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New SMILEY tool helps assess QoL of children with lupus

A newly designed tool is helping researchers shed light on the quality of life (QoL) of children with lupus around the world, according to research presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) annual meeting, held Nov. 7-11, in Atlanta.

11 Nov 2010

MCAN invests $4 million to improve asthma management in four high risk cities

The Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. (MCAN), today announced it is targeting four high risk cities with nearly $4 million for programs that will combine evidence-based science, case management and asthma trigger removal plans to manage a disease that requires more than the right medical care.

11 Nov 2010

Combination of antiviral drugs outperforms single-drug therapy in children with hepatitis C

Children with hepatitis C fare decidedly better with a supercharged combination of two antiviral drugs than with the usual and standard single-drug regimen, according to research led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children Center.

11 Nov 2010

Childhood asthma risk linked with prenatal paracetamol exposure depends on antioxidant genes in mother

Evidence suggesting that the risk of childhood asthma associated with prenatal paracetamol exposure may depend on antioxidant genes in the mother has been found by a team of UK scientists. The results of their study - which strengthens the argument for a causal link between paracetamol exposure in early life and later childhood asthma - are published online (10 November) in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

11 Nov 2010

Experts call for global agriculture reform to ensure food security as two rice conferences open

Experts attending the International Rice Congress in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Tuesday called for imminent action to change inefficient farming methods and expand the global rice supply in order to prevent rising poverty and hunger, Agence France-Presse reports.

11 Nov 2010

Dietary intervention reduces emergence of diabetes-predictive autoantibodies by 50%

A Finnish study published in the November 11, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine confirms the hypothesis that infant feeding plays a role in the initiation of the disease process leading to type 1 diabetes in children carrying increased genetic disease risk.

11 Nov 2010

Ban on potential toxic ingredients in toys needed

Manufacturer recalls of toys, promotional drinking glasses, and other children's products constitute an ongoing "toxic toys crisis" that requires banning potentially harmful ingredients in these products and other changes in policy and practices. That's the conclusion of a new analysis in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal.

11 Nov 2010

Guardian examines former Pres. Bush's reflection on PEPFAR in new memoir

The Guardian examines the reflections of former President George W. Bush on the $15bn President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) which distributed antiretroviral drugs to keep people with HIV alive, as the president describes in his recently released memoir, Decision Points.

11 Nov 2010

Infant foods must be protected against fumonisin toxin

An international team of scientists calls for protecting complementary food for infants in developing countries - especially those where corn is a staple food - against fumonisin, a toxin produced by fungi. Until now, physicians thought the growth retardation of children in those regions was to be blamed on the poor nutritional value of the complementary maize porridge they receive when breast milk is no longer sufficient. But toxins indeed are involved, the scientists report in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

10 Nov 2010

New stem cell gene, enzyme replacement treatment for Tay-Sachs disease

StemCellRegenMed, Inc. announces that a new stem cell gene and enzyme replacement treatment has been performed on a fourteen month old child with Tay-Sachs disease on November 2, 2010. Tay-Sachs is a devastating disease that afflicts children primarily of parents of Jewish heritage and in very rare cases families of Eastern European background and the Cajun region in the U.S.A.

10 Nov 2010

CDC report: 50 million Americans uninsured

KBOI (Boise, Idaho)/ABC News Radio: "According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 49.9 million people ages 18 to 64," or about 26.2 percent of the adult population, "had no medical coverage for at least part of the past 12 months. … Moreover, when children 17 and under are factored in, the number of Americans uninsured for at least part of a year span numbered 59.1 million."

10 Nov 2010

Opinions: G20 development approach; defense of DDT for malaria control; U.S. foreign aid; human trafficking

Leaders have been debating how to 'rebalance' the global economy and reform financial institutions - all challenging subjects. But I also am reminding my colleagues that all these goals, however crucial, are insufficient, Lee Myung-bak, the president of the Republic of Korea, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

10 Nov 2010

Cholera outbreak in PNG makes officials wary

Cholera has been confirmed as the cause of death of 16 persons on a remote island in Papua New Guinea which is close to Australia's maritime border. The first case was detected on Daru Island in Western Province three weeks ago. Since then 12 adults and 4 children have died, and 320 others have been treated for the infection.

10 Nov 2010

HPV vaccination rates falter

According to the latest research lesser numbers of teenage girls and young women are getting infected by the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) – a virus linked to cervical cancer. Research also shows that most who start the vaccination regimen against the virus fail to take all three doses.

10 Nov 2010

Obese teens become obese adults

A new report shows that obese adolescent Americans tend to carry their extra weight into adulthood. The nationally representative study of American youth showed that one in 12 teenagers became severely obese as they entered adulthood with some 100 pounds above their ideal weight. And nearly half the girls and more than a third of the boys who are obese as teenagers grew up to be obese adults with a high risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers.

10 Nov 2010

Study shows dogs attack children's face, eyes

As dog bites become an increasingly major public health concern, a new study shows that unsupervised children are most at risk for bites, that the culprits are usually family pets and if they bite once, they will bite again with the second attack often more brutal than the first.

10 Nov 2010

Conference of The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics to focus on health disparities

The 22nd annual conference of The MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago will be held at the University of Chicago Law School, 1111 E. 60th Street, on Fri., Nov. 12, from 1 to 5 pm, and Sat., Nov. 13, from 7:30 am to 5:15 pm.

10 Nov 2010

Article shows link between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy, SIDS

The link between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome may relate to the negative effects of nicotine on the development of brain centers that regulate breathing, according to an article in the recent issue of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

10 Nov 2010

Psychologists find stress is taking physical and emotional health toll on family and children

Findings from the American Psychological Association's (APA) newly released 2010 Stress in America survey raise red flags about the long-term impact that chronic stress could have on our physical and emotional health and the health of our families, psychologists said today.

10 Nov 2010

Regional workshop to discuss diarrheal disease solutions for Asia

Each year, diarrheal disease claims the lives of 1.3 million children under five worldwide and hospitalizes millions more. The vast majority of these deaths occur in developing countries of Asia and Africa, but fortunately, interventions exist that can greatly reduce deaths and save lives. To bring attention to the solutions available today for defeating diarrhea, the Vietnam Ministry of Health, the National Pediatric Hospital of Vietnam, and PATH are hosting a two-day regional workshop where they will present the evidence and lessons learned from initiatives currently underway.

10 Nov 2010