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Tips for parents to help their kids get a smart start to the academic year

The first day of school always requires preparations -- notebooks, pens and a new set of clothes. But don't forget to prepare for your child's health, says Dr. Joan Bregstein, a physician in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital.

30 Aug 2012

Strong neural communication between the hemispheres predicts math performance

A new study by researchers at UT Dallas' Center for Vital Longevity, Duke University, and the University of Michigan has found that the strength of communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain predicts performance on basic arithmetic problems. The findings shed light on the neural basis of human math abilities and suggest a possible route to aiding those who suffer from dyscalculia-- an inability to understand and manipulate numbers.

30 Aug 2012

UTMB to offer HPV vaccination against cervical cancer

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston's Dr. Abbey Berenson has been awarded a $1.2 million grant to start a program that will provide a vaccination against cervical cancer to many hundreds of low-income women who receive health care services at UTMB.

30 Aug 2012

Peruvian President announces launch of government fund to fight child malnutrition

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala on Monday said the country's central government and regional governments would provide $1.03 million to a fund aimed at reducing child malnutrition, Andean Air Mail & Peruvian Times reports.

30 Aug 2012

Sri Lanka succeeds in reducing malaria cases by 99.9% since 1999

Despite nearly three decades of conflict, Sri Lanka has succeeded in reducing malaria cases by 99.9 percent since 1999 and is on track to eliminate the disease entirely by 2014.

30 Aug 2012

UCSF’s intensive care unit study receives $2.1 million Moore Foundation grant

A multi-center study of intensive care units (ICU) led by UCSF faculty has received a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant of $2.1 million. The study of ICUs, including two at UCSF, aims to better understand the nature of team-based care and patient involvement in ICU settings.

30 Aug 2012

George Washington University SPHHS launches Childhood Asthma Leadership Coalition

Today the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS) announced the launch of the Childhood Asthma Leadership Coalition, a multi-sector group of advocates and experts dedicated to raising awareness and advancing public policies to improve the health of children who suffer from asthma.

30 Aug 2012

UNICEF official calls for increased investment in child mortality to achieve MDGs; New U.N. estimates due next month

Mickey Chopra, chief health officer at UNICEF, has called for increased investment in reducing child mortality, the Guardian reports, writing Chopra "said investment now would lead to massive strides in meeting the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] of reducing maternal deaths by three-quarters (MDG4) and the deaths of children under five by two-thirds (MDG5), both by 2015."

30 Aug 2012

Novartis receives FDA approval for Afinitor Disperz to treat subependymal giant cell astrocytoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Afinitor Disperz (everolimus tablets for oral suspension), a new pediatric dosage form of the anti-cancer drug Afinitor (everolimus) used to treat a rare brain tumor called subependymal giant cell astrocytoma.

30 Aug 2012

Roundup: Calif. Gov. Brown's pension plan silent on current workers' health care; Psychologists want power to prescribe drugs

Gov. Jerry Brown announced a new plan Tuesday to rein in public pension costs that would raise the retirement age, cap benefits for the highest-paid employees and eliminate "spiking" -- but lacks key parts of the bolder system overhaul he proposed months ago and would even increase some payouts. ... The plan also does not address skyrocketing health care costs for retirees, another main element of the governor's first scenario. Hundreds of thousands of government workers have been promised medical coverage for life.

30 Aug 2012

Childhood coagulation marker levels distinct from adulthood

Levels of key coagulation markers significantly vary with age in children, research reveals, potentially affecting the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric thrombotic and hemorrhagic disease.

29 Aug 2012

Country drinking water may pose child health risk

Findings from a UK study published in PLoS ONE suggest that small private drinking water supplies, typically found in countryside locations, are more likely to be contaminated and result in gastrointestinal illness in children than standard mains water supplies.

29 Aug 2012

Palm reversal sign language errors common in children with ASD

Study findings suggest that children with autism spectrum disorder who have native exposure to sign languages show palm reversal errors that are most likely reflective of “self-other mapping” deficits related to their condition.

29 Aug 2012

Bill Gates reflects on Angola's success against polio

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, reflects on Angola's success against polio, writing, "Angola marked a full year without a new case of polio" this month, an accomplishment that serves as "the latest evidence that we are extremely close to ending polio forever."

29 Aug 2012

Top 10 reasons to avoid flu shots this year

It's the gift that keeps on giving, from early fall, through the holiday season and into late spring. It's seasonal flu, caused by a virus that can fly through the air, hitch a ride on a handshake, hug or kiss, and is extremely good at infecting people and making them sick.

29 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Adding a middle man to Medicare; Circumcision wars; Who is an extremist on abortion?

Bear in mind that health expenses will still have to be mainly paid for by some kind of insurance; that's in the nature of medical care, with its high but unpredictable cost. So what we're doing here is replacing government insurance with a program that gives people money to buy private insurance - that is, adding an extra layer of middlemen.

29 Aug 2012

Hispanic children often have undiagnosed developmental delays, autism

Hispanic children often have undiagnosed developmental delays and large numbers of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic children who first were thought to have developmental delay actually had autism, researchers affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute have found.

29 Aug 2012

Scientists use new method to easily investigate stress systems in babies

After waking up, the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in saliva rises considerably; this is true not only for grown-ups but for babies as well. A research team from the Ruhr-Universit-t Bochum and from Basel has reported this finding in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.

29 Aug 2012

Branding healthier foods in school cafeterias can improve children's nutrition

A popular marketing ploy with junk foods and other indulgent table fare can be an equally effective tool for promoting healthier eating in school cafeterias.

29 Aug 2012

March of Dimes emergency preparedness tips for pregnant women and new parents

Pregnant women evacuating their homes in advance of Hurricane Isaac should be sure to bring their medication, including their prenatal vitamins, as well as their medical records and their health care providers' emergency contact number.

29 Aug 2012