Archive | Reproductive Health

prem_brain

Premature birth alters key brain connections

New research from King’s College London sheds light on why premature birth is linked to a greater risk of neurodevelopmental problems, including autistic spectrum disorders and attention deficit disorders. The new work, published in the journal PNAS, used functional magnetic resonance imaging to establish that premature birth can alter connectivity between key areas of the […]

Continue Reading
comp_disorders

Software scans family photos to diagnose rare disorders

Software that scans and analyzes family snapshots could help doctors diagnose which rare genetic disorder a child is suffering from, say Oxford University researchers. Reporting on their work in the journal eLife, the developers say the program recognizes facial features in photographs; looks for similarities with facial structures for various conditions, such as Down’s syndrome, […]

Continue Reading
couple_romance

Chlamydia infection? Your gut may be to blame

For many sufferers, the standard treatment regime for chlamydia fails to eradicate the disease, and researchers think the culprit may be the gastrointestinal tract. Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common cause of sexually transmitted disease in the world. In the U.S., 7 percent of sexually active females aged between 14 and 19 become infected annually. […]

Continue Reading
menopause_moonshine

Testosterone fails as menopausal magic bullet

A new study involving women with early onset menopause found no detrimental effects from testosterone supplementation, but there were no significant improvements either; in quality of life, self esteem, or mood. “Bringing testosterone back up to normal may not bring them [menopausal women] the boost they hoped for,” the researchers report in the journal Menopause. […]

Continue Reading
junk_food2

Poor diet shown to have dramatic effects on sperm and future health of offspring

A startling new study from McGill University suggests that a father’s diet before conception plays a major role in fetus development and the offspring’s future predisposition to disease. The researchers say that significant alterations to the sperm epigenome triggered by diet and lifestyle choices should raise serious concerns about the long-term effects of current Western […]

Continue Reading
banana_circ

Dramatic changes in bacteria following male circumcision could explain HIV protective effect

Removing the foreskin causes significant changes in the bacterial community of the penis, according to a study that also suggests how these changes offer protection from HIV infection. The new study was led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute and appears in the journal mBio. Past studies have shown that circumcision reduces female-to-male HIV transmission, […]

Continue Reading
gaskins_audrey

TV watching a predictor of sperm count

Healthy young men who watch television for more than 20 hours a week have around half the sperm count of men who watch very little TV, say Harvard researchers in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Previous fertility studies suggest that semen quality has deteriorated over the past few decades, but no specific cause has […]

Continue Reading
condoms_3is

Sexual arousal neutralizes disgust response

Dutch researchers have found that natural responses to disgusting stimuli were lessened significantly when female subjects were sexually aroused. The researchers, from the University of Groningen, believe the findings may provide new insights into female sexual dysfunction. The results, in the journal PLoS ONE, also shed light on the paradoxical nature of the evolutionary relevant […]

Continue Reading
breastfeeding_small

Infant formula found to compromise immune system

Duke University scientists have discovered how breast milk, but not infant formula, fosters colonies of microbiotic flora in a newborn’s intestinal tract that aid nutrient absorption and immune system development. The new findings add to existing evidence showing how mother’s milk protects infants from infections and illnesses. In the new study, appearing in Current Nutrition […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes