http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—In a new paper, USC Dornsife molecular and computational biologists Norman Arnheim and Peter Calabrese and their team found that the longer a man waits to have children, the greater the chance of having a child with Noonan syndrome. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-father-age-affects-offspring.html Genetics Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:43:28 EST news289809782 Reaching puberty at an unusually early age can have adverse effects on social behavior and psychological development, as well as physical effects, including short stature, and lifelong health risks, such as diabetes, breast cancer and heart disease. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), in a multi-institutional collaboration with Boston Children's Hospital, the Broad Institute, and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, have identified that a genetic mutation leads to a type of premature puberty, known as central precocious puberty. Central precocious puberty is defined by the development of secondary sexual characteristics before eight years in girls and nine years in boys. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-genetic-mutation-inherited-father-side.html Genetics Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:00:05 EST news289669408 A 66-year-old who lived his whole life as a man was given a surprising diagnosis after visiting the doctor in Hong Kong with a swollen abdomen—he was a woman. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-hong-kong-woman-doctor.html Health Tue, 04 Jun 2013 04:55:32 EST news289540523 Researchers from the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences have identified a gene that when mutated is responsible for a spectrum of disorders affecting the bones and connective tissue. This finding opens new avenues for research into a diagnosis and treatment for these until now incurable diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-gene-responsible-spectrum-disorders-affecting.html Genetics Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:13 EST news287306300 Growth hormone therapy can help reverse growth problems in children with kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). However, treatment increases bone turnover and interrupts the relationship between bone turnover and a blood marker of bone health, making it difficult for doctors to assess patients' bone health by blood tests alone. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-growth-hormone-reverses-problems-children.html Medical research Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:52:02 EST news284316716 (HealthDay)—Parents often worry when their child, especially a son, is much shorter than average. But as long as there is no medical cause, parents can rest easy, experts say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-short-stature-childhood-discussed.html Health Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:12:16 EST news283630327 Genetic medicine experts from Manchester Biomedical Research Centre at Saint Mary's Hospital and The University of Manchester have identified a new gene responsible for causing an inherited form of tumour, known as spinal meningioma. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-genetic-key-spine-tumours.html Genetics Fri, 15 Feb 2013 09:25:45 EST news280142716 Babies born in Ontario to mothers from the Philippines have significantly lower birth weights than those whose mothers were born in Canada or elsewhere in East Asia and are twice as likely to be classified as small for their gestational age, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-babies-born-mothers-philippines-significantly.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Wed, 28 Nov 2012 11:38:55 EST news273325125 (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 The challenges that come with battling a chronic medical condition or developmental disability are enough to get a young person down. But being left out, ignored or bullied by their peers is the main reason youths with special health care needs report symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-left-youths-special-depression.html Pediatrics Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:33:53 EST news254903612 If Pygmies are known for one trait, it is their short stature: Pygmy men stand just 4'11" on average. But the reason why these groups are so short and neighboring groups are not remains unclear. Scientists have proposed various theories based on natural selection, including that Pygmies' reduced size lowered nutritional requirements, helped them better handle hot climates, or allowed them to reach sexual maturity at an earlier age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-genes-linked-western-african.html Genetics Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:00:06 EST news254671514 New research sifts through the entire genome of thousands of human subjects to look for genetic variation associated with height. The results of the study, published by Cell Press in the December issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, suggest that uncommon genetic deletions are associated with short stature. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-short-stature-shortage-genes.html Genetics Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:35:58 EST news241274101 Researchers have identified important risk factors for death and transplantation in children with dilated cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease), according to results from a study supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-important-factors-deathtransplantation-children-heart.html Cardiology Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:45:24 EST news230831093