Tag Archives: brain

Study Finds Gum Disease Treatment is Safe for Babies

According to Reuters, pregnant women are safe to be treated for gum infections and do not need to worry about their baby’s health, says a new study. The concern among dentists had been that treating the problem could cause bacteria to get into a mother’s bloodstream, where it could reach the fetus. A new study published in the journal of Pediatrics found that women can be confident about receiving dental treatment without causing meaningful effects on their baby’s development. Dr. Bryan Michalowicz, a dentists at the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry in Minneapolis and his colleagues tested more than 400 two-year olds who had been born to mothers with gum disease. Half the mothers had been treated with aggressive cleaning including scaling and planing during pregnancy, while the rest had not. The researchers found that kids did just as well on language, motor and mental tests regardless of whether…
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Researchers Find Learning Ability Restored After Brain Injury With New Cells

According to Science News, a study conducted on mice showed that newborn nerve cells may help heal the brain after a traumatic injury. Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center published in the Journal of Neuroscience a finding that could help treat brain injured patients with new nerve cells. Doctors have known that adult brains can make new neurons in two parts of the brain, but the role of those cells has not been clear. Some scientists suggest that generating new nerve cells may be a way to build a new brain during development and has no affect on the adult brain at all. Others argue that new wiring hooks up new brain cells and sometimes can cause seizures due to wire tangling. The new study suggests that newborn neurons made in the hippocampus are beneficial, at least in aiding recovery after a traumatic brain injury. The hippocampus…
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