Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

Common practice of prescribing H2 blockers to treat acid reflux in premature infants should be discontinued

Researchers in an NIH network have found that premature infants given a common class of non-prescription drugs used to treat acid reflux are slightly more likely to develop a potentially fatal bowel disorder than are infants who are not treated with the drugs

24 Feb 2006

Media campaigns that remind parents to talk with their children about sex are effective

Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., and his colleagues studied a public service announcement (PSA) campaign aired recently in North Carolina that conveyed the message, "Talk to your kids about sex. Everyone else is."

23 Feb 2006

New tool helps predict pregnancy outcomes

Physicians must consider a number of variables when treating couples who cannot naturally conceive because of factors involving both the woman and man.

23 Feb 2006

Stress in early pregnancy can cause miscarriage

According to a team of researchers in the U.S., women who exhibit signs of stress are three times more likely to miscarry during the first three weeks of the pregnancy.

22 Feb 2006

More time exercising not intensity results in long-term weight loss

Women fighting the post-pregnancy weight battle face a lot of challenges, not the least of which is just finding the time to exercise. New research from Duke University suggests that more time exercising -- not intensity -- results in long-term weight loss.

21 Feb 2006

Vitamin B3 variant reverses effects of fetal alcohol syndrome in mice

A form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide can reverse the molecular, cellular, and behavioral effects of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in mice, according to a study by physician-scientists at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

21 Feb 2006

Inflammatory reaction drives hormone resistance in cancer

In the journal Cell, researchers report new evidence to explain why prostate cancer and other hormone-dependent cancers may become resistant to hormone therapies.

21 Feb 2006

Antidepressants may affect fetus

A University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine collaborative study with Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center found an increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) in newborns of mothers who used certain commonly prescribed antidepressants in late pregnancy.

20 Feb 2006

Blood clot warning to go on Ortho Evra birth control patch

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says early results of a new study show that women who use the Ortho Evra contraceptive patch are twice as likely to develop blood clots than others who took a birth control pill.

19 Feb 2006

Causes of type 1 diabetes

Scientists are casting a wide, tightly woven net with the goal of catching the causes of type 1 diabetes.

16 Feb 2006

Acne drug which causes birth defects too hard to monitor

According to the birth watchdog group the March of Dimes, preventing birth defects from a widely used acne drug is too heavy a burden on doctors, patients and pharmacists.

13 Feb 2006

Stopping antidepressants during pregnancy may lead to relapse

Women who stop taking antidepressant medications during pregnancy are at a five times greater risk for recurrence of depression than are women who continue taking their medication throughout their pregnancies, according to a multi-institutional study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

13 Feb 2006

Herbs popular in treating kids at WIC clinics

Nearly half of the low income, nutritionally-vulnerable Latino children surveyed by Penn State researchers in WIC clinics were treated with herbs by their caregivers for common ills such as diaper rash, colic, teething symptoms, stomachaches, coughs and colds.

12 Feb 2006

Changes in the tissue environment of the breast that occur after pregnancy promote the metastasis of breast tumor cells

Changes in the tissue environment of the breast that occur after pregnancy promote the metastasis of breast tumor cells. The paper by McDaniel et al., "Remodeling of the mammary microenvironment following lactation promotes breast tumor cell metastasis.

12 Feb 2006

Use of antidepressants during pregnancy linked to neonatal abstinence syndrome in infants

Almost one-third of 60 newborn infants whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy experienced neonatal abstinence syndrome, a type of withdrawal with symptoms that include high-pitched crying, tremors and disturbed sleep, according to a study in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

9 Feb 2006