May 2012
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05/01/12
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Anti-HIV drug use during pregnancy does not affect infant size, birth weight
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| Infants born to women who used the anti-HIV drug tenofovir as part of an anti-HIV drug regimen during pregnancy do not weigh less at birth and are not of shorter length than infants born to women who used anti-HIV drug regimens that do not include tenofovir during pregnancy, according to findings from a National Institutes of Health network study. However, at 1 year of age, children born to the tenofovir-treated mothers were slightly shorter and had slightly smaller head circumference--about 1 centimeter each, on average--than were infants whose mothers did not take tenofovir. |
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April 2012
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04/30/12
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NIH statement on World Asthma Day 2012 - May 1, 2012
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| On World Asthma Day 2012, we at the National Institutes of Health stand with the Global Initiative for Asthma to renew our dedication to improving the quality of life for the millions of people living with asthma. |
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04/26/12
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Item of Interest: Audio Briefing: NIH Researchers develop nanoprobe treatment for animal model of cerebral palsy
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| The Chief of NICHD's Perinatology Research Branch and his colleagues recently held a news briefing to describe a prototype treatment for an animal model of cerebral palsy. The researchers injected a bacterial toxin into the uteruses of pregnant rabbits. Like human patients with cerebral palsy, the baby rabbits developed a severe disability affecting their ability to move. When injected with nanoparticles carrying an anti-inflammatory drug, the baby rabbits recovered much of their movement ability. |
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04/09/12
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Item of Interest: Audio Briefing: New genes associated with common childhood obesity identified
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| NIH-supported researchers have identified locations at two genes, which, when mutated, appear to increase the likelihood of common childhood obesity. The findings are from a large meta analysis of studies previously conducted in the United States, Europe, and Australia. Earlier studies have identified genes associated with obesity in extremely obese youth and in adults, but the current study is the first to identify two genes associated with the less severe, more common form of obesity. Although environmental factors such as diet and exercise play a strong role in common childhood obesity, the current study shows that genetic factors also contribute to the condition. |
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04/02/12
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Bilingual children switch tasks faster than speakers of a single language
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| Children who grow up learning to speak two languages are better at switching between tasks than are children who learn to speak only one language, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health. However, the study also found that bilinguals are slower to acquire vocabulary than are monolinguals, because bilinguals must divide their time between two languages while monolinguals focus on only one. |
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March 2012
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03/30/12
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NIH study finds women spend longer in labor now than 50 years ago
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| Women take longer to give birth today than did women 50 years ago, according to an analysis of nearly 140,000 deliveries conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers could not identify all of the factors that accounted for the increase, but concluded that the change is likely due to changes in delivery room practice. |
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03/21/12
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Item of Interest: Video Presentation: Role of Research in Understanding, Preventing, and Treating Birth Defects
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| In this video presentation, NICHD Director Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., describes the role of research in understanding, preventing, and treating birth defects. In his talk, Dr. Guttmacher provides some basic facts about birth defects and recounts how research led to the discovery that the vitamin folic acid could reduce the chances of neural tube defects. He also describes the role of model organisms, such as the zebrafish, in understanding developmental processes as an important step in uncovering the origins of birth defects. Dr. Guttmacher concludes his talk with an introduction to the new technologies of systems biology and chemical genomics, which promise to yield new insights leading to greater understanding of birth defects and their eventual prevention and treatment. |
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03/16/12
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NIH brain imaging study finds evidence of basis for caregiving impulse
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| Distinct patterns of activity--which may indicate a predisposition to care for infants--appear in the brains of adults who view an image of an infant face--even when the child is not theirs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in Germany, Italy, and Japan. |
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03/01/12
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Vitamin D shrinks fibroid tumors in rats
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| Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. |
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February 2012
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02/28/12
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Item of Interest: Genomic medicine series provides convenient reference on ethics, potential of new field
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| A recently completed series on medical genomics--the study of how genes interact with each other and with various non-genetic factors--provides a reference for physicians and scientists. The series, appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine, was edited by W. Gregory Feero, M.D., Ph.D., Special Advisor to the Director for Genomic Medicine at the National Human Genome Research Institute and Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. |
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02/22/12
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Variation in brain development seen in infants with autism
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| Patterns of brain development in the first two years of life are distinct in children who are later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), according to researchers in a network funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study results show differences in brain structure at 6 months of age, the earliest such structural changes have been recorded in ASDs. |
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02/08/12
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NIH study links high levels of cadmium, lead in blood to pregnancy delay
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| Higher blood levels of cadmium in females, and higher blood levels of lead in males, delayed pregnancy in couples trying to become pregnant, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other academic research institutions. |
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January 2012
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01/26/12
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NIH Study shows caffeine consumption linked to estrogen changes
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| Asian women who consumed an average of 200 milligrams or more of caffeine a day--the equivalent of roughly two cups of coffee--had elevated estrogen levels when compared to women who consumed less, according to a study of reproductive age women by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. |
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01/25/12
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High animal fat diet increases gestational diabetes risk
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| Women who consumed a diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before pregnancy were at higher risk for gestational diabetes than women whose diets were lower in animal fat and cholesterol, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University. |
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01/10/12
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Vitamin D may improve bone health in those taking anti-HIV drug
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| Vitamin D may help prevent hormonal changes that can lead to bone loss among those being treated for HIV with the drug tenofovir, according to the results of a National Institutes of Health network study of adolescents with HIV. |
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