World Against Toys Causing Harm (W.A.T.C.H.) yesterday issued its annual 10 Worst Toys list for 2005. The list contains expected items, like paintball shooters, but also stuffed ponies and baby dolls of certain brands. Take a look, just in case.
After the last post, I thought you might want something uplifting: Research presented last week at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting indicates that sweets relieve stress. This may not be news to many of us, but now we know why it works: sweets cause the body to produce lower levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones.
The U. S. National Center for Health Statistics has released its analysis of birth data for 2004. One of the potentially worrisome findings was that C-sections in the U. S. are at an all-time high. The increase may be connected in part to the rise in multiple and preterm births, as well as a large drop in
Reportedly, pulmonary embolism has overtaken all other causes of maternal mortality in the past two to three decades. Research from a thirty-year study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that pregnant women and those up to three months postpartum are four times more likely than other women to suffer pulmonary embolism or
Researchers at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin, Ireland, announced a new screening test last week to detect Down syndrome in first-trimester fetuses. If the results of the test are positive, a woman can then choose to have further tests to confirm the diagnosis. The new test, a combination of a blood test and
I thought some Mombian readers might be interested in the list of baby gear recommendations I wrote up for a friend who was pregnant. Every child is different, though, so every parent’s list of “essentials” will be different. YMMV, but this should get you started. I’ve given a few brand names for items we particularly liked, but for most things, it really doesn’t matter. (Warning: Long list ahead.)
During pregnancy, my partner would often excuse her hormonally induced behavior by saying “Sorry, the baby took over my brain.” Turns out there might be something to that. Scientists in Singapore, China, and Japan have conducted research on mice showing that fetal cells can migrate into the mother’s brain and develop into various nervous system
Posted on my Salty Snack science and technology blog: Periods, Brain Activity, and a Female President, a note about some recent research on our favorite (!) monthly event.
As National Breast Cancer Awareness Month draws to a close, I want to mention that Melissa Etheridge is donating all of her record royalties from her new song “I Run for Life” to breast cancer charities, along with 100% of of the proceeds from download sales of the song at www.fordcares.com and the iTunes Music
October 21 is National Mammography Day. To find a facility in your area, please call: American Cancer Society (800) 227-2345 National Cancer Institute (800) 4-CANCER Do it for yourself. Do it for your partner. Do it for your kids.
