Newer Test for Down Syndrome Called 'Major Advance'
But it won't eliminate need for invasive diagnostics such as amniocentesis, doctors say (Source: WebMD Health)
Source: WebMD Health - April 2, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Robotic surgery gives Connecticut toddler born with kidney defect a fresh start
Payton Grassia and her mom, Jessica
Payton Grassia is all things preschooler. She loves finger painting and outdoor play, has a “big personality,” her mom says, and recently added big sister to her list of credentials.
But beyond her sweet smile and playful charm, this spunky three-and-a-half-year-old is also a fighter.
And her fight began before she was even born.
Prenatal testing
While pregnant, Payton’s mom, Jessica Grassia, had an amniocentesis, a test used to identify potential congenital defects in babies.
The test revealed that her unborn baby, at 28 weeks in utero, had a duplex collecting system—a normal f...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - February 23, 2015 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Maureen McCarthy Tags: All posts Diseases & conditions Our patients’ stories Source Type: news
DNA Blood Test Gives Women A New Option For Prenatal Screening
A simple blood test can analyze bits of fetal DNA leaked in the mother's bloodstream. It's less risky than invasive alternatives like amniocentesis, but it doesn't tell as much about fetal health.» E-Mail This (Source: NPR Health and Science)
Source: NPR Health and Science - January 26, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Nell Greenfieldboyce Source Type: news
Amniocentesis Needles Market and Industry Size 2014 and Forecast 2020:...
Marketresearchreports.biz has added a new research report on the global Amniocentesis Needles market to its collection.(PRWeb January 21, 2015)Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/01/prweb12460700.htm (Source: PRWeb: Medical Pharmaceuticals)
Source: PRWeb: Medical Pharmaceuticals - January 22, 2015 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Let's (Cautiously) Celebrate the "New Eugenics"
It's a subject doctors, health providers and medical experts are discussing feverishly, but often quietly: whether parents should undergo genetic tests, either before conception or after, to determine if their unborn child might have a serious genetic disorder. Hanging over the debate is the specter of eugenics--fears that the ability to manipulate the health of our future babies could devalue the sanctity of life.
About three percent of babies in the United States are born with a major structural or genetic birth defect. It's a bracing occurrence for a family and a multi-billion hit to our already strained medical sys...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - October 30, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
Study Finds DNA Screening Better At Identifying Prenatal Genetic Defects
BOSTON (CBS) — It’s the news no expecting mom wants to hear, “there was a chance she was going to be stillborn or wouldn’t live past her first year.”
That’s what Jennifer Fontaine’s doctors told her after she underwent genetic screening in the first trimester of her pregnancy. The traditional blood test had turned up a chromosome abnormality in the fetus. Then the Groveland woman had a new test which actually screens DNA.
“The DNA results came back perfect. Nothing was wrong with chromosome 18 and she was perfect,” says Jennifer. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl na...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - February 26, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Kckatzman Tags: Health Healthwatch Heard On WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Local Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Watch Listen CBS Boston Diane Stern Genetic Screenings Paula Ebben Tufts Medical Source Type: news
Books: Separating a Son From a Down Syndrome Diagnosis in ‘Raising Henry’
In her memoir, an Upper West Side intellectual whose son has Down syndrome attempts to set people straight: it is a disability, not a tragedy. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - December 16, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: By SUSANNAH MEADOWS Tags: Down Syndrome Medicine and Health Books and Literature Amniocentesis Source Type: news
Medical Breakthrough Gives Couples Who Want Children New Hope
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Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - November 20, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: deanreddington Tags: Health Local News Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Watch Listen cystic fibrosis Dr. Ian Hardy Fragile X Pompeii Disease Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis Spinal Muscular Atrophy Tay-Sachs Source Type: news
Topol Predicts Genomic Screening Will Replace AmniocentesisTopol Predicts Genomic Screening Will Replace Amniocentesis
Dr. Eric Topol explains why prenatal genomic screening may represent the biggest impact that genomics has had in medical practice today but that it also raises questions of ethics. Medscape (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - November 11, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Ob/Gyn & Women ' s Health Blog Source Type: news
Will New Genetic Tests Lead to More and Earlier Abortions?Will New Genetic Tests Lead to More and Earlier Abortions?
New blood tests that screen fetal cells for genetic conditions/predispositions may replace amniocentesis someday, but will women decide to abort fetuses who, as adults, might get a disease? Medscape Business of Medicine (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Source: Medscape Today Headlines - October 29, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Family Medicine/Primary Care Commentary Source Type: news
Personal Health: Breakthroughs in Prenatal Screening
A new highly accurate and noninvasive screening test that relies on fetal DNA fragments found in the mother’s blood is helping reduce the number of women who undergo amniocentesis. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - October 7, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: By JANE E. BRODY Tags: Genetics and Heredity Family Personal Health Pregnancy and Childbirth Parenting Amniocentesis Featured Tests (Medical) Source Type: news
Well: Breakthroughs in Prenatal Screening
A new highly accurate and noninvasive screening test that relies on fetal DNA fragments found in the mother’s blood is helping reduce the number of women who undergo amniocentesis. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - October 7, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: By JANE E. BRODY Tags: Genetics and Heredity Family Personal Health Pregnancy and Childbirth Parenting Amniocentesis Featured Tests (Medical) Source Type: news
Books: Pregnant, and Disputing the Doctor
After having a child, Emily Oster wrote “Expecting Better,” a book that challenges the conventional wisdom on pregnancy. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - August 19, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: By CATHERINE SAINT LOUIS Tags: Pregnancy and Childbirth Books Amniocentesis Featured Oster, Emily Source Type: news
Blood Test Works for Detecting Down Syndrome (CME/CE)
(MedPage Today) -- Blood screening that accurately detected Down syndrome and other genetic fetal abnormalities in the first trimester could reduce the need for invasive testing with amniocentesis or chorionic villi sampling, researchers reported. (Source: MedPage Today OB/GYN)
Source: MedPage Today OB/GYN - June 7, 2013 Category: OBGYN Source Type: news
New Down’s syndrome blood test 'more reliable'
Conclusion
The current study suggests that screening for trisomies 13, 18, and 21 using a DNA based maternal blood test may identify similar numbers of affected foetuses to the current screening test. However, the new screening test appears to be better at ruling out the condition in women with normal pregnancies, this means that fewer women would be offered unnecessary invasive diagnostic testing.
There are a few important points to note:
Not all women in this study had given birth when the study was published, and these babies will need to be assessed to make sure that no cases of trisomy were missed.
If this t...
Source: NHS News Feed - June 7, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells Medical practice Pregnancy/child Source Type: news
