Birth Defects News and Research

RSS

Sandia's decontamination foam now used for meth lab cleanup

Sandia's decontamination foam, developed more than a decade ago and used to decontaminate federal office buildings and mailrooms during the 2001 anthrax attacks, is now being used to decontaminate illegal methamphetamine labs.

17 Feb 2012

Researchers pinpoint source of Loeys-Dietz syndrome

A USC research team has pinpointed the source of a genetic disorder that causes life-threatening birth defects, which may allow doctors to quickly diagnose and better treat the disease.

14 Feb 2012

Chemotherapy during pregnancy for cancer does not necessarily harm the baby: Study

When a pregnant woman is diagnosed with cancer, she and her family and doctors are faced with difficult decisions about her health and that of her unborn child. It is known that giving chemotherapy in the first 12 weeks, when the baby's organs are still forming, raises the chances of birth defects. Postponing the treatment, however, could allow the cancer to spread. Over the last decade, doctors have been more willing to use chemotherapy after the first trimester, but there have been worries that the child's brain and heart could suffer damage.

13 Feb 2012

Study looks at link between delivery time and outcomes for infants with birth defects

Weekday delivery is no better than night or weekend delivery for infants with birth defects, according to a new study presented today at The Pregnancy Meeting, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual conference. The finding is good news for all parties - moms, babies and healthcare teams - and suggests that this high-risk population of women should deliver when their bodies are ready to deliver, regardless of the day or time.

13 Feb 2012

Chromosomal microarray provides more information about fetal abnormalities

A nationwide, federally funded study has found that testing a developing fetus' DNA through chromosomal microarray (CMA) provides more information about potential disorders than does the standard method of prenatal testing, which is to visually examine the chromosomes.

10 Feb 2012

FDA clears externally controllable internal limb lengthening system

A pioneering new system codeveloped by Sinai Hospital orthopedic surgeons Shawn Standard, M.D., head of Pediatric Orthopedics at the International Center for Limb Lengthening (ICLL), and John Herzenberg, M.D., director of the ICLL, offers a major advancement in limb lengthening surgery.

8 Feb 2012

Diabetic mothers and risk of birth defects in baby: Study

Anew study published in Diabetologica reveals that pregnant women with diabetes are almost four times more likely to have a baby with a birth defect.

6 Feb 2012

Researchers identify fexinidazole as potential new therapy for visceral leishmaniasis

Researchers at the University of Dundee have identified fexinidazole as a possible, much-needed, new treatment for the parasitic disease visceral leishmaniasis.

3 Feb 2012

Roche’s skin cancer drug Erivedge gets FDA nod

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) this Monday approved a pill that treats the most common type of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma.

31 Jan 2012

Study explores links between antiretroviral prophylaxis, cleft lip and palate

HIV-positive mothers have been able to guard against transmitting the disease to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Although the drugs prevent children from being born with HIV, they could cause birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate. A new study explores any links between antiretroviral prophylaxis and cleft lip and palate.

27 Jan 2012

New research highlights and offers solutions for a nitrogen-soaked world

The nitrogen cycle has been profoundly altered by human activities, and that in turn is affecting human health, air and water quality, and biodiversity in the U.S., according to a multi-disciplinary team of scientists writing in the 15th publication of the Ecological Society of America's Issues in Ecology.

18 Jan 2012

Timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy linked with FAS characteristics

Researchers at the California Teratogen Information Service (CTIS) Pregnancy Health Information Line, a state-wide non-profit organization based at the University of California, San Diego, have found new links between the timing of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and certain characteristics of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

18 Jan 2012

Chronology of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome revealed

It is known from studies that exposure to alcohol during gestation can cause a range of birth defects. But now scientists have drawn up a chronology of when the damage occurs.

17 Jan 2012

Fallujah doctors say chemicals from U.S. weapons to blame for high levels of birth defects

"While the U.S. military has formally withdrawn from Iraq, doctors and residents of Fallujah are blaming weapons like depleted uranium and white phosphorous used during two devastating U.S. attacks on Fallujah in 2004 for what are being described as 'catastrophic' levels of birth defects and abnormalities," Al Jazeera reports.

10 Jan 2012

Cereblon protein now holds hope in fight against multiple myeloma

Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, say Mayo Clinic researchers who presented results of several clinical trials at the 53nd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology Dec. 10-13 in San Diego.

15 Dec 2011

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders, placental conditions

Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy disorders and conditions affecting the placenta, according to results reported by a National Institutes of Health research network established to find the causes of stillbirth as well as ways to prevent or reduce its occurrence.

15 Dec 2011

Children of childhood cancer survivors do not have increased risk for birth defects

A large, retrospective study of the children of childhood cancer survivors who were treated with radiation therapy and/or some forms of chemotherapy found that the offspring do not have an increased risk for birth defects compared to children of cancer survivors who did not receive such treatments.

14 Dec 2011

Scientists identify genetic alteration behind anophthalmia

Scientists at University College Dublin, Ireland, have identified a genetic alteration which causes a child to be born with no eyes - a condition called anophthalmia.

13 Dec 2011

Immunomodulators show promise against multiple myeloma

Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, says the study's senior investigator, Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B. of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Dr. Stewart presented the results at the 53rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.

12 Dec 2011

WSU study to improve diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are one of the most common causes of birth defects worldwide and are particularly prevalent in some South African communities where heavy drinking during pregnancy is a major public health issue, particularly in the wine-growing areas of the Western Cape.

6 Dec 2011