Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Conference – Childhood leukaemia: incidence, causal mechanisms and prevention

The advances in treating childhood leukaemia over the last forty years have been one of cancer’s outstanding success stories – but the fall in mortality has diverted attention from a rise in incidence, a London conference will hear today (Monday 6 September).

5 Sep 2004

Researchers work to defeat acne by understanding it better on a molecular level

To defeat an enemy, you must first understand it, or so the saying goes. And for nearly every teenager and young adult, acne is a formidable foe, causing damage to their skin and their self-image that can leave long-lasting physical and emotional scars.

2 Sep 2004

Hormone leptin could play a key role in treating bone loss, anorexia and infertility in women

A new study has found that the hormone leptin plays a key role in women’s reproductive and neuroendocrine health and suggests a future for the hormone in treating a number of conditions including exercise-induced bone loss, anorexia and in some cases of infertility.

2 Sep 2004

More women and adolescents needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials

Greater participation of women and adolescents is needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials, according to a group of international experts, who attended a consultation on HIV vaccine trials in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 26-28 August.

1 Sep 2004

Extension of Australia's Medicare safety net will ease the financial burden on pregnant women

Australian Medical Association President, Dr Bill Glasson, said yesterday that the Government’s decision to extend the Medicare safety net to cover out-of-hospital private obstetrics services would ease the financial burden on pregnant women and their families.

1 Sep 2004

Parental human leukocyte antigen genes linked to preterm delivery

The transmission of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genes may play a significant role in the risk of preterm delivery, according to a study in the September issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

31 Aug 2004

Solid evidence that best treatment for multiple sclerosis is pregnancy

For years, doctors have suggested the best treatment for multiple sclerosis is pregnancy. Now, an Oregon study is delivering solid evidence to support the theory.

27 Aug 2004

New York Judge strikes down federal abortion ban

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) has applauded the New York court ruling issued today in National Abortion Federation (NAF) v. Ashcroft, a lawsuit challenging the federal abortion ban passed by Congress last October and signed by President Bush. Today's ruling invalidates the ban.

26 Aug 2004

FDA approves revised labeling for anti-inflammatory corticosteroid nasal spray

AstraZeneca has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved revised labeling for its anti-inflammatory corticosteroid nasal spray RHINOCORT AQUA® (budesonide).

26 Aug 2004

FDA reinforces use of Sustiva in first-line HIV combination therapy

Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced that Sustiva® (efavirenz) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to include new long-term virologic and clinical data from BMS Study 006 in its prescribing information.

26 Aug 2004

Are nicotine patches safe for pregnant women?

A £1 million study, being led by a team of multidisciplinary researchers at The University of Nottingham, is to look at whether nicotine replacement skin patches could help pregnant mums to stop smoking.

26 Aug 2004

High stress during pregnancy may increase likelihood of behavior problems in child

Children may be more likely to develop behavior problems like attention deficit disorder if their mothers report high levels of stress and anxiety during the earlier half of their pregnancy, researchers report in the journal Child Development.

25 Aug 2004

Popular injectable contraceptive increases risk of STD's

The injectable contraceptive depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) appears to increase a woman’s risk of acquiring the sexually transmitted infections chlamydia and gonorrhea by approximately three fold when compared to women not using a hormonal contraceptive

23 Aug 2004

Exposure to simian virus 40 (SV40) is not associated with cancer in humans

Two upcoming studies by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), provide further evidence that exposure to simian virus 40 (SV40) is not associated with cancer in humans.

23 Aug 2004

Body symmetry could be a tell tale sign of an aggressive person

Researchers may get some indication of how aggressively an angry person will react by measuring the size relationship between a person’s ears and other body parts, according to a new study.

23 Aug 2004

Fruit and vegetables eaten before pregnancy lowers risk of leukemia

A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that women who eat more vegetables, fruit and foods containing protein before pregnancy may have a lower risk of having a child who develops leukemia, the most common childhood cancer in the United States.

20 Aug 2004

Research sheds shed light on a common cause of miscarriage in humans

Top poker players know that the face mirrors the brain. Specialists in embryonic development wouldn’t disagree. In fact, because the same clumps of primordial cells mold the final features of both, a close look at a child’s face can often yield clues about less visible problems within the skull

20 Aug 2004

Living near to a petrol station may increase the risk of acute childhood leukaemia by 400%

These new findings are based on 280 cases of acute childhood leukaemia and a comparison group of 285 children matched for sex. The children were drawn from four hospitals in France (Nancy, Lille, Lyon, and Paris), and almost two thirds (60%) of the children with leukaemia were aged between 2 and 6.

19 Aug 2004

Revised cholesterol-lowering guidelines constitute a major risk to public health

Recently revised cholesterol-lowering guidelines constitute a major risk to public health according to The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics, a non-profit organization of doctors, scientists and researchers.

18 Aug 2004

Mother’s milk may not be best for preterm babies

The study by Lydia Furman, M.D., of Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland and colleagues found that other influences, such as health problems at birth and social factors like the mother’s race, marriage and education were more important in predicting any mental and motor development problems among the infants.

17 Aug 2004