http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Surgeons investigated sexual function in 62 patients, 50 years and older, who had received extensive spinal–pelvic instrumentation for spinal deformity at the University of Virginia Health Center. Based on their results, the surgeons found that it is very possible for older people to achieve satisfactory sexual function despite having extensive spinal–pelvic instrumentation. Details of this study are disclosed in "Sexual function in older adults following thoracolumbar to pelvic instrumentation for spinal deformity. Clinical article," by Dr. D. Kojo Hamilton and colleagues, published today online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-sexual-function-older-adults-thoracolumbar-pelvic.html Surgery Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:01 EST news288355093 Stem cells drawn from amniotic fluid show promise for tissue engineering, but it's important to know what they can and cannot do. A new study by researchers at Rice University and Texas Children's Hospital has shown that these stem cells can communicate with mature heart cells and form electrical couplings with each other similar to those found in heart tissue. But these electrical connections alone do not prompt amniotic cells to become cardiac cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-amniotic-fluid-stem-cells-heart.html Medical research Thu, 02 May 2013 13:45:44 EST news286721135 (HealthDay)—After five years of leveling off, the U.S. infant mortality rate is finally on the decline again, a new government report shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-infant-mortality.html Health Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:20:01 EST news285411553 A noninvasive, sequencing-based approach for detecting chromosomal abnormalities in the developing fetus is safer and more informative in some cases than traditional methods, according to a study published by Cell Press January 10th in The American Journal of Human Genetics. This method, which analyzes fetal DNA in the mother's blood, could provide women with a cost-effective way to find out whether their unborn baby will have major developmental problems without risking a miscarriage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-safer-chromosomal-defects-fetus.html Genetics Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:00:12 EST news277027269 (Medical Xpress)—Good news may be on the horizon for Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, and other women stricken with severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, thanks to the work of a University at Buffalo professor who is conducting research on a drug that is showing success treating pregnant women with this condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-severe-morning-sickness-patients-relief.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:18:26 EST news274346209 About 10 percent of kids born with kidney defects have large alterations in their genomes known to be linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-genetic-link-kidney-defects-neurodevelopmental.html Genetics Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:24:16 EST news272204649 In 2010 breast reconstruction entered the Top Five list of reconstructive procedures in the US, with 93,000 procedures performed, up 8% from 2009, and 18% from 2000. This is among the most common skin flap procedure performed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-images-reveal-potential-nir-imaging.html Cancer Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:33:46 EST news267798818 (Medical Xpress)—We often hear that "knowledge is power." But, that isn't always the case, especially when the knowledge pertains to the health of an unborn child, with murky implications, at best. A new study, led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, begins to document this exception to the general rule. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-documents-women-chromosome-abnormalities-prenatal.html Genetics Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:58:23 EST news267436688 The incidence of infective endocarditis among dental patients in Olmsted County, Minn. did not increase after new guidelines called for giving preventive antibiotics before dental procedures only to those at greatest risk of complications, according to independent research published in Circulation, an American Heart Association journal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-limit-pre-dental-procedure-antibiotics-high.html Cardiology Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:00:02 EST news258648934 (HealthDay) -- A five-year study of home births in Oregon found an elevated rate of deaths among babies that had to be transferred to the hospital because something went wrong during the delivery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-home-birth-poses-danger-higher-risk.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 08 May 2012 15:10:01 EST news255702980 Modern cardiac catheterization laboratories bear scant resemblance to the cath labs of a decade ago. An updated consensus statement released today offers physicians guidance on how to excel in this new diagnostic and therapeutic milieu, with specific recommendations on setting up, operating and maintaining the highest standards of quality in a contemporary cardiac catheterization laboratory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-accf-scai-publish-standards-modern.html Cardiology Tue, 08 May 2012 14:55:20 EST news255707713 Australian scientists have discovered for the first time how nature and nurture combine to increase the risk for women of giving birth to a baby with congenital defects, according to a study published today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-congenital-birthdefects.html Medical research Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:09:39 EST news252922157 (AP) -- Nearly half of pregnant women do not get tested for syphilis in poor areas of southern China where the sexually transmitted disease has seen a resurgence, researchers said Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-rural-mothers-to-be-china-lack-syphilis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:38:14 EST news239449087