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Conventional testing underestimates Rett Syndrome patients' cognitive abilities

Researchers at Montefiore Medical Center have identified, in a pilot study published in the April edition of Pediatric Neurology, that children with Rett Syndrome, who cannot speak or use their hands to communicate and therefore were thought to be unable to understand and process information, do in fact exhibit meaningful visual search whereby they can process and prioritize information.

18 Apr 2012

Nigerian Vaccine Summit an opportunity to translate political will into action

In this post in the Huffington Post Blog, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), reports on the Nigerian Vaccine Summit, where Nigeria's leaders will meet this week to discuss children's health in the country.

18 Apr 2012

Lime juice and solar disinfection improve quality of drinking water

Looking for an inexpensive and effective way to quickly improve the quality of your drinking water? According to a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, sunlight and a twist of lime might do the trick.

18 Apr 2012

New study recommends intraoperative histological evaluation for Hirschsprung disease treatment

Hirschsprung disease occurs when nerve cells in the colon do not develop normally before birth and the bowel is unable to move its contents along. Severe bowel obstruction and even perforation can then occur. The condition is usually diagnosed within the first months of life, but can be found in older children as well.

18 Apr 2012

US DoD awards UC researchers $3.7M grant to study circadian rhythms

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have received a four-year, $3.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for investigations into circadian rhythms that could lead to enhanced understanding of disease treatments, trauma care and human combat performance.

18 Apr 2012

Genetic reach of autism may extend to half siblings

When a child has autism, siblings are also at risk for the disorder. New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows that the genetic reach of the disorder often extends to half siblings as well.

18 Apr 2012

New text on nursing of autism spectrum disorder

The growing number of children and adults on the autism spectrum represent a growing need for quality health care that is sensitive to the issues they face. This is the premise and challenge behind a new text, Nursing of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence-based Integrated Care across the Lifespan (Springer, April 2012), edited by Dr. Ellen Giarelli, an associate professor in Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions, with Dr. Marcia Gardner.

18 Apr 2012

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus senses and reacts to host cell's impending death

A research team led by Children's National Medical Center has identified a trigger that causes latent Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) to rapidly replicate itself. KSHV causes Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and other cancers that commonly affect immunocompromised patients, including those with AIDS.

18 Apr 2012

A guide to catch and treat hypertension early in children

High blood pressure in children and adolescents is a growing health problem that is often overlooked by physicians, according to a University of Michigan Health System article published in American Family Physician that offers doctors a guide to catching and treating hypertension early.

18 Apr 2012

New research unable to find either positive or negative impact of WIC on infant health

Existing scientific literature suggests the U.S. government nutritional program known as WIC improves birth outcomes of children, but new research is unable to find either a positive or negative impact on infant health.

18 Apr 2012

Gates Foundation, Brazilian health ministry form alliance to expand Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced it has formed an alliance "with the Brazilian Ministry of Health in the latest expansion of the foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative," the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.

18 Apr 2012

Excessive gestational weight gain as problematic as pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity

One out of every two women of reproductive age is overweight or obese. Researchers from the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, from the University of Ottawa (faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences) and from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute set out to discover if overweight or obese women are in fact more likely to give birth to above average weight babies, as reported in the Journal of Maternal Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.

18 Apr 2012

Seniors increasingly challenged by cost, logistics of handling health care

News organizations are covering how some seniors are moving in with their children or grandchildren -- or using community programs -- to help navigate the world of care.

18 Apr 2012

Study tests effectiveness of personally tailored exercise programmes on young people with depression

A unique study to test the effectiveness of personally tailored exercise programmes on young people with depression has been launched by researchers at The University of Nottingham.

18 Apr 2012

Mission to curtail unnecessary medical testing

Dr. Christine K. Cassel, president and CEO of the ABIM claims to be looking at the big picture. "The campaign is not about rationing or withholding proper care. On the contrary; if waste is not reduced, there will be less money for the care that is necessary," she said. "If we don't as a community collectively address this cost issue, then there's a whole lot of people that aren't going to get the care that they need."

17 Apr 2012

Accidental deaths among kids down but more needs to be done: CDC report

According to U.S. mortality data the overall death rate from unintentional injury among children and teens fell 29% from 2000 to 2009. What was concerning however, was that rates of death by poisoning in young adults - mostly from prescription drug overdose - and suffocation in infants rose. And unintentional injury still accounted for 37% of all deaths in the 19-and-under age group in 2009 and was the fifth leading killer of patients younger than 1, the report said. The CDC report was published in the April 16 issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

17 Apr 2012

Inadequate sleep can increase risk of obesity

Can lack of sleep make you fat? A new paper which reviews the evidence from sleep restriction studies reveals that inadequate sleep is linked to obesity. The research, published in a special issue of the The American Journal of Human Biology, explores how lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, impair glucose metabolism and increase blood pressure.

17 Apr 2012

New statistics: One-third of adults aged 45-63 are unmarried

Startling new statistics from Bowling Green State University's National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) paint a bleak future for the largest generation in history, the baby boomers, as they cross into old age.

17 Apr 2012

Medicaid news: Neb.'s prenatal care flap; Texas' 'ticking time bomb'

Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman vetoed a proposal to restore Medicaid-funded prenatal care for illegal immigrants on Friday, but the initiative could still survive if the state legislature rejects his move next week. Nebraska state senators voted 31-15 on Wednesday to restore the program, which was eliminated two years ago after providing prenatal care for decades.

17 Apr 2012