The message from Big Bend Regional Medical Center was stark: The only hospital in a sparsely populated region of far West Texas notified local physicians last month that because of a nursing shortage its labor and delivery unit needed to temporarily close its doors and that women in labor should instead be sent to the […]
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Estrogen improves Parkinson’s disease symptoms: Insight into sex-based differences could lead to new treatments
Brain-selective estrogen treatment improves the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease in male mice, according to new research published in JNeurosci. These findings may help explain the sex differences in Parkinson’s disease and could lead to estrogen-based treatments. Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the death of neurons involved in movement, which may be partially caused by gene […]
Scientists gain new insight on triggers for preterm birth
A group of scientists led by Ramkumar Menon at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have gained new insight on a poorly-understood key player in the timing of labor and delivery. This new information brings scientists closer to being able to prevent preterm births. This study is in Scientific Reports. According to the […]
New research will improve diagnosis of antenatal anxiety
A landmark study by experts at the University of Stirling will help health professionals improve the identification of severe and problematic anxiety in pregnant women. Antenatal anxiety can be difficult to identify and current guidance recommends that health professionals apply the same screening tool used to detect anxiety disorders in the general population. Such generic […]
Obesity intervention needed before pregnancy
New research from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute supports the need for dietary and lifestyle interventions before overweight and obese women become pregnant. The researchers have reported the results of a large study of birth outcomes in more than 500 overweight or obese women from three public maternity units in Adelaide, Australia in […]
Air purifiers may benefit fetal growth
A new study led by SFU health sciences researchers Prabjit Barn and Ryan Allen reveals fetal growth may improve if pregnant women use portable air purifiers inside their homes. The study, a first of its kind, was conducted in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, which is one of the most polluted cities in the world and has fine […]
First biomarker evidence of DDT-autism link: National birth cohort study finds DDT metabolites in the blood of pregnant women are associated with elevated odds of autism in offspring
A study of more than 1 million pregnancies in Finland reports that elevated levels of a metabolite of the banned insecticide DDT in the blood of pregnant women are linked to increased risk for autism in the offspring. An international research team led by investigators at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the […]