American government has become concerned over revised statistic about the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders. According to the new data, one in 91 children suffers from autism. In response, experts urge efforts to provide autists with lifelong support. Full story

Women who smoke during pregnancy, increase the risk of asthma, heart conditions and respiratory diseases in their babies. A new study could now help to explain why this happens. Maternal smoking imposes health risks not only on the mother but also on her baby, and the findings show this may affect both the child’s health later in life and the health of succeeding generations, according to the authors of study. Full story

If an expectant mom takes antidepressants during first three months of pregnancy, her baby may be born with heart defect, with the risk increasing by 80 per cent. If she takes more than one antidepressant, the risk quadruples. The so called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are usually prescribed to those suffering from depression. The most recognizable of those is Prozac. Full story

Physicians warn that pregnant women are in the risk group for developing severe health problems during the flu season. So in this year marked by swine flu threat, they have to be even more on the alert. Dr. Keith Reeves from Methodist Hospital in Houston says that physicians don't want pregnant women to be panicked by this virus, but they do want women to be more responsible for taking precautions typical for the flu season. In particular, women should be vaccinated. Full story

A recent study published in the Pediatrics magazine reports that over one-third of pictures in women's magazines portray babies sleeping in dangerous positions. Moreover, two thirds of photos show babies in dangerous sleep environments. The study was supervised by Rachel Moon and Joyner - SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) researchers from the Children's National Medical Center, USA. Full story

It’s not a great breakthrough discovery that kids who were very active during the day fall asleep faster and get a sounder sleep, but now it has been proved scientifically. A recent study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood shows that children whose day is engaged in sedentary activities mostly need considerably more time to fall asleep when they go to bed. Full story

Pregnant women can safely travel by air at any point during their pregnancy if it is uncomplicated, according to Committee Opinion issued by non-commercial organization American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. The revised guidelines will be published in the October issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology. William Barth, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston claims that a series of studies conducted since 2001 showed that air travel was safe for women with uncomplicated pregnancies. Full story

One of the leading causes of death are cardiovascular diseases and thus it is very important that those diseases are identified at early stages. It is known that women with gestational diabetes tend to have higher risk of having problems with heart and blood vessels than those who did not have this condition during pregnancy. Canadian scientists have recently discovered that if a pregnant woman has even the smallest glucose intolerance, it can be automatically associated with cardiovascular problems. Full story

There exist many studies dealing with the use of antidepressants in pregnancy. Some of them lay stress on the dangers imposed on the unborn babies, for some antidepressants have been discovered to make women more vulnerable to the risk of preterm delivery or miscarriage, and baby having low birth weight. The baby may develop certain heart defects under the influence of antidepressants. Full story

Pregnant women often get suspicious about having their hair treated lest perms or coloring might somehow interfere with their condition. Actually – provided that certain caution is exercised – there’s no need to restrain yourself, and you can rely on a spot of calculated hair regimen indulgence for a better appearance and a better mood! Full story

During pregnancy, your breast starts growing even before your belly becomes bigger. Estrogen and progesterone trigger the growth of breast tissue and, by the birth of a baby, each breast will add about one pound in weight or even more. Health experts say that, rather than during breastfeeding, it is during this period when you can lose the shape of your breast. Do the following exercises to maintain the shape of your breast and prevent saggy breast. Full story

Scientists from the University of Iowa believe that if the child if physically active at the age of five, he or she has higher chances of staying slim in the future. Dr. Kathleen Janz, the author of the study, explains that children who are physically active during the pre-school period less often become overweight during school years than those children who are not active. Scientists call it "savings effect", since children receive the "dividends" from their early activities in the future (similar to the way it works with the savings bank accounts). Full story

OnePoll, a British company reports, their recent survey has shown that both first-time expecting mothers and fathers gain weight during the pregnancy period. On average, fathers-to-be gain 14 pounds (6.5 kg) and put on approximately 2 in (5 cm) in waist. For the most part they gain weight due to the increased consumption of high-calorie foods such as chips, pizza, sweets, and beer. OnePoll reports, that every fourth expecting dad has to completely change his wardrobe by the time the baby is born. Full story

No matter how much you are excited about pregnancy, it also brings anxiety and fears. These fears are quite natural, but you can foresee and eliminate some of them. During pregnancy, you must focus on the health of your breast. Even the smallest tumor may start expanding. Unremoved fibroadenoma (benign tumor) may get in the way of lactiferous ducts, hamper lactation and provoke mastitis or other dangerous diseases. Full story

By the end of pregnancy, the pressure on the legs increases by 25-40 pounds and their veins pump 1.5 liters more blood than before. This is why you feel them as if filled with lead and it’s like torture to stand upright for just a short period of time. The following tips will help you prevent varicose veins during pregnancy. Full story

Breastfeeding was discovered to be a strong factor that can prevent malignant cancer growths in the breast. While it doesn’t work for women who have no family cancer history, the difference it creates for high-risk women with a positive family history is quite a considerable one. A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine gives an impressive figure: women who have breast cancer handed down in their family can lower the possibility of developing cancer growth in the breast by 59 percent through nursing their babies. Full story

Regular afternoon nap can help ease such problems in children as hyperactivity, anxiety and depression. Recent studies provided the evidence for that claim. The results of a study among 62 children aged 4-5 years old, presented at the annual Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting in Seattle, pointed that a day regimen with the room for an afternoon nap is a good thing for a child’s psyche. Full story

Vitamin D deficiency means an insufficient serum level of vitamin D. It is a condition which is linked with low calcium content, high blood pressure and cholesterol content, and conducive to contracting bone and heart diseases. Pediatrics published a study that says that of ten American children seven have vitamin D deficiency in different forms. Full story

During pregnancy, especially with the onset of the third trimester, a belly becomes increasingly larger as a fetus and subjacent tissues grow in size. And as the skin doesn't keep up with the growth, it results in overstretching and torn subcutaneous tissues. These tissue tears emerge as richly pink spots on the skin and then pale into white scars. They are scars indeed, formed in the area of tears which have been restored with connective tissue, as with any external cut. Besides belly, pregnancy stretch marks may appear on hips, buttocks and breasts. Full story

American scientists discovered that babies suffering from colic have high concentration of specific bacteria in their intestinal microflora. Microbiologists from the University of Texas Health Science Center suggested that colic can be caused by bacterial inflammations triggered by disorders in the intestinal microflora. The study, which was reported by The Daily Telegraph, found that feces of children suffering from colic were discovered to have high concentration of bacteria from the family Klebsiella as well as substances indicating the presence of inflammatory processes in the intestines. Full story

According to WHO official reports, the introduction of correct breastfeeding will make a difference of 1.3 million saved children’s lives every year. It lessens the risk of babies contracting pneumonia, diarrhea and other illnesses, to a considerable extent. Health experts assert that breast milk provides all the nutrients the infant needs during the first half year. Full story

It has been known that low birth weight is associated with higher risk of diabetes in later life, says Dr. Magnus Kaijser and her colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. New studies, however, showed diabetes is linked to poor fetus development and premature birth. Full story

The latest study traces asthma and some other allergies to the patient’s parents feeling uptight and tense during pregnancy. It isn’t the first time that stress was linked to asthma attacks, and now a research conducted at Southern California University concludes that stressed and anxious parents aggravate the condition of the unborn children making them definitely asthma-prone. Full story

Mother-to-daughter and father-to-son links in a study of child obesity are discovered by medical scientists, BBC reports. Researchers say that genetics is unlikely to be playing a role in the issue. Instead, they insist on psychological factors. Scientists from Plymouth Medical School, U.S. have put forward this conclusion as a result of their study of 226 families, where it was discovered that obese mothers were 10 times more likely to have obese daughters, and for fathers and sons, there was a six-fold rise. Full story

There are two things that may seriously augment the possibility of the newborn baby developing autism: complications during pregnancy and childbearing at a mature age. The article on autism in the British Journal of Psychiatry asserts that there is a connection between this affliction and the age of the child’s parents, mother’s age being more important. Other causes leading to a higher percentage of autism are previous miscarriages, proteinuria, pre-eclampsia, swelling. Mothers suffering from hypertension or diabetes also run a greater risk of their babies developing autism. Full story