Folic acid supplements early in pregnancy may reduce child’s risk of autism by 40 percent — Large study in Norway finds early timing of folic acid supplements is critical – Prenatal folic acid supplements appear to reduce the risk for autistic spectrum disorders. It is estimated that about 1 in 88 children in the U.S. have been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
USDA Proposes Standards to Provide Healthy Food Options in Schools — New “Smart Snacks in School” proposal to ensure vending machines, snack bars include healthy choices – Good nutrition lays the groundwork for good health and academic success. Providing healthy options throughout school cafeterias, vending machines, and snack bars will complement the gains made with the new, healthy standards for school breakfast and lunch so the healthy choice is the easy choice for our kids.
Preterm birth can be prevented with a few proven treatments, Lancet article say – Lowering preterm birth rates by an average of 5 percent across 39 high-resource countries, including the United States, by 2015 would prevent prematurity for 58,000 babies a year. In the Lancet, the expert group says prevention of preterm birth could save billions in economic costs.
Most pregnancy-related infections are caused by four treatable conditions – In low-and-middle income countries, pregnancy-related infections are a major cause of maternal death, can also be fatal to unborn and newborn babies, and are mostly caused by four types of conditions that are treatable and preventable, according to a review by US researchers published in this week’s PLOS Medicine.
Low birth weight may increase risk for cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and diabetes — New research in The FASEB Journal suggests that poor high blood pressure management during pregnancy may have negative long-term health consequences for offspring – Being underweight at birth may have consequences above and beyond the known short-term effects says a research report. The report shows that rats with a low birth weight have an increased long-term risk for developing cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and diabetes.
Low cost design makes ultrasound imaging affordable to the world – An ultra-low cost scanner that can be plugged into any computer or laptop to reveal vital information about the unborn child has been developed by engineers at Newcastle University, UK.
Can’t smell anything? This discovery may give you hope – Gene therapy in mice restores sense of smell, may also aid research into other diseases caused by cilia defects, U-M researchers say – Scientists have restored the sense of smell in mice through gene therapy for the first time — a hopeful sign for people who can’t smell anything from birth or lose it due to disease. The achievement in curing congenital anosmia — the medical term for lifelong inability to detect odors — may also aid research on other conditions that also stem from problems with the cilia.
Increased risk of prematurity and low birth weight in babies born after 3 or more abortions – Women who have had three or more abortions have a higher risk of some adverse birth outcomes, such as delivering a baby prematurely and with a low birth weight, revealed by researchers in one of the largest studies to look at the effect of induced abortions on a subsequent first birth.
New hormonal gel combination shows promise as reversible birth control for men – Male hormonal contraceptives applied daily to the skin reduce sperm production, finds a new study. Very low sperm counts resulted for about 89 percent of men using a new combination of hormones, the researchers reported.
Lung cancer mortality rates among young and middle-aged white women climb in some states — New analysis points to tobacco control efforts or lack thereof as likely cause – A new study comparing lung cancer mortality rates among women by year of birth shows dramatic differences in trends between states, likely reflecting the success or failure of tobacco control efforts. The study finds that while lung cancer mortality rates declined continuously by birth year for women born after the 1950s in California, rates in other states declined less quickly or even increased.
