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Thirty-three years later, fewer women are surprised in the delivery room the way Sheila Hebein was. Screening for Down syndrome became a routine part of U.S. prenatal care around 1990. Typically, women are offered a "triple screen" blood test during the second trimester of pregnancy (see chart). The results are entered into a computer along with the mother's age, and the machine spits out her individual risk of carrying a child with Down. If the risk is high--say more than 1 in 300--she will be offered amniocentesis, a needle-in-the-belly test that allows doctors...
...published in the New England Journal of Medicine, determined that if done properly, the first-trimester screening detects 87% of fetuses with Down at 11 weeks gestation, while the second-trimester blood screening detects 81% if four substances are screened and only 69% if the more popular triple-screen test is used. Most accurate of all--with a 96% detection rate--is a "fully integrated" calculation that combines both results...
...study will undoubtedly increase demand for the first-trimester test, though it costs $200 to $800 and is not covered by most insurance. More important, it greatly clarifies the range of options for expectant mothers, says lead author Dr. Fergal Malone, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. "This is not a one-size-fits-all approach," he says. The first-trimester screening carries a high risk of false positives for older women, so a woman who has struggled for years to get pregnant and wishes to avoid the risks of a follow...
...everyone's convinced. And not everyone will be until there's a biological test for depression instead of the series of questions doctors use now. Don't hold your breath waiting for that, says British academic Moncrieff: "I believe that human emotions will never be located in a simple biochemical formula." The chemical-imbalance theory is nonsense, says Adelaide psychiatrist Jureidini. SSRIs alter a patient's serotonin levels within days, he says, but their antidepressant effect - if there is any - doesn't occur for several weeks. "The idea that there's a serotonin deficiency that explains depression is such...
...game behind 5-1 Brown, which beat Dartmouth 24-14. Harvard could still secure a share of first if the Bears fall to Columbia on the road next week, but the Lions—0-6 in the Ivy League—are unlikely to prove much of a test for streaking Brown.As a result, next Saturday’s showdown in New Haven will likely be only for the customary bragging rights, as well as a chance for the seniors to close out their season and careers on a high note.“It?...