More than a year ago, a preliminary report on the 2006 data revealed that the U.S. teen birth rate had risen for the first time in about 15 years. But the new numbers provide the first state-by-state information on the increase. The new report is based on a review of all the birth certificates in 2006. Significant increases in teen birth rates were noted in 26 states.
"It's pretty much across the board" nationally, said Brady Hamilton, a CDC statistician who worked on the report.
About 435,000 of the nation's 4.3 million births in 2006 were to mothers ages 15 through 19. That was about 21,000 more teen births than in 2005.
Associated Press
Deep-brain stimulation helps with Parkinson's
Patients with advanced Parkinson's disease who received deep-brain stimulation showed greater improvement in movement and quality of life after six months than those treated with medication, a new study shows.
But the deep-brain stimulation patients had an almost four times greater risk of serious side effects such as depression, infections, falls or heart problems. Although most side effects could be treated, one patient suffered a brain hemorrhage and died.
With deep-brain stimulation, doctors surgically implant electrodes that send electrical stimulation to parts of the brain to reduce involuntary movements and tremors. It is a widely accepted treatment for advanced Parkinson's, but few randomized trials have been conducted comparing treatments.
Previous studies have largely excluded older patients, who account for the majority of those with the disease. About 25 percent of the more than 250 patients in the new study were 70 or older.
In the study, which appears in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, patients were randomly selected to receive either medication or bilateral deep-brain stimulation, with the electrodes implanted into the subthalamic nucleus or the globus pallidus areas of the brain.
Los Angeles Times
