News & Updates

Although the exact number of women with vulvodynia is unknown, researchers estimate that 18 percent of American women from all racial backgrounds experience symptoms of vulvodynia at some point in their lives. The evidence suggests that most women either do not seek help at all, or go from doctor to doctor seeking diagnosis and treatment without answers.

At fertilization, a massive release of the metal zinc appears to set the fertilized egg cell on the path to dividing and growing into an embryo, according to the results of animal studies supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Each year, the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics releases a report about the current state of health and well being of the nation’s children. This snapshot not only provides the most recent statistics available, but also compares these data to previous years, to give a good overview of the health and well being of U.S. children, youth, and families.

The adolescent birth rate declined for the second consecutive year, preterm births declined for the third consecutive year, adolescent injury deaths declined, and fewer 12th graders binge drank, according to the federal government's annual statistical report on the well-being of the nation's children and youth.

The National Institutes of Health has undertaken a new program to discover, develop and distribute measures of nutritional status. The Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development (BOND) Program brings together experts in the field of nutrition to provide advice to researchers, clinicians, program- and policymakers, on the role of food and nutrition in health promotion and disease prevention.

Children who attended an intensive preschool and family support program attained higher educational levels, were more likely to be employed, and less likely to have problems with the legal system than were peers who did not attend the program, according to a study funded by the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Young women in the Washington, D.C., area who have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are encouraged to take part in a study at the National Institutes of Health on the possible role of the adrenal glands in the disorder.

On June 28th, new mandatory safety standards for infant cribs will take effect, helping to ensure a safe sleep environment for infants in the United States.

In a recent issue of NIH News in Health, two NICHD scientists explained the challenges of understanding and preventing endometriosis, a condition causing pain and infertility in many women.

In a study of mice, researchers have slowed an immune system attack on the ovaries. The mice developed a disorder resembling primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a menopause-like condition that affects women under the age of 40, sometimes years or even decades before normal menopause. The study was conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have discovered that the innate ability to estimate quantities is impaired in children who have a math learning disability.

NIH researchers have uncovered a key step in the biochemical sequence the bacterium which causes Legionnaire's disease uses to reproduce inside the cells it infects.

This Spotlight continues to focus on the NCMRR as the Center commemorates its 20th anniversary. The need for the Center and its research programs was clear in 1991, when it was established, and has only grown in the last two decades. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately:

Taking folic acid supplements or eating fortified grain products is unlikely to worsen problems related to low levels of vitamin B12, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and five other institutions in the United States, Ireland and Norway.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that vaccines are safe for children diagnosed with a group of diseases known as urea cycle disorders.

As scientific understanding of the disease and its mechanisms continues to advance, we can find reasons to hope. Where once there were no treatment options, we now have multiple regimens that can help to manage the disease. Where once the disease spread seemingly without boundaries, we now have ways to prevent that spread. Researchers, health care providers, and communities around the world remain dedicated to preventing, treating, managing, and even curing AIDS.

Roughly 19 percent of young adults may have high blood pressure, according to an analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), which is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Infants born in the 37th or 38th week of pregnancy have a higher risk of dying before age 1 than do infants born between 39 and 40 weeks, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the March of Dimes.

Six new white papers outlining scientific opportunities for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) are now available on the institute's Web site for public comment.

Disabilities—from a disorder, such as spina bifida; a health condition, such as a stroke; or an event, such as a motor vehicle collision—are simply a fact of life. Nearly all of us are affected by disabilities in some way, whether directly, as one of the estimated 54 million people who reported a disability in the United States last year, or indirectly, as a caregiver, family member, or friend of someone with a disability.