A groundbreaking study, which provides the first ever comprehensive analysis of sexual behaviour around the world, is published today in the Lancet, as part of a major series on sexual and reproductive health.
Scientists supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, report in this week?s New England Journal of Medicine that pregnant women who received non-surgical treatment for their periodontal, or gum, disease did not also significantly lower their risk of delivering a premature or low-birthweight baby.
Infants who die of sudden infant death syndrome have abnormalities in the brainstem, a part of the brain that helps control heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, temperature and arousal, report researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. The finding is the strongest evidence to date suggesting that innate differences in a specific part of the brain may place some infants at increased risk for SIDS.
Chlamydia screening levels have increased by more than a third in the past year with nearly 100,000 young people being tested for the sexually transmitted infection through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme, Public Health Minister Caroline Flint announced today.
Rates of teenage pregnancy in the USA are high by comparison with those in other industrialised countries, but have fallen by 30% in the past decade, from a peak of 117 per 1000 in 1990, to 82 per 1000 in 2001.
Amniocentesis, or an Amniotic Fluid Test (AFT), is a medical procedure used for prenatal diagnosis, in which a small amount of amniotic fluid is extracted from the amnion around a developing fetus. It is usually offered when there may be an increased risk for genetic conditions in the pregnancy.
The first-ever global study of sexual and reproductive health – to be published in the medical journal The Lancet starting this week – shows a picture of declining financial support, increased political interference and an overall reluctance to tackle threats to sexual and reproductive health.
Amniocentesis is the most commonly prescribed invasive test performed during pregnancies in the United States. Most women fear them while doctors recommend them based on guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. These guidelines stem from past research studies and recommendations by the CDC that were based only on maternal age.
A meta-analysis published in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings indicts oral contraceptives as putting premenopausal women at significantly increased risk for breast cancer, especially women who use them prior to having a child.
Despite the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of grains as much as a third of women of childbearing age are not getting the recommended amounts, says a study from Canada.