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Global burden of disease shifts from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases

The global burden of disease is shifting from infectious diseases to noncommunicable diseases, with chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke now being the chief causes of death globally, according to a new WHO report published today. The shifting health trends indicate that leading infectious diseases - diarrhoea, HIV, tuberculosis, neonatal infections and malaria - will become less important causes of death globally over the next 20 years.

20 May 2008

Too much water raises seizure risk in babies

It's a recurrent summer-time scenario in the pediatric emergency room and doctors from Johns Hopkins Children's are sounding the alarm on it: An otherwise healthy infant is brought in by panicked parents after suffering a seizure, which turns out to be caused by drinking too much water.

15 May 2008

Would you let your child participate in medical research?

Advances in medicine - new treatments, cures, vaccines and medicines - are driven by research involving humans. But when it comes to medical research that requires children to be involved, researchers often struggle to find participants.

13 May 2008

Mothers' high normal blood sugar levels place infants at risk for birth problems

Pregnant women with blood sugar levels in the higher range of normal - but not high enough to be considered diabetes - are more likely than women with lower blood sugar levels to give birth to babies at risk for many of the same problems seen in babies born to women with diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study funded in large part by the National Institutes of Health.

8 May 2008

Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies

Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.

7 May 2008

Autism linked to schizophrenia

Researchers say they have discovered a link between childhood autism and mental illness in parents; they suggest that the parents of autistic children are twice as likely to have had a psychiatric illness.

6 May 2008

Parental psychiatric disorders associated with autism spectrum disorders in the offspring

Parents of children with autism were roughly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, than parents of other children, according to an analysis of Swedish birth and hospital records by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher and colleagues in the U.S. and Europe.

5 May 2008

Uninsured kids in middle class have same unmet needs as poor

Nationwide, uninsured children in families earning between $38,000 and $77,000 a year are just as likely to go without any health care as uninsured children in poorer families. More than 40 percent of children in those income brackets who are uninsured all year see no physicians and have no prescriptions all year, according to new research from the University of Rochester Medical Center.

5 May 2008

New SCHIP enrollees have unmet health care needs

Even with prior private health insurance, patients enrolling in the state children's health insurance program (SCHIP) had unmet health care needs. Instituting a waiting period would further prolong these children's need to address asthma and other chronic health conditions.

5 May 2008

Intensive training for medical staff in Latin American hospitals reduces serious complication of pregnancy

An intensive educational program for physicians and midwives involving 19 hospitals in Argentina and Uruguay dramatically reduced the rate of postpartum hemorrhage, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

1 May 2008

Young children hospitalized for flu associated with higher costs and higher risk illness

The high costs of hospitalizing young children for influenza creates a significant economic burden in the United States, underscoring the importance of preventive flu shots for children and the people with whom they have regular contact, according to research led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and presented May 4 at the Pediatric Academic Society annual meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

30 Apr 2008

Mothers less likely to pursue HPV vaccination for youngest daughters

Because the first national study of its kind has found that U.S. mothers report they are less likely to vaccinate daughters under age 13 against human papillomavirus virus (HPV), even though the vaccine is recommended for girls at age 11 and 12, it's incumbent upon the healthcare community to work to improve moms' acceptance of the vaccination for younger daughters, say researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center who conducted the study. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus known to cause cervical cancer.

30 Apr 2008

Children more vulnerable to harmful effects of lead at age 6 than as toddlers

Contrary to prevailing assumptions, children are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead exposure at the age of 6 than they are in early childhood, according to a Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study to be presented May 4 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Honolulu.

30 Apr 2008

U.S. unemployment having impact on kids' health care coverage

Two new studies conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center point to the negative impact of parental job loss on children's healthcare and the importance of having continuous health insurance coverage to meet children's healthcare needs and reduce healthcare disparities.

30 Apr 2008

Factors affecting survival, disability of extremely premature infants identified

Gestational age has long been the factor most commonly used to predict whether an extremely low-birth-weight infant survives and thrives, but four additional factors that can help predict a preemie's outcome have been identified by the National Institutes of Health Neonatal Research Network, of which Yale is a member.

29 Apr 2008

Daycare and play group attendance early on cuts childhood leukemia risk

Children who attend day care or play groups have about a 30% lower risk of developing the most common type of childhood leukaemia than those who do not, according to a new analysis of studies investigating the link.

28 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene that may influence metastasis risk in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pattern of gene activity in mice that may help to predict individual risk for breast cancer metastasis and survival in humans. A single gene, called bromodomain 4 (Brd4), regulates the expression of this pattern, also called a signature.

22 Apr 2008

Keep children's health in mind

If there is any real purpose to the 2020 summit, it could be to establish a national program of research, clinical and community activity that would deliver a 21st century response to the real child and youth mental health problems that our society creates.

18 Apr 2008

Children with migraine more likely to have sleep disorders

Children with migraine are more likely to have sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea and lack of sleep, than children without migraine, according to research on the effects of headaches on children’s sleep patterns that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology 60th Anniversary Annual Meeting in Chicago, April 12-19, 2008.

17 Apr 2008

Unbiased, comprehensive analysis of drug research from new web site

Physicians and consumers who want fair and balanced information about the most appropriate uses for prescription medications can now find it using a Web-based resource that provides easily accessible, science-based research about drug uses free from pharmaceutical industry influence.

17 Apr 2008