Mother and Child

Low birth weight babies are at higher risk of osteoporosis later in life, especially if they are born prematurely, say researchers. Targeting these children with the appropriate diet and weight-bearing exercise can help improve the problem. The answer, it seems, is lower peak bone mass as an adult, compared to adults who were born full term. Adults who were born full term but were small for their gestational age also had lower bone mass. These findings are important since peak bone mass is a major determinant of future osteoporosis. "Few studies to date have addressed bone mass in adults who were born with low birth weight, and there are conflicting findings," said Chandima Balasuriya, the first author of the study. Balasuriya is a medical doctor and PhD candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and St Olavs University Hospital. "Our study shows that both those born prematurely with a very low birth weight and those who were born full...

An important feature for life is what embryos receive from mom and dad upon fertilization. Centrioles, the structures responsible for cell division and flagella movement, are given by the paternal gamete. How the maternal gametes lose centrioles and its importance for female fertility has been an enigma. In a new study, a research team has shed light upon this critical mechanism whose deregulation leads to infertility. The embryo must have the correct number of centrioles in order to develop. In the formation of the female gamete, centriole coating by the matrix is lost, resulting in the elimination of centrioles. During fertilization, the embryo inherits only the centrioles from the sperm, thus having the correct number. If the maternal gamete does not lose its centrioles, the female is infertile. The loss of centrioles in oogenesis occurs in all animals, including humans and fruit flies. Credit: Carla A.M. Lopes (IGC) The results of this study, now published in the scientif...

When we covered the story about four Frontier Airlines pilots who said their employer did not provide adequate accommodations for pumping breast milk, more than a few readers seemed to feel like the women just wanted an extra work break. "Bathroom breaks are necessary to ensure the pilot can still perform," a commenter said. "Breast pumping is not." Au contraire, say women, lactation consultants and health care providers. The painful swelling of engorgement can lead to medical problems and reduce milk supply. And it can make it extremely hard to focus on the job. But many people don't know about it; even new mothers. "When I had my first and started breast-feeding, I was completely unprepared for any of it. I knew nothing, not even what was normal," says Alissa Parker, now an international board certified lactation consultant in Ashland, Ky. She had her child after earning a master's in nursing as a pediatric nurse practitioner and working...

Mammals can protect their unborn young from harmful chemicals in their blood even at the expense of their own survival odds, a study into mongooses suggests. Chemicals causing oxidative stress are a normal metabolic by-product in all animals but can cause oxidative damage to tissues and cells, leading to aging. Current theory predicts that females should show higher levels of such oxidative damage when they are pregnant. This five-year study into banded mongooses carried out by Dr Emma Vitikainen and colleagues at the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus found the opposite pattern. Mothers with the lowest levels of oxidative damage when pregnant also had the greatest number of surviving offspring. The research showed oxidative damage to be strongly linked to adult survival in both sexes. Unusually male banded mongooses live longer than females, and they also had lower levels of oxidative damage across their lives. While females r...

Babies find it easier to learn words with repetitive syllables rather than mixed sounds, a study suggests. Assessments of language learning in 18-month-olds suggest that children are better at grasping the names of objects with repeated syllables, over words with non-identical syllables.  Researchers say the study may help explain why some words or phrases, such as 'train' and 'good night', have given rise to versions with repeated syllables, such as choo-choo and night-night. Assessments of language learning in 18-month-olds suggest that children are better at grasping the names of objects with repeated syllables, over words with non-identical syllables. Researchers say the study may help explain why some words or phrases, such as 'train' and 'good night', have given rise to versions with repeated syllables, such as choo-choo and night-night. The researchers say such words are easier for infants to learn, and may provide them with a star...

Malnourished children are most likely to die from common infections, not starvation. New experimental evidence indicates that even with a healthy diet, defects in immune system function from birth could contribute to a malnourished state throughout life. Researchers speculate that targeting immune pathways could be a new approach to reduce the poor health and mortality caused by under- and over nutrition. "That traditional image of malnutrition that we're unfortunately so familiar with--of someone wasting away--that's just the external picture," says Review first author Claire Bourke, a postdoctoral research assistant in the Centre for Genomics and Child Health at Queen Mary University of London.  "Those height and weight defects that we see are the tip of the iceberg--there are a whole range of pro-inflammatory conditions, impaired gut function, weakened responses to new infections, and a resulting high metabolic burden underlying them." The m...

The benefits of eating fruit can begin as early as in the womb. A new study, using data from nearly 700 Edmonton children, demonstrates that infants do significantly better on developmental tests when their mothers consume more fruit during pregnancy. The study, published in the journal  EbioMedicine , found that mothers who consumed more fruit during pregnancy gave birth to children who performed better on developmental testing at one year of age.  Piush Mandhane, senior author of the paper and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, made the discovery using data from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) Study--a nationwide birth cohort study involving over 3,500 Canadian infants and their families. Mandhane leads the Edmonton site of the study. "We wanted to know if we could identify what factors affect cognitive development," Mandhane explains. "We found that one of the...

Human intelligence might have evolved in response to the demands of caring for infants, new research suggests. Experts in in brain and cognitive sciences have developed a novel evolutionary model in which the development of high levels of intelligence may be driven by the demands of raising offspring. Steven Piantadosi and Celeste Kidd, assistant professors in brain and cognitive sciences, developed a novel evolutionary model in which the development of high levels of intelligence may be driven by the demands of raising offspring. Their study is available online in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ' Early Edition. "Human infants are born far more immature than the infants of other species. For example, giraffe calves are able to stand-up, walk around, and even flee from predators within hours of their births. By comparison, human infants cannot even support their own heads," said Kidd. "Our theory is that there is a kind of self-reinforc...

Researchers report an association between smoking during pregnancy and increased risk for schizophrenia in children. The paper evaluated nearly 1,000 cases of schizophrenia and matched controls among offspring born in Finland from 1983-1998.  Results showed that a higher maternal nicotine level in the mother's blood was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia among their offspring. The study provides the most definitive evidence to date that smoking during pregnancy is associated with schizophrenia. Heavy maternal nicotine exposure was associated with a 38 percent increased odds of schizophrenia. "To our knowledge, this is the first biomarker-based study to show a relationship between fetal nicotine exposure and schizophrenia," said Alan Brown, MD, MPH, senior author and Mailman School professor of epidemiology and professor of clinical psychiatry at CUMC. "We employed a nationwide sample with the highest number of schizophrenia cases to date in...

Women with severe depressive symptoms have a decreased chance of becoming pregnant, while the use of psychotropic medications does not appear to harm fertility, a study shows. The study, published in the  American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology , found a 38 percent decrease in the average probability of conception in a given menstrual cycle among women who reported severe depressive symptoms, compared to those with no or low symptoms. The results were similar, regardless of whether the women were on psychotropic medications. Despite associations in prior studies between infertility and the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics or mood stabilizers among already infertile women, "current use of psychotropic medications did not appear to harm the probability of conception," said lead author Yael Nillni, an assistant professor of psychiatry at the School of Medicine and a researcher with the National Center for PTSD, Women's Health Sciences Division of the VA B...

The loss of the Y chromosome in batches of cells over time continues to develop as one biological explanation for why men, on average, live shorter lives than women. Researchers found that men with blood samples showing loss of chromosome Y developed Alzheimer's as often as people born with genes that put them at the most risk for the disease.         chromosome "Most genetic research today is focused on inherited gene variants -- mutations that are inherited by the offspring, but what we're looking at are postzygotic mutations that are acquired during life," says senior author Lars Forsberg, a researcher in the Department of Immunology, Genetics, and Pathology at Uppsala University in Sweden. "Using new tools to analyze genetic variations that accumulate with age, we can help explain how sporadic diseases like cancer or Alzheimer's manifest," says first author Jan Dumanski. One such postzygotic mutation found in the cells of biological males...

FACT 1 Obstructed labour accounts for up to 6% of all maternal deaths. It is a cause of maternal mortality and morbidity. FACT 2 Obstetric fistula is a hole in the birth canal caused by obstructed labour. It is estimated that more than 2 million young women live with untreated obstetric fistula in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. FACT 3 Each year, between 50 000 to 100 000 women worldwide develop obstetric fistula. FACT 4 Women who experience this preventable condition suffer constant urinary incontinence which often leads to social isolation, skin infections, kidney disorders and even death if left untreated. FACT 5 Obstetric fistulae can largely be avoided by delaying the age of first pregnancy, by the cessation of harmful traditional practices and by timely access to quality obstetric care. FACT 6 Most fistula occur among women living in poverty in cultures where a woman’s status and self-esteem may depend almost entirely on her marriage and ability to bear chil...

Today is International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. Obstetric Fistula is a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum caused by prolonged, obstructed labour without treatment. Obstetric fistula is one of the most serious and tragic injuries that can occur during childbirth. The condition typically leaves women incontinent, and as a result they are often shunned by their communities. Sufferers often endure depression, social isolation and deepening poverty. Many women live with the condition for years – or even decades – because they cannot afford to obtain treatment. An estimated 2 million women in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, the Arab region, and Latin America and the Caribbean are living with this injury, and some 50,000 to 100,000 new cases develop each year. Yet fistula is almost entirely preventable. Its persistence is a sign that health systems are failing to meet women’s essential needs. Obstetric fistula is preventable; it can largely be avoided b...

A drug commonly used to treat pain, epilepsy, anxiety and other brain health disorders may be associated with an increased risk of major birth defects, according to a new study. The drug pregabalin is approved by the FDA to treat epilepsy, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, such as pain from diabetic neuropathy or pain after shingles or spinal cord injury. It is also used for generalized anxiety disorder and other mental health issues. This is called off-label prescribing. For the study, information was collected in seven countries from 164 women who took pregabalin during a pregnancy and 656 pregnant women who were not taking any anti-seizure drugs. The women or their practitioners were then contacted again after their expected date of delivery. Pregnancies of the women who took pregabalin during the first trimester of pregnancy were three times more likely to result in major birth defects than those of the women who did not take anti-seizure drugs. Seven of the 116 pregnanci...