Search

The article focuses on reproductive carrier screening during pregnancy and its implications for both maternal and fetal health. It discusses the importance of carrier screening, identifies conditions with potential maternal manifestations, and highlights the role of healthcare providers in supporting individuals through this process.

The scope of noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) could expand in the future to inciude detailed analysis of the fetal genome. This will allow for the testing for virtually any trait with a genetic contribution. including "non-medical" traits. Here we discuss the potential use of NIPT for these traits. We outline a scenario which highlights possible inconsistencies with ethical decision-making. We then discuss the case against permitting these uses. The objections include practical problems: increasing inequities; increasing the burden of choice: negative impacts on the child. family, and society, and issues with implementation, We then outline the case for permitting the use of NiPT for these traits. These include arguments for reproductive liberty and autonomy: questioning the labeling of traits as "non-medical": and the principle of procreative beneficence. This summary of the case for and against can sen+e as a basis for the development of a consistent and coherent ethical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a medical encounter between the author, his wife Ursula, and a pediatric cardiologist, who delivers a positive diagnosis about their baby girl's health. Topics discussed include the doctor's unique approach, the emotional challenges associated with a prenatal diagnosis, and the unexpected sense of optimism in the face of a Down syndrome diagnosis.

The article addresses concerns about the moral implications of prenatal testing and potential decisions to terminate pregnancies based on health challenges, specifically Down syndrome. Topic include that it explores the historical context of eugenics and distinguishes between population-level policies and personal choices, while also highlighting the complexities of decision-making and potential misunderstandings about the lives of individuals with Down syndrome.

The article focuses on Tessa G.'s experience with prenatal diagnosis, particularly with Trisomy 18, where she shares her story of receiving the diagnosis and her interactions with the medical team, highlighting their reluctance to humanize her unborn child until she and her husband expressed.

The article reports on a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco published in "The New England of Medicine" which demonstrated the role of exome sequencing in improving prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy outcomes for women such as identifying non-immune hydrops fetalis.

The author reflects on the worth of people's lives. Topics discussed include his need to justify his desire for basic human goods and his existence, the source of his anxiety to prove that he deserved to flourish, the change in his views on religions through the help of his wife, and the question on whether it should be permissible to obtain an abortion following a prenatal disability diagnostics.

The article discusses the decline in the number of children born with Down syndrome after the introduction of prenatal Down syndrome screening to pregnant women. It describes the case of a 27-year-old patient from Denmark who was a carrier for hemophilia and decided to undergo a test extracting amniotic fluid from her womb to determine if an abortion is need on eugenic grounds. It reveals the few number of babies born with Down syndrome following the prenatal test.

The article presents information on the advancements in the human reproductive technology. The technology has helped women in delaying childbirth. Prenatal screening has reduced the number of children born with Down's syndrome. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis can be used to detect embryos with chromosomal abnormalities.

Presents letters to the editors of "Newsweek" magazine. Views on the subject of choosing the sex of your child; Reproductive technology and its cost; Preimplantation genetic diagnosis techniques; Gun ownership and shooting sports; Satellite radio stations.

The article discusses that U.S. parents has been receiving a prenatal diagnosis need extra support. It mentions that Be Not Afraid (BNA), a North Carolina-based, 100 percent pro-life "case management support service providing parent-centered care and peer support to moms and dads carrying to term following a prenatal diagnosis.

Objectives. To estimate adult (15-49 years old) prevalence and incidence of active syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia, and incidence of congenital syphilis (CS) and adverse birth outcomes (ABOs) in Colombia, over 1995-2016. Methods. The Spectrum-STI epidemiological model tool estimated gonorrhea and chlamydia prevalences as moving averages across prevalences observed in representative general population surveys. For adult syphilis, Spectrum-STI applied segmented polynomial regression through prevalence data from antenatal care (ANC) surveys, routine ANC-based screening, and general population surveys. CS cases and ABOs were estimated from Spectrum's maternal syphilis estimates and proportions of women screened and treated for syphilis, applying World Health Organization case definitions and risk probabilities. Results. The Spectrum model estimated prevalences in 2016 of 0.70% (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.15%-1.9%) in women and 0.60% (0.1%-1.9%) in men for gonorrhea and of 9.2% (4.4%-15.4%) in women and 7.4% (3.5%-14.7%) in men for chlamydia, without evidence for trends over 1995-2016. The prevalence of active syphilis in 2016 was 1.25% (1.22-1.29%) in women and 1.25% (1.1%-1.4%) in men, decreasing from 2.6% (2.1%-3.2%) in women in 1995. Corresponding CS cases in 2016 (including cases without clinical symptoms) totaled 3 851, of which 2 245 were ABOs. Annual CS and ABO estimates decreased over 2008-2016, reflecting decreasing maternal prevalence and increasing cases averted through ANC-based screening and treatment. Conclusions. The available surveillance and monitoring data synthesized in Spectrum- STI--and the resulting first-ever national STI estimates for Colombia--highlighted Colombia's persistently high STI burden. Adult syphilis and congenital syphilis are estimated to be falling, reflecting improving screening efforts. Strengthened surveillance, including with periodic screening in low-risk populations and future refined Spectrum estimations, should support planning and implementation of STI prevention and control, including CS elimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Cuba, maternal and child health care is based on the priority granted by the State, the implementation of the National Maternal and Child Health Program and the guarantee of equitable access to health services. This article describes the Cuban experience in this field, as well as its main achievements, challenges, and lessons learned. Among the most relevant results up to 2015 are the reduction of infant mortality rate and under-five mortality rate to 4.3 and 5.7 deaths per 1 000 live births, respectively; 5-year survival of 99.4%; more than 10 prenatal check-ups per delivery; 5.3% of low birth weight; 99.9% of institutional births; and being the first country to validate the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS and congenital syphilis. The main challenges are to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding; to reduce anemia due to iron deficiency in children and pregnant women; to reduce overweight in children; to prevent accidents; and to reduce maternal mortality, adolescent fertility rate, and voluntary abortion. Among the lessons learned are the priority given by the State to health, the programmatic management of maternal and child care, the guarantee of universal coverage, the systematic collection of information for decision-making, the integration of sectors and social participation in health. Sustaining and improving the results achieved will contribute to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a revolutionary procedure performed inside the womb. How a team of doctors at Children's Hospital Boston and Brigham and Women's Hospital operated on Camryn Paske's heart; Successful outcome for Paske, who had been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome; Risks of operating in the womb; Number of procedures performed by the Boston, Massachusetts team since 2000; Challenges; Outlook for advances in fetal intervention. INSET: Very Early Intervention.

The article discusses the ethical aspects and laws concerning the prenatal screening for Down's syndrome, particularly in regard to the impact that positive tests results have on increased abortions of those with Down's syndrome. An overview of the anti-abortion movement in Great Britain's efforts against prenatal screening for Down's syndrome is provided.

Reports on techniques for testing embryos for genetic disorders in in vitro fertilization. Test for fragile X syndrome by removing eggs from a woman's ovary and letting them grow to the eight-cell stage; Freezing of embryos while the cell is analyzed; Development of probes for chromosomal defects; Concerns over unethical reproductive choices; Uterine lavage.

The article focuses on the evolving field of genetic disease testing, highlighting its importance in determining disease risk, diagnosing specific tumors or diseases, and predicting patient responses to treatments. It discusses various types of genetic tests, such as gene tests, chromosomal tests, and gene expression tests, as well as the role of digital pathology and AI-based methods in enhancing diagnostic accuracy and efficiency.

The article discusses about the disability studies exploring that euthanasia and assisted suicide has been motivated by a desire to end suffering and respect autonomy. It discusses that several countries have legalized the Euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, an action taken to end the life of a person experiencing long-term illness.

The article offers information on the impact of commercializing Non-Invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). Topics discussed include advent of serum screening as a form of blood test to measure maternal serum alpha fetoprotein, diagnosis by amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling help in the avoiding the risk of miscarriage, and detection of Down syndrome cases by NIPT.

The article discusses the applications of nucleic acid testing (NAT) or nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) in diagnosis and therapy. Topics tackled are the association of NAT with blood screening, use of NAT in detecting infectious diseases, predicting cancer and guiding cancer treatment, as well as for personalized and precision medicine, screening for genetic disorder, and diagnosis of mitochondrial diseases.

The idea that a world in which everyone was born "perfect" would be a world in which something valuable was missing often comes up in debates about the ethics of technologies of prenatal testing and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This thought plays an important role in the "disability critique" of prenatal testing. However, the idea that human genetic variation is an important good with significant benefits for society at large is also embraced by a wide range of figures writing in the bioethics literature, including some who are notoriously hostile to the idea that we should not select against disability. By developing a number of thought experiments wherein we are to contemplate increasing genetic diversity from a lower baseline in order to secure this value, I argue that this powerful intuition is more problematic than is generally recognized, especially where the price of diversity is the well-being of particular individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the development prenatal testing in the U.S. Amniocentesis was the first available prenatal test that was available late in pregnancy and carried a small risk of miscarriage. It states that attempts to push prenatal diagnosis earlier in pregnancy resulted to the availability of chorionic vilus sampling (CVS) in the 1980s that carried a risk of miscarriage.

The article focuses on prenatal test results for rare genetic anomalies often wrong, perfectly healthy unborn babies aborted.

The article presents information on chromosomal aneuploidies which is a condition of abnormal chromosomes involving sex chromosomes which are non-viable and lead to early miscarriage. Present challenges include designing a non-invasive and highly accurate test for autosomal aneuploidies through screening.

The article examines the discourse over eugenic abortion. It discusses the attractive features of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and provides understanding of the cultural, legal and political changes that are driving demand for NIPT. Poll results showed the public's concern that NIPT will foster discrimination against people with disabilities and that women will be bullied into undergoing the test. Evidence suggests the implications of eugenic abortion for the living disabled.

The article examines how biomedical advances have led to increased bioethical issues It discusses technological innovations have allowed for greater awareness of fetal health and prenatal testing for untreatable diseases, as well as the impact of greater understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships. Educating students on ethical issues related to these advances is explored, as the author suggests teachers avoid religious and political aspects, discourage judgments, and use case studies.

A new prenatal test that indirectly quantifies fetal DNA in maternal plasma has been shown to be highly sensitive in detecting trisomy 21 and has the potential to identify other forms of fetal aneuploidy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to contemporary management of twins in terms of obstetrics. It notes that due to reproductive technology being more widely used, the incidence of twins has increased to 1 in 20 pregnancies. It discusses the most common problems affecting twins including anomalies, preterm labor (PTL), and twin-to-twin discordance (TTD). Information on prenatal testing is provided.

The article focuses on pre-, neo-, and post-natal testing. It presents an interview with Doctor David G. Grenache who speaks about fetal lung-maturity testing and an interview with Doctor Brad Karon who provides information on neo-natal testing. The article discusses issues surrounding drawing blood from newborns and infants for testing. Information on articles written by Doctor Piero Rinaldo on newborn screening is also included.

In this article the author explores the question of birth defects discovered in the fetuses of pregnant women and the biological and ethical issues involved. At issue is the debate over the morality of carrying to term a possibly brain-damaged or otherwise impaired child, as detected by amniocentesis, or opting for abortion. The author focuses on a family which had a child born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and the suit brought against their doctor alleging inadequate prenatal care.

Focuses on the practice of eugenic abortion designed to lessen the number of infants that are born with disabilities in the U.S. Comments from Senator Rick Santorum on the endorsement of eugenic abortion by Senator Hillary Clinton; Scope of wrongful life lawsuits that parents can file against their physicians for failure to provide accurate prenatal information; Background on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis; Link between eugenics and the theory of evolution.

Objective. To determine the success of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) for HIV and to identify the barriers to implementation when VCT is offered as a package integrated with antenatal care. Methods. In this descriptive study we investigated antenatal VCT and HIV testing in all post-parturient women at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bridgetown, Barbados, who gave birth between April and September 2002. Data were collected retrospectively from the antenatal care record and by recall during one-on-one interview. Results. Of 1342 women surveyed, 954 (71.1%) received antenatal counseling and were offered an HIV test. Of the 954 women offered HIV test after counseling, 914 (95.8%) agreed to have the test. Among the women surveyed, 1 106 (82.4%) had a documented HIV test, 914 (85.7%) were tested after documented pretest counseling, and another 192 (14.3%) were tested without documented pretest counseling. Overall, 822 of the I 342 women surveyed (61.2%) had a documented HIV test result in their antenatal case record at the time of delivery. Of the 1106 women who had a documented HIV test, the test results were unavailable at the time of delivery in only 284 (21.2%). Among the reasons for unavailability of a documented HIV test result, the most common (45.0%) was that no test was done, followed by unclear documentation of the result. Conclusions. Twenty-nine percent of surveyed women failed to receive antenatal VCT and this is a cause of concern, for both the high coverage and good quality counseling are key to the overall success and cost effectiveness of the VCT program. Fourteen percent of the women surveyed who did not receive VCT were tested for HIV, a situation that is undesirable because some women may be tested without understanding the full implication of this policy, and as a result the overall impact of VCT may be reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with the significance of prenatal screening tests on risk assessment during pregnancy. Information on the nature, origin, and combination of markers useful in prenatal risk assessment; Explanation on the methods of reporting of biomarker test results and data management requirements for risk assessment; Description of the characteristics and risk factors for down syndrome and neural tube defects. INSET: USES AND REPORTING -- SCREENING FORMATS.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Beware Prenatal Gene Screens," by the journal's editors in the Science Agenda column of the February 2016 issue.

The author discusses aspects of prenatal gene tests in the U.S. Topics discussed include the safety improvement on the procedures to check the genes of the unborn child, the uncertainty over the sensitivity rate of the screening tests, and the need for the Food and Drug Administration to follow up the testing procedures.

The article questions if amniocentesis is an appropriate choice for pregnant women. Amniocentesis is a diagnostic test that determines if a woman is carrying a baby with a chromosomal abnormality. A paper in the November 2006 issue of the "Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology," reports that the risk of a miscarriage as a result of the procedure is low. Dr. Gary Hankins has said it is much lower than originally thought.

Discusses the common occurrence of false alarms in prenatal testing. Chances of giving birth to a healthy baby; Psychological aspects of errors in test results; Decision of many couples to avoid prenatal testing; Tests, including ultrasound examination, and their shortcomings as diagnostic tools.

"Grall's proposal would prohibit a physician from Bill to prevent disability-based abortion endorsed by Florida House committee performing an abortion if they know or should know that a woman's decision to abort is based on a test result that suggests a disability", Delgado explained. National Right to Life News www.NRLC.org April 2021 32 By Dave Andrusko Florida is bidding to become the tenth state to ban abortions based on a prenatal diagnosis of disability. [Extracted from the article]

Klunk, who gave birth to her second child during the pandemic, continues her campaign to ensure that a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome is not a death sentence in Pennsylvania. State Rep. Kate Klunk (R-Hanover) is resurrecting Down syndrome protection legislation. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the advancements in microarray technology, particularly for diagnostic testing in prenatal screening. Topics discussed include use of array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) for detection of genome-wide chromosomal imbalances not detected by karyotyping, for both bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone arrays and oligonucleotide aCGH, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chips, and use of software options with genomic copy number variations (CNVs) collection.

These are the main findings of a US study that assessed the impact of coverage expansion for NIPT, a more accurate method to screen for fetal aneuploidies such as trisomy 21, on prenatal screening strategies using claims data from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC). A performance-based risk-sharing (PBRS) agreement to expand coverage for non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) in pregnant women aged < 35 years can increase the use of NIPT and decrease the use of conventional screening methods with a modest increase in payer expenditures. The budget-impact analysis showed that expanded coverage for NIPT resulted in a modest increase in per-member per-month expenditures of $US0.026. [Extracted from the article]

Presents excerpts from the book `Our Stolen Future: How We Are Threatening Our Fertility, Intelligence and Survival--a Scientific Detective Story,' by Theo Colborn, John Myers and Dianne Dumanoski. Focus on the physiological effects of synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol's (DES); Association between cancer of the vagina and DES; Mechanism by which DES disrupt the endocrine system; Skepticism from medical and scientific communities towards the dangers of prenatal exposure of infants to DES.

The article examines the potential consequences of performing genetic tests that use blood drawn from the mother to determine fetal abnormalities. It provides an overview of the noninvasive prenatal screening carried out by companies including Sequenom Laboratories, Verinata Health, Ariosa Diagnostics, and Natera. The ethical or moral quandaries about the use of the technology and the debate over abortion are discussed.

The article offers information on 2020 World Congress on Oils and Fats & ISF Lectureship Series to be held in Sydney, Australia from February 9-12, 2020. Professor Philip Calder of Southampton University has published two papers of interest where researchers looked at omega-3 absorption in the presence of self-micro-emulsifying delivery systems (SMEDS). Omega Quant Analytics, producer of the original omega-3 blood test, the Omega-3 Index, has launched its newest test the Prenatal DHA Test.

Suggests a reconsideration of the practice of using ultrasound in routine screening of pregnant women. Studies indicating that routine scanning makes no overall difference to the health of babies; Possible harmful effects; Problem of false positive results; Absence of definitive data on the benefits and risks of routine scans; Need for a study comparing routine and selective scanning and to improve study designs.