Anyone who deals with young children knows that kids act up—and act out—from time to time. But some kids have more trouble than others when it comes to controlling their impulses. Now researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have uncovered an important clue to the thought processes underlying some children’s persistent problem behavior.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Maternal malnutrition during pregnancy could provide clue to offspring heart disease
Based on a study of fetal sheep, scientists funded by the National Institutes of Health believe they may have found a clue to the heightened risk of heart disease seen in people who were born at low birthweight to mothers malnourished during pregnancy. The finding one day may lead to new ways to treat or even prevent heart disease in this group of people.
Healthy Pregnancies, Healthy Newborns: Research to Improve Outcomes
Ensuring the health and wellbeing of pregnant women and newborns is central to the NICHD mission. Scientists supported by our Pregnancy and Perinatology Branch (PPB) conduct research related to improving care for pregnant women and newborns, preventing preterm labor and birth and other birth complications, and treating diseases in newborns.
NICHD Podcasts Feature Research on Maternal Smoking
Many people are familiar with the health effects of cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke. Research has also tied smoking during pregnancy to later health and behavior problems in children. This podcast round-up features three interviews with NICHD grantees interested in the connections between maternal smoking and child health.
NIH Institutes Commit $2 Million to Small Businesses to Promote Placental Research
This month the NICHD and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) reissued two funding announcements, inviting grant applications for the development of methods to assess placental development and function. The Institutes intend to commit an estimated total of $2 million to small businesses in 2015 to support this research.
Year-round preventive treatment reduces malaria risk in young children
A year-round preventive drug treatment substantially reduces young children’s risk of contracting malaria and poses no serious risk of adverse events, according to a study by researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.
NIH scientists visualize structures of brain receptors using subcellular imaging
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health have created high-resolution images of the glutamate receptor, a protein that plays a key role in nerve signaling. The advance, published online in the journal Nature on August 3, 2014, opens a new window to study protein interactions in cell membranes in exquisite detail.
Study Could Lead to New Therapies for Epilepsy, Depression
A new study has succeeded in creating detailed images of one group of receptors—the glutamate receptors—and this discovery may lead to therapies for these and other diseases and conditions.
First CRC Patient’s Genetic Disease Unraveled
Clinical Center researchers have identified the genetic defect underlying the disease for the first admitted patient at the Hatfield Clinical Research Center.
Training Can Improve Learning for Adolescents with Traumatic Brain Injury
A new therapy promises to shorten the recovery time for young people who have suffered a brain injury. It’s called “gist training,” and it involves getting the essence from complex information instead of memorizing facts.
NICHD Helps Build Research Capacity in Africa
Global health research is an important part of the work of the NICHD. In addition to funding research projects directly, the Institute helps other countries build the research capacity that’s so critical to improving health and saving lives.
Common gene variants account for most genetic risk for autism
Most of the genetic risk for autism comes from versions of genes that are common in the population rather than from rare variants or spontaneous glitches, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found. Heritability also outweighed other risk factors in this largest study of its kind to date.
Science in 3D
Every week seems to bring another story about 3D printing and its potential for creative new applications—from cars to aircraft parts, high-end fashion to astronaut food, and low-cost prosthetic hands to life-saving medical implants and artificial organs.
"Mississippi Baby" Now Has Detectable HIV, Researchers Find
The child known as the “Mississippi baby”—an infant seemingly cured of HIV that was reported as a case study of a prolonged remission of HIV infection in The New England Journal of Medicine last fall—now has detectable levels of HIV after more than two years of not taking antiretroviral therapy without evidence of virus, according to the pediatric HIV specialist and researchers involved in the case.
Young adults more likely to attend college
American young adults are more racially and ethnically diverse, more likely to graduate from high school, and attend college, and less likely to smoke than previous generations, according to a report by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. However, the young adults have more student debt than generations past, earn less than their counterparts in the year 2000, and more than 1 in 5 are obese, the report says.
Together, NICHD & International Sorority Fight Childhood Asthma
Since 2011, the NICHD has been working with the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority, Inc. to lead the Asthma Prevention and Management Initiative, a series of nationwide asthma education, training, and outreach activities. The program leverages NIH’s scientific expertise and AKA’s extensive network of chapters to teach families across the country about proper management of childhood asthma.
New treatment increases pregnancy rate for women with infertility disorder
The drug letrozole appears to be more effective than the standard drug clomiphene for helping women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to achieve pregnancy, according to a large study from a research network supported by the National Institutes of Health.
"Cool" Kids More Likely to Have Problems as Young Adults
A new study has found that it’s not so cool to have been cool after all. When they reached adulthood, a sample of formerly cool kids were much more likely than their uncool peers to have relationship problems, major problems with alcohol and substance use, and even to have run afoul of the law.
June Wrap-Up: Promoting Men’s Health
During June—Men’s Health Month—the NICHD focused on encouraging men to make their health a priority.
NICHD announces the implementation of a "select pay" funding policy
Funds are available to support meritorious applications of high general programmatic significance or that focus on the recently announced high priority topics identified by the NICHD Vision process.