How the environment could be damaging men's reproductive health
...ted with low birth weight, preterm delivery, small gestational weight and other congenital abnormalities of the genitalia. An interesting significant risk factor was the father's weight; babies born to underweight fathers (body mass index less than 20kg/m2) were six times more likely to have undescended testes. ...Researchers Find New Technique To Identify Fetal Genetic Material From Amniotic Fluid
...ges can be detected in fetuses of different sexes, gestational age, and disease status," the authors report. "Cell-free mRNA in amniotic fluid appears to originate from the fetus and not the placenta." In conclusion the authors write: "The intriguing gene expression differences observed suggest that this technol...Prenatal exposure to marine toxin causes lasting damage
...rief, low-dose domoic acid exposure in rats during gestational development results in subtle neurobehavioral impairments that persist into adolescence and adulthood," Levin said. "Furthermore, long-lasting effects on locomotor activity and cognitive function occurred at levels having no clinically evident conseq...Today's babies are fatter babies
...excessive weight gain during pregnancy, preventing gestational diabetes, and promoting breastfeeding, all of which researchers have shown to be associated with reductions in childhood overweight." ...US infant mortality rate fails to improve
...term and low birthweight births." Birthweight and gestational age are two major predictors of infant health and survival. In 2003 birth defects, as well as prematurity and low birthweight remained the leading causes of infant death, according to the NCHS. The percentage of infant deaths occurring to babies bor...Advance helps explain stem cell behavior
...o a fraction of the "first trimester" of the human gestational period, as genetic mechanisms guide the "readout" of DNA and control the formation of different types of cells. The cell types themselves are created well before they are "wired together" to create functional organs and bodily systems. The same bas...Molecules in blood foretell development of preeclampsia
...th week of pregnancy for women who later developed gestational hypertension--hypertension without protein in the ...rine. Levels rose still further after the onset of gestational hypertension. "This finding suggests that gestational hypertension is a mild form of preeclampsia,...Like salty food? Chances are you had low blood sodium when you were born
...cluded that low sodium blood serum in infants ?not gestational age, birthweight or neonatal diuretic treatment ?predicts an increased intake of dietary sodium later in life. As neonatal serum sodium is a marker of future sodium intake, clinicians may wish to advise families of these children about the increased ......mature babies ranging from about 30 to 40 weeks of gestational age, and three were from children aged two, three and seven years. Grant scanned these infants and children to assess possible brain injury and found no neural defects. Later, she also consulted with Fischl's team to ensure that their analyses made s...