| Malaria poses additional risks for first-time mothers | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 6:46:13 PM by Blog57 Team | | One of the consequences of malaria has been shown in new research to be an increased likelihood for women in their first pregnancy to develop preeclampsia (very high blood pressure and protein loss in the urine), which carries high risks for both mother and child. Preeclampsia is thought to be more common in parts of the world where there is a serious malaria problem and it has often been speculated that there might be a connection. Malaria is more common in a first pregnancy and so is preeclampsia. In both cases, the reasons are unknown. Researchers from the USA, UK and Tanzania set out to investigate the possibility that malaria might lead to preeclampsia. When a pregnant woman has malaria, it can result in a high concentration of malaria parasites developing in the placenta, in which case she is said to have 'placental malaria'.... | |
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| | | Grant Life Sciences and Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. Are Exploring an Expanded Partnership Beyond Their Initially | | Posted Wednesday, November 01, 2006 2:47:07 AM by Blog57 Team | | Grant Life Sciences ('Grant') Inc. (OTC BB: GLIF) announced today that it is exploring an expanded partnership with Israel-based Diagnostic Technologies Ltd. (DTL) related to Grant's cervical cancer-diagnostic technology. The original proposed association between the two companies, assuming acceptable due diligence by DTL, was to have been a definitive Licensing Agreement that would include an upfront licensing fee of $250,000 paid to Grant. In addition, DTL would conduct all product development at its own cost, including clinical trials, associated with the commercialization of products developed from Grant's cervical cancer-diagnostic technology. Upon commercialization, DTL would pay Grant an ongoing royalty on sales of the products developed, according to the definitive Licensing Agreement.... | |
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| | | Healing the world | | Posted Sunday, October 29, 2006 12:47:14 PM by Blog57 Team | | Israel has been always in the front of world clinical medicine, medical sciences and biotechnology. And in the last five years major promising scientific contributions have originated from different Israeli hospitals and faculties of medicine which are having worldwide implications. Here are just a few of the highlights which my medical and scientific colleagues at Israeli hospitals and research centers have been part of: Ovarian tissue transplant In a breakthrough that provides hope for woman undergoing chemotherapy during their fertile years, for the first time in the world, a cancer patient who had become sterile due to anti cancer chemotherapy treatment gave birth after undergoing a transplant of ovarian tissue. The ovarian slices had been taken from her body prior to initiation of chemotherapy treatment and preserved by freezing them.... | |
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| | | Many IVF mothers might be better off with a single embryo transfer | | Posted Wednesday, October 25, 2006 10:47:09 AM by Blog57 Team | | U.K. fertility experts issued recommendations on Wednesday to reduce the rising number of twin births in cases of in-vitro fertilization, including the transfer of only one embryo into the womb. In a report presented to the nation's fertility watchdog, the panel of experts said research has shown that limiting the number of embryos transferred can reduce the number of twins born through in-vitro fertilization without changing the overall success rate. "Multiple birth is the single biggest risk to children born as a result of IVF," Professor Peter Braude of Kings College in London and the chair of the panel told a news conference. Some patients and clinics opt for transferring two embryos to increase the odds of success, but Braude said the rate of twins can be reduced by limiting the number to one without damaging a woman's chance of conceiving.... | |
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| | | New science leads to new questions | | Posted Wednesday, October 18, 2006 2:46:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | Billboards along Missouri highways promise that if voters approve a stem cell measure on the November ballot, their loved ones could be saved from debilitating diseases. Opponents of embryonic stem cell research cry foul. They point out that while adult stem cells have been used to treat people for years, embryonic stem cells have yet to save even a single life. Both positions contain a grain of truth and a mound of hype. Doctors, scientists, business leaders, politicians and patient advocacy groups see enormous potential of stem cells taken from the core of early embryos. Those cells have the ability to become any cell in the human body - a trait scientists call "pluripotent." .... | |
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| | | Doctors delving into preeclampsia puzzle | | Posted Wednesday, October 11, 2006 10:46:13 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sara and Gregory Bartel had barely begun to prepare the nursery for their first child when they learned that the baby might arrive in less than a week. At 281/2 weeks pregnant, Bartel's blood pressure was extremely high -- 180/110, a classic sign of preeclampsia, which is a leading cause of maternal and fetal death. Doctors worried about the safety of Bartel and her fetus. They gave her steroids that would cross to the placenta to increase development of the fetus's lungs and decrease the fetus's risk of brain hemorrhage and intestinal problems. Three days later, on Sept. 15, Katie Elizabeth was delivered by Caesarean section. She weighed 2 pounds, 6.5 ounces and was 14 inches long. "The pregnancy had been completely normal. No morning sickness or anything," said Bartel, 24.... | |
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| | | 21st century mums | | Posted Thursday, October 05, 2006 6:46:13 AM by Blog57 Team | | Cathy Newman is a political correspondent for Channel 4 and has been married to John for five years. Cathy, 32, the main breadwinner, returned to work six months after having Scarlett (now two). They live in London I'm the kind of person who prepares for everything, and Scarlett was definitely part of The Plan. Three years ago, when John and I decided to have a family, there happened to be a lull in the political cycle, which was lucky because I'd have found it difficult having a baby when there was a massive story coming up. There was never any question of me not going back to work, it's part of my identity. And I get very annoyed by the Daily Mail stereotype that says you can't have it all because, I think as a working mum, you can. I loved getting to know Scarlett, but if any woman tells you those first months are solely a wonderful, nurturing experience, don't believe her.... | |
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| | | Preeclampsia complications decline; more infants survive | | Posted Thursday, September 28, 2006 2:46:18 PM by Blog57 Team | | The number of complications arising from preeclampsia including fetal and infant deaths has registered a drop since the 1960s, according to a new study published in the September 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Preeclampsia is a potentially fatal condition where the blood pressure of the pregnant woman shoots up beyond control. Such a condition may prove detrimental to the health of both the mother as well as the child. Despite medical advances in the last few decades, preeclampsia usually results in the delivery of a premature baby, whose chances of surviving are minimal. .... | |
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| | | Improvement seen in fetal survival following preeclampsia | | Posted Thursday, September 21, 2006 6:46:09 PM by Blog57 Team | | Fetal survival following a preeclamptic pregnancy has improved substantially over the last 35 years in Norway, likely due to a reduction in stillbirths and improvements in clinical management, according to a study in the September 20 issue of JAMA. Preeclampsia (a potentially dangerous condition that may develop in late pregnancy with symptoms that include high blood pressure, fluid retention, excessive weight gain, and the presence of protein in the urine) is a well-known cause of perinatal (occurring during the period around birth) death. Despite improvements in clinical management, preeclampsia often culminates in the delivery of a very preterm infant following medical intervention. Even mild preterm delivery substantially increases the risk of neonatal death. Preeclampsia can progress rapidly, putting both mother and child at severe risk if no action is taken.... | |
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| | | Protein Biomarkers Herald Onset of Preeclampsia | | Posted Thursday, September 21, 2006 12:48:00 PM by Blog57 Team | | BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 7 -- Abnormally high circulating levels of two proteins produced by the placenta may be responsible for the development of preeclampsia, researchers reported. Circulating soluble endoglin levels increased markedly as did soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt1) beginning two to three months before the onset of clinical disease, a finding that might prove helpful in predicting the development of preeclampsia, the investigators reported in the Sept. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Endoglin, highly expressed on cell membranes of vascular endothelium, is up-regulated in preeclampsia, releasing soluble endoglin, an antiangiogenic protein, into the maternal circulation, said Richard Levine, M.D., of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development here, and S.... | |
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