UCSD team discovers specialized, rare heart stem cells in newborns
The first evidence of cardiac progenitor cells ?rare, specialized stem cells located in the newborn heart of rats, mice and humans ?has been shown by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine. The cells are capable of differentiation into fully mature heart tissue. Called isl1+ cells, these cardiac progenitor cells are stem cells that have been progr...Rats infected as newborns grew up vulnerable to memory problems during an immune challenge
Underscoring the value of good prenatal care, new research suggests that early infection may create a cognitive vulnerability that appears later during stress on the immune system. Researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have reported that rats who experienced a one-time infection as newborns didn't learn as well as adult rats who were not infected as pups, after their immunity was c...Opiates Better Than Sedatives For Treating Newborns In Withdrawal
For years, sedatives have been the gold standard for treating newborns suffering from opiate withdrawal. However, new research suggests that opiates themselves are superior to sedatives for treating infants born to women who used heroin or methadone while pregnant. Opiates appear to better "ameliorate the withdrawal, facilitate feeding and potentially reduce the likelihood of seizures," ac...Boosting newborns' immune responses
Newborn babies have immature immune systems, making them highly vulnerable to severe infections and unable to mount an effective immune response to most vaccines, thereby frustrating efforts to protect them. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston now believe they have found a way to enhance the immune system at birth and boost newborns' vaccine responses. In a study published in the on...Prenatal nicotine exposure reduces breathing response of newborns...
A 37-year-old-mother, who gave birth to a low-weight preemie at 24 weeks, exhibited the first-found link in a human between bacteria found in the mouth and the amniotic fluid of a woman in preterm labor. Using new DNA finger-printing techniques to find bacteria that cannot be cultured and grown in the lab, researchers from Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine and the...Caffeine can induce epilepsy in newborns
A research has found that if women drink too much coffee during pregnancy can increase the risk of their babies developing epileptic seizures or fits.//Studies have found that caffeine may be linked to the development of epileptic discharges in cells from newborn mammals that have been briefly starved of oxygen. A research team from the Institut National De La Santé in France examined...Massage therapy regulates sleep cycle of newborns
A new study involving twenty mothers and their full-term infants, revealed that massage therapy helps newborns develop a more regular sleep cycle. Dr. Sari Goldstein from Tel Aviv University says that massage therapy by mothers in the perinatal // period helps infants coordinate their circadian systems with environmental cues. Circadian rhythm is a biological clock that helps humans an...Barcodes to become newborns' ID
A new system has been developed to prevent mix-ups over identification of newborn babies. The system, which records the fingerprints of newborns as barcodes, has been introduced in the maternity ward of La Zarzuela Hospital in Madrid, Spain. As soon as babies are born, their fingerprints, and those of their// mothers, are stored in electronic barcodes which mother and baby wear on their...Gene linked to 'Missing Eye' condition in newborns
Bilateral Anophthalmia is a devastating condition, which is very rare, affecting approximately one in every 100,000 births. In this condition, babies are born without eyes i.e. they are born with empty eye sockets. This condition occurs due to the foetus not developing eyes in the normal way in the first 28 days of pregnancy. Babies born with this condition are often fitted with prosthetic eyes t...