http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Being pregnant while young is known to protect a women against breast cancer. But why? Research in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research finds that Wnt/Notch signalling ratio is decreased in the breast tissue of mice which have given birth, compared to virgin mice of the same age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pregnancy-breast-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 29 Apr 2013 04:45:29 EST news286429522 Maternal nutrition is important to a developing embryo and to the health of the child later in life. Supplementing the diet with specific vitamins is known to increase health of the foetus for example folic acid (vitamin B9) reduces the risk of spina bifida. However not everything an adult might consume is beneficial to a developing baby. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine shows that caffeine is linked to low birth weight babies and that caffeine from coffee in linked to increasing length of pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-caffeine-linked-birth-weight-babies.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:00:01 EST news280426349 (Medical Xpress)—Natural killer cells – a vital part of the immune system – have a dual role in protecting against infection and ensuring reproduction. Scientists suggest that the multi-tasking ability of these cells helped humans to spread out of Africa. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-natural-killer-cells-vital-role.html Immunology Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:29:32 EST news279530965 So, is it a girl or a boy? This is the first question parents ask at the birth of an infant. Though the answer is obvious, the mechanism of sex determination is much less so. Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) attempt to shed light on this complex process by identifying the crucial role played by insulin and IGF1 and IGF2 growth factors, a family of hormones known for its role in metabolism and growth. In the absence of these factors at the time of sex determination, embryos do not differentiate into either male or female and have no adrenal glands. The results of this study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics, allow us to better understand sexual development and will eventually improve diagnosis and genetic counseling practices for individuals with disorders of sex development. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-embryo-male-female.html Genetics Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:00:10 EST news276442976 Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, in collaboration with colleagues in Germany and the Netherlands, have identified a previously unknown group of nerve cells in the brain. The nerve cells regulate cardiovascular functions such as heart rhythm and blood pressure. It is hoped that the discovery, which is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, will be significant in the long term in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-nerve-cell-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:00:04 EST news275306103 Ireland's government pledged Tuesday to pass a law soon that will allow women to receive abortions if continued pregnancy threatens their lives—including from their own threats to commit suicide if denied one. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-ireland-limited-abortion-laws.html Health Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:11:17 EST news275058672 Experts already know that pregnant women should not eat for two. A study now insists on the importance of a healthy diet as a way of avoiding increased insulin and glucose levels in the child, both of which are indicators of diabetes and metabolic syndrome risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-inadequate-diet-pregnancy-predisposes-baby.html Health Wed, 05 Dec 2012 11:19:58 EST news273928778 Expectant parents in Japan who can't wait to show the world what their baby will look like can now buy a three-dimensional model of the foetus to pass around their friends. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-japan-firm-3d-foetus.html Other Tue, 27 Nov 2012 04:33:36 EST news273213196 Researchers studying the origins of sudden cardiac death have found that in both men and women a thin placenta at birth was associated with sudden cardiac death. A thin placenta may result in a reduced flow of nutrients from the mother to the foetus. The authors suggest that sudden cardiac death may be initiated by impaired development of the autonomic nervous system in the womb, as a result of foetal malnutrition. The new study, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology, also found that sudden death was associated independently with poor educational attainment. However, sudden cardiac death was not associated with maternal body size, foetal size at birth, or the length of gestation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-sudden-cardiac-death-thin-placenta.html Cardiology Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:20:01 EST news267291308 South Korea's top court Thursday struck down a challenge calling for an end to tough legal punishments for midwives and others administering illegal abortions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-korea-court-abortion.html Other Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:10:01 EST news264933910 Groups supporting people with Down's syndrome on Thursday called on the European Court of Human Rights not to recognise the right to tests that would detect the condition before birth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-european-court-urged-accredit-syndrome.html Other Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:49:35 EST news260113762 Women who have just finished ovulating are better at detecting snakes than at other times of their menstrual cycle, according to an unusual study that sheds light on in-built reflexes for survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-hisss-women-snakes.html Other Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:09:35 EST news250441762 Increased access to technology that allows parents to know the sex of their foetus has left Asia short of 117 million women, mostly in China and India, the UN said Thursday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ultrasounds-worsen-asia-women-shortage.html Health Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:39:32 EST news237105558 Dr Kaltum Adam, an honorary clinical research fellow at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester (UK), told the annual meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology that around 20 percent of all pregnancies were complicated by threatened miscarriage, and up to 20 percent of these would miscarry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-accurately-outcome-pregnancies-threatening-miscarry.html Health Tue, 05 Jul 2011 10:10:31 EST news229079409