Youth aged 13 to 24 years who were offered HIV testing by a digital health tool on a tablet computer were at least as likely to accept as those who were offered testing face-to-face, according to an NICHD-funded study.
News
NICHD issues News Releases and Media Advisories to the news media. Spotlight and Research Feature articles explain NICHD research findings and public health issues to the general public. An Item of Interest is a short announcement of relevant information, such as a notable staff change.
Science Update: Fertility treatments may increase risk for preterm birth, NIH-funded study suggests
Infertility treatments with ovulation drugs or intrauterine insemination—in which sperm is placed directly into the uterus—are associated with a higher likelihood of preterm birth, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Director's Corner: The Power of Networks
Clinical research networks bring together scientists, clinicians, and community stakeholders to identify important clinical questions and design and conduct high-quality studies to answer them. Scientific evidence generated by such studies can impact clinical care, as several recent findings from NICHD’s networks demonstrate.
Science Update: No differences in neurological impairment by second year for infants treated with dextrose for low blood sugar, NIH-funded study finds
Treating newborns at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) with a preventive oral dose of the sugar dextrose does not appear to increase their overall risk for neurological or sensory impairment at age 2, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. However, compared to a similar group of at-risk infants treated with a placebo, children treated as infants had a slightly higher risk of motor delay and slightly lower scores on a test of cognitive, language, and motor skills. The authors concluded that the study may not have included enough participants to detect an increased risk for adverse effects. They urged caution in treating infants at risk for hypoglycemia preventively with dextrose gel and called for future evaluations of the study participants later in childhood.
Science Update: NIH-funded researchers explore potential links between diabetes drug metformin and birth defects
Findings from study highlight importance of preconception health for fathers.
Item of Interest: Rohan Hazra appointed director of NICHD’s Division of Extramural Research
Dr. Hazra, an expert in pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases, brings a wealth ofexperience as a researcher, clinical trialist, and science administrator to his new role.
Media Advisory: Amygdala overgrowth that occurs in autism spectrum disorder may begin during infancy
The amygdala—a brain structure enlarged in two-year-old children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—begins its accelerated growth between 6 and 12 months of age, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The amygdala is involved in processing emotions, such as interpreting facial expressions or feeling afraid when exposed to a threat. The findings indicate that therapies to reduce the symptoms of ASD might have the greatest chance of success if they begin in the first year of life, before the amygdala begins its accelerated growth.
Media Advisory: Hydrocortisone does not prevent lung complication in extremely preterm infants
Hydrocortisone is no more effective than placebo at preventing damage that can result from oxygen and ventilator therapy necessary to keep preterm infants alive, according to research funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study of a potential treatment for the condition, known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia, appears in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Spotlight: Decoded: Data-Driven Solutions to Optimize Health and Outcomes for First-time Mothers
To help spur innovation against a growing maternal health crisis, NICHD launched the Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge last year. Learn about the winning proposals.
Science Update: NIH-funded researchers develop prototype genetic test to predict women’s risk for fibroids
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a prototype genetic test with the potential to predict the development and eventual severity of uterine fibroids—benign, but sometimes painful and debilitating tumors of the uterus. The test could be used to identify fibroid cases early and to better understand how they develop and how to treat them.
Media Advisory: Mandatory masking in schools reduced COVID-19 cases during Delta surge
NIH-funded study compared more than 1.1 million students across nine states.
Science Update: Maternal pregnancy complications may increase risk of infant health effects, NIH-funded study suggests
Life-threatening pregnancy complications known as severe maternal morbidity (SMM) appear to be associated with an increased length of hospital stay for infants and an increase in the cost of caring for them, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings support the hypothesis that infants of mothers with SMM may also be at risk for severe complications. The authors concluded that helping patients to reduce their risk factors—in early pregnancy or before conception—may reduce the chances for SMM and improve the health of infants.
Science Update: Drug use, suicide, and homicide account for more than a fifth of pregnancy-associated deaths, study suggests
In the United States, more than 20 percent of deaths during pregnancy and the first year after childbirth are due to drug use, suicide, or homicide, an NICHD-funded study suggests. The number of pregnancy associated deaths from these causes increased between 2010 and 2019, with drug-related deaths nearly tripling.
Science Update: COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may help protect offspring from SARS-CoV-2 through age 6 months, small NIH-funded study suggests
Vaccinating women against SARS-CoV-2 in mid to late pregnancy could provide their infants at least some protection against COVID-19 through six months of age, suggests a small study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Compared to infants born to mothers who had COVID-19 during pregnancy, infants born to vaccinated mothers were much more likely to have antibodies against the virus.
Release: NIH-funded study suggests COVID-19 increases risk of pregnancy complications
Pregnant women with COVID-19 appear to be at greater risk for common pregnancy complications—in addition to health risks from the virus—than pregnant women without COVID-19, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Science Update: Children born during pandemic may experience slight neurodevelopmental delays, NIH-funded study suggests
Infants born during the pandemic—regardless of whether their mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy—scored slightly lower on certain tests of neurodevelopment at 6 months old, compared to a similar group of infants born before the pandemic, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. The findings suggest that children born during the pandemic may need long-term monitoring to rapidly identify any future lags in development. The researchers theorized that maternal stress resulting from the pandemic could have effects on children’s neurodevelopment.
Science Update: Extended breastfeeding linked to higher hormone levels and later menopause onset
Women who breastfed for two years or longer had higher blood levels of anti-Müllerian hormone and later onset of menopause, compared to women who breastfed for one month or less, according to an
NICHD-supported analysis. The findings also suggest that previously observed relationships between menopause timing and the number of times a woman gave birth may be largely attributable to breastfeeding.
Science Update: Weight loss before infertility treatment does not improve live birth rate in unexplained infertility, NIH-funded study suggests
A new study funded by the National Institutes of Health contradicts the current recommendation that women with obesity should lose weight before trying to conceive. The study of more than 300 women with obesity found no difference in the proportion of live births among women with unexplained infertility who lost weight before infertility treatment and a similar group who did not lose weight before treatment.
Science Update: High-dose DHA influences immune responses during pregnancy, may reduce risk of preterm birth
Taking supplemental docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) during pregnancy may decrease the risk of preterm birth. A new NICHD-supported study offers a potential explanation for this effect by suggesting that a daily 1,000-milligram dose of DHA influences certain inflammatory immune responses linked to childbirth.
Release: COVID-19 vaccination does not reduce chances of conception, study suggests
COVID-19 vaccination does not affect the chances of conceiving a child, according to a study of more than 2,000 couples that was funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found no differences in the chances of conception if either male or female partner had been vaccinated, compared to unvaccinated couples. However, couples had a slightly lower chance of conception if the male partner had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 within 60 days before a menstrual cycle, suggesting that COVID-19 could temporarily reduce male fertility.