Women lucky enough to live in 1 of the 8 states that mandates insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be even more lucky than they realize. According to the latest research presented by Yale School of Medicine researchers at this week’s annual American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference, those mom-wannabes are …
Family & Parenting
The impossible dilemma of an embryo mix-up
A hospital mix-up last January forced would-be mom Carolyn Savage and her husband Sean to make a heartrending decision. Ten days after the Savages went to a fertility clinic to have embryos transferred in hopes of conceiving, they got a devastating phone call. Savage had successfully gotten pregnant, but the baby wasn’t hers—the embryo
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As early as age 10, kids feel pressure to have a “perfect body”
According to a study published in the journal BMC Public Health, children as young as 10- and 11-years-old already have notions about the ideal body. An analysis of more than 4,000 students from Nova Scotia revealed that young girls’ happiness with their body image is directly linked to how thin they are. Boys, on the other hand,
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The best strategy for fighting flu
When it comes to pandemic flu, the best strategy for the U.S. is not to vaccinate those at highest risk of illness, but rather to vaccinate those at highest risk of transmission. That’s the best way to protect the country’s most vulnerable people, according to a new study published today in the journal Science. The theory goes: If you …
70,000 U.S. kids overdose each year — accidentally — on everyday household meds
Some 100,000 kids end up in U.S. emergency rooms each year because they’ve accidentally been poisoned. No, they’re not all raiding the cupboard full of cleaning supplies. Close to 70% of those visits are from are overdoses of everyday over-the-counter drugs or prescription medications, according to a recent study by researchers at the …
Breastfeeding may lower risk of cancer
Women who breastfeed appear to have lower risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer than those who don’t, according to a new study released today in in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The stats are especially compelling for women with a family history of the disease. Among that group, women in the study who’d breastfed had just …
How dogs think
You may believe that toddlers in your family are budding young geniuses. But according to canine expert Stanley Coren from the University of British Columbia, two-year-old kids are in fact no smarter than dogs. The average canine can learn more than 150 words, understand basic arithmetic and intentionally deceive other dogs and humans to …
Like mother, like daughter
When it comes to spanking children, reading to them, or showing affection, mothers are strongly influenced by the way their own moms acted — but dads aren’t. That’s the finding of study that followed two generations of parents, starting in the late 1970s, and checked up on moms’ and dads’ parenting practices through the years. Women …
Why Are More Kids Getting Hurt in Gym Class?
Between 1997 and 2007, the annual number of gym class injuries grew by 150%, according to a study published in this week’s edition of the journal Pediatrics. In 1997, there were an average 4.39 trips to the emergency room per every 10,000 kids; a decade later, that was up to 10.9 visits. “This is a really big increase,” says Lara …
Marriage 101
Getting married during challenging times — say, during a global economic downturn — can put stresses on your budding relationship that most couples aren’t forced to endure for years. Yet, according to researchers, there may be an upside to testing your bond early on.