News by Subject Medicine & Health

Intellectual disability is most often caused by changes to the genome that take place in early fetal development and are not found in the parents' DNA. This is why the risk of recurrence in the next sibling of the family is very small, as indicated by a study conducted at the University of Helsinki. Furthermore, Finns do not have a higher risk of inherited developmental disorders compared to other Europeans in spite of the isolated nature of the population.

What The Study Did: This study examined the association of paternal drinking before pregnancy with the risk of birth defects in children among couples in China.

What The Study Did: This population-based study of multiple databases from Canada found no association between epidural labor pain relief and risk of autism spectrum disorders in children.

New research sheds light on how autism-spectrum disorder manifests in the brains of girls, prompting the scientists to warn that conclusions drawn from studies conducted primarily in boys should not be assumed to hold true for girls.

The numbers of recommended vaccine doses, including measles vaccine, administered to children decreased dramatically after the declaration of a national state of emergency on March 13, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in Pediatrics. While the decrease was lower and recovered in children under 2 years of age, it was more severe and persistent in older children.

Researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have identified a key target that may be responsible for treatment failure in about 30% of patients with hemophilia A. The target, known as B cell activating factor (BAFF), appears to promote antibodies against and inhibitors of the missing blood clotting factor that is given to these patients to control their bleeding episodes.

Early and accurate diagnosis leads to optimal recovery from concussion. Over the past year across a series of studies, researchers have systematically evaluated the use of the visio-vestibular examination (VVE) and its ability to enhance concussion diagnosis and management

Young adults must step up their exercise routines to reduce their chances of developing high blood pressure or hypertension - a condition that may lead to heart attack and stroke, as well as dementia in later life.

As older teens and young adults become eligible for COVID-19 vaccination across the country, and younger teens await their turn, new survey data suggest a strong readiness that has grown since fall. But just as with older generations, a shrinking but still sizable minority of people age 14 to 24 say they're not willing to get vaccinated, or that their decision will depend on safety.