Pregnancy
Calcium improves pregnancy outcomes
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In pregnant women with low calcium intake, treatment with calcium supplements can reduce the severity of preeclampsia—a potentially serious complication of pregnancy characterized by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine—as well as cut maternal illness and infant death, according to a study by the World Health Organization.
“Pregnant women with limited access to dairy products or those with absorption issues, such as lactose intolerance, are likely to have low calcium intake and, based on our findings, should receive calcium supplements,” lead author Dr. Jose Villar, from the Geneva-based United Nations group, told Reuters Health.
Pre-eclampsia kidney disease link
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Pre-eclampsia is a complication in pregnancy occurring in approximately eight percent of all pregnancies. It is characterised by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine. It generally develops after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Medical doctor and researcher Bjoern Egil Vikse from the Department of Medicine at University of Bergen (UiB) is the first author of an upcoming article in the March issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
Vikse explains that there were two reasons for becoming involved in this work. The first was that a collegaue had previously found a strong correlation between pre-eclampsia and a later incidence of cardiovascular disease. The second is that UiB researchers have a unique research tool. They have access to two large databases: one is a birth registry; the other is a kidney biopsy registry. This enables them to use large, well-documented data pools in their work.
Maternal asthma tied to prematurity, lower weight
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Pregnant women with asthma are at heightened risk for delivering prematurely and of having a low-birthweight infant, according to a Canadian study discussed at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Miami Beach, Florida.
The researchers investigated ties between maternal asthma and prematurity and low birthweight using the 1995 Manitoba birth data consisting of all 13,980 children born that year in the province.
MRI rules out appendicitis during pregnancy
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Pregnant women are prone to a number of conditions that can mimic appendicitis, so diagnosis of acute abdominal pain can be tricky in this situation. Now a team of physicians has shown that magnetic resonance imaging is accurate for excluding appendicitis in pregnant women.
Dr. Ivan Pedrosa and colleagues at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston note that while ultrasound is the preferred imaging method in pregnancy, it often fails to visualize the appendix.
Pedrosa’s team took a look back at the diagnostic performance of MRI in 51 pregnant patients with suspected acute appendicitis who were seen between 1999 and 2004.
Stopping antidepressants during pregnancy may lead to relapse
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Women who stop taking antidepressant medications during pregnancy are at a five times greater risk for recurrence of depression than are women who continue taking their medication throughout their pregnancies, according to a multi-institutional study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The findings, from the first systematic clinical study of depression relapse during pregnancy, run counter to a common belief that pregnancy’s hormonal changes can prevent psychiatric problems.
Use of antidepressants during pregnancy linked to neonatal abstinence syndrome in infants
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Almost one-third of 60 newborn infants whose mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy experienced neonatal abstinence syndrome, a type of withdrawal with symptoms that include high-pitched crying, tremors and disturbed sleep, according to a study in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Between one-tenth and one-fourth of women will develop depression in their lifetimes, according to background information in the article. The stress of pregnancy can worsen the condition and increase the need for medications.
Low birth weight infants overcome difficulties by adulthood
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Look around, can you tell who among your friends were tiny, preemie babies?
As young adults, the majority of extremely low birth-weight infants are attaining similar levels of education, employment and independence as normal birth-weight infants, according to a study by researchers at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in the February 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Pregnancy test may lie behind deadly frog fungus
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What do an old pregnancy test for women and a mysterious fungus that is killing frogs have in common?
Plenty, according to researchers at North-West University in South Africa, who believe they have traced the spread of the killer fungus to trade in the African clawed frog, used for decades in a bizarre but effective way of determining pregnancy.
Smoking During Pregnancy May Affect Baby’s Fingers and Toes
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There’s one more reason not to smoke during pregnancy. A mother’s cigarette smoking increases the risk that her newborn may have extra, webbed or missing fingers or toes, according to a study in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Although the overall risk of these abnormalities in fingers and toes is relatively low, just half a pack of cigarettes per day increases the risk to the baby by 29 percent, compared to non-smokers. Because limbs develop very early in pregnancy, the effect may occur even before a woman knows she is pregnant.
Vitamin D during pregnancy affects kids’ bone mass
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The children of mothers who had low levels of vitamin D during their pregnancy have reduced bone mineral content during childhood, potentially increasing their risk of osteoporosis in later life, British investigators report.
Vitamin D is required for skeletal growth during infancy and childhood, the team notes, and recent findings raise concerns that low levels of vitamin D during pregnancy may have a deleterious effect.
New Findings About Birth Defects
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New findings presented this past week by UAB researchers at the Cell Biology Conference in San Francisco challenge a widely held belief among scientists that cilia – small hair-like projections on the surface of cells – serve no purpose.
“Our study demonstrates cilia play an essential role in the proper formation of certain tissues, such as limbs and digits,” said Bradley Yoder, Ph.D., UAB cell biologist. The study focused on a protein called Tg737/polaris, required for cilia formation.
Some women prone to carry strep in pregnancy
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Black women, health care workers, and overweight women are at increased risk for carrying group B streptococcus (GBS) during pregnancy, new research suggests.
GBS is a microbe that can live in or “colonize” the birth canal and then be passed onto the infant during birth, resulting in a potentially life-threatening infection.
Women Who Smoke Prior to First Pregnancy Have a Higher Risk of Breast Cancer
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Researchers outline in the November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings their study of postmenopausal women, which supports the hypothesis that women who smoke cigarettes before first full-term pregnancy have a 20 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared with women who began smoking after the birth of their first child or were never smokers.
The study is a strong indicator of the continued need for smoking prevention messages to all, but especially ones tailored to this group of young women.
Significant association between gingivitis and preterm birth
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Pregnant women will want to include a periodontal evaluation as part of their prenatal care. That’s because researchers found that periodontal treatment significantly reduced the risk of having a preterm birth or a low birthweight infant, according to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology.
“We found a significant association between gingivitis and preterm birth after adjusting for the major risk factors for preterm delivery, suggesting that gingivitis, the earliest form of periodontal disease, is an independent risk factor for preterm birth and low birthweight,” said Dr. Ne’stor J. L?, Professor of the University of Chile. “Periodontal therapy reduced preterm birth and low birthweight infant rates by 68 percent in women with pregnancy-associated gingivitis.”
Pregnancy problem linked to heart disease risk
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Women who suffer certain complications during pregnancy are more likely to develop premature cardiovascular disease, according to a study published on Friday.
Scientists at the University of Toronto in Canada said expectant mothers with maternal placental syndrome, which includes pre-eclampsia or high blood pressure during pregnancy, had double the risk of developing early cardiovascular disease.
