All Stories Tagged With: "birth"
Birth Defects Caused by World’s Top-Selling Weedkiller, Scientists Say
The chemical at the heart of the planet’s most widely used herbicide — Roundup weedkiller, used in farms and gardens across the U.S. — is coming under more intense scrutiny following the release of a new report calling for a heightened regulatory response around its use. Critics have argued for decades that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and other herbicides used around the globe, poses a serious threat to public health. Industry regulators, however, appear to have consistently overlooked their concerns.
Autism Linked to Hundreds of Genetic Mutations
Autism is not caused by one or two gene defects but probably by hundreds of different mutations, many of which arise spontaneously, according to research that examined the genetic underpinnings of the disorder in more than 1,000 families. The findings, reported in three studies published Wednesday in the journal Neuron, cast autism disorders as genetically very complex, involving many potential changes in DNA that may produce, essentially, different forms of autism.
Vitamin D During Pregnancy May Protect Infants from Virus
Infants who are deficient in vitamin D at birth are at six times higher risk for getting RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus during their first year of life compared with infants with very high levels of vitamin D, says a new study in the journal Pediatrics. “Vitamin D intake during pregnancy most likely prevents a highly frequent, severe disease during infancy,” said Dr. Louis Bont, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital in Utrecht, Netherlands.
