http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. It seems that even for the smallest of people, a gentle massage may be beneficial. Newborn intensive care units (NICUs) are stressful environments for preterm infants; mechanical ventilation, medical procedures, caregiving activities and maternal separation create these stressful conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-massage-therapy-shown-stress-response.html Pediatrics Tue, 14 May 2013 16:57:14 EST news287769428 (HealthDay)—Many pre-term babies suffer recurrent episodes of wheezing. Now, researchers say a common infection is a likely culprit and they may be able to prevent the breathing problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-palivizumab-days-wheezing-preemies.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 09 May 2013 07:40:02 EST news287302721 In a randomized trial performed to help resolve the uncertainty about the optimal oxygen saturation therapy in extremely preterm infants, researchers found that targeting saturations of 85 percent to 89 percent compared with 91 percent to 95 percent had no significant effect on the rate of death or disability at 18 months, according to a study published by JAMA. The study is being released early online to coincide with its presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-effect-oxygen-saturation-death-disability.html Pediatrics Sun, 05 May 2013 09:10:01 EST news286953727 Preterm infants may need to be given 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D a day to ensure they develop strong bones, according to a study to be presented Sunday, May 5, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Washington, DC. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-preterm-infants-iu-vitamin-d3.html Pediatrics Sun, 05 May 2013 06:20:02 EST news286952440 Fredrik Serenius, M.D., Ph.D., of Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, and colleagues conducted a study to assess neurological and developmental outcome in extremely preterm (less than 27 gestational weeks) children at 2.5 years. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-neurodevelopmental-outcomes-children-born-extremely.html Pediatrics Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:03:44 EST news286535017 A new study from researchers at UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and other centers suggests that preterm infants with a low-grade bleeding in the brain may have similar neurodevelopmental outcomes as infants with no bleeding. The study appears online at JAMA Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-similar-neuro-outcomes-preterm-infants.html Pediatrics Mon, 18 Mar 2013 11:57:41 EST news282826654 Women taking the immunosuppressant tacrolimus can rest assured that breast feeding will not elevate their babies' exposure to the drug, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings are good news for young women who have received an organ transplant in the past or who are taking the drug for other reasons. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-breast-mothers-immunosuppressant-drug.html Medications Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:00:01 EST news278265308 (Medical Xpress)—Preterm infants who grow more slowly as they approached what would have been their due dates also have slower development in an area of the brain called the cerebral cortex, report Canadian researchers in a new study published today in Science Translational Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-slower-growth-preterm-infants-linked.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:52:06 EST news277577510 Many mothers of newborns in neonatal intensive care units have difficulty finding private, quiet places in the hospital to express milk, according to a new study from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-privacy-problem-mothers-newborns-neonatal.html Health Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:09:12 EST news277560494 (HealthDay)—For the effective detection of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), at-risk infants should receive carefully timed retinal examinations (based on their gestational age) by an ophthalmologist experienced in the examination of preterm infants, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement published online Dec. 31 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-aap-screening-retinopathy-prematurity.html Pediatrics Wed, 02 Jan 2013 14:00:01 EST news276354418 By the time they reached toddlerhood, very preterm infants originally treated with higher oxygen levels continued to show benefits when compared to a group treated with lower oxygen levels, according to a follow-up study by a research network of the National Institutes of Health that confirms earlier network findings. Moreover, infants treated with a respiratory therapy commonly prescribed for adults with obstructive sleep apnea fared as well as those who received the traditional therapy for infant respiratory difficulties, the new study found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-benefits-higher-oxygen-device-persist.html Health Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:06:39 EST news275835991 Free fatty acids created during the digestion of infant formula cause cellular death that may contribute to necrotizing enterocolitis, a severe intestinal condition that is often fatal and occurs most commonly in premature infants, according to a study by University of California, San Diego bioengineers. Their report, which was based on in vitro tests comparing the digestion of fresh human breast milk and nine different infant formulas, was published online in the journal Pediatric Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-vitro-digested-formula-breast-toxic.html Pediatrics Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:50:50 EST news274362640 (HealthDay)—Evidence supports the benefits of delayed umbilical cord clamping for preterm infants, while for term infants, the evidence is unclear, according to a Committee Opinion published in the December issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-acog-cord-clamping-preterm-infants.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Mon, 03 Dec 2012 13:40:01 EST news273753223 (HealthDay)—For stable, preterm infants, daily massage therapy (MT) is positively associated with higher natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and weight gain, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-massage-therapy-immunity-preterm-infants.html Pediatrics Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:20:03 EST news272048422 Every week, 150 bobwhite quail eggs arrive in the mail for Robert Lickliter, professor and director of graduate studies in the Psychology Department at FIU. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-preterm-infant-ease-entrance-world.html Health Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:15:24 EST news271073698 (HealthDay)—Late preterm infants (LPIs), born at 34 to 36 weeks of gestation, who receive intensive care, have similar cognitive, motor, and language skills at age 3 as LPIs who did not receive intensive care, according to a study published online Oct. 1 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-developmental-outcomes-good-late-preterm.html Pediatrics Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:30:01 EST news268336504 (Medical Xpress)—Infants born to mothers attempting to deliver vaginally before the 32nd week of pregnancy are as likely to survive as those delivered by a planned cesarean, provided the fetus is in the head-first position, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-vaginal-delivery-safe-head-first-births.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:05:22 EST news267692706 Premature babies are more likely to survive when they are born in high-level neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) than in hospitals without such facilities, and this benefit is considerably larger than previously reported. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-survival-premature-babies-high-level-nicus.html Pediatrics Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:40:49 EST news262266036 Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is the second most common cause of childhood blindness in the United States, occurring in half of premature infants born earlier than or at 28 weeks gestational age. The condition is caused by abnormal blood vessel development in the retina of the eye. ROP risk increases with decreasing gestational age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-antioxidant-shown-extremely-premature-babies.html Pediatrics Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:00:01 EST news258913754 (HealthDay) -- Cycled lighting (CL) during neonatal care reduces an infant's fussing and crying behavior at 5 and 11 weeks' corrected age and correlates with a trend toward higher motor activity during daytime and improved weight gain, compared with dim lighting (DL) conditions, according to a study published online June 11 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-neonates-behavior-outcomes.html Pediatrics Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:34:27 EST news258640457 A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple "pull-to-sit" task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-simple-task-months-age-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 17 May 2012 11:42:03 EST news256473663 A new University of Illinois study shows that human milk oligosaccharides, or HMO, produce short-chain fatty acids that feed a beneficial microbial population in the infant gut. Not only that, the bacterial composition adjusts as the baby grows older and its needs change. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-importance-human-breast-ingredient.html Health Mon, 14 May 2012 13:58:41 EST news256222678 Many premature infants throughout the United States continue to receive inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) during their NICU stay, despite the lack of evidence to support its use. Whether or not a preemie will receive iNO treatment, when and for how long, varies greatly throughout the country, as its use in premature infants appears to be unstandardized. These are the findings of a Nationwide Children's Hospital study appearing in the journal Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-preemies-inhaled-nitric-oxide-lack.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:11:03 EST news250780257 When babies are born prematurely, they are thrust into a hospital environment that while highly successful at saving their lives, is not exactly the same as the mother's womb where ideal development occurs. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is equipped with highly skilled care givers and incubators that regulate temperature and humidity, but Amir Lahav, ScD, PhD, director of the Neonatal Research Lab at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) thought that something was missing - simulation of the maternal sounds that a baby would hear in the womb. Now, new research conducted by Lahav and colleagues links exposure to an audio recording of mom's heartbeat and her voice to lower incidence of cardiorespiratory events in preterm infants. This research is published online in The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mom-voice-health-premature-babies.html Health Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:20:01 EST news250426209 (Medical Xpress) -- Most pregnant women complain of being tired. Some of them however, could be suffering more than normal fatigue associated with their pregnancy; they may have developed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a periodic cessation of breathing during sleep. If left untreated, OSA poses a variety of health risks to these women, from diabetes to high blood pressure and stroke. Recent studies have also indicated that pregnant women with OSA are at risk for delivering low birthweight or preterm infants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-sleepiness-pregnancy-apnea.html Sleep apnea Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:04 EST news248085674 Preterm infants born with extremely low birth weights have an increased risk of death during the first year of life. Although researchers have extensively studied risk factors that could contribute to the death of preterm infants, limited information is available after infants are released from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics, identifies that African-American background, longer stay in the NICU, and poorer access to healthcare can increase the risk of death after being discharged from the NICU. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-factors-death-extremely-birth-weight.html Health Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:20:03 EST news247985627 (Medical Xpress) -- An analysis of five previous studies has uncovered additional evidence of the effectiveness of progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, in reducing the rate of preterm birth among a high-risk category of women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-additional-benefits-progesterone-preterm-birth.html Health Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:06:31 EST news243155183 A detailed study from Malawi, published in this week's PLoS Medicine, shows that during the first 2 years of life, infants who were born prematurely (before 37 weeks gestation) continue to have a higher risk of death than infants born at term and are also more likely to have poorer growth and developmental delay. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-surviving-premature-babies-malawi-poor.html Health Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:58:33 EST news239997504 Poorly managed pain in the neonatal intensive care unit has serious short- and long-term consequences, causing physiological and behavioral instability in preterm infants and long-term changes in their pain sensitivity, stress arousal systems, and developing brains. In a study published in the November issue of PAIN, researchers report that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigated pain in preterm neonates with mature breastfeeding behaviors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-breastfeeding-pain-preterm-infants.html Health Wed, 19 Oct 2011 03:29:17 EST news238213734 New research shows that exposure to stressors in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is associated with alterations in the brain structure and function of very preterm infants. According to the study now available in Annals of Neurology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society, infants who experienced early exposure to stress displayed decreased brain size, functional connectivity, and abnormal motor behavior. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-preterm-infants-exposed-stressors-nicu.html Neuroscience Tue, 04 Oct 2011 04:38:32 EST news236921898