Posts Tagged ‘birth defects’

Birth defects linked to highway smog

STANFORD (US) — Women who breathe traffic pollution early in their pregnancy have a higher risk of having a baby with serious birth defects of the brain and spine, a new study reports. Continue…

Monday, April 1, 2013 10:09 - 0 Comments

Health & Medicine - Feb 12, 2013 11:59 - 1 Comment

Live embryo images hint at birth defect origins

USC (US) — Scientists have used time-lapse photography to discover clues about the development of the head at the cellular level, which could lead to a better understanding of how organs and birth defects form in people. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Jan 18, 2013 12:04 - 0 Comments

Team finds loophole in folic acid protection

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — A missing enzyme could explain why folic acid supplements don’t always prevent neural tube defects in developing embryos. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 12, 2012 10:37 - 0 Comments

‘Live’ gel scaffold could patch infant hearts

RICE (US) — In a petri dish, a small slab of gelatinous material beats with the rhythm of a living heart—progress toward a biocompatible patch to heal infant hearts. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 10, 2012 12:07 - 0 Comments

New genetic test improves prenatal screening

COLUMBIA U. (US) — A genetic test that uses microarray analysis conducts a more comprehensive examination of a fetus’s DNA than the current standard method, a study finds. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Aug 3, 2012 10:16 - 0 Comments

Risky steroid used to engineer sex of fetus

NORTHWESTERN (US) — A new study reports that a dangerous synthetic steroid is being prescribed off-label to US women in order to “normalize” potentially intersex fetuses. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Jul 25, 2012 14:05 - 3 Comments

Father’s line of work linked to birth defects

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US) — Researchers have found that certain jobs held by men before they conceive a child may increase the risk of various birth defects. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Feb 10, 2012 18:03 - 1 Comment

Weekend delivery safe for high-risk babies

U. ROCHESTER (US) — Weekday delivery is no safer for babies born with a birth defect than weekend or evening deliveries, new research shows. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Oct 21, 2011 10:34 - 1 Comment

Birth defect risk up 450% in rural China

U. TEXAS-AUSTIN (US) — Pesticides and pollutants are linked to an alarming 450 percent increase in the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China, a new study shows. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Mar 17, 2011 14:36 - 0 Comments

Gene hitched to neural birth defects

CORNELL (US) — Consumption of folic acid before and during pregnancy can reduce the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly by up to 70 percent. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Mar 11, 2011 10:20 - 1 Comment

Second-hand smoke imperils unborn

U. NOTTINGHAM (US) — Pregnant non-smokers who breathe second-hand smoke have a 23 percent higher risk of delivering a baby that is stillborn and a 13 percent higher risk of having a baby with birth defects. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jun 18, 2010 10:04 - 0 Comments

Straw keeps nitrogen down on the farm

PENN STATE (US)—When raising corn, straw left in the field after grain harvesting, along with legume cover crops, reduces nitrogen leaching into waterways, but may also lower economic return. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Jun 3, 2010 15:07 - 0 Comments

Using fish to delve deep into genetic disorders

DUKE (US)—By using zebrafish to analyze 125 mutations occurring on 14 different genes, researchers have been able to learn more about an inherited syndrome called Bardet-Biedl syndrome. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Jun 2, 2010 13:48 - 0 Comments

Found gene linked to severe birth defects

U. LEEDS (UK)—Scientists have identified the genetic cause of an inherited condition that leads to severe fetal abnormalities in the brain, eyes, and kidneys. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Apr 20, 2010 12:24 - 0 Comments

DNA repair model confirmed after 26 years

UC DAVIS (US)—Researchers have confirmed a central idea about chromosome repair, more than a quarter century after it was first proposed. The finding is expected to advance the understanding of DNA repair, a vital process in preventing cancer and birth defects. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Dec 22, 2009 17:28 - 7 Comments

Gene linked to both cleft lip, palate

U. IOWA (US)—An international research team has identified a gene that plays a major role in cleft lip and cleft palate. The findings could improve genetic counseling and potentially lead to improved treatment for the birth defect. (more…)

Health & Medicine - Nov 23, 2009 13:47 - 18 Comments

Folic acid: Too much of a good thing?

UC DAVIS (US)—Taking folic acid, unless specifically advised by a physician, should be avoided because at elevated levels it may aggravate metabolic complications associated with vitamin B-12 deficiency, leading to anemia and neurological damage, a new study finds. (more…)