defects Archives - Family Medicine News

Maternal comorbidity higher for women with congenital heart defects

01.05.2019 Health Problems

(HealthDay)—Pregnant women with congenital heart defects (CHDs) are more likely to have comorbidities and experience adverse events during delivery, according to a study published in the May 7 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Using multivariable logistic regression, Lauren E. Schlichting, Ph.D., of the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, […]

8-year-old beats the odds against heart and brain birth defects

27.09.2018 Health Problems

The day after Maggie Maine was born, doctors told her parents there was a 70 percent chance she’d never walk, talk or be able to feed or bathe herself. An MRI had found severe defects in both her heart and her brain. Relying on their faith, Jeff and Renae Maine decided to focus on the 30 percent chance that the […]

Defects in tissue trigger disease-like transformation of cells

30.05.2018 Health Problems

Homeowners know that one little termite can lead to big problems: while termites are efficient at gnawing away at wood, they can do even more damage if the wood is already broken or has another defect. Mechanical engineers at Washington University in St. Louis have found the same effect in some of the body’s tissue: One small defect in tissue […]

Zebrafish heart development reveals key insight into inherited heart defects

17.05.2018 Health Problems

Scientists have shown for the first time that the blueprint for the four chambers of the human heart exists in the humble zebrafish, a study in eLife reports. The discovery provides key insights into processes that go wrong in congenital heart defects and means that researchers now have a simple model for further research that more closely reflects what happens […]

Formate prevents most folic acid-resistant neural tube defects in mice

02.05.2018 Health Problems

Maternal folic acid supplementation has reduced the prevalence of neural tube defects, one of the most common structural malformations in people, by up to 80 percent. However, many infants are still born with a neural tube defect that appears to be resistant to folic acid supplementation. In this study, a multi-institutional research team has developed a novel folic acid-resistant neural […]

New insight into widespread virus behind birth defects

12.04.2018 Health Problems

A Northwestern Medicine study published in Developmental Cell provides new insights into how cytomegalovirus—a common virus in the herpes family—replicates within human cells, and identifies proteins that may be therapeutically targeted to suppress infection. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is widespread around the world, infecting between 60 to 100 percent of all adults. There is currently no cure or vaccine for HCMV; […]