News

Fertility researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have found that a gene in female mice is essential for their egg cells to later develop beyond the two-cell stage after fertilization.

People with the rare metabolic disorder phenylketonuria need to adhere to the special diet central to their treatment, concluded a Consensus Panel convened by the National Institutes of Health.

Commemorating SIDS Awareness Month, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher today unveiled a resource kit for reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in African American communities.

Two long-time National Institutes of Health grantees -- Dr. James J. Heckman, of the University of Chicago, and Dr. Daniel L. McFadden, of the University of California at Berkeley were awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, 2000.

A shorter course of AZT therapy than currently prescribed for HIV-infected pregnant women may allow women in developing countries to afford the treatment that can reduce their babies' chances of contracting AIDS, but at a much lower cost, according to a study in the October 5 New England Journal of Medicine.

NIH researchers have found pore-like holes in the membranes of red blood cells infected by the deadliest form of the malaria parasite.

In a major new effort to stimulate women's health research across a variety of disciplines, the National Institutes of Health announced it will fund 11 awards to support development of new research in women's health.

American children are less likely to die during childhood, less likely to live in poverty, less likely to be at risk for hunger, and less likely to give birth during adolescence, according to the fourth annual report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2000.

About 55 percent of 9th through 12th graders participated in volunteer activities in 1999, a 10 percent increase from 1996.

A special indicator from the America's Children report showed that 66 percent of children entering kindergarten can recognize letters of the alphabet, and 29 percent could recognize the sounds associated with letters that begin words.

A research team has developed new techniques to help police interviewers and child protective service workers get more accurate information from victims of child abuse.

The NICHD Study of Early Child Care has found that fathers who had high levels of self esteem were more involved in caring for their children than were fathers with lower self esteem.

Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development report in the current issue of Alcoholism: Cinical and Experimental Research (Volume 24, Number 5) results from the first study to determine whether future drinking may be predicted by response to stress during infancy.

A team of researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has found that infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have abnormalities in several parts of the brainstem.

Parents and other caregivers are more likely to place infants to sleep on their backs when advised to do so by their infants' doctors, according to the latest analysis of the National Infant Sleep Position Study (NISP).

In the largest, most comprehensive evidenced-based review ever conducted of research on how children learn reading, a Congressionally mandated independent panel has concluded that the most effective way to teach children to read is through instruction that includes a combination of methods.

A new study suggests that Americans probably gain about a pound during the winter holiday season-but this extra weight accumulates through the years and may be a major contributor to obesity later in life.

Adding two substances found in breast milk to infant formula boosted the average intelligence scores in a group of 18-month-old children significantly, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

In the largest study of its kind, antibiotic treatment to eliminate bacterial vaginosis failed to prevent premature birth, according to a study supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and coauthored by researchers at the NICHD and several other institutions.

Overweight mothers who breast feed their infants may lose weight through a sensible diet and exercise program-without fear of harming their infants-a study by NICHD-funded researchers has found.