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Pediatric plastic surgeon reconstructs patient's jaw

Pediatric plastic surgeon Rohit Khosla, MD, had never seen a case like it: the 12-year-old boy's face ballooned with a rare, aggressive bone tumor. Although it was non-cancerous, the tumor was destroying the patient's jaw. Khosla knew he would need an innovative approach to save the boy's ability to chew.

17 Dec 2010

Electronic cigarettes much safer than real cigarettes, says BUSPH researcher

In a new report that bucks the concerns raised by the Food and Drug Administration, a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) (sph.bu.edu) researcher concludes that electronic cigarettes are much safer than real cigarettes and show promise in the fight against tobacco-related diseases and death.

17 Dec 2010

Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota praises fix of orphan drug discount under 340B program

Families who were facing the prospect of huge increases in the cost of life-saving drugs for their children can breath easier thanks to a new law that will preserve discounts on specialized, so-called "orphan drugs."

17 Dec 2010

Pediatric cancer researchers study medulloblastoma for new treatment

Pediatric cancer researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia contributed important expertise to a new landmark study of medulloblastoma, a type of brain tumor typically found in children.

17 Dec 2010

U.S., South Africa sign PEPFAR partnership agreement

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane on Tuesday signed a "partnership agreement that will guide efforts on fighting HIV/AIDS in the African nation," Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports (Wessels, 12/15).

17 Dec 2010

Collaboration seeks to uncover the best strategies to improve health care, lower costs

A group of health care organizations are joining forces to compile evidence on the strategies the work best to address a variety of common, and usually expensive, medical conditions. Meanwhile, the nation's new Medicare chief is hitting the road to hear ideas about improving the health care system.

17 Dec 2010

Head, neck radiation exposure increases thyroid cancer in children

When children are exposed to head and neck radiation, whether due to cancer treatment or multiple diagnostic CT scans, the result is an increased risk of thyroid cancer for the next 58 years or longer, according to University of Rochester Medical Center research.

17 Dec 2010

Scientists decipher genetic code for pediatric medulloblastoma

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have deciphered the genetic code for medulloblastoma, the most common pediatric brain cancer and a leading killer of children with cancer.

16 Dec 2010

Today's Opinions: Health law spending; Funding threats undercut U.S. legal tradition; Medicaid falls short

Rising entitlement spending is already driving the federal budget off a cliff. But Obamacare would add fuel to the fire with the largest entitlement expansion since the 1960s. So it takes a special kind of audacity for Obamacare's apologists to continue to insist that the new law will cut the projected budget deficits.

16 Dec 2010

Researchers begin placebo-controlled trial to test drug treatment for Rett syndrome

Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston have begun a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test a potential drug treatment for Rett syndrome, the leading known genetic cause of autism in girls.

16 Dec 2010

Foster care standards formulated

Now all foster children in Australia for the first time will receive individual plans detailing the support they need after leaving care. This comes under the new national scheme wherein uniform standards in meeting each child’s requirements at the time of entering foster care will be ensured. At present child protection systems are different for each of the states and territories. This scheme will unite them all.

16 Dec 2010

Asbestos removal from schools poorly handled

Queensland government’s builder - QBuild’s handling of asbestos at a north Queensland school is inappropriate says a report. After a painter at the Mackay West State School identified asbestos in December 2009, the QBuild workers came in to decontaminate the area but they did not wear protective clothing and removed dust with a domestic vacuum cleaner.

16 Dec 2010

Quarter of all British school children obese: Report

A quarter of all British school children are obese and by the final year of primary school, the proportion rises to a third. Experts believe that this is not even the actual figure because many children opt out of being weighed. Urban children were much more likely to be overweight than those living in more rural areas.

16 Dec 2010

Some cancers more prevalent in the wealthy

A new report has shown that Australians living in wealthy areas are more likely to get breast, prostate and skin cancers than those living in poorer zones. The report from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, released yesterday also shows that those living in disadvantaged parts of the country are more likely to have bowel, cervical and lung cancers. Not so much with bowel cancer, but lung cancer incidence varied to a large extent. Main results showed;

16 Dec 2010

Second brain death exam impacts organ donation rates

Requiring a second exam on a person who is considered brain dead may be unnecessary, according to a study on the impact of a second brain death exam on organ donation rates. The research is published in the December 15, 2010, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

16 Dec 2010

Unclean vehicle cabin air filters more dangerous to children

Though air pollution is still a serious threat to public health, it appears to be even more so to the health of our children, recent studies show. Outdoors, indoors, and even while being driven with the windows rolled up, children are potentially more susceptible to the ill effects of pollution than adults.

16 Dec 2010

WHO report shows significant progress in global malaria fight, highlights need for continued funding

Since 2008, global malaria control efforts have "helped reduce infections across Africa and [eliminate] the disease in Morocco and Turkmenistan, but a slowdown in funding risks undoing those achievements," according to the WHO's annual malaria report, which was released on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Nebehay, 12/14).

16 Dec 2010

Living near freeway linked to increased risk of autism

Living near a freeway may be associated with increased risk of autism, according to a study published by a team of researchers from Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the UC Davis MIND Institute.

16 Dec 2010

SIDS deaths surge 33% on New Year's Day

Not a happy holiday thought, but an important one: The number of babies who die of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, surges by 33 percent on New Year's Day. The suspected reason? Alcohol consumption by caretakers the night before.

16 Dec 2010

Affordable Care Act provisions will increase breastfeeding among working mothers

Millions of working mothers were not able to express breast milk while at work until the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The law requires employers to provide nursing breaks and a private, sanitary place to express breast milk for most mothers employed on an hourly basis. The ACA provisions for breastfeeding cover three-fifths of employed women living in families below 350 percent of the government poverty line (about $50,000 for a family of two).

16 Dec 2010