Children News and Research

RSS

Winter health and safety tips

Winter is a special time for celebration. It should also be a time for added caution if you or someone in your family is an older adult. It is the season for falls, slips on icy streets, and other dangers that can be especially harmful for older adults. "Something as simple as a fall can be devastating for older men and women," says Dr. Evelyn Granieri, director of the Division of Geriatrics at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Hospital. "Before the cold weather arrives, it is important to prepare."

20 Oct 2011

Experimental vaccine halves risk of malaria in African children, results of large clinical trial suggest

"An experimental vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline halved the risk of African children getting malaria in a major clinical trial, making it likely to become the world's first shot against the deadly disease," according to a study "presented at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Malaria Forum conference in Seattle and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine" on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

20 Oct 2011

Common link between Type 2 diabetes and autism

A review of the genetic and biochemical abnormalities associated with autism reveals a possible link between the widely diagnosed neurological disorder and Type 2 diabetes, another medical disorder on the rise in recent decades.

20 Oct 2011

Pesticides, pollutants increase risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China

Pesticides and pollutants are related to an alarming 450 percent increase in the risk of spina bifida and anencephaly in rural China, according to scientists at The University of Texas at Austin and Peking University.

20 Oct 2011

Breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigates pain in preterm neonates

Poorly managed pain in the neonatal intensive care unit has serious short- and long-term consequences, causing physiological and behavioral instability in preterm infants and long-term changes in their pain sensitivity, stress arousal systems, and developing brains. In a study published in the November issue of PAIN-, researchers report that breastfeeding during minor procedures mitigated pain in preterm neonates with mature breastfeeding behaviors.

19 Oct 2011

Divorce, remarriage affect beliefs about who should care for aging relatives

America's elderly population will nearly double by 2050, according to a Pew Research report. As baby boomers enter retirement, concern exists as to who will care for them as they age. Traditionally, children have accepted the caregiving responsibilities, but those caregiving roles are becoming blurred as more families are affected by divorce and remarriage than in previous decades.

19 Oct 2011

PACBIS tool may help identify pre-surgical behaviors in parents, children

A clinical study presented at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2011 highlighted a behavioral assessment tool that may help anesthesia providers identify pre-surgical behaviors in parents and children that lead to maladaptive behaviors in children after surgery.

19 Oct 2011

Cholera claims nearly 200 lives in Somalia over 24-hour period

"During the past 24 hours, cholera has claimed the lives of nearly 200 women and children in famine-stricken Somalia," a Press TV correspondent in Mogadishu reported on Sunday. "More than 800 children suffering from the disease in refugee camps were reportedly transported to medical centers in south Mogadishu," the news service writes, adding, "As the number of sick is on the rise, doctors are facing a shortage of medicine."

19 Oct 2011

China vaccinates 4.5M children, young adults against polio after outbreak

"China vaccinated 4.5 million children and young adults over the last five weeks in the western region of Xinjiang in a fight against polio after the disease paralyzed 17 people and killed one of them, the World Health Organization said," according to Reuters.

19 Oct 2011

Population growth calls for new technologies, reduction in fertility rates

The world's population is expected to reach seven billion this month, which is "cause for profound global concern" and begs the question of "can we enjoy 'sustainable development' on a very crowded planet?" Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, writes in a CNN opinion piece.

19 Oct 2011

IAN survey to study impact of bullying on children with ASD

Today, the Interactive Autism Network (IAN Project) launches a national survey to study the impact of bullying on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Bullying, a pervasive problem among youth, has attracted the national spotlight in recent months because of the lasting, and sometimes tragic, effects on children and teenagers across the country.

19 Oct 2011

Scott & White to create internships for doctoral psychology students

Scott & White Healthcare in Temple is one of three sites chosen for a $1.6 million initiative to create internships for doctoral psychology students that will help alleviate mental health workforce shortages in Texas.

19 Oct 2011

African-Americans donate exclusively to family members for living kidney transplants

Family matters, especially when it comes to African-Americans and living kidney donation. In a study conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, researchers found that African-Americans donate almost exclusively to family members for living kidney transplants, as compared to Caucasians.

19 Oct 2011

Aspen Institute panel speakers call for increased aid for women to help plan families

A panel hosted by the Aspen Institute's Global Leaders Council on Monday called for "a boost of aid for women in developing countries such as Somalia to help them control their fertility," Agence France-Presse reports. "Somalia has the eighth highest birth rate in the world, and the average family has seven children," and "one percent of married women in Somalia have access to modern contraception, ... according to data compiled by the Population Reference Bureau," the news agency notes.

19 Oct 2011

New form of respiratory distress syndrome in newborn mice

A discovery by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies might explain why some premature infants fail to respond to existing treatments for a deadly respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and offers clues for new ways to treat the breathing disorder.

19 Oct 2011

Canadian parents raise families with less money and time than Baby Boomer generation

Canadian parents today are raising families with less money and time than the Baby Boomer generation even though the country's economy has doubled in size since 1976, says a new study released at the University of Saskatchewan today by Paul Kershaw, a family policy expert from the University of British Columbia.

19 Oct 2011

Roundup: Mass. contemplates 'global payments'; rural hospitals struggling; Oregon liability cost studied

Although important details remain to be negotiated, the legislative leaders and Gov. Deval Patrick, all Democrats, are working toward a plan that would encourage flat "global payments" to networks of providers for keeping patients well, replacing the fee-for-service system that creates incentives for excessive care by paying for each visit and procedure.

19 Oct 2011

Learning from one's mistakes may be better than practicing to perfection

Learning from one's mistakes may be better than practicing to perfection, according to a new study appearing in the October 19 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

19 Oct 2011

RTS,S vaccine reduces risk of severe malaria in African children

First results from a large-scale Phase III trial of RTS,S, published online today in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), show the malaria vaccine candidate to provide young African children with significant protection against clinical and severe malaria with an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.

19 Oct 2011