News & Updates

Understanding endometriosis, causes and treatment, is part of NICHD’s mission. Learn more about signs and symptoms.

An antiviral drug commonly prescribed to treat hepatitis B infection does not significantly reduce mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus, according to a clinical trial funded by NIH.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have cured mice with Chuvash polycythemia, a life-threatening disorder that involves the overproduction of red blood cells, with the experimental drug, Tempol.The findings offer hope that Tempol or a similar drug may treat polycythemias that affect humans, such as mountain sickness—a serious blood complication experienced in low-oxygen, high-altitude settings.

Snoring, older age and obesity may increase a pregnant woman’s risk for sleep apnea—or interrupted breathing during sleep—according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Using a mild electrical current to either boost or inhibit the brain’s own electrical impulses may one day help rehabilitate its function, according to researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Hormonal changes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common condition that contributes to infertility, may alter their intestinal microbe populations, according to an NICHD-funded study.

Healthy first-time mothers whose labor was induced in the 39th week of pregnancy were less likely to have a cesarean delivery, compared to a similar group who were not electively induced at 39 weeks, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Students who participated in an intensive childhood education program from preschool to third grade were more likely to achieve an academic degree beyond high school, compared to a similar group that received other intervention services as children, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The National Institutes of Health has launched a large international study to compare the safety and efficacy of three antiretroviral treatment regimens for pregnant women living with HIV and the safety of these regimens for their infants.

Zika virus infection appears to affect oxygen delivery to the fetuses of pregnant monkeys, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Children born to women who took either folic acid or a daily multivitamin before or during pregnancy were less likely to have a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, compared to children whose mothers did not take any prenatal vitamins, according to researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

The first 3D structure of DHHC proteins—enzymes involved in many cellular processes, including cancer—explains how they function and may offer a blueprint for designing therapeutic drugs, according to an NICHD study.

Women with moderate to severe iodine deficiency may take longer to achieve a pregnancy, compared to women with normal iodine levels, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

A molecule containing genetic instructions passed on from the mother to the egg must be present for the fertilized egg to survive and develop into a normal embryo, according to results of an NICHD-funded zebrafish study.

Infants and children who suffer cardiac arrest while in the hospital have a greater chance of survival if their blood pressure is maintained at a targeted level throughout life-saving CPR treatment.

To realize the promise of personalized medicine, new research studies must include segments of the population often overlooked in clinical research: children, older adults, pregnant women, and individuals with physical, intellectual, and developmental disabilities, according to an article by NICHD’s Director and Deputy Director.

Over the past year, NICHD contributed to numerous scientific advances and key initiatives.

A program to teach preschoolers pre-reading, social, and thinking skills appears to have benefits through third grade, particularly in executive functioning—the mental skills that include planning, paying attention, organizing, and remembering details.

Mental illness associated with early childhood adversity may be passed from generation to generation, according to a study of adults whose parents evacuated Finland as children during World War II.

NICHD's Dr. Donna Mazloomdoost, program director for the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network, explains problems of the pelvic floor, which affect as many as 1 in 3 women in the U.S.