http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Women who use synthetic marijuana during pregnancy can develop symptoms similar to those associated with eclampsia and preeclampsia, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-synthetic-pot-mimic-symptoms-prenatal.html Health Tue, 07 May 2013 10:10:01 EST news287139204 Two common conditions in pregnancy may be risk factors for future diabetes according to a Canadian study of over one million women published in this week's PLOS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-common-pregnancy-conditions-future-diabetes.html Diabetes Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:30:41 EST news285352231 (HealthDay)—An integrated model for first-trimester screening of preeclampsia (PE) seems effective in a routine care setting, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-preeclampsia-trimester.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:00:01 EST news284281457 Women who have hypertensive diseases during pregnancy seem to be at higher risk of having troublesome hot flashes and night sweats at menopause, report researchers from the Netherlands in an article published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society. This is the first study to look at this association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-high-blood-pressure-pregnancy-hot.html Health Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:43:43 EST news284197405 There is a link between vitamin D insufficiency and adverse health outcomes such as gestational diabetes and preeclampsia in mothers-to-be and low birth weight in newborns, suggests a paper published in BMJ today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-experts-link-doses-vitamin-d.html Health Tue, 26 Mar 2013 18:31:02 EST news283541448 Pregnant women who have a reduced number of capillaries under their skin during pregnancy may be at heightened risk for preeclampsia, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session. Researchers say monitoring such changes in small blood vessels early in pregnancy may allow for medical intervention long before the potentially life-threatening condition occurs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-marker-preeclampsia-pregnancy.html Cardiology Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:31:35 EST news281881887 Up to 10 percent of all women experience some form of elevated blood pressure during pregnancy. Researchers from the Centre for Social Evolution at the Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen show that mild maternal hypertension early in pregnancy actually benefits the fetus, but that late-pregnancy hypertension has negative health consequences for the child. The study is based on more than 750,000 births in Denmark, with follow-up data on children's hospital diagnoses for up to 27 years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pregnant-mother-blood-pressure-affect.html Pediatrics Mon, 25 Feb 2013 17:00:01 EST news281010577 Epidemiologists at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) have found that pre-pregnancy obesity and excess weight gain during pregnancy in African-American women are associated with an increased risk of giving birth to an abnormally large baby. Macrosomia, which is defined as a newborn weighing more than 4,000 grams at birth (approximately 8.8 pounds), can cause delivery complications such as hemorrhage, infection, the need for a caesarean section, preeclampsia and perinatal mortality. The study, which appears online in the journal Obesity, was conducted by researchers at the Slone Epidemiology Center using data from 59,000 African-American women participating in the Black Women's Health Study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-obesity-excess-weight-gain-pregnancy.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:59:48 EST news279809980 Women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy are at higher risk of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease compared with women without the disorders, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-hypertension-pregnancy-end-stage-renal-disease.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:28:40 EST news278072907 (HealthDay)—A genetic variant, AGT2R, in mothers, fathers, and neonates is associated with a significantly increased risk of preeclampsia in mothers with a body mass index (BMI) of 25 kg/m² or more, according to a study published online Nov. 5 in Placenta. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-gene-environment-interaction-ups-preeclampsia.html Health Mon, 10 Dec 2012 17:10:03 EST news274379046 (HealthDay)—The use of a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) during pregnancy is rare and is associated with a nonsignificant increase in the risk for preeclampsia in women with autoimmune disease, according to a study published in the November issue of Arthritis Care & Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-antirheumatic-drugs-minor-effect-preeclampsia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:20:01 EST news271441135 Magnesium sulfate is given to many pregnant women to treat preterm labor and preeclampsia and was recently shown to prevent cerebral palsy; however little is known about how it works. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine recently discovered the mechanism by which magnesium reduces the production of cytokines. Cytokines are molecules responsible for regulating inflammation; they play a key role conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, atherosclerosis, asthma, and alcoholic liver disease and cirrhosis. Although the study related to pregnancy, inflammation is the culprit of many conditions and learning more about individual's magnesium levels may help a much broader patient population. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-preterm-labor-powerhouse-therapy-inflammatory.html Inflammatory disorders Tue, 09 Oct 2012 15:43:32 EST news269016204 Women who begin snoring during pregnancy are at strong risk for high blood pressure and preeclampsia, according to research from the University of Michigan. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-pregnancy-high-blood-pressure.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:34:37 EST news267798866 Women who were born preterm are at increased risk of complications during pregnancy compared to those born at term, and the risk almost doubles for mothers born before 32 weeks, according to a study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-preterm-birth-mother-pregnancy-complications.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:00:12 EST news267702725 Preeclampsia is one of the most dangerous conditions for the expectant mother and the unborn child and is characterized by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine in the last trimester of pregnancy. The cause for this life-threatening disease has long remained elusive. Recently however, Dr. Ananth Karumanchi (Associate Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center & Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA) has identified a new molecular pathway that leads to preeclampsia in humans and thus creating new avenues for the development of a therapy, he reported at the 1st ECRC "Franz-Volhard" Symposium on September 8, 2012 at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-molecular-preeclampsia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:21:35 EST news266487685 (HealthDay) -- For healthy nulliparous women, the ability to predict spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) using clinical characteristics is modest, according to a study published online July 16 in PLoS One. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-modest-preterm-birth-clinical-features.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 26 Jul 2012 07:50:02 EST news262500216 Studies have shown that the offspring of mothers on a low-protein diet are more likely to develop hypertension as adults. Now, Drs. Gao, Yallampalli, and Yallampalli of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston report that in rats, the high maternal testosterone levels associated with a low-protein diet are caused by reduced activity of an enzyme that inactivates testosterone, allowing more testosterone to reach the fetus and increase the offspring's susceptibility to adulthood hypertension. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-low-protein-diet-predisposes-offspring-adulthood.html Medical research Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:00:01 EST news262439498 (HealthDay) -- Pregnant women taking the antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) face a slightly increased risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure, Canadian researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-antidepressants-pregnancy-complication.html Medications Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:34:52 EST news251699684 (Medical Xpress) -- Women with preeclampsia in the first 37 weeks of pregnancy are at greater risk of developing heart problems in the years after giving birth than those who develop the condition in the final weeks, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-women-preeclampsia-weeks-pregnancy-higher.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:01:01 EST news249210040 In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that indicate that elevated levels of cell-free DNA in the first trimester do not predict the subsequent development of preeclampsia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-elevated-cell-free-dna-trimester-preeclampsia.html Other Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:34:22 EST news248175256 Two studies from the Mayo Clinic presented during the American Society of Nephrology's Annual Kidney Week provide new information related to high blood pressure during pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-high-blood-pressure-pregnancy-short-.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:51:58 EST news240259829 Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have discovered that the infiltration of white blood cells into an expectant mother's blood vessels may explain high blood pressure in pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-high-blood-pressure-pregnancy.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:38:56 EST news239290730 Violent deaths are outpacing traditional causes of maternal mortality, such as hemorrhage and preeclampsia, and conflicts with intimate partner are often a factor, researchers report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-homicide-suicide-outpace-traditional-death.html Health Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:11:14 EST news238385433