Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Gilenya can reduce risk of disability progression in patients with RRMS

A new analysis demonstrated that Gilenya reduced the risk of disability progression in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, regardless of treatment history. This analysis of the phase III two-year FREEDOMS study is one of 11 abstracts on Gilenya being presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

11 Apr 2011

Investigational drug effective for patients with obesity

An investigational combination of drugs already approved to treat obesity, migraine and epilepsy produced up to a 10 percent weight loss in obese individuals participating in a one-year clinical trial, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

11 Apr 2011

State News: N.Y. billing for disabled patients questioned

While the nation's attention has been focused on state worker battles in union strongholds such as Ohio and Wisconsin, quiet but consequential labor battles are breaking out in Kansas, Texas and other states where collective bargaining rights for public workers were weak or non-existent to begin with. The outcome of these confrontations will have a big impact.

8 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 8, 2011

Today's headlines include stories tracking the partisan negotiations surrounding a current-year spending bill. Currently at an impasse, the differences between the GOP and Democrats as well as the White House surrounds more than just the total dollar figure attached to spending cuts. It also involves controversial "policy riders." Meanwhile, without resolution, a government shutdown is just hours away.

8 Apr 2011

Experimental Biology 2011 to be held April 9-13 in Washington, D.C.

The meeting Experimental Biology 2011 (EB 2011) begins April 9 and runs through April 13 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

8 Apr 2011

NEJM: Perspectives from Aaron, Reinhardt, Iglehart, Annas, Chambers and others

This week's New England Journal of Medicine features perspectives from prominent authors on Medicare and Medicaid. NEJM granted KHN permission to excerpt substantial portions of these columns.

8 Apr 2011

New ATA recommendations on outpatient 131I therapy aim to treat thyroid cancer

New recommendations from the American Thyroid Association on outpatient radioiodine treatment aim to minimize unintended radiation exposure and maximize the safety of patients, their families, and the public.

8 Apr 2011

Roundup: Minn. approves deep health spending cuts; Mass. voters say state health law not working

In a pioneering bid to streamline the state's big health insurance programs, the Legislature's new Republican majority is poised to give thousands of low-income Minnesotans vouchers to buy coverage in the private marketplace.

8 Apr 2011

Pregnancy and pre-pregnancy genetic tests approved for all

According to a government’s advisory body on genetics, genetic tests for conditions that can be passed on to future generations should be more widely available before pregnancy. There are “no specific social, ethical or legal principles” against preconception screening, a Human Genetics Commission report has ruled. It said testing should be available to any couples who may benefit from it. The UK National Screening Committee will now consider the findings.

7 Apr 2011

Exercising during pregnancy improves child's heart health after birth

Moms-to-be long have been told by their doctors and baby-related books and websites that staying fit during pregnancy is good for both mother and child. When it was reported a couple of years back that exercising strengthens a fetus' heart control, many pregnant women took heed and hit the ground running, literally. Some signed up for prenatal yoga classes; others found new ways to incorporate low-impact aerobic activities into their daily lives.

7 Apr 2011

AstraZeneca's vandetanib receives FDA approval in medullary thyroid cancer

AstraZeneca today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the orphan drug vandetanib for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or that has spread to other parts of the body.

7 Apr 2011

Positive data from PROCHIEVE vaginal progesterone Phase III study published in peer-reviewed journal

Columbia Laboratories, Inc., and Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc., today announced the publication of Phase III PROCHIEVE® (progesterone gel) data in today's online version of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the leading peer-reviewed journal of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

7 Apr 2011

Alere achieves NCQA Accreditation for Nurse24 program

Alere Health, LLC announced today that it has achieved the National Committee for Quality Assurance Health Information Products Certification for Health Information Line.

7 Apr 2011

Busy roads around pregnant woman's home increases likelihood of premature birth of baby

Babies are born earlier when their mothers live near a concentration of freeways and main roads, a study of 970 mothers and their newborn babies in Logan City, south of Brisbane, has found.

7 Apr 2011

Progesterone gel can reduce preterm birth in women with short cervix

A groundbreaking clinical study of a new method for preventing premature birth in millions of women each year, published in the medical journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology, shows that the rate of early preterm delivery in women can be reduced by 45 percent - simply by treating pregnant women at risk with a low-cost gel of natural progesterone during the midtrimester of pregnancy until term.

7 Apr 2011

Progesterone benefits women with short cervix, finds NIH study

A National Institutes of Health study has found that progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, reduced the rate of preterm birth before the 33rd week of pregnancy by 45 percent among one category of at risk women.

7 Apr 2011

Having children early in life lowers lifetime risk of breast cancer

Women who have children, particularly early in life, have a lower lifetime risk of breast cancer compared with women who do not. Now, Fox Chase Cancer Center researchers have identified a gene expression pattern in breast tissue that differs between post-menopausal women who had children and post-menopausal women who did not.

6 Apr 2011