit, the largest event of its kind where leaders focus on how wireless technology can improve health outcomes, text4baby announced results from the first randomized evaluation of its service. The largest mobile health initiative in the U.S., text4baby was found to be an effective service for pregnant women.

11 Dec 2012

Janssen announces U.S. prescribing information update for EDURANT tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a prescribing information update for EDURANT (rilpivirine) tablets to include 96-week pooled data from the Phase 3 ECHO and THRIVE studies, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of EDURANT for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in antiretroviral treatment-naive adults.

11 Dec 2012

Weill Cornell research team develops new experimental drug therapy to target DLBCL

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancer. The most chemotherapy resistant form of DLBCL, called activated B-cell - DLBCL (ABC-DLBCL), remains a major therapeutic challenge.

11 Dec 2012

Overweight women not receiving proper advice on healthy weight gains during pregnancy

Overweight women are not receiving proper advice on healthy weight gains or appropriate exercise levels during their pregnancies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

11 Dec 2012

Celgene announces results from REVLIMID plus VIDAZA phase II study on AML

Celgene International Sàrl today announced that results from a study evaluating the combination of REVLIMID (lenalidomide) plus VIDAZA (azacitidine) in patients 60 years or older with untreated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) were presented at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting in Atlanta, GA.

11 Dec 2012

Mothers with vitamin D deficiency have babies with lower birth weight

Mothers' vitamin D levels at a gestation of 26 weeks or less were positively related to birth weight and head circumference, and, in the first trimester were negatively associated with risk of a baby being born small for gestational age, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

11 Dec 2012

Boston College professor to research into new drugs that can prevent onset of toxoplasmosis

The American Cancer Society has awarded a four-year, $720,000 grant to Boston College Associate Professor of Biology Marc-Jan Gubbels for research into potential new drugs that can prevent the onset of toxoplasmosis in cancer patients with weakened immune systems.

10 Dec 2012