Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Merck proposes to initiate Phase II proof-of-concept clinical study of posaconazole for chronic Chagas disease

Merck today announced plans to initiate a Phase II investigational proof-of-concept clinical study to evaluate its oral antifungal agent posaconazole for the treatment of chronic Chagas disease. Chagas disease results from infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is spread by biting insects. The disease is estimated to affect approximately eight million people in Latin America, of whom approximately 30-40 percent will develop serious cardiac disease, digestive disease, or both as a result of this infection.

24 Jun 2010

Emergent BioSolutions completes sales, deliveries of BioThrax to allied international governments

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. announced today that it has completed separate international sales and deliveries of BioThrax® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed) to governments of several allied nations. The company's international sales efforts have resulted in these sales of an undisclosed number of BioThrax doses for aggregate revenue of approximately $2.3 million in the second quarter.

24 Jun 2010

Merck's DULERA Inhalation Aerosol for asthma receives FDA approval

Merck today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved DULERA® (mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Inhalation Aerosol, a new fixed-dose combination asthma treatment for patients 12 years of age and older. DULERA is not indicated for the relief of acute bronchospasm. DULERA combines an inhaled corticosteroid (mometasone furoate) with a long-acting beta2-agonist (formoterol fumarate).

24 Jun 2010

Study recommends women to avoid drug abuse during prenatal and breastfeeding periods

Give up smoking, do not drink more than three cups of coffee per day, do not take any kind of drug, or if you do, take it as long as possible before feeding your baby. These are some of the recommendations contained in a study produced by Spanish researchers on methods for detecting medicines and drugs in breast milk. The study shows that the risk from substances such as alcohol is still not well understood.

24 Jun 2010

Researchers endorse, modify vitamin D theory of autism

A Scientific American article asks, "What if Vitamin D Deficiency is a Cause of Autism?" How could vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy cause autism, a genetic disease? Indeed, five researchers at Harvard, led by Dr. Dennis Kinney, recently endorsed and then modified the vitamin D theory of autism.

24 Jun 2010

Pregnant women with thyroid hormone levels on upper end of normal at increased risk for miscarriage

Pregnant women with thyroid function test results in the upper half of the normal range have an increased chance of miscarriage, even when they lack thyroid-harming antibodies, according to a new study. The results, which the authors say show the need to change screening practices for pregnant women, will be presented at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting, ENDO 2010, in San Diego on June 22 by Alex Stagnaro-Green, M.D., senior author and senior associate dean for education at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

24 Jun 2010

Florida obstetricians collaborate to lower premature and Cesarean birth rates

Much has been published of late, in medical journals as well as in the general media, concerning the national rise in both the Cesarean section and premature birth rates. While not directly connected, the two medical concerns have many interrelated variables. Nationally, the Cesarean section rate has risen to 32 percent of all births, while the rate of premature birth has climbed to just over 12 percent.

24 Jun 2010

Female biology screens for the best sperm: Study

A new study has revealed that the female reproductive system is ‘choosy’ when it comes to inferior quality sperm and rejects the ‘advances’ of spermatozoa that are not good enough to create a pregnancy.

23 Jun 2010

German IVF Register reports one-millionth treatment cycle in reproductive medicine

Dr. Klaus Buhler, President of the German IVF Register, has reported the one-millionth treatment cycle in reproductive medicine recorded by the IVF Register in Germany this year. Presently, ninety per cent of all centers for in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in Germany collect data from reproductive treatments using RecDate Advance by Merck Serono - a database system developed by the IT consulting firm CRITEX, and marketed under the name MedITEX IVF.

23 Jun 2010

High blood sugar in mother during pregnancy leads to reduced insulin sensitivity in children

Children of mothers whose blood glucose (sugar) was high during pregnancy are more likely to have low insulin sensitivity—a risk factor for type 2 diabetes—even after taking into consideration the children's body weight, a new study shows. The results will be presented Tuesday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

23 Jun 2010

Psychotropic medications associated with pediatric ADRs in Denmark: Researchers

Between 1998 and 2007, psychotropic medications were associated with 429 adverse drug reactions in children under 17 in Denmark. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Research Notes found that more than half of these were serious and several were birth defects - suggesting that tighter controls on the prescription of psychotropic medications to pregnant women may be required.

23 Jun 2010

No increased risk of childhood cancer if born near mobile phone stations: Study

There have been concerns regarding increased risk for cancer in children born to mothers who lived near mobile phone stations during their pregnancy after a report of a cluster of childhood cancer cases near such stations. A newly published study in the British Medical Journal refutes such beliefs and has found no link to early childhood cancers and living near mobile phone masts.

22 Jun 2010

MOFAS offers $6,400 in grant to Minnesota families living with FASD

The Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is giving $6,400 in grant money to Minnesota families living with FASD for summer family activities. Thirty-two families will receive a $200 mini grant to do something fun and creative with family and friends this summer. These mini grants are possible because of individual donations and funding from private foundations.

22 Jun 2010

Exposure to BPA in early life may affect testis function into adulthood

Exposure to environmental levels of the industrial chemical bisphenol A, or BPA, in the womb and early life may cause long-lasting harm to testicular function, according to a new study conducted in animals. The results are being presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 92nd Annual Meeting in San Diego.

22 Jun 2010

Research review calls for new approaches to guard against child abuse

A new international review of research into child welfare services shows that radical changes are needed to improve assessments and support for families where there are concerns about parental abuse.

21 Jun 2010

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