Birth Defects News

September 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Stress Measured in Hair Could Predict Depression and Anxiety in Children

Sep. 16, 2025 — Researchers from the University of Waterloo discovered that measuring long-term stress through children’s hair samples can reveal early signs of mental health risks in those living with chronic physical illnesses. Children with persistently high ...

Daily Eye Drops Could Make Reading Glasses Obsolete

Sep. 15, 2025 — Eye drops combining pilocarpine and diclofenac helped patients read extra lines on vision charts, with effects lasting up to two years. The treatment could revolutionize presbyopia care as a safe, non-surgical alternative to ...

Half of Adults Suffer from Dry Eyes, but Most Never Get Help

Sep. 15, 2025 — Dry eyes are far more common than previously believed, with over half of adults in the US and Europe experiencing symptoms, yet most remain undiagnosed for years. The large-scale NESTS study reveals that sufferers often endure daily discomfort that ...

Ozempic’s Hidden Pregnancy Risk Few Women Know About

Sep. 9, 2025 — Thousands of women are using GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic for weight loss without contraception, leading to unintended pregnancies and potential risks for unborn babies. Experts warn clearer medical guidance is urgently ...

Autism Symptoms Vanish in Mice After Stanford Brain Breakthrough

Sep. 8, 2025 — Scientists at Stanford have found that hyperactivity in the brain’s reticular thalamic nucleus may drive autism-like behaviors. In mouse models, drugs and neuromodulation techniques that suppressed this overactive region reversed symptoms, hinting ...

The Fat You Can’t See May Be Damaging Your Heart, Even If You Exercise

Sep. 6, 2025 — Hidden fat wrapped around organs, known as visceral fat, has now been linked to faster heart aging. Using AI and imaging from more than 21,000 people in the UK Biobank, scientists found that this invisible belly fat accelerates stiffening and ...

Experts Warn: Smartphones Before 13 Could Harm Mental Health for Life

Sep. 6, 2025 — Getting a smartphone before age 13 may drastically increase the risk of poor mental health later in life, according to data from more than 100,000 people. Early use is linked to suicidal thoughts, aggression, and detachment, largely driven by social ...

The Midlife Crisis Is over, but Something Worse Took Its Place

Sep. 2, 2025 — Once a universal feature of human psychology, the “unhappiness hump” in midlife has disappeared, replaced by a new trend: mental health is worst in youth and improves with age. Data from the U.S., U.K., and dozens of countries suggest today’s ...

Common Heart Drug Taken by Millions Found Useless, Possibly Risky

Aug. 31, 2025 — Beta blockers, used for decades after heart attacks, provide no benefit for patients with preserved heart function, according to the REBOOT trial. The massive study also found women faced higher risks when taking the drug. Experts say the results ...

The Surprising Reason X-rays Can Push Arthritis Patients Toward Surgery

Aug. 26, 2025 — Knee osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and disability, but routine X-rays often do more harm than good. New research shows that being shown an X-ray can increase anxiety, make people fear exercise, and lead them to believe surgery is the only ...

9 in 10 Australian Teachers Are Stressed to Breaking Point

Aug. 26, 2025 — Australian teachers are in crisis, with 9 in 10 experiencing severe stress and nearly 70% saying their workload is unmanageable. A major UNSW Sydney study found teachers suffer depression, anxiety, and stress at rates three to four times higher than ...

A Safe Painkiller? New Research Raises Concerns About Tylenol’s Safety in Pregnancy

Aug. 21, 2025 — A large-scale review finds that acetaminophen use during pregnancy may increase the risk of autism and ADHD in children. The strongest studies showed the clearest links, pointing to biological ...

Latest Headlines

updated 8:21am EDT

This Overlooked Trait Could Explain Anxiety and Depression in Millions

Aug. 19, 2025 — Researchers analyzing 33 studies found strong evidence that highly sensitive people are more prone to depression and anxiety but also more likely to benefit from therapy. Since about 31% of the ...

Johns Hopkins Scientists Grow a Mini Human Brain That Lights Up and Connects Like the Real Thing

Aug. 4, 2025 — Scientists at Johns Hopkins have grown a first-of-its-kind organoid mimicking an entire human brain, complete with rudimentary blood vessels and ...

Did Drunk Apes Help Us Evolve? New Clues Reveal Why We Digest Alcohol So Well

Aug. 1, 2025 — Ape behavior just got a name upgrade — “scrumping” — and it might help explain why humans can handle alcohol so well. Researchers discovered ...

Unwanted Pregnancies Surge With Alcohol, but Not With Cannabis, Study Finds

Aug. 1, 2025 — Women who drank heavily, even though they strongly wished to avoid pregnancy, were 50% more likely to become pregnant than those who drank little or not at all, according to new research. ...

Reversing Alzheimer's Damage: Two Cancer Drugs Demonstrate Surprising Power

July 31, 2025 — In an exciting breakthrough, researchers have identified cancer drugs that might reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease in the brain. By analyzing gene expression in brain cells, they discovered ...

The Plant Virus That Trains Your Immune System to Kill Cancer

July 25, 2025 — A virus from humble black-eyed peas is showing extraordinary promise in the fight against cancer. Unlike other plant viruses, the cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) can awaken the human immune system and ...

Four Hidden Types of Autism Revealed — and Each Tells a Different Genetic Story

July 24, 2025 — Scientists at Princeton and the Simons Foundation have identified four biologically distinct subtypes of autism, using data from over 5,000 children ...

People With Eating Disorders Say Cannabis and Psychedelics Help More Than Antidepressants

July 24, 2025 — A massive global survey has revealed that people with eating disorders often turn to cannabis and psychedelics like magic mushrooms and LSD to ease ...

Three-Person DNA IVF Stops Inherited Disease—eight Healthy Babies Born in UK First

July 18, 2025 — In a groundbreaking UK first, eight healthy babies have been born using an IVF technique that includes DNA from three people—two parents and a ...

Not Just Hot Flashes: The Hidden Depression Crisis in Early Menopause

July 17, 2025 — Premature menopause isn t just a hormonal issue it s a deeply emotional one for many women. A new study reveals that almost 30% experience depression, and it s not just about hormone loss but also ...

Not All Exercise Boosts Mental Health — It’s the Why That Matters Most

July 13, 2025 — Movement helps your mood, but it's not one-size-fits-all. Exercising for fun, with friends, or in enjoyable settings brings greater mental health benefits than simply moving for chores or ...

Pregnancy’s 100-Million-Year Secret: Inside the Placenta’s Evolutionary Power Play

July 6, 2025 — A group of scientists studying pregnancy across six different mammals—from humans to marsupials—uncovered how certain cells at the mother-baby boundary have been working together for over 100 ...

AI Spots Deadly Heart Risk Most Doctors Can't See

July 3, 2025 — An advanced Johns Hopkins AI model called MAARS combs through underused heart MRI scans and complete medical records to spot hidden scar patterns that signal sudden cardiac death, dramatically ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 — Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective ...

The Gene That Hijacks Fear: How PTEN Rewires the Brain’s Anxiety Circuit

June 29, 2025 — Deleting a gene called PTEN in certain brain cells disrupts the brain’s fear circuitry and triggers anxiety-like behavior in mice — key traits seen in autism. Researchers mapped how this genetic ...

Brain Scan Breakthrough Reveals Why Parkinson’s Drugs Don’t Always Work

June 29, 2025 — Researchers are using an advanced brain imaging method called MEG to understand why Parkinson’s drug levodopa doesn’t work equally well for everyone. By mapping patients’ brain signals before ...

Iron Overload: The Hidden Culprit Behind Early Alzheimer’s in Down Syndrome

June 20, 2025 — USC researchers have uncovered a hidden driver behind the early and severe onset of Alzheimer's in people with Down syndrome: iron overload in the brain. Their study revealed that individuals ...

CRISPR-Edited Stem Cells Reveal Hidden Causes of Autism

June 14, 2025 — A team at Kobe University has created a game-changing resource for autism research: 63 mouse embryonic stem cell lines, each carrying a genetic mutation strongly associated with the disorder. By ...

Hidden in Your Dna: The Mutation Combo That Raises Clot Risk by 180%

June 8, 2025 — Genetic research in Sweden has unveiled three new gene variants that dramatically increase the risk of venous blood clots, sometimes by up to 180%. These discoveries build on existing knowledge of ...

Molecular Link Between Air Pollution and Pregnancy Risks

June 3, 2025 — A new study found exposure to specific tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy are associated with increased risk of various negative birth ...

Epilepsy Is More Common in Patients With Frontotemporal Dementia Than Expected

June 3, 2025 — According to a recent study, in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), epileptic seizures are significantly more common than previously known. The discovery deepens understanding of the ...

Preventing Chronic Inflammation from Turning Into Cancer

June 2, 2025 — Chronic inflammatory bowel disease is challenging to treat and carries a risk of complications, including the development of bowel cancer. Young people are particularly affected: when genetic ...

Sustained in the Brain: How Lasting Emotions Arise from Brief Stimuli, in Humans and Mice

May 29, 2025 — Humans and mice share persistent brain-activity patterns in response to adverse sensory experience, scientists find, opening a window to our emotions and, perhaps, neuropsychiatric ...

Potential to Prevent and Treat a Common Type of Inflammatory Arthritis Advanced by the Identification of New Genetic Links

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have discovered two genes, RNF144B and ENPP1, that cause calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease in Americans of European and African descent. This crystalline arthritis is caused ...

Nearly Five Million Seized Seahorses Just 'Tip of the Iceberg' in Global Wildlife Smuggling

May 28, 2025 — Close to five million smuggled seahorses worth an estimated CAD$29 million were seized by authorities over a 10-year span, according to a new study that warns the scale of the trade is far larger ...

Gene Editing Disrupts Huntington's Mutation in Mice

May 28, 2025 — Researchers have developed a way to edit the genetic sequences at the root of Huntington's disease and Friedreich's ataxia. If longer than a certain threshold length, these sequences grow ...

Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'Self-Care' System to Turn Against Host

May 27, 2025 — A new study reveals the biological secret to the Zika virus's infectious success: Zika uses host cells' own 'self-care' system of clearing away useless molecules to suppress the ...

Study Quantifies the Sleep Loss and Disruption Experienced by New Mothers

May 27, 2025 — Becoming a new mother brings more than just joyful chaos it delivers a profound and persistent sleep shock. A new study reveals that first-time moms lose not just total sleep, but crucial ...

Why After 2000 Years We Still Don't Know How Tickling Works

May 27, 2025 — How come you can't tickle yourself? And why can some people handle tickling perfectly fine while others scream their heads off? Neuroscientists argue that we should take tickle research more ...

Significant Declines in Maternal Mental Health Across US

May 27, 2025 — A new study reveals a concerning decline in self-reported mental health among mothers in the United States between 2016 and 2023. The study also found modest but measurable declines in self-reported ...