Pediatrics News and Research

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

Diabetes drug improves metabolic changes associated with HIV combination therapy

Use of an oral antidiabetes medication produced significant improvement in a group of patients with HIV lipodsytrophy, a syndrome involving the redistribution of fat and other metabolic changes in those receiving combination drug therapy for HIV infection.

20 May 2004

$20.7 million to make smallpox vaccine safer

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded a five-year, $20.7 million grant to National Jewish Medical and Research Center to lead a consortium of academic medical centers trying to make smallpox vaccines safer for millions of people with atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema.

19 May 2004

Damaged metal halide lamps can cause sunburn

Ever think you could get a nasty sunburn — severe enough to peel — by attending an indoor event? Seems improbable, but it can happen. And it has — three times recently in Middle Tennessee.

19 May 2004

Boston Medical Center awarded grant to support breastfeeding

The Breastfeeding Center at Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Trustees of the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation to help support the Hospital Education of Lactation Practices (HELP) Lowell Program.

19 May 2004

Parents overestimate their children's use of bicycle helmets and seatbelts

Parents think their children use bicycle helmets and seatbelts more often than children say they use them, according to a new study by a University of Michigan Health System pediatric surgeon.

19 May 2004

Fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children has distinct characteristics different from those found in adults

Potentially life-threatening non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children has distinct characteristics, often different from those found in adults, according to a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine study led by Jeffrey Schwimmer, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics.

19 May 2004

Blood pressure screening for children should start at age 3, according to the latest government diagnosis and treatment guidelines

Blood pressure screening for children should start at age 3, according to the latest government diagnosis and treatment guidelines that were presented at the American Society of Hypertension’s Nineteenth Annual Scientific Meeting.

19 May 2004

Report rejects childhood vaccines as a cause of autism

A pivotal report issued today by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) rejects childhood vaccines as a cause of autism. The findings, based on reviews of current scientific evidence, are a significant affirmation of vaccine safety, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

19 May 2004

Benitec acquires Avocel to focus on rapid development of hepatitis C therapeutics

Benitec Ltd. today announced the acquisition of Avocel, Inc. of Sunnyvale, CA, a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and the establishment of its wholly-owned US subsidiary, Benitec, Inc. Through the acquisition, Benitec gains its first in-house advanced therapeutic development program using DNA-directed RNAi (ddRNAi) to target the Hepatitis C virus.

18 May 2004

Study examines impact of cochlear implants

Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that are surgically implanted in the ear, aiding those deaf people not helped by traditional hearing aids. Approximately 90 percent of parents who have deaf children are not deaf, and generally have had little, if any, experience with deaf persons or understanding of deafness. However, perceptions may be changing, partially due to new research on the implants, the article states.

17 May 2004

Discovery of the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome

An international team of researchers has discovered the gene for Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a disabling, multisystem genetic disease that affects an estimated one in 10,000 children. The finding is expected to lead to a genetic test, enabling rapid and definitive diagnosis of the syndrome, as well as prenatal testing for families who already have one child with the disease.

17 May 2004

Regional review boards improve liver transplant allocation

The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) currently utilizes scores based on the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) or Pediatric End-Stage Liver Disease (PELD) to prioritize patients waiting for liver transplants.

17 May 2004

Cancer-causing gene identified that may play a key role in the development of leukemia and other cancers

Using genetically engineered mice, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center have identified a gene that functions as a cancer-causing gene (or oncogene) and may play a key role in the development of leukemia and other cancers in children and adults.

15 May 2004

Unique computer system to help patient care in America

Like a chain with many fragile links, the care of every hospital patient in America is made up of dozens, even hundreds, of daily interactions and handoffs between the doctors, nurses, therapists, residents and medical students who care for them.

15 May 2004

1 in every 10 children worldwide is obese

In a comprehensive dossier revealing how the global obesity epidemic is affecting children, the International ObesityTaskForce says that one in 10 children is overweight, a total of 155 million. Around 30-45 million within that figure are classified as obese - accounting for 2-3% of the world’s children aged 5-17. A further 22 million younger children are also affected according to previous IOTF global estimates based on WHO data for under fives.

13 May 2004

Researchers awarded $5 million to develop a pediatric heart assist device

Penn State researchers recently were awarded a $5 million contract from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health to develop a pediatric heart assist device.

11 May 2004

Low-level personnel un-trained in decision-making end up making discretionary medical choices

With no requirement for healthcare providers to care for uninsured patients seeking routine medical attention, frontline staff -- from clerks to insurance verifiers -- are the gatekeepers, deciding who is seen by the physician and who is turned away, according to research conducted at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

11 May 2004

Most soaps and household cleaners will remove enough peanut allergen

Peanut allergy sufferers and their parents take note: a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study finds that most soaps and household cleaners will remove enough peanut allergen from hands and dining surfaces at home and in schools to prevent an attack.

8 May 2004

Head-cooling device prevents brain damage in oxygen-deprived newborn babies

Liggins Institute Director and trial Director Professor Peter Gluckman said the CoolCap trial results were the culmination of over 20 years work and provided the first evidence in humans that brain damage at birth could be treated. The findings offered hope for a new approach to a major set of clinical conditions, he said.

6 May 2004

New Yorkers less likely to fall from buildings

A national study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers shows that young minority children from lower income neighborhoods are far more likely to die or be injured in falls from buildings.

6 May 2004