Would-be dads don’t have to worry that taking the epilepsy drug valproate will result in children with birth defects, a new review concludes. Valproate, an anti-seizure drug, is known to cause birth defects and developmental disorders when taken by pregnant women. But the drug does not appear to have the same impact on the fetus… read on > read on >
Breastfeeding through the first year of infants’ lives can lower their risk of asthma by colonizing their bodies with a healthy mix of microbes, a new study finds. Results show that breastfeeding beyond three months supported the gradual maturation of a baby’s gut microbiome, researchers reported Sept. 19 in the journal Cell. On the other… read on > read on >
The corner bodega or neighborhood Kwik-E-Mart could be fueling childhood obesity in the United States, a new study suggests. Children have a more than 50% increased chance of obesity if they live in a place without ready access to full-fledged grocery stores stocked with fresh and healthy foods, researchers report. These results show that access… read on > read on >
Deprivation, neglect and abuse during childhood can increase a person’s long-term risk of health problems, a new study warns. “Stress is implicated in nine of the 10 leading causes of death in the United States today,” said senior researcher Dr. George Slavich, director of the UCLA Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research. “It’s about time… read on > read on >
A few cups of coffee each morning can help protect a person against heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes, a new study says. Drinking three cups of coffee a day — or about 200 to 300 milligrams of caffeine — lowered the risk of health problems linked to the heart or metabolism, researchers found.… read on > read on >
For the second time this year, the Senate plans to vote Tuesday on a law that would create a nationwide right to IVF. The bill was already blocked by Republicans earlier this year, but Democrats are hoping to use this second vote to pressure Republican congressional candidates on the hot button issue, the Associated Press… read on > read on >
Most parents are placing their kids in harms’ way by moving them out of their car booster seat too soon, a new study warns. Four out of five parents moved their kid out of a booster seat before the child was big enough, according to the report, Booster Seat Use in the USA: Breakthroughs and… read on > read on >
With implications for research around postpartum depression and other health issues, scientists have tracked the changes pregnancy brings to the female brain. These changes weren’t subtle: Big shifts in what’s known as the brain’s “white matter” versus “gray matter” were observed, according to a team from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). “The maternal… read on > read on >
Many parents worry that their kids aren’t popular enough, or that they aren’t making the right friends, a new survey finds. About 1 in 5 parents say their child aged 6 to 12 has no friends or not enough friends, according to the results of the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National… read on > read on >
Florida’s six-week abortion ban caused the state’s abortion rate to drop dramatically, new research shows. Abortions in Florida dropped to an estimated 5,630 in May and 5,200 in June, a 30% and 35% decrease from the average between January and March, data released Thursday shows. “Our data paint a vivid picture of the chaos and… read on > read on >
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