The largest, most comprehensive study of its kind to date has found that women who have undergone tubal sterilization are at no greater risk for menstrual abnormalities than are women who have not had the procedure, settling a debate within the medical community.
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.
New MRI Technology Provides Detailed Views of Brain Development
Researchers will convene at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to discuss how to make the best uses of a new technology that allows researchers and physicians to make detailed, three-dimensional maps of the nerve pathways through which various parts of the brain communicate.
Chromosome Deletions in Autistic Patient Point to Possible Genetic Links to Autism
A 7-year-old patient with autism was found to have a chromosome with deleted segments of DNA.
Researchers Identify Gene Common to Many Autism Cases
Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have identified a gene that may predispose people to developing autism.
People with Common Masculinizing Disorder Also Lack Adrenaline, NICHD Study Finds
People with 21-hydroxylase deficiency-a common yet little known disorder causing early puberty and masculinizing features in both males and females-also lack sufficient quantities of the stress hormone adrenaline, according to a study by researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Fertility Researchers Discover New Gene Essential for Female Fertility
Fertility researchers at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) have found that a gene in female mice is essential for their egg cells to later develop beyond the two-cell stage after fertilization.
NIH Consensus Panel Recommends Comprehensive Approach to Life Long Care for PKU
People with the rare metabolic disorder phenylketonuria need to adhere to the special diet central to their treatment, concluded a Consensus Panel convened by the National Institutes of Health.
Campaign's Resource Kit Seeks to Reduce Incidence of SIDS in African American Communities
Commemorating SIDS Awareness Month, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher today unveiled a resource kit for reducing the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in African American communities.
NIH Grantees Awarded Nobel Prize in Economics
Two long-time National Institutes of Health grantees -- Dr. James J. Heckman, of the University of Chicago, and Dr. Daniel L. McFadden, of the University of California at Berkeley were awarded the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, 2000.
Shorter AZT Treatment Reduces Mother to Child HIV Transmission as Well as Longer Treatment but for Less Cost
A shorter course of AZT therapy than currently prescribed for HIV-infected pregnant women may allow women in developing countries to afford the treatment that can reduce their babies' chances of contracting AIDS, but at a much lower cost, according to a study in the October 5 New England Journal of Medicine.
NIH Researchers Discover "Feeding Channel" Created by Malaria Parasite
NIH researchers have found pore-like holes in the membranes of red blood cells infected by the deadliest form of the malaria parasite.
Federal Funds Support Expansion of Research in Women's Health
In a major new effort to stimulate women's health research across a variety of disciplines, the National Institutes of Health announced it will fund 11 awards to support development of new research in women's health.
Nation's Children Gain in Many Areas
American children are less likely to die during childhood, less likely to live in poverty, less likely to be at risk for hunger, and less likely to give birth during adolescence, according to the fourth annual report, America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2000.
Special Indicator Finds High School Volunteerism Up 10 Percent
About 55 percent of 9th through 12th graders participated in volunteer activities in 1999, a 10 percent increase from 1996.
Special Indicator Shows Majority of Beginning Kindergartners Know Letters
A special indicator from the America's Children report showed that 66 percent of children entering kindergarten can recognize letters of the alphabet, and 29 percent could recognize the sounds associated with letters that begin words.
NICHD Researchers Improve Techniques for Interviewing Child Abuse Victims
A research team has developed new techniques to help police interviewers and child protective service workers get more accurate information from victims of child abuse.
Fathers with High Self Esteem More Involved in Child Care, Study Finds
The NICHD Study of Early Child Care has found that fathers who had high levels of self esteem were more involved in caring for their children than were fathers with lower self esteem.
Stress Hormone Linked to Increased Alcohol Consumption in Animal Model
Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development report in the current issue of Alcoholism: Cinical and Experimental Research (Volume 24, Number 5) results from the first study to determine whether future drinking may be predicted by response to stress during infancy.
NICHD-Funded Researchers Uncover Abnormal Brain Pathways in SIDS Victims
A team of researchers funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) has found that infants who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) have abnormalities in several parts of the brainstem.
To Reduce SIDS Risk, Doctor's Advice Most Important in Choice of Placing Infants to Sleep on Their Backs
Parents and other caregivers are more likely to place infants to sleep on their backs when advised to do so by their infants' doctors, according to the latest analysis of the National Infant Sleep Position Study (NISP).