Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Study evaluates association between PBDE flame retardants and thyroid function in pregnant women

Pregnant women with higher blood levels of a common flame retardant had altered thyroid hormone levels, a result that could have implications for fetal health, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

21 Jun 2010

Early-life exposure to PCBs diminishes immune response to diphtheria and tetanus vaccinations: Study

Children exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls early in life later had a diminished immune response to diphtheria and tetanus vaccinations, according to a study published online June 20 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives. This result suggests that PCB exposure during the first years of life, a critical period in immune system development, could undermine the effectiveness of childhood vaccinations and possibly impair immune system responses to infection.

21 Jun 2010

Alcohol consumption guidelines during pregnancy needed: Study

Before 2001 Australian health guidelines recommended that pregnant women should not consume alcohol. These guidelines were introduced in 1992. In 2001 the consensus guidelines recommended avoidance of “high” blood levels of alcohol but did not say no to lower levels of alcohol. In 2009 National Health and Medical Research Council advised that all women planning a pregnancy, pregnant or breastfeeding should not drink alcohol at all.

20 Jun 2010

UNDP releases 8-pronged strategy to help developing countries meet MDGs

The U.N. Development Program (UNDP) on Thursday released a report (.pdf) outlining "an eight-pronged strategy it hopes can help poor nations advance sustainable development, considerably reduce poverty and essentially drive the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the next five years," BusinessDay reports (Nwachukwu, 6/18).

19 Jun 2010

Advisory panel recommends FDA approve new "morning after" pill

The New York Times: A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel Thursday recommended that the agency approve "a medicine that could help prevent pregnancy if taken as late as five days after unprotected sex. The pill, called ella, sprang from government labs and appears to be more effective than Plan B, a morning-after pill now available over the counter to women 18 and older that gradually loses efficacy after intercourse and can be taken at latest three days after sex.

18 Jun 2010

Neupro improves wellbeing impaired by pain related to Restless Legs Syndrome

The first data to show that Neupro® (rotigotine transdermal system) significantly improved wellbeing and daily activities that are often impaired by pain related to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) were presented this week at the 14th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

18 Jun 2010

Maternal, infant ART drives down mother-to-child HIV transmission through breast-feeding, studies show

According to two new studies, "giving pregnant and nursing women triple antiretroviral drug therapy, or treating breast-fed infants with an antiretroviral medication, can dramatically cut transmission rates, enabling moms to both breast-feed and to protect nearly all children from infection," HealthDay News/Bloomberg Businessweek reports (Goodwin, 6/16).

18 Jun 2010

Paternal involvement in pregnancy reduces infant deaths

Studies have shown fathers who are active in their children's upbringing can significantly benefit their children's early development, academic achievement and well being. Now, a new study by University of South Florida researchers suggests that a father's involvement before his child is born may play an important role in preventing death during the first year of life - particularly if the infant is black.

18 Jun 2010

Biological mechanism associated with remission during pregnancy

During pregnancy, many women experience remission of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and uveitis. Now, scientists have described a biological mechanism responsible for changes in the immune system that helps to explain the remission.

17 Jun 2010

Obesity linked to bad sexual health: French Study

Now French researchers have found a link between obesity and bad sexual health in their study of 12,364 men and women aged 18 to 69 ranging from normal weight to obese who lived in France in 2006.

17 Jun 2010

Fertility drugs cause multiple and premature births

The widespread use of fertility drugs, not just high-tech laboratory procedures, plays a major role in causing multiple births and contributes to the problem of premature birth in the United States, experts said today at the March of Dimes National Communications Advisory Council luncheon.

17 Jun 2010

New drug application for ulipristal acetate as emergency contraceptive misleading, says Family Research Council

Tomorrow, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will hold a hearing to consider approval of a new drug application for an abortifacient drug, ulipristal acetate, as an emergency contraceptive, or a new "Plan B."

17 Jun 2010

Researchers study science and clinical treatment of FAS

It's long been known that alcohol use in pregnancy can lead to children with mental retardation and birth defects, but researchers who study fetal alcohol syndrome have not made definitive progress on preventing the disorder, detecting it early, or effectively treating it, say researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center.

16 Jun 2010

Bayer sues Teva, Barr in connection with oral contraceptive Gianvi

Today, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer Schering Pharma AG sued Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Barr Pharmaceuticals LLC, and Barr Laboratories, Inc. in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) for false advertising and patent infringement in connection with Teva's generic oral contraceptive, Gianvi™. Teva's product is sold as a generic version of Bayer HealthCare's leading oral contraceptive YAZ®.

16 Jun 2010

Billions spent yet millions live in poverty: Radical change needed in science, technology and innovation

Out-of-date innovation policy is undermining unprecedented opportunities for development aid to improve the environment and combat global poverty, according to a new Manifesto published today. We live in an era of rapid scientific advance yet poverty is deepening, the environment is in crisis and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals has stalled.

15 Jun 2010

ATA members raise concern about reduction in dietary iodine intake

Following publication of an article in the February 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol. 362 No. 7 pp 590-599) by Bibbins-Domingo, et al. that projected the effect of moderate dietary salt reductions on future cardiac disease rates, several members of the American Thyroid Association, concerned about the subsequent potential reduction in availability of iodine, have responded with a letter in the current issue of the NEJM (Vol. 362 No. 23 pp 2224-2226).

15 Jun 2010

BioAMD establishes headquarters at Daresbury SIC

Flex Fuels Energy, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, BioAMD Holdings Ltd., has established its headquarters at the prestigious Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus in the United Kingdom. BioAMD is in the $12.6 billion Point-of-Care medical diagnostics industry.

14 Jun 2010

FDA clears U.Va.'s SpermCheck Fertility at-home test

Couples will soon have a new tool in diagnosing male infertility - without the expense and inconvenience associated with a trip to a specialist's office.

14 Jun 2010

ARBs increase risk of cancer: Study

University Hospitals Case Medical Center cardiologists have uncovered new research showing an increased risk of cancer with a group of blood pressure medications known as angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs).

14 Jun 2010

Phase III study of REVLIMID for treating patients with multiple myeloma shows improvement in PFS

Celgene International Sàrl announced that data from the planned second interim analysis (median follow-up of 21 months) of a phase III, randomized, double-blind study of continuous REVLIMID (lenalidomide) for the treatment of elderly patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma show improvement in progression-free survival, the primary endpoint of the study.

14 Jun 2010