Children News and Research

RSS

FDA approves Merck's Isentress to treat HIV-1 infection in children, adolescents

Isentress (raltegravir) was approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with other antiretroviral drugs for the treatment of HIV-1 infection for children and adolescents ages 2-18.

22 Dec 2011

Five weight loss tips for the New Year

With the new year right around the corner, many will be thinking about their New Year's resolution. One of the most popular - losing weight - can also be one of the most difficult to keep. But researchers at Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education (CORE) work year-round to study the treatment and prevention of obesity.

22 Dec 2011

Roundup: Health coverage drops again in Fla.; Calif. wrestles with issue of violence in mental hospitals

Enrollment in commercial health insurance is continuing to decline in Florida. An annual market report adopted Tuesday by the Florida Health Care Insurance Advisory Board shows enrollment dropped by 4.3 percent during 2010. That's the fifth straight year it's gone down.

22 Dec 2011

Malaria vaccine shows early success

An experimental vaccine for malaria has been developed by British scientists. It has shown early potential to neutralize many, perhaps all, strains of the deadliest malaria parasite.

21 Dec 2011

State roundup: Ariz. high court to hear Medicaid funding challenge

The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a challenge to state Medicaid cuts. The court put the matter on its Feb. 15 agenda and will decide then whether to take the case and hear oral arguments. Three public-interest law groups challenged an enrollment freeze for childless adults in the state's Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. A lower-court judge and an Arizona appeals-court panel upheld the cuts.

21 Dec 2011

Cholera education campaign launched in Somali capital

Health ministry officials on Friday launched a cholera education campaign in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, "which aims to educate at least one person in every household on preventing the disease and what to do when symptoms occur," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Dec 2011

Mother's milk for healthy growth

A PhD project from LIFE - the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen has shown that breastfed children follow a different growth pattern than non-breastfed children. Breastfeeding lowers the levels of the growth hormones IGF-I and insulin in the blood, which means that growth is slightly slower. This is believed to reduce the risk of overweight and diabetes later in life.

21 Dec 2011

University of Oxford scientists develop new candidate malaria vaccine

A new candidate malaria vaccine with the potential to neutralise all strains of the most deadly species of malaria parasite has been developed by a team led by scientists at the University of Oxford.

21 Dec 2011

Mediterranean diet and longevity in older people

A Mediterranean diet with large amounts of vegetables and fish gives a longer life. This is the unanimous result of four studies to be published by the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg. Research studies ever since the 1950s have shown that a Mediterranean diet, based on a high consumption of fish and vegetables and a low consumption of animal-based products such as meat and milk, leads to better health.

21 Dec 2011

Over one third of youths get arrested before 23: Study

A new study published in the journal Pediatrics has shown that by age 23, up to 41 percent of American adolescents and young adults have been arrested at least once for something other than a minor traffic violation.

20 Dec 2011

Sample list of attainable New Year's resolutions

New Year's resolutions are full of clichés and empty promises but a clinical psychologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has some sound advice that might just help a little.

20 Dec 2011

SCYNEXIS, MMV assemble Malaria Box of 400 compounds with antimalarial activity

In a bid to catalyse malaria and neglected disease drug discovery, MMV and SCYNEXIS, Inc. have assembled a Malaria Box of 400 carefully selected commercially available compounds with antimalarial activity and will provide it to researchers at no cost.

20 Dec 2011

MU Department of Surgery continues to secure research opportunities

The University of Maryland School of Medicine Department of Surgery is continuing to secure research opportunities to advance the science of medicine and improve patient outcomes, as evidenced by the grants awarded to the Department by the National Institutes of Health.

20 Dec 2011

Unrestricted family visitation in adult ICU provides wide-reaching benefits

The unrestricted presence and participation of patients' family members and friends provides wide-reaching benefits, both medically and emotionally, according to a new Practice Alert from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

20 Dec 2011

EETs may also drive growth and spread of cancer

A group of small molecules called EETs - currently under scrutiny as possible treatment targets for a host of cardiovascular diseases - may also drive the growth and spread of cancer, according to researchers at the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center (DF/CHCC) and other institutions.

20 Dec 2011

Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline to increase sales of pneumococcal vaccines through GAVI

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are increasing their sales of reduced-cost pneumonia vaccines to developing countries through the GAVI Alliance "by more than 50 percent, marking the scale-up of an international program to protect millions of children," Reuters reports.

20 Dec 2011

Three-dose artesunate therapy effective in treating children with malaria

A shorter anti-malaria treatment is as effective in treating seriously ill children as the standard regimen, according to new research. Researchers have shown that three doses over two days of the drug artesunate are as effective in killing the malaria parasite in the blood as five doses over three days.

20 Dec 2011

Tips for sharing holidays in hospital

There are few holiday presents worse than a hospital stay. But if a loved one or friend must be hospitalized this season, University of Alabama at Birmingham experts say you can take steps to ensure their holiday is still merry and bright. "Being in the hospital can be distressing for anybody," says Joshua Klapow, Ph.D., a UAB clinical psychologist. "While the psychological impact may be short-lived, the bottom line is people would rather be well and home than sick and away.

20 Dec 2011

Grand Challenges Canada, Gates Foundation announce grants to develop portable diagnostic tools

The Canadian government-funded non-profit Grand Challenges Canada and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "have invested around $32 million in the discovery and development of new and improved diagnostic tools to help health workers in developing countries, with the aim of speeding up treatment and saving lives," IRIN reports.

20 Dec 2011

Ariz. eyeing first budget surplus in four years; Wis. study finds low Medicare, Medicaid rates shift costs

Here's something Arizona hasn't seen in a while: a state budget surplus. Estimates range from $416 million to as much as $650 million when the new budget year starts in July. ... "We'll fund population increases in K-12, AHCCCS (the state's Medicaid program) and prisons," said House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, who's starting his fourth year as budget chairman.

20 Dec 2011