Early help may improve preemies' behavior later

2011-12-21T09:30:17Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Giving parents of newborn preemies some help right from the start may make a difference in their children's behavior by school age, a new study suggests.

Children born prematurely tend to have higher rates of behavioral problems, like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), than their peers who were born full-term.

But not much has been known about ...

Progesterone helps cut risk of pre-term birth: study

2011-12-14T10:00:25Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Treatment with a gel containing the hormone progesterone can cut the risk of premature births by more than 40 percent in women with short cervixes, according to an analysis released on Wednesday.

The so-called meta-analysis, which pooled published results of five large clinical trials, showed that treatment with a vaginal gel ...

Extreme preemies show mental deficits as adults

2011-12-05T14:00:09Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young adults who were born very prematurely, but without any serious brain impairments, may still not be as mentally sharp as their peers, a small study published Monday suggests.

Finnish researchers found that of 208 young adults they tested, the half born at a very low weight -- less than 3.3 pounds -- generally had lower scores on some measures of memory, atten...

Newborn preemies more vocal with parents: study

2011-10-20T21:30:07Z

(Reuters) - Even tiny premature babies in hospital care after birth can make baby sounds, and are especially vocal when their parents are talking to them -- a finding that could be significant in terms of later language ability, a U.S. study said.

Very premature babies are known to be slower-than-average in picking up language skills. It is also not known whether the sounds they hear soon af...

Preemies have a higher risk of autism: study

2011-10-17T11:30:19Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The risk of developing autism among children who were born prematurely is five times greater than among kids born after a full-term pregnancy, according to a new study.

"Although this group is not the first to report a higher prevalence of autism in the low birth weight infant population, they've done a better job than anyone else in confirming the diagnosis with ...

Preterm birth linked to epilepsy risk in adults

2011-10-04T13:00:15Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults who were born prematurely may have a higher risk of the seizure disorder epilepsy than those who were born full-term, a new study suggests.

The findings, from a study of 630,000 Swedish adults ages 25 to 37, add to evidence linking early delivery to the disorder.

Past studies have found a correlation between preterm birth and epilepsy in children and ...

Preemies may face higher death rates as adults

2011-09-20T21:30:08Z

(Reuters) - Health problems are common among premature babies, who are more likely to die than their full-term peers during the first few years of life -- and they may also face slightly increased death rates as young adults, a study said.

"This is an entirely new finding," said Casey Crump of Stanford University

Preemies face higher death rates as young adults

2011-09-20T14:30:27Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When preemies grow up to be young adults, they could face slightly increased death rates, according to a new study based on Swedish data.

Health problems are common among preterm babies, who also are more likely to die than their full-term peers during the first few years of life.

But the new findings overturn previous beliefs that preemies go on to have nor...

No more bad surprises as tiny preemies reach teens

2011-07-26T14:30:21Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although extremely small preemies are plagued by many health problems, a new study shows they have no more chronic ailments in store when they hit their teens.

But they did run into a problem that was common among their normal-birth weight peers: obesity.

"Other than obesity there is nothing new," said Dr. Maureen Hack, of the University Hospita...

Preemies can catch up in vocabulary by teen years

2011-07-20T13:30:13Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - By the age of 16, children born very prematurely are able to catch up to kids born at full term in their ability to identify the names of things, according to a new study.

The results are a bit of good news among myriad reports detailing deficits in learning and cognition that are common among children born weeks or months before their due date.

"This leaves...

Developmental disabilities inching up in U.S. kids

2011-05-23T00:00:06Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of U.S. children with developmental disabilities has been climbing over the past decade, reaching nearly one in six in 2006 to 2008, a new government report shows.

"The take-home message for parents would be to promote early identification and screening of children," Sheree Boulet, o...

Asthma risk may rise with preterm birth: study

2011-05-10T20:00:10Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Preterm birth, and even early term birth, may put babies at higher risk for needing asthma medication during childhood and adolescence, according to a Swedish study.

"Every week in the womb is important for the fetus in order to reduce the risk of childhood asthma," said Hartmut Vogt from Reuters Life!) - Short children who were born prematurely see significant improvements in their height and weight during the first year of treatment with growth hormone, although long-term follow-up is still needed, an international study said.

Approximately 10 percent of all newborns are born premature, said Margaret Boguszewski, lead author of the study in the Journa...

Fish-eaters show lower risk of preterm birth

2011-04-25T11:00:06Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among pregnant women at high risk of preterm birth, those who eat fish a few times a week may be less likely to deliver early, a new study finds.

Whether fish itself helps prevent preterm delivery is not clear, the researchers stress. But, they say, the finding is in line with the general advice that pregnant women eat up to two fish meals per week.

The stud...

Simple treatment cuts preterm births by 45 percent

2011-04-06T10:00:08Z

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Treating high-risk pregnant women with the hormone progesterone cut their rate of premature delivery by 45 percent and helped lower the risk of breathing complications in their babies, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The findings, published online in the journal Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, offer a relatively s...

Extreme preemies at risk for asthma as adults

2011-03-21T10:00:12Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Young adults who were born very premature may have an increased risk of asthma, a report published Monday suggests.

The study, of more than 600,000 Swedish adults born in the 1970s, found that those born very early -- between the 23rd and 27th weeks of pregnancy -- were more than twice as likely to have asthma as young adults born full-term.

There was, howev...

Living near a major road tied to preterm birth: study

2010-12-02T10:31:55Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Women living near major, heavily-trafficked roads were more likely to give birth prematurely, perhaps due to traffic-related air pollution, according to a Japanese study.

But Takashi Yorifuji, of the Okayama Graduate School of Medicine, and his team said it was still too early to see a clear link, while other medical experts said noise pol...

Living near a major road tied to preterm birth

2010-12-01T10:30:52Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women who live near busy roads may be at a greater risk for delivering before term, suggests a new study from Japan.

However, the researchers say it's too early to know for sure if traffic-related air pollution can actually cause preterm births.

Most babies are born after spending around 40 week...

Off-hours delivery may not affect preemie survival

2010-07-22T09:30:12Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While studies have found that infants born during hospital off-hours may have a heightened risk of death, the same may not be true of the tiniest preemies cared for at major medical centers, a new study suggests.

A number of studies have found that infants born during night or weekend shifts have a relatively higher risk of dying or suffering complications than those born on weekdays -- th...

Too little weight gain risky in twin pregnancy

2010-06-23T13:00:28Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women pregnant with twins should be sure to gain the recommended amount of weight, according to a new study, which shows that gaining less weight than recommended during a twin pregnancy ups the risk of early birth and low weight babies.

"A woman should gain about a pound a week; less than that, and we had smaller babies and more pre-term births," Reuters Health) - If babies are born a couple of weeks early, but are healthy, they're not at greater risk of developmental or behavior problems later on, new research shows.

But babies born at 34 to 36 weeks' pregnancy who have problems such as difficulty breathing or eating, the study's authors say, may still be at a developmental disadvantage later in life.

Such "late-preterm" infants (a full-term ...

More evidence preterm birth can run in families

2010-06-07T14:30:39Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who were born prematurely or had siblings who were may be at increased risk of having a preterm baby themselves, a large UK study finds.

The findings, from a study of nearly 14,000 women who gave birth between the 1970s and 2008, add to evidence that genes are involved in the risk of preterm delivery (birth before the 37th w...

Stress early in pregnancy increases risks to babies

2010-05-07T13:45:38Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Stressful situations in early pregnancy can lead to the birth of babies who are underweight or born too early, new research from China shows. Timing of the stress, the researchers found, was the key.

"The findings are modest, but significant," the authors write in the Reuters Health) - Over the past 15 years, survival rates among infants born extremely early (before 24 weeks of pregnancy) have not improved, but it's not for lack of trying.

According to a UK study released today, there has been an increase in the number of extremely preterm babies receiving active, yet ultimately unsuccessful, treatment. These ti...

Very premature twins do just as well as singletons

2010-06-14T11:46:47Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Overall, very premature twins fare just as well as single babies born very early, and they may even face a lower risk of certain complications, new research shows.

But for twin pairs of the same sex but sharply different sizes who are born before 28 weeks, the risks of death and bleeding on the brain are higher than they are for single babies born at the same time, Reuters Health) - Children born extremely preterm may face a much higher-than-average risk of developing autism later in childhood, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that of 219 children born before the 26th week of pregnancy, 8 percent met the criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at age 11. That compared with none of 153 classmates who were born full-term and included in a comparison group....

Premature birth tied to later behavioral problems

2010-04-16T08:21:09Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who were born prematurely and at a very low weight may have an increased risk of certain behavior problems and symptoms of depression and anxiety, research suggests.

As the survival rates of very preterm newborns have improved in recent years, studies have uncovered some of the potential long-term challenges these infants will face -- including lower IQ and higher rates of behavio...

Birth weight, early weight gain may hasten puberty

2010-04-16T08:28:45Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A relatively low birth weight and early-age weight gain may increase the likelihood of early puberty, hint findings from a German study. Earlier onset of puberty has been linked to certain cancers, high blood sugar and obesity.

The study, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests the o...

Mothers' genes important in preterm birth risk

2010-04-16T08:32:18Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A mother's genes may be an important factor in the risk of preterm birth, two new studies suggest.

Past research has shown that genes likely play a role in a pregnant woman's odds of delivering prematurely -- before the 37th week of pregnancy.

The risk is increased, for example, among women who were themselves born prematurely or have a sister who ever gave birth preterm. And finding...

Abuse of moms may stunt kid's growth

2010-06-26T04:53:13Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children of abused mothers may be smaller at birth and show stunted early growth, according to research from Bangladesh.

Prior studies have shown that physical and sexual violence against women is associated with low birth weight of the offspring, as well as with an increased risk of early infant death.

To investigate further,

Jury still out on music's benefits for preemies

2010-04-16T10:18:03Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There is no high-quality evidence that listening to music helps tiny babies born prematurely cope with pain, feed better and calm down, according to a review of studies.

While there are some "preliminary" indications that music could be helpful for specific purposes, such as easing pain during circumcision, "these findings need to be confirmed in methodologically rigorous trials,"

Former preemies may have weak bones

2010-09-01T12:17:06Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Premature infants with very low birth weight have less dense bones later in life than their peers born at term with normal weight, Finnish researchers have found.

This may boost their risk of the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis in adulthood, the study team notes.

Dr. Petteri Hovi, of the Reuters Health) - The risk of giving birth to a premature or small infant is increased among women who have seizures while pregnant compared with the general population, researchers in Taiwan report.

Less than one percent of women have seizure disorder, known as epilepsy, note Dr. Herng-Ching Lin, from ...

Low birth weight may raise kidney disease risk

2010-04-16T11:00:56Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who were born at a low weight may have an increased risk of eventually developing kidney disease, a research review suggests.

A number of studies have linked low birth weight to heightened risks of various adulthood health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes and possibly chronic kidney disease. Overall, about 10 to 15 percent of adults are affected by chronic kidney di...

Kicking the habit in pregnancy better for babies

2010-04-16T11:13:00Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Moms-to-be who smoke but quit early in pregnancy can sharply reduce their risk of having a premature or too-small baby, new research in the journal Obstetrics &amp; Gynecology shows.

"Our results show that first-trimester quitters have a risk of delivering a preterm or SGA newborn comparable to those who never smoked during pregnancy, and second trimester quitters also have a lower...

Drugs expose many premature babies to chemicals

2010-04-16T11:14:23Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Premature babies are often exposed to additives in their medications that could put them at risk of brain and lung damage, according to a new study.

"Many liquid medications contain additives," co-author Dr. Hitesh C. Pandya, of the University of Leicester...

Low birthweight linked to adult breathing trouble

2010-04-16T11:21:00Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults with a history of low birth weight are more prone to be hospitalized for breathing disorders than are adults without such a history, according to a new study.

Children born at low birth weights have been known to have abnormal lung function, according to the study's authors, but it has been unclear whether those effects linger until adulthood. The number of people born at such weigh...

Endometriosis ups risk of preterm birth: study

2010-04-16T11:26:29Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Pregnant women with endometriosis are at increased risk for delivering prematurely as well as suffering a number of other adverse pregnancy outcomes, results of a study indicate.

Endometriosis is a painful condition that affects women during their reproductive years and is caused by the growth of the tissue lining the uterus in other parts of the abdomen outside of the uterus, such as the ...

Phthalate exposure linked to low birth weight

2010-04-16T11:33:52Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Findings from a study of Chinese newborns suggest that pregnant women exposed to phthalates -- plasticizer chemicals used in many consumer products -- increases the risk of low birth weight.

In animal studies, phthalate exposure has been linked to reduced fetal birth weight and shorter pregnancies, note Dr. Ren-Shan Ge, from Reuters Health) - Most preterm infants who survive a type of stroke called "periventricular hemorrhagic infarction," or PVHI, suffer only mild functional impairment in childhood. Moreover, their average IQ is just a few points lower than that of preterm infants who do not suffer PVHI.

"PVHI is still considered a disastrous" condition, Elise Roze and collea...

Study: Couples Should Communicate About Grief After Pregnancy and Infant Loss

2010-10-21T09:32:06Z

...

Wikileaks Berkeley

2010-12-14T22:31:11Z

Beverly Dove holds a sign as she speaks during a city council meeting in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010. The council in this famously liberal city is considering a resolution Tuesday night bestowing hero status on Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier at the center of the

News on Reuters Group Plc