A new test could help predict which women will have a natural birth or will need a Caesarean section.
Scientists found that when high levels of lactic acid are measured in the amniotic fluid, it is more likely the mother will need a Caesarean section.
The test is already being administered in a number of European hospitals.
Over half of the caesareans in the U.K. are emergency rather than elective procedures.
Swedish company Obstecare helped developed the test with the help of research led by Liverpool University and Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The study found that …

To understand what cancer is, it is important to first understand how the body’s cells normally work.
How does the body grow and maintain itself?
The body is made up of tiny cells – for example, skin cells, muscle cells, heart cells, nerve cells, and bone cells. When a baby grows, the number of cells increases very quickly. A cell becomes a bit larger, then divides into 2 “daughter” cells (Figure 1). After a period of time, each of these cells divides, and so on.
Once a child grows to adulthood, the size …

Jeff Kepner’s new hands slump on the table, like ill-fitting, flesh-colored anchors fused to his arms.
Hashmark scars line his lower arm. His right index finger stubbornly curls while the rest lie straight.
Kepner fidgets in his seat and strains his neck to check the clock hanging on the wall, to see when today’s therapy session is over.
No one can say exactly when Kepner’s hand therapy will end.
More than a year after becoming the first person to receive a double hand transplant in the United States, Kepner’s new hands jut from his …

A new study from researchers in Canada and Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, were published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine.
“This study is important because it is the first to show that an artificially fabricated cornea can integrate with the human eye and stimulate regeneration,” said senior author Dr. May Griffith of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the University of Ottawa …

Vitamin D has long been known to be essential to bone and muscle health by aiding calcium absorption in the intestines and the production of enzymes involved in collagen formation in the bones. This important nutrient also promotes normal cell growth and helps maintain hormonal balance as well as supporting the immune system.
Recent research has found receptors for vitamin D in almost every organ and tissue system in the body, suggesting that deficiencies may affect many types of cell functions. Now one study has just been completed while another is …