fetus

Pregnant women should think twice about high-fat foods. Scientists found that female mice fed high-fat diets were more likely to have oversized offspring (a risk factor for overweight and obesity) because fat causes the placenta to go into "overdrive" by providing too many nutrients to the fetus.

This also suggests the reverse may be true -- high fat diets may help prevent undersized babies.

(Medical College of Georgia) Unique biochemical crosstalk that enables a fetus to get nutrition and oxygen from its mother's blood just may cause common postpartum blues, researchers say.

Clinical trials hoping to identify a vaginal microbicide that is safe and effective against HIV have all but skirted questions befitting evaluation of an approach intended primarily for sexually active women of childbearing age: What if a woman gets pregnant while using a product?

Can exposure during pregnancy pose a risk to the fetus? Researchers will begin addressing these and other questions in the first clinical trial of a candidate vaginal microbicide in pregnant women.

(Microbicide Trials Network) Clinical trials hoping to identify a vaginal microbicide that is safe and effective against HIV have all but skirted questions befitting evaluation of an approach intended primarily for sexually active women of childbearing age: What if a woman gets pregnant while using a product?

Can exposure during pregnancy pose a risk to the fetus? Researchers will begin addressing these and other questions in the first clinical trial of a candidate vaginal microbicide in pregnant women.

A protein signaling pathway recently discovered to guide the formation of the skeleton in the fetus also keeps bones strong through adult life.

Furthermore, the same mechanism may be at the heart of osteoporosis, where too little bone is made over time, and bone cancer, where uncontrolled bone growth contributes to tumors.

Lastly, the results argue that an experimental Alzheimer's drug may also be useful against bone cancer.