PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Evolution offers clues to leading cause of death during childbirth

2011-11-03
(Press-News.org) Unusual features of the human placenta may be the underlying cause of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal deaths during childbirth, according to evolutionary research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Defined as the loss of more than a pint of blood during or just after vaginal delivery, postpartum hemorrhage accounts for nearly 35 percent, or 125,000, of the 358,000 worldwide annual maternal deaths during childbirth.

Despite its prevalence, the causes of postpartum hemorrhage are unknown, says Julienne Rutherford, assistant professor of oral biology at UIC, who along with Elizabeth Abrams, assistant professor of anthropology, co-authored a theoretical synthesis published in the journal American Anthropologist. While common in humans, postpartum hemorrhage is rare in other mammals, including nonhuman primates.

"Understanding the underlying cause of the increased risk of postpartum hemorrhage in humans is a critical step toward discovering new treatments and eventually preventing it on a global scale," Rutherford said.

Previous studies on postpartum hemorrhage have focused on how it can be treated and on recognizing its associated risk factors, Abrams said. Less has been done to discover its cause.

In humans, the invasiveness of the placenta into the uterine wall and the subsequent takeover of maternal blood vessels appear to be greater than in nonhumans, Rutherford said. This suggests a link between placental invasiveness early in pregnancy and blood loss at delivery, when the placenta separates from the uterine wall.

Research by Abrams and Rutherford suggests that hormones produced by trophoblasts -- cells formed during the first stage of pregnancy that provide nutrients to the embryo and develop into a large part of the placenta, and that guide the interaction with the uterus -- may provide an early predictor of risk.

"Biomarkers of postpartum hemorrhage that could be used early in pregnancy would allow women to make informed decisions about their choice of birthing site and medical care based on their risk," Abrams said. This biomarker hypothesis has not yet been studied.

Many women in poor countries don't give birth in hospitals or clinics, said Abrams, who has conducted research on childbirth in the sub-Saharan countries of Malawi and Tanzania. By the time postpartum bleeding occurs, it may be too late to reach a health center.

In a normal birth, the placenta begins to separate from the uterine wall before delivery. Bleeding at the site is normally stopped by the constriction of blood vessels due to the contraction and retraction of uterine muscles. Hemorrhage can occur weeks after birth, but most deaths occur within four hours of delivery.

There are two major risk factors for postpartum hemorrhage, said Rutherford. The leading factor is uterine contractions that are too weak to stop bleeding. The cause of this is unclear, but it could delay delivery of the placenta -- which is the other known risk factor, she said. The best predictor for any woman is previous postpartum hemorrhage, "which has disturbing implications for women in resource-poor settings," Abrams said.

Understanding how the human placenta differs from that of other primates is a new approach, and according to Abrams and Rutherford, it is one that might help explain the mechanisms underlying risk factors in humans.

### The research was partially funded by a Wenner-Gren Foundation grant to Abrams (and UIC anthropology colleague Crystal Patil) and a UIC Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) faculty scholarship to Rutherford from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institutes of Health Office of Research on Women's Health.

For more information about UIC, visit http://www.uic.edu.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Current training programs may not prepare firefighters to combat stress

2011-11-03
Current training programs may not effectively prepare firefighters for the range of scenarios they are likely to encounter, according to human factors/ergonomics researchers Michael R. Baumann, Carol L. Gohm, and Bryan L. Bonner. In their October 2011 Human Factors article, "Phased Training for High-Reliability Occupations: Live-Fire Exercises for Civilian Firefighters," the authors assess the value of current scenario-based training programs. Firefighters must make complex decisions and predictions and must perform extreme tasks at a moment's notice. Failure to keep ...

MU studies link depression and breast cancer outcomes

2011-11-03
COLUMBIA, Mo. – This year, more than 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and nearly 40,000 women will not survive their battle with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. New research from the University of Missouri shows that certain factors, including marital status, having children in the home, income level and age, affect the likelihood of depression in breast cancer survivors. Further, depressed patients are less likely to adhere to medication regimens, potentially complicating the progress of their treatment. Ann Bettencourt, professor ...

Watching the birth of an iceberg

Watching the birth of an iceberg
2011-11-03
PUNTA ARENAS, CHILE – After discovering an emerging crack that cuts across the floating ice shelf of Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica, NASA's Operation IceBridge has flown a follow-up mission and made the first-ever detailed airborne measurements of a major iceberg calving in progress. NASA's Operation Ice Bridge, the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown, is in the midst of its third field campaign from Punta Arenas, Chile. The six-year mission will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ...

Study shows new medication effectively treats underlying cause of cystic fibrosis

2011-11-03
SEATTLE -- A new study has confirmed that the drug, ivacaftor (VX-770), significantly improves lung function in some people with cystic fibrosis (CF). The results of the phase III clinical trial study, "A CFTR Potentiator in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and the G551D Mutation," led by Bonnie W. Ramsey, MD of Seattle Children's Research Institute and the University of Washington, were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Ivacaftor, also known as VX-770, was developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals with financial support from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. ...

Scientists prevent cerebral palsy-like brain damage in mice

2011-11-03
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a protein may help prevent the kind of brain damage that occurs in babies with cerebral palsy. Using a mouse model that mimics the devastating condition in newborns, the researchers found that high levels of the protective protein, Nmnat1, substantially reduce damage that develops when the brain is deprived of oxygen and blood flow. The finding offers a potential new strategy for treating cerebral palsy as well as strokes, and perhaps Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurodegenerative ...

TRMM Satellite sees Tropical Storm Keila form in the Arabian Sea

TRMM Satellite sees Tropical Storm Keila form in the Arabian Sea
2011-11-03
The TRMM satellite passed directly above a recently formed tropical cyclone in the Arabian Sea on November 2, 2011 at 0350 UTC (11:50 p.m. EDT, Nov. 1). An analysis of rainfall was done using TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments. TRMM data showed that rainfall rates with tropical storm Keila ranged from light to moderate along the south-eastern coast of Oman. Moderate to heavy rainfall was revealed to be spiraling into Keila's center of circulation in the Arabian Sea near the southeastern coast of Oman. TRMM Precipitation Radar data was ...

Nicotine primes brain for cocaine use: Molecular basis of gateway sequence of drug use

2011-11-03
Cigarettes and alcohol serve as gateway drugs, which people use before progressing to the use of marijuana and then to cocaine and other illicit substances; this progression is called the "gateway sequence" of drug use. An article in Science Translational Medicine by Amir Levine, MD, Denise Kandel, PhD; Eric Kandel, MD; and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center provides the first molecular explanation for the gateway sequence. They show that nicotine causes specific changes in the brain that make it more vulnerable to cocaine addiction -- a discovery made by ...

GSA Bulletin Highlights: New research posted ahead of print

2011-11-03
Boulder, CO, USA - Highlights for GSA Bulletin articles published ahead of print between 30 Sept. and 21 Oct. 2011 are provided below. Studies include U-Pb geochronology and major and trace element geochemistry in the Andes; wide-angle reflections generated by five controlled blasts and over 110 timed quarry blasts in the Appalachians; cosmogenic isotope burial dating in Wonderwerk Cave, South Africa; and SHRIMP analysis of zircons in Redoubt Volcano, Alaska. GSA BULLETIN articles published ahead of print can be accessed online at http://gsabulletin.gsapubs.org/content/early/recent. ...

New Surgery for Migraine Cure Now Offered in Metro Atlanta

New Surgery for Migraine Cure Now Offered in Metro Atlanta
2011-11-03
Plastic Surgery of Gwinnett, PC announces they are now offering surgical treatments for migraine headaches. Techniques initially developed at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are now brought to the Atlanta area for the treatment of medication resistant intractable migraines. 18% of the population suffers from debilitating migraines headaches, 2/3 of them women. Standard medical treatment fails to provide relief in a high percentage of patients. With the discovery that cosmetic Botox was an effective treatment, the nerve compression causes of migraine was ...

Reprogramming stem cells to a more basic form results in more effective transplant, study shows

2011-11-03
Durham, NC November 2011 Chinese stem cell scientists have published new research that improves the survival and effectiveness of transplanted stem cells. The research led by Dr Hsiao Chang Chan, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, is published in Stem Cells. Research into differentiation has led to a variety of breakthroughs as stem cell researchers harvest cells from one part of the body and genetically adapt them to fulfill a specialized role. However, if the implanted cells are too much like the cells of the targeted area they may not have the plasticity to ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Conservation leaders challenge global economic systems that value ‘dead’ nature over living planet

A multidimensional diagnostic approach for COPD

Wearable sensor could be used to monitor OSA treatment response

Waitlist deaths dropped under new lung transplant allocation system

Methotrexate as effective as prednisone in pulmonary sarcoidosis

Waist-to-height ratio predicts heart failure incidence

Climate change increases severity of obstructive sleep apnea

USC, UCLA team up for the world’s first-in-human bladder transplant

Two out of five patients with heart failure do not see a cardiologist even once a year and these patients are more likely to die

AI-enabled ECG algorithm performs well in the early detection of heart failure in Kenya

No cardiac safety concerns reported with a pharmaceutically manufactured cannabidiol formulation

Scientists wash away mystery behind why foams are leakier than expected

TIFRH researchers uncover a mechanism enabling glasses to self-regulate their brittleness

High energy proton accelerator on a table-top — enabled by university class lasers

Life, death and mowing – study reveals Britain’s poetic obsession with the humble lawnmower

Ochsner Transplant Institute’s kidney program achieves ELITE Status

Gender differences in primary care physician earnings and outcomes under Medicare Advantage value-based payment

Can mindfulness combat anxiety?

Could personality tests help make bipolar disorder treatment more precise?

Largest genomic study of veterans with metastatic prostate cancer reveals critical insights for precision medicine

UCF’s ‘bridge doctor’ combines imaging, neural network to efficiently evaluate concrete bridges’ safety

Scientists discover key gene impacts liver energy storage, affecting metabolic disease risk

Study finds that individual layers of synthetic materials can collaborate for greater impact

Researchers find elevated levels of mercury in Colorado mountain wetlands

Study reveals healing the ozone hole helps the Southern Ocean take up carbon

Ultra-robust hydrogels with adhesive properties developed using bamboo cellulose-based carbon nanomaterials

New discovery about how acetaminophen works could improve understanding about pain relievers

What genetic changes made us uniquely human? -- The human intelligence evolved from proximal cis-regulatory saltations

How do bio-based amendments address low nutrient use efficiency and crop yield challenges?

Predicting e-bus battery performance in cold climates: a breakthrough in sustainable transit

[Press-News.org] Evolution offers clues to leading cause of death during childbirth