Previous diagnostic criteria for gestational diabetes were based on the risk, posed by high blood sugar levels, that pregnant women faced for developing diabetes after giving birth. And, under those criteria, rates of gestational diabetes have surged nearly 50% in the past decade, with 5% to 8% of pregnant women being diagnosed with the
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Patients who show up in their doctor’s office after having already conducted countless hours of internet research and come up with several potential self-diagnoses can prompt some mixed feelings from physicians. While some may embrace their patients’ desire to know as much as possible about their condition, others can find the task of
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Public health officials grappling with the obesity epidemic have debated a wide range of approaches to helping slim the American waistline. To some degree, everything from building more sidewalks to banning chocolate milk has been explored. Yet few tactics have been as polarizing as the possibility of introducing tariffs on treats. …
Public health officials campaigning to reduce our excessive salt consumption—Americans generally eat twice the recommended amount each day—often point out that a societal approach to change is essential, as most of the salt we consume is already in food before we even pick up the shaker. Dining out isn’t exactly a low-sodium
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Following a single ovarian transplant, a woman gave birth to two healthy children in two separate pregnancies—a first for the fertility technique that has been gaining ground among specialists, and may provide hope to women forced to confront potential infertility due to a battle with cancer. The case of Danish woman Stinne Holm
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This past Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a new policy statement on choking prevention for children, recommending, among other things, changes in government oversight of food choking hazards, and asking food manufacturers to consider redesigning potentially dangerous food products, such as hot dogs and hard …
Glioblastoma brain tumors are notoriously difficult to fight: though they can be battled back with radiation and chemotherapy, within time they eventually manage to grow again. Yet, according to initial results of a study in mice, a technique that effectively starves the tumor of the blood supply it needs to regrow could eventually offer
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When you’re in a bad mood, the comfort of your home, pajamas and couch is often most appealing. Yet, when you’re feeling a bit sunnier, you might be more likely to venture out and explore the world around you. New research published in the journal Psychological Science sheds light on what is it about feeling grumpy that might make us
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It has been more than three decades since the very first “test tube baby” was born, and since that summer day in 1978, some three million babies have been brought into the world using assisted reproductive technology (ART). While the vast majority of those children are completely healthy, babies conceived using ART are generally at
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Acupuncture may be an effective way to treat depression during pregnancy, and to reduce the pain of menstrual cramps, according to new research into the health benefits of the ancient Chinese practice. One study, from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, found that women confronting depression during pregnancy
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The current standard of surgery for prostate cancer patients is what is known as open radical prostatectomy, which involves a surgeon accessing and removing the cancerous prostate gland by making a standard surgical incision. Yet, in recent years, a less invasive approach, known as laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, which often uses
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A comprehensive report from the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) suggests that treating and preventing high blood pressure—which causes nearly half of all cases of heart failure each year in the U.S.—needs to be a higher public health priority. The report highlights some grim figures: roughly one in three American adults has high
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Patients who lose the ability to speak after suffering a stroke may be able to regain their speech using a novel technique that effectively reroutes the way the brain processes language, according to research presented this past weekend at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The technique, known as
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