http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. The cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially, a recent study suggests, causing different types of problems much later in life depending on the stage of pregnancy when the fetus is exposed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-cancer-fetal-exposure-carcinogens-dose.html Cancer Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:18:03 EST news243177425 Newly developed computer software combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a fetus may help physicians better assess a woman's potential for a difficult childbirth. Results of a study using the new software were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-virtual-childbirth-simulator-safety-high-risk.html Health Tue, 29 Nov 2011 01:46:19 EST news241753512 (Medical Xpress) -- As a fetus grows, it’s constantly getting messages from its mother. It’s not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play to her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta. A new study, which will be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, finds that this includes signals about the mother’s mental state. If the mother is depressed, that affects how the baby develops after it’s born. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-fetus-moms-psychological-state.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:30:01 EST news240135393 Pediatric researchers who tested newborn animals with an existing human drug used in adults with diabetes report that this drug, when given very early in life, prevents diabetes from developing in adult animals. If this finding can be repeated in humans, it may become a way to prevent at-risk infants from developing type 2 diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-animal-newborn-period-crucial-diabetes.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:53:50 EST news239450022 Researchers at St. Michael's Hospital have identified a potential new cause for unexplained miscarriages in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-unexplained-miscarriages.html Medical research Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:19:12 EST news239365120 Fetal and neonatal immune thrombocytopenia (FNIT; aka FNAIT) is a condition in which fetuses and newborns have reduced numbers of blood cells known as platelets. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-potential-miscarriage-habitual-abortion.html Medical research Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:15:43 EST news238680933 (Medical Xpress) -- Ultrasound, the diagnostic tool first developed at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in the 1950s to scan the body, is now being used in its fracture clinic to help heal fractured bones and speed up the recovery time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ultrasound-fractures.html Medical research Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:29:42 EST news237731370 A battle that brews in the mother's womb between the father's biological goal to produce the biggest, healthiest baby possible vs. the mother's need to live through delivery might help explain preeclampsia, an often deadly disease of pregnancy. The fetus must be big enough to thrive, yet small enough to pass through the birth canal. In a new study, Yale researchers describe the mechanism that keeps these conflicting goals in balance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-placenta-uterus-preeclampsia.html Medical research Tue, 11 Oct 2011 04:11:50 EST news237525103 Emerging data clarifying the risks of insufficient thyroid activity during pregnancy on the health of the mother and fetus, and on the future intellectual development of the child, have led to new clinical guidelines for diagnosing and managing thyroid disease during this critical period. The guidelines, developed by an American Thyroid Association (ATA) expert task force, are presented in Thyroid. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-effects-hypothyroidism-maternal-fetal-health.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:22:46 EST news230818937 Use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy has long been a matter of concern but now researchers writing in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research report that even a high supplementation amount in healthy pregnant women was safe and effective in raising circulating vitamin D to a level thought by some to be optimal. The study also found no adverse effects of vitamin D supplementation, even at the highest amount, in women or their newborns. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-vitamin-d-supplements-safe-healthy.html Health Tue, 28 Jun 2011 10:12:23 EST news228474729 More than half of the women in a recently published survey reported that near the end of their pregnancies, they took it upon themselves to try to induce labor, mostly by walking, having sex, eating spicy food or stimulating their nipples. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-sex-spicy-food-favored-unprescribed.html Health Thu, 16 Jun 2011 12:59:53 EST news227447979