Abortion Aftermath Can Be Costly

HEALTH SCOUT NEWS, Sept. 5 — Women who have an abortion are nearly twice as likely to die within two years compared to women who deliver their babies, with the causes ranging from accidents to suicide. That higher mortality rate lasts for nearly a decade after an abortion.

The conclusion was reached in a new study by the Elliot Institute that appears in the most recent issue of the Southern Medical Journal.

In an analysis of 173,000 low-income California women, deaths from suicides, accidents and natural causes were all significantly higher among those who had had an abortion compared to women who delivered their babies.

Keyhole Surgery for Pre-Born

REUTERS, Sept. 5 — An international team of doctors said it had found a way to treat unborn babies suffering from a rare muscle defect that impairs lung development with breakthrough fetal surgery.

One in 5,000 to 10,000 pregnancies could benefit from the keyhole surgery that doctors from Belgium, Britain and Spain have devised to treat diaphragmatic hernias.

This type of hernia is a rare defect in the muscle that divides the lungs and intestines, leaving the baby with abnormally small lungs. In some cases, the defect is so severe babies die because of complications arising from underdeveloped lungs and high blood pressure.

Eight babies have undergone the operation so far, with six surviving.

Early Flaws May Doom Clones

REUTERS, Sept. 9 — Researchers have discovered a possible reason for why so few cloned embryos mature into healthy animals.

The study, which looked at the genetic makeup of certain organs in cloned mice, found that as many as one in 25 genes might be abnormal in a clone's placenta, according to the report published in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers suspect the abnormalities are a result of the cloning process itself, said Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch, a professor of biology at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Adult Stem Cell Procedure Saves ‘Bubble Boy’

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 5 — Wilco Conradi was born two years ago with severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID, which renders the immune system ineffective against microbes ordinarily harmless to others.

But a new gene therapy technique apparently has cured Conradi's disease. After a single injection of genetically modified adult stem cells, Conradi gained a normal immune system. He left the plastic bubble that had kept him safe from germs. He needs no medication or special treatment and eats a regular diet.