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In Vitro Fertilization Improves
Clinical results from Down Under suggest that recent advances in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) can double the chances of having a baby for women in their early 40s. And the success rate for this group is increasing faster than any other's. The successes resulted from improved media for culturing embryos and a better technique for selecting those with the best chances for developing in a healthy manner, said Peter Illingworth, president of the Fertility Society of Australia. The new procedure involved transferring embryos into recipient women at the blastocyst stage (five or six days after fertilization), rather than at the cleavage stage (two to three days after). This allowed doctors to better assess which embryos had the best survival chances. (Read more about In Vitro Fertilization Improves)
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Exercise During Pregnancy Benefits Mother and Baby
Exercise up to the end of pregnancy has no harmful effect on the weight or size of the fetus, according to research appearing in the International Journal of Obesity. The study was conducted by Polytechnic University of Madrid and demonstrates the positive relationship between the weight of sedentary mothers before pregnancy and the size of their babies. (Read more about Exercise During Pregnancy Benefits Mother and Baby)
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Robotic Technology Allows Fast-Rebound Hysterectomies
A new robotic technique for performing hysterectomies - the full removal of a woman's ovaries and uterus - produces only a few tiny scars on a woman's abdomen and allows her to leave the hospital in only one or two days. The robosurgery also involves less pain, faster recovery (one to two weeks), quicker return to normal activities, less risk of wound infection and less blood loss. A conventional hysterectomy, on the other hand, is heavily invasive, requiring a 6- to 12-inch incision and four to six weeks of recovery. The hysterectomy is the second-most common surgical procedure in America, with some 600,000 being performed annually. (Read more about Robotic Technology Allows Fast-Rebound Hysterectomies)
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The Risks of Being Overweight During Pregnancy
Many pregnant women are unaware of being overweight or obese, and lack knowledge of the risks it poses to their possible pregnancy, according to findings published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Associate Professor Leonie Callaway and her colleagues surveyed 412 women in early pregnancy that attended a public antenatal clinic or were patients of a private obstetrician.
(Read more about The Risks of Being Overweight During Pregnancy)
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Getting Sun During Pregnancy May Strengthen Baby's Bones
When women get more sun during the last months of their pregnancies, their babies are likely to have stronger, healthier bones, a benefit that may last their whole lives, a recent study found. The study, conducted in Britain and reported in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, examined bone scans on almost 7,000 10-year-olds.
(Read more about Getting Sun During Pregnancy May Strengthen Baby's Bones)
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A Mother's Stress Can Affect Child Development
The researchers from Imperial College London hope to raise families' awareness of the importance of reducing levels of stress and anxiety in expectant mothers. They say that reducing stress during pregnancy could help prevent thousands of children from developing emotional and behavioral problems. (Read more about A Mother's Stress Can Affect Child Development)
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Discovery Links Pre-Eclampsia to Diet
Women with the condition pre-eclampsia have been found with red blood cells containing unusually high levels of a compound found in unpasteurized food, according to research published in the journal Reproductive Sciences. The findings are important because they hint at the possibility of this compound, known as "ergothioneine", being an indicator of pre-eclampsia. Further down the line, researchers hope the compound will help them understand the currently unknown cause of the condition.
(Read more about Discovery Links Pre-Eclampsia to Diet)
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Robotic Abdominal Surgery a Boon for Patients
Abdominal surgery patients can experience far less pain, scarring, blood loss, hospital stay and recovery time when doctors operate on them using a new robotic system that's still in only a handful of hospitals around the country.
Doctors are using robotic surgery for a variety of pelvic problems, including endometriosis, uterine fibroid removal, ovarian cysts and scar-tissue breakdown. Endometriosis is a little-understood disorder in which tissue (endometrium) similar to that lining the uterus grows on other organs, especially in the pelvic and abdominal areas, causing intense inflammation and pain. (Read more about Robotic Abdominal Surgery a Boon for Patients)
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Ingredient in Breast Milk Helps Protect Babies' Intestines
An ingredient in human breast milk protects and repairs the delicate intestines of newborn babies, according to research conducted by scientists at Queen Mary, University of London. The ingredient called pancreatic secretory trypsin inhibitor, or PSTI, is found at its highest levels in colostrum - the milk produced in the first few days after birth. (Read more about Ingredient in Breast Milk Helps Protect Babies' Intestines)
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Stress Deforms Brain and Behavior
Stress is not just an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness and tension. It’s a treacherous force that actually remolds the brain at the same time as it warps behavior, according to a bevy of neuroscientists at a recent conference in Washington, D.C.
“Stress causes [brain] neurons to shrink or grow [abnormally],” said Bruce McEwen, a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University, in New York. “The wear and tear on the body from lots of stress changes the nervous system.”
Stress is “particularly worrying in the developing brain, which appears to be programmed by early stressful experience,” he said. (Read more about Stress Deforms Brain and Behavior)
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