Down syndrome, characterized by varying degrees of intellectual impairment and distinguishing facial features, as well as other internal maladies that often contribute to a shortened life expectancy, is caused by carrying three copies (trisomy) of chromosome 21 instead of two. While in the general population it affects one in every 600 babies born, the rate significantly increases to one in every 385 births for pregnant women who are 35, and the incidence continues to rise as a woman ages.

A new Wisconsin bill sponsored by state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls) and Rep. Erik Severson (R-Osceola) — who is, sorry to say, a physician — aims to repeal a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) rule requiring all municipal water systems to disinfect their drinking water by chlorination. Although 88 percent of Wisconsin municipalities already chlorinate their water, the remaining 12 percent that comprise 66 municipalities don’t.

Yesterday s The New York Times reported on worrisome trends in the pharmaceutical industry: the dearth of big drug breakthroughs, research and development downsizing and more stringent FDA regulations. Of course it also doesn t help that the drug industry stands to lose nearly $50 billion in annual sales this year after relinquishing control of more than ten medicines to cheaper generics due to expiring patents. Currently, 75 percent of all U.S.

ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan likes to quote Ulysses Grant’s remark that the best way to eliminate an idiotic law is to insist on its strictest possible enforcement.Californians will soon get a chance to test the veracity of this maxim as the state considers applying its Proposition 65 to alcohol.

Last week the Los Angeles Times reported on a fascinating ongoing legal saga: a three-judge panel of a federal appellate court is now considering the latest motions from the Institute for Justice, a Libertarian legal foundation, which is challenging laws prohibiting individuals from selling their bone marrow.

On Friday the FDA acknowledged that it was reconsidering whether to permit pharmacies and drug stores to sell at-home genetic testing kits.

Friday’s Medpage Today carried a story about a growing phenomenon: more and more pediatricians are refusing to see children whose parents choose not to vaccinate them. The doctors argue that they cannot in good conscience place their other patients at risk by exposing them in their waiting rooms to unvaccinated children.ACSH's Dr.

Researchers have known for some time that a pregnant woman taking anti-convulsive medications faced a greater risk of bearing a child with a cleft palate. On Friday, the FDA went further, specifically warning women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant about Topamax (topiramate).

The latest statistics from the CDC seem to indicate that teens and young adults are becoming less sexually active. The study, released Thursday, is based on interviews of about 5,300 young people, ages 15 to 24, between 2006 and 2008. It shows the proportion in that age group who reported that they had never had oral, anal or vaginal sex rose over the past decade from 22 percent to about 28 percent.

A disquieting new study published online in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes shows that research into heart devices isn’t properly considering the effects of these devices on women or employing comparable numbers of female test subjects.A research team led by Dr.