premature

Harmful chemicals may reprogram gene response to estrogen

...omen from 1938 to 1971 to prevent miscarriages and premature deliveries. Daughters of women who used DES are at increased risk for reproductive tract abnormalities, pregnancy complications such as ectopic pregnancies and preterm deliveries, infertility, and a rare vaginal and cervical cancer called clear-cell ...

First frozen egg baby born in Canada

... and radiotherapy, which can cause infertility and premature menopause," says Dr. Lucy Gilbert, Director of Gynecological Oncology at the MUHC. Over the past two years, 16 cancer patients have had their eggs frozen at the MUHC. "Egg freezing also allows young women who wish to delay childbearing to do so safel...

Yeast Network Prevents Damage By Oxygen Radicals

... been identified as major contributors to signs of premature aging, increased cancer prevalence linked to inflammation-associated syndromes and a variety of human diseases. Now scientists at the University of California, San Diego Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) have identified a key ...

Grasping metaphors: UC San Diego research ties brain area to figures of speech

...l abstractions more generally. "While it would be premature to conclude that the angular gyrus is the 'metaphor center' of the human brain, we suggest that the evolution of the dominant angular gyrus contributed enormously to the evolution of many quintessentially human abilities, including metaphorical ?and ...

Scientists discover that three overlapping signals in embryo help get the backbone right

...wed that noggin may be important in preventing the premature fusion of the bones in the skull, and thus may be critical to allowing the brain to grow larger after birth. All of these findings are from mice or amphibians, but the researchers say that the same is almost certain to be the case in humans. "One of...

Cellular Defects in Premature Aging Disease are Reversible

...geria Syndrome (HGPS) -- a disease associated with premature aging -- can be made healthy again, according to findings by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Using specially modified segments of DNA, NCI researchers Paola Scaffidi, PhD, and Tom Mi...

Tendency to hair loss inherited from the mother

...of this gene was found among men who suffered from premature balding at a very early stage very much more often than among men who still had a full head of hair when over 60," Professor Nöthen says. More androgen receptors in the scalp Probably the genetic variant results in more androgen receptors in the sc...

Human Eggs Can Develop From Ovarian Surface Cells In Vitro

...SE cells may help women with reduced fertility and premature menopause, who lack follicles in their ovaries, to have a better chance of conceiving through in vitro fertilization. Eventually, frozen OSE cells from younger females may be preserved for later production of fresh eggs. This may prevent the occurren...

Study of energy and health in Africa focuses spotlight on charcoal and forest management

...fires used for cooking will cause about 10 million premature deaths among women and children in Africa. By 2050...hors noted, which could prevent 1.3 to 3.7 million premature deaths, depending on the speed of transition. The authors argue, however, that current economic cond...

Scientists succeed in cloning human embryos from eggs matured in the lab

...r patients who are infertile because of absence or premature loss of eggs or sperm. We would do this by isolating embryonic stem cell lines from cloned early embryos and driving these embryonic stem cells to develop into eggs and sperm in the laboratory." However, Mr Heindryckx warned that there was a long wa...

Invitrogen Launches i-Path -- A Unique Systems Biology Platform at BIO 2005

...r patients who are infertile because of absence or premature loss of eggs or sperm. We would do this by isolating embryonic stem cell lines from cloned early embryos and driving these embryonic stem cells to develop into eggs and sperm in the laboratory." However, Mr Heindryckx warned that there was a long wa...

Environmental chemical cocktail may sabotage sperm

...m, increased cAMP production appeared to stimulate premature sperm capacitation. "The sperm were still alive and their ability to move was unaffected, but the spontaneous acrosome reaction meant that they were unable to fertilise an egg," said Prof Fraser. She said that the chemicals were more likely to affec...

OHSU research shows vitamin C counteracts some negative impacts of smoking on unborn babies

...stop smoking." Smoking during pregnancy can cause premature delivery, growth retardation and has been blamed for 5 percent to 10 percent of all fetal and neonatal deaths. Maternal smoking can also cause decreased pulmonary function and increased respiratory illness in offspring. Previous research by the Spind...

Malfunctioning bone marrow cells sabotage nerve cells in diabetes

...roducing cells originating from bone marrow caused premature cell death and dysfunction when they merged with n...one marrow cells display the abnormal function and premature death found in neuropathy. Nerve cells that have not merged with the insulin-producing bone marrow c...

Hide and seek: Researchers discover a new way for infectious bacteria to enter cells

...ing pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn. The research was conducted by Pascale Cossart, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute international research scholar, and her colleague Esteban Veiga at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and will be published in the A...

Gene discovery sheds light on causes of rare disease, cancer

...ing pregnancy can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or infection of the newborn. The research was conducted by Pascale Cossart, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute international research scholar, and her colleague Esteban Veiga at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and will be published in the A...

Gene loss accelerates aging

...fter the animals reached maturity. The effects of premature aging observed in these p63 deficient mice (image available on request) were hair loss, reduced fitness and body weight, progressive curvature of the spine, and a shortened lifespan. "Aging and cancer are two sides of the same coin. In one case, cel...

Biota makes major antiviral discovery

...ved for use in the highest risk group of patients: premature infants. If successful, the Biota RSV drug is expected to have significant advantages and could expand the market to include treatment as well as prevention and to other 'at risk' patient segments, such as children, the elderly and people with underl...

Israeli scientists successfully transplant frozen-thawed ovaries in sheep

...could become a feasible treatment for women facing premature ovarian failure, and furthermore, that the advances they have demonstrated from new freezing techniques may have potential for other human organ transplants, which are currently done using only fresh grafts. Co-author Yehudit Nathan, program manager...

Number Of Babies Born Prematurely Nears Historic Half Million Mark In U.S.

...han 30 percent since the government began tracking premature births in 1981. The prematurity rate was 9.4 in 19...multi-year campaign to address the growing rate of premature birth in 2003. The campaign educates women on the signs and symptoms of premature birth, and support...

OHSU researchers discover potential mechanism to repair brain damage linked to Multiple Sclerosis

...aused by multiple sclerosis (MS), complications of premature birth, and other diseases and conditions. The find... MS and other neurological diseases, as well as in premature infants. In addition, Sherman's lab found large amounts of hyaluronic acid (HA), a carbohydrate, in ...

Molecular Partners Required For Appropriate Neuronal Gene Repression

...aused by multiple sclerosis (MS), complications of premature birth, and other diseases and conditions. The find... MS and other neurological diseases, as well as in premature infants. In addition, Sherman's lab found large amounts of hyaluronic acid (HA), a carbohydrate, in ...

Study provides insight into cellular defenses against genetic mutation

...ng, damaging class of mutation is the inclusion of premature "stop reading" signals (stop codons) within mRNAs....er researchers now believe a stop codon is labeled premature when it occurs more than 55 nucleotides upstream (toward the 5-prime end) of an exon-exon junction. ...

MicroRNA gene that regulates lifespan found by Yale scientists

...horter than normal, suggesting that lin-4 prevents premature death. Conversely, over-expressing lin-4 led to a longer lifespan. They also found that a loss–of-function mutation in lin-14, the target of lin-4, caused the opposite effect -- a 31 percent longer lifespan. According to Slack, their results are str...

Study uncovers placental microtransfusions lead to transmission of AIDS virus during childbirth

...rn worldwide every year facing chronic illness and premature death on their first day out of the safety of the womb. "The question has always been how does the virus get from the mothers to the babies?" said principal investigator Dr. Steven Meshnick, professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carol...

Anti-cancer drugs may hold promise for premature aging disorder

... for treating a fatal genetic disorder that causes premature aging. In a study published Monday in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Brian Capell and his colleagues at NHGRI reported that drugs known as farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs), which are currently ...

Researchers show how air pollution can cause heart disease

... dust, soot, and smoke lead to an estimated 60,000 premature deaths every year in the United States. Dr. Chen and his colleagues divided 28 mice, which were genetically prone to developing cardiovascular disease, into two groups eating either normal or high-fat diets. For the next six months, half of the mic...

Womb needed for proper brain development

... Neuroscience at McMaster. "We found that in very premature babies, a part of the brain doesn't show normal gr...te." These results have clinical relevance in how premature babies are cared for, as they indicate that the early brain may be compromised by being subjected to...

New brain scan technology could save babies' lives

...eatment, and in some cases help save the lives, of premature and newborn babies in intensive care. By providing vital information about brain function at the cot side, the scanner avoids the need to move critically ill babies to conventional scanning facilities, which may involve sedating them and has a degre...

Group proves it's possible to grow new lung alveoli by growing new blood vessels

...n perinatal care have allowed us to save many more premature babies. The bad news is they're often at risk of d...ting for every breath. And now, with many of these premature babies reaching their adolescent years, clinicians and researchers are also waiting to see whether l...

Liquid ventilation

...his respiration surface. But the main problem that premature babies have is that their lungs are not well forme...placentary respiration by filling the lungs of the premature baby with liquid and then the respirator introduces and extracts the required quantity of liquid at ...

Loosen leash on cancer protein 'watchdog,' researchers say

...rom the side effect the research team most feared: premature aging, which has been linked to overproduction of p53 in other studies. The discovery could assist in future human cancer treatments. "It's a question of balance," said Mendrysa (pronounced men-DRISS-ah), who is an assistant professor of basic medic...

p53, tumor suppression and aging

...vely prevents tumor formation and does not lead to premature aging. Dr. Perry emphasizes that "many people develop cancer at a young age due to increased expression of Mdm2. The possibility that inhibitors of Mdm2 could delay cancer in such people without causing detrimental side effects is bolstered by our ...

First link of oral bacteria and preterm birth found in human

...s. Hans said the infections play a bigger role in premature deliveries prior to 30 weeks than those that happe...e not yet developed effective ways to help prevent premature delivery. Finding why mothers give birth prematurely is important for the health of the baby and mo...

Prenatal nicotine exposure reduces breathing response of newborns...

...s. Hans said the infections play a bigger role in premature deliveries prior to 30 weeks than those that happe...e not yet developed effective ways to help prevent premature delivery. Finding why mothers give birth prematurely is important for the health of the baby and mo...

Novel connection found between biological clock and cancer

... to run. Biochemically, the mutation results in a premature modification of the well understood clock protein, frequency (FRQ). The investigators demonstrated that this was a direct result of action by an enzyme, called in mammals checkpoint kinase-2 (CHK2), whose normal role is exclusively in regulating the...

Johns Hopkins lab scientists tame overactive CF protein

...ould spare the chloride-transporting channels from premature demise, the team showed that when the VCP's level was lowered, it no longer destroyed CFTR. In a second set of tests, researchers blocked the destruction of CFTR with a proteasome-inhibiting drug currently used to treat multiple myeloma. Silencing t...

Cell phone emissions excite the brain cortex

...ditions one hour after the exposure. It would be premature to presume that this work implies that using a cell phone is bad for the brain in any way. Much more work needs to be done to understand whether these electrical changes in the brain make any difference whatsoever in the way we think or in any disea...

Matrilin-3 gene discovered to prevent onset of osteoarthritis

... that during embryonic development, mice developed premature and extended hypertrophy ?the phase when cells increase in size to form bone. Later in life, those mice had higher bone mineral density (BMD) and higher rates of osteoarthritis. In people, BMD is a hallmark of certain forms of osteoarthritis. Compa...

Computational model simulates AZT metabolism in mitochondria

...allow DNA replication to continue. This results in premature termination of DNA synthesis. It is thought that the triphosphorylated form of AZT can enter the mitochondrial matrix, the inner core of the mitochondrion, and disrupt the replication of mitochondrial DNA by prematurely terminating DNA synthesis. S...

Study finds that a woman's chances of having twins can be modified by diet

...gestations are more prone to complications such as premature delivery, congenital defects and pregnancy-induced hypertension in the mother than singleton pregnancies, the findings of this study suggest that women contemplating pregnancy might consider substituting meat and dairy products with other protein sou...

Heal thyself: Systems biology model reveals how cells avoid becoming cancerous

... including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and premature aging." Researchers involved in the study agreed ...degenerative childhood disease, Werner syndrome, a premature aging disorder, and others. "DNA damage is a basic physiological process that is important to copin...

New research promising for improving brain cell survival after brain injury

... people undergoing radiotherapy for brain tumours, premature babies that need to be induced, and stroke patients. "While we still have a long way to go before such a drug will be available, this research is a promising step forward in the development of an effective treatment for traumatic brain injury," Pr...

US infant mortality rate fails to improve

...rn death in the first month of life and preventing premature birth remains at the forefront of the March of Dim...rcentage of infant deaths occurring to babies born premature (less than 37 weeks gestation) or with a low birthweight (less than 2500 grams or 5.5 pounds) increa...

New angiogenesis finding may help fight cancer growth

... newly discovered angiogenesis inhibitor. "It's premature to call it a master switch, but intriguingly, it regulates at least four different processes, each of which individually would be anti-angiogenic," says Bresnick. Angiogenesis inhibitors, Bresnick observes, are a fast-growing field of medicine. Th...

Why Popeye only has eyes for spinach

...r low levels of macular pigment may be linked with premature visual impairment. "If the instrument demonstrates that the patient has low levels of macular pigment then they can be advised to take a lutein or zeaxanthin supplement and encouraged to eat vegetables high in these carotenoids. "AMD is a devasta...

Buildup of damaged DNA in cells drives aging

... to mice that grow old naturally. Furthermore, the premature aging symptoms of the mice led to the discovery of a new type of human progeria, a rare inherited disease in which affected individuals age rapidly and die prematurely. "These progeroid mice, even though they do not live very long, have remarkably s...

Molecules in blood foretell development of preeclampsia

...in pregnancy, delivery of the baby would result in premature birth, which increases the risk of death, and for such lifelong complications as blindness, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities. In such instances, physicians are forced to weigh the mother's risk of severe disease or eclampsia against the con...

Novel pathway regulates timing of brain cell development

...en linked to schizophrenia. Corfas speculates that premature formation of astrocytes resulting from altered functioning of these genes causes subtle malformations in the brain's circuitry. "Changes in the timing in which different neural cells are produced could lead to alterations in brain wiring," he says. "...

Why don't all moles progress to melanoma?

...melanocytes with these cancer-causing mutations is premature senescence ?a form of "suspended animation" that stops the cell cycle and keeps cells from dividing, but doesn't kill them. "The cells are held in check ?they don't die, but they don't proliferate either," Soengas explains. "In the case of moles, m...

New study: Preterm birth causes one-third of all infant deaths

...fference led the CDC researchers to speculate that premature birth plays a greater role in infant death than th...osed a new method to determine the contribution of premature birth to infant mortality. They reviewed causes of infant death and combined conditions, such as res...

U of MN researchers turn cord blood into lung cells

...velop late in fetal development, which is why some premature babies are born with underdeveloped lungs. The cells and the air sacs as a whole continue to mature and develop through a child's first few years of life. Now the researchers will try to better characterize the cells, so that in the future, the c...

Temple University Hospital investigates treatment for cervical dysplasia

...is, pre-term delivery, low birthweight babies, and premature rupture of membranes." Approximately 20 million people, mostly women, are currently infected with HPV, with 6.2 million new infections occurring annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a three-year study of colle...

Clues to gene expression in cystic fibrosis will guide research

...tive for patients with CF and other diseases where premature stop codons play a role. ...

Improving outcomes in premature births

...at giving nitroglycerin to mothers who had entered premature labor led to significant improvement in their baby...th system almost $2 billion a year to take care of premature babies and their medical complications. Given the immeasurable societal and family costs associated ...

Plastic that degrades in seawater could be boon for cruise industry and others

...at giving nitroglycerin to mothers who had entered premature labor led to significant improvement in their baby...th system almost $2 billion a year to take care of premature babies and their medical complications. Given the immeasurable societal and family costs associated ...

Re-analysis of cigarettes confirms tobacco companies increased addictive nicotine 11 percent

..." Cigarette smoking causes an estimated 438,000 premature deaths (or about 1 of every 5 deaths) annually in the U.S., and approximately 900,000 persons become addicted to smoking each year. In conclusion, according to the HSPH researchers, the extended analysis of MDPH data has demonstrated its potential...

Ethanol vehicles pose a significant risk to human health, study finds

...s gasoline, which already causes about 10,000 U.S. premature deaths annually from ozone and particulate matter. The question is, if we're not getting any health benefits, then why continue to promote ethanol and other biofuels? ''There are alternatives, such as battery-electric, plug-in-hybrid and hydrogen-...

Twin studies reveal genetic components leading to cardiac and kidney disease

...to a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. The study shows that both elevated blood pressure and changes to the kidney’s filters are caused by genetic variation at multiple points along the adrenergic pathway. Links between adrenergic activity and renal injury could lead to novel app...

Prenatal cocaine's lasting cellular effects

...upled with the abuse of other drugs -- can lead to premature labor, preterm birth and low birth weight, Stanwood said. "But in women who have abused relatively low recreational doses of cocaine, it is actually very hard to distinguish those children at birth from children born to anyone else," he said. "H...