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CIRM approves stem cell research planning grants for five UC Davis teams

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state stem cell agency, today approved research planning grants for five UC Davis Health System teams that are working to develop human clinical trials to treat illnesses such as Huntington's disease, vascular disease, osteoporosis, HIV/AIDS and airway disease in children.

29 Aug 2011

New research: Inattention associated with educational failure

New research from the University of Montreal shows that inattention, rather than hyperactivity, is the most important indicator when it comes to finishing a high school education.

29 Aug 2011

Severe combined immunodeficiency treated successfully with gene therapy

Gene therapy can offer a cure for a rare condition that causes children’s immune systems to fail. In this rare condition, known as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID), inherited genetic mutations mean that babies are unable to fight off infection, severely limiting their chances of surviving more than a few years. Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a rare genetic disorder estimated to affect between 1 in 200,000 and 1 in 1,000,000 live births

26 Aug 2011

Autism link to vaccines dispelled by a large review of studies

According to a report issued by the US Institute of Medicine (IOM), vaccines are largely safe, and do not cause autism or diabetes. This conclusion followed a review of more than 1,000 published research studies.

26 Aug 2011

Rotavirus vaccine still effective in reducing diarrhea-related deaths in Mexico, researchers say

"The rotavirus vaccine introduced in Mexico in 2007 still appears to be preventing diarrhea-related deaths in children, despite speculation that years later the vaccine may not be as effective," according to the Los Angeles Times' "Booster Shots" blog.

26 Aug 2011

Restricting kids' unstructured play may actually cause harm

Hovering helicopter parents who restrict their kids' unstructured play may actually harm, rather than help, children according to the latest issue of the American Journal of Play, a scholarly journal which has gathered a distinguished group of experts to probe the near-extinction of free play and its effects on children and society.

26 Aug 2011

States putting more kids into CHIP programs, but some Medicaid programs squeezed

Thirty states increased the number of children under the program, Stateline reports. Also, Medicaid advocates are urging federal officials to deny California's request to cut the program, and in Georgia, officials are looking for more funding.

26 Aug 2011

Roundup: Virginia's abortion rules; Calif. rate regulation bill; Georgia's spending plans for disabled

Virginia health officials are planning to release draft emergency regulations for abortion clinics as soon as Friday that reproductive-health activists say could impose strict physical, staffing and equipment requirements and could force many of the state's clinics to close.

26 Aug 2011

IOM report: Vaccines generally safe, no link to autism

Vaccines can cause certain side effects but serious ones appear very rare - and there's no link with autism and Type 1 diabetes, the Institute of Medicine says in the first comprehensive safety review in 17 years. The report released Thursday isn't aimed at nervous parents. And the side effects it lists as proven are some that doctors long have known about, such as fever-caused seizures and occasional brain inflammation.

26 Aug 2011

Everyone is responsible to reduce risk from E Coli

E. coli O157 is the most common of the harmful strains of the bacteria and this interdisciplinary research has investigated not just its characteristics, but also how people understand E. coli O157 and how their behaviour affects the threats that it poses. E. coli O157 must be swallowed to infect people it can be contracted from food, water or by contact with farm animals, particularly sheep and cattle, and their faeces.

26 Aug 2011

ABC News features six videos on global health issues

ABC News on Thursday posted six videos in its "World In 3" health series. The three-minute videos examine malaria in Uganda, neglected tropical diseases in Niger, pneumonia in the Philippines, sleeping sickness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, tuberculosis in South Africa and parasitic worms in Brazil.

26 Aug 2011

HHS awards $137M to fund key state and local public health programs

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today awarded up to $137 million, partly supported by the Affordable Care Act, to states to strengthen the public health infrastructure and provide jobs in core areas of public health.

26 Aug 2011

Tax on sugary drinks, limits on marketing to children may help curb global obesity epidemic

The global obesity epidemic has been escalating for decades, yet long-term prevention efforts have barely begun and are inadequate, according to a new paper from international public health experts published in the August 25, 2011 edition of the journal The Lancet.

26 Aug 2011

Obesity may predipose healthy young children to Type 2 diabetes, confirms study

Research led by Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Endowed Chair in Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that obese 7-9-year-old children had nearly three times the liver fat and almost double the belly fat of their nonobese counterparts and that insulin resistance was more than double and insulin sensitivity less than half respectively.

26 Aug 2011

Babies, toddlers with congenital heart disease more likely to have harmful toxins after surgery

Babies and toddlers with congenital heart disease are at an increased risk of having harmful toxins in their blood, particularly following surgery, according to research by a team at Imperial College London.

26 Aug 2011

IOM report: Few health problems are clearly associated with vaccines

An analysis of more than 1,000 research articles concluded that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.

26 Aug 2011

Child-care settings can play important role in encouraging healthy eating habits

Eating and physical activity habits for a lifetime can develop at an early age. As the use of preschool child care increases and the prevalence of childhood obesity is at an all-time high, the opportunity to positively impact eating and exercise habits within this setting presents itself.

26 Aug 2011

RE Children's Project donates $111,000 to UCLA researchers for Rasmussen Encephalitis study

The Rasmussen Encephalitis (RE) Children's Project, a foundation that supports scientific research to find a cure for this devastating neurological disease, has donated $111,000 to researchers in the departments of neurosurgery and pathology/lab medicine (neuropathology) at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

26 Aug 2011

Fludrocortisone may help reduce unexplained chronic nausea in children

Heart rate and blood pressure regulation may hold the key to treating unexplained chronic nausea in children. In a new study by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, a drug commonly used to treat a condition known as orthostatic intolerance (OI), which causes dizziness and occasional fainting when patients stand for long periods, was shown to reduce debilitating chronic nausea in patients.

26 Aug 2011

'Super committee' leaders say progress is happening

The super committee might not have a staff director, rules in place, or a room to meet in, but leaders of the powerful budget-slashing panel insisted Wednesday that progress is being made. Co-chairs Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jeb Hensarling said in a joint-statement that they're engaged in "serious discussions" on the details.

26 Aug 2011