Pregnancy Archive

Research we're watching

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A small study found that babies conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) may be more likely to have high blood pressure as teenagers than those conceived naturally.

Close to 2% of babies born in the United States are conceived using ART, most commonly by in vitro fertilization, in which sperm and egg are mixed in a lab dish. In 2012, researchers found that healthy kids born via ART were more likely than their peers to have signs of premature aging of their blood vessels.

Research into the connection between breastfeeding and obesity in children found that babies who got milk directly from the mother’s breast for the first three months of life had the lowest risk of becoming obese, because they are less likely to overfeed.

Several sex-specific issues may foretell a higher risk of cardiovascular problems in women and men.

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You probably know the key health indicators that pose a danger to your heart, such as high cholesterol and elevated blood pressure. But many people are not aware of the sex-specific conditions that may serve as early warning signals for heart disease.

For women, these include problems that sometimes occur during pregnancy, as well as other diseases that are more prevalent in females (see "Female-focused cardiac risks"). For men, it's a relatively common problem that's less commonly discussed: erectile dysfunction.