Birth Defects News and Research

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Collaborative study offers hope for syphilis vaccine development

Syphilis cases have surged worldwide, leaving public health officials scrounging for ways to stop the spread. Now, a large, collaborative study of syphilis genetics from four continents has found hints of a possible target for a vaccine.

19 Sep 2024

Smoking during pregnancy affects children’s academic achievement

Smoking harms almost every part of your body. But if you smoke when pregnant, the toxic chemicals in tobacco will also harm your unborn baby, with new research showing that it could lead to reduced academic outcomes at school.

30 Aug 2024

Maternal prenatal smoking linked to poor academic outcomes in children

27 Aug 2024

Early exposure to 'forever chemicals' alters gut microbiome and increases metabolic disease risk

Early life exposure to 'forever chemicals' in the environment permanently disrupts the gut microbiome in mice, contributing to the development of metabolic disease in later life, according to new research led by Penn State.

14 Aug 2024

Alcohol use disorders in parents linked to accelerated aging in children

Researchers at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) have discovered that parents who struggle with alcohol use disorders can pass along symptoms of early aging to their children, affecting them well into adulthood.

8 Aug 2024

Olympic games could fuel spread of tropical diseases, warn health experts

Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, Zika, and chikungunya could spread via the Olympics to countries where they are not normally prevalent, warn global health experts, as authorities step up disease monitoring in the French capital.

7 Aug 2024

Decreasing folate intake can support healthier metabolisms in aging animal models

In a study published in Life Science Alliance, Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists found that decreasing folate intake can support healthier metabolisms in aging animal models, challenging the conventional belief that high folate consumption universally benefits health.

2 Aug 2024

Could a Mediterranean diet be the secret to avoiding gestational diabetes?

The Mediterranean diet significantly reduces the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis. Higher adherence to this diet correlates with lower GDM incidence.

25 Jul 2024

COVID vaccines and infections in early pregnancy show no increased risk of birth defects in large Nordic study

Research on 343,066 infants across Denmark, Sweden, and Norway shows no increased risk of congenital anomalies from COVID-19 infections or vaccinations during the first trimester. The study confirms safety, supporting vaccination recommendations for pregnant women.

22 Jul 2024

First trimester COVID-19 exposure and vaccination not tied to major birth defects

Neither covid-19 infection nor vaccination during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with increased risk of major birth defects, finds a study from Scandinavia published by The BMJ today.

18 Jul 2024

Oil and gas activity may harm mental wellbeing before pregnancy

As the oil and gas industry continues its rapid expansion throughout North America, a growing body of research has linked fossil fuel development to physical and mental health conditions during and after pregnancy, including preterm birth, birth defects, and psychological stress.

12 Jul 2024

High-resolution real-time imaging reveals early developmental processes in quail embryos

Researchers at The University of Queensland have for the first time captured images and video in real time of early embryonic development to understand more about congenital birth defects.

1 Jul 2024

Adopting fully effective fortification with folic acid can help prevent birth defects

The UK government's failure to fortify all flour and rice with the vitamin folic acid "will result in more deaths and birth defects every year that could have been prevented," argues Professor Sir Nicholas Wald in The BMJ today.

20 Jun 2024

Fruit fly wing development offers clues to possible treatments for birth defects

If fruit fly wings do not develop into the right shape, the flies will die. UC Riverside researchers have learned how fly embryo cells develop as they need to, opening a window into human development and possible treatments for birth defects.

17 May 2024

New guideline issued for antiseizure medication use in pregnant epilepsy patients

A new guideline has been issued to help neurologists and other clinicians determine the best antiseizure medications for people with epilepsy who may become pregnant.

16 May 2024

Zika virus-specific synthetic molecule can differentiate between prior infections with different flaviviruses

A newly discovered Zika virus-specific synthetic molecule is capable of differentiating Zika-immune patient samples from samples of patients previously infected with the related dengue virus.

14 May 2024

Medical residents are increasingly avoiding states with abortion restrictions

Isabella Rosario Blum was wrapping up medical school and considering residency programs to become a family practice physician when she got some frank advice: If she wanted to be trained to provide abortions, she shouldn't stay in Arizona.

9 May 2024

Exposed to agent orange at US bases, veterans face cancer without VA compensation

As a young GI at Fort Ord in Monterey County, California, Dean Osborn spent much of his time in the oceanside woodlands, training on soil and guzzling water from streams and aquifers now known to be contaminated with cancer-causing pollutants.

29 Apr 2024

Mechanical pressure revealed as key factor in embryonic organ formation

A collaboration between research groups at the University of California, TU Dresden in Germany and Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's in Los Angeles has identified a mechanism by which embryonic cells organize themselves to send signals to surrounding cells, telling them where to go and what to do.

3 Apr 2024

Researchers discover diverse and spatially coordinated cardiac cells involved in heart development

Researchers use a combination of scRNA-seq and multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization to better understand cardiac cell types.

13 Mar 2024