Fertility researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have discovered a gene present in the human egg that may be essential for early embryo development.
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.
Undersize Infants Score Higher on IQ Tests if Breast Fed Exclusively
Full-term infants who are born small score an average of 11 points higher on IQ tests if they are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life compared to those who are given formula or solids early on, according to findings published in the March Acta Paediatrica.
Many Obese Youth Have Condition That Precedes Type 2 Diabetes
Many obese children and adolescents have impaired glucose tolerance, a condition that often appears before the development of type 2 diabetes, according to researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Oral Diabetes Drug Shows Promise in Preventing Miscarriage in Common Infertility Disorder
The anti-diabetes drug metformin appears to reduce the likelihood of early miscarriage in women with a common form of female infertility, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
NICHD Scientists Develop Vaccine Against Deadly Hospital-Acquired Infection
Scientists at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the biologics firm Nabi have developed the first vaccine against Staphylococcus aureus, a major cause of infection and death among hospital patients.
NIH Panel Outlines Strategies for Managing Tumors of the Adrenal Glands
A panel convened by the National Institutes of Health issued recommendations to help physicians evaluate a particular class of tumors of the adrenal glands and determine which should be removed and which should be left alone.
NIH State-of-the-Science Panel to Evaluate Treatment Strategies for Clinically Inapparent Adrenal Gland Masses
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Program will hold a State-of-the-Science Conference on Management of the Clinically Inapparent Adrenal Mass (Incidentaloma) on February 4-6, 2002, in the main auditorium of the William H. Natcher Building on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
Home Uterine Monitors Not Useful for Predicting Premature Birth
Portable monitors that detect contractions of the uterus do not appear to be useful for identifying women likely to have a preterm delivery, according to a study by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
New Parenting Booklet Puts Decades of Research into Easy-to-Read Guide
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) today released a valuable new parenting booklet that incorporates three decades of research on effective parenting techniques and healthy child development.
Educational Lag for Premature Infants Persists Into Adulthood
By the time they reached adulthood, very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants born in the late 1970s lagged behind their normal birth weight counterparts in I.Q. scores and educational achievement, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Even Moderately Premature Birth Poses Risk for Developmental Delays
Contrary to current assumptions, being born just two to four weeks premature can put a child at risk for minor delays in development, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
"Calcium Crisis" Affects American Youth
Only 13.5 percent of girls and 36.3 percent of boys age 12 to 19 in the United States get the recommended daily amount (RDA) of calcium, placing them at serious risk for osteoporosis and other bone diseases, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Study Confirms Secretin No More Effective Than Placebo in Treating Autism Symptoms
The latest in a series of studies on secretin has failed to show that giving the digestive hormone to children with autism alleviates symptoms of the disorder, according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Autism Fact Sheets Now Available from NICHD
A series of fact sheets describing the latest research findings on autism is now available from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
New Recommendations to Assess Male Fertility Question Previous Standards
New recommendations from an NICHD study question current standards for determining whether a semen sample is normal or abnormal.
Harmless Virus Prevents HIV Variant from Spreading in Human Tissue Blocks
Human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), a common virus that is apparently harmless in adults, appears to prevent a form of the AIDS virus from reproducing in laboratory cultures of human tissue, according to a study published in the November issue of Nature Medicine.
Sharp Drop In Stress Hormones May Set Stage for Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis After Pregnancy
A sharp drop in stress hormones after giving birth to a child may predispose some women to develop certain conditions in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Infant Sleep Position & Head Control
A study appearing in the October 2001 issue of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics reported that premature infants who sleep on their backs gain the ability to lift their heads at a slightly slower rate than do premature infants who sleep on their stomachs.
'Master' Stress Hormone Prevents Mother From Rejecting Embryo
The "master" hormone that commands the body's response to stress is also directly involved in the process that prevents a mother's immune system from destroying an embryo that has implanted in her uterus, according to the results of a study by researchers at the the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and several other Institutions.
Shortened Cervix in Second Trimester Possible Warning Sign for Premature Birth
A short cervix early in the second trimester of pregnancy appears to be a warning sign of impending premature birth among women who have previously given birth prematurely, according to a study by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's (NICHD) Maternal Fetal Medicine Units (MFMU) Network.