News & Updates

Contrary to an earlier finding, inhaled nitric oxide therapy (a treatment for lung problems in premature infants) does not reduce the infant's chances for death or further lung problems, according to a study by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

Lower bone density appears to recover in adolescent females once they stop using the injected contraceptive depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

Prevention of abuse would help women foster stable long-Term relationships. Women who experienced physical or sexual abuse in childhood or as adults are less likely to be married or in a stable long-term relationship than are other women, according to a large study of low-income women funded by the federal government.

The risks from vaginal delivery after a prior Cesarean delivery are low, but are slightly higher than for a repeat Cesarean delivery. This finding is from the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind ever conducted, undertaken by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

Extremely low birth weight infants--the tiniest category of premature infants are much more likely to experience developmental impairments if they acquire an infection during the newborn period, according to a study by the Neonatal Research Network of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.

A team of researchers has determined that an enzyme in sperm is necessary for sperm movement. Mice bred to lack this enzyme produce sperm that cannot swim toward egg cells to fertilize them.

A team of researchers working with cells from mice has overcome a technical barrier and succeeded in growing sperm progenitor cells in laboratory culture.

A new study suggests that the conventional hormone therapies used to treat fibroid tumors are unlikely to produce much improvement and at best will only temporarily relieve symptoms. However, the study findings also suggest a strategy for developing a new, non-surgical treatment.

Children who have problems breathing during sleep tend to score lower on tests of mental development and intelligence than do other children their age, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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, according to a study jointly funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Population and Reproductive Health.

A single dose of the drug nevirapine given at the beginning of labor, when combined with a short course of the anti-HIV drug AZT (zidovudine), dramatically reduces a woman's chances of passing HIV on to her child, according to a study of Thai women funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

High school graduates from immigrant families are as likely to go on to college and to perform as well academically as their peers from American-born families, according to a study funded in part by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), one of the National Institutes of Health.

Multivitamin supplements containing high doses of the vitamin B complex, as well as vitamins C and E, given to HIV-infected women during pregnancy and for more than 5 years after they gave birth reduced the symptoms of AIDS, according to a study of Tanzanian women supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC) for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences, both of the National Institutes of Health.

After four weeks of age, infants who breast feed from mothers infected with HIV continue to be at risk for infection with HIV for as long as they breastfeed, according to an analysis conducted and funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health.

A brain imaging study has shown that, after they overcome their reading disability, the brains of formerly poor readers begin to function like the brains of good readers, showing increased activity in a part of the brain that recognizes words.

The cold winter months bring an increase in the number of infants who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, according to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced a new five-year research initiative with the Department of Education to find the best ways to prepare preschool children for later success in school.

One of the National Institutes of Health has begun a concerted effort to determine the extent and causes of stillbirth- the death of a fetus at 20 or more weeks of pregnancy.

NIH-funded researchers have identified a gene that appears to be a crucial signal for the beginning of puberty in human beings as well as in mice.

Researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are seeking volunteers for a study to treat infertility in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).