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Language skills are essential to a child’s ability to communicate and develop. These skills enable children to engage with other people and learn from their surroundings and in the classroom.

Eighth grader develops AnimalGrams to support pediatric cancer research at UCLA

When he was 11, Cameron Cohen created the hit drawing app iSketch for the iPhone and donated $20,000 of the proceeds from its sales to the Chase Child Life program at Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA.

10 Feb 2012

Two new NCCN guidelines for patients with colon and prostrate cancer

In order to provide people with cancer and their caregivers state-of-the-art treatment information in patient-friendly language, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has developed two new publications: a new release of the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Colon Cancer and an update to the NCCN Guidelines for Patients: Prostate Cancer.

9 Feb 2012

Obama aides seek to calm storm over contraceptive rule

Administration suggests there may be ways to meet religious groups' concerns but insists that the president is committed to the policy. Sen. Mitch McConnell suggests Congress may change the rule if the administration doesn't.

9 Feb 2012

More seamless exchange of information between EHRs and immunization registries needed

U-M researchers are calling for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to encourage a more seamless exchange of information between electronic health records and immunization registries.

8 Feb 2012

Texas begins enforcing strict abortion sonogram law

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks said in a ruling Monday that he cannot stop a new sonogram law from taking effect and pointedly suggested that three appellate court judges who overruled him last month had misapplied an earlier U.S. Court decision involving abortion. The state of Texas will begin enforcing the law Tuesday, according to a spokeswoman for the Texas Health Services Commission.

8 Feb 2012

NHS spends a whopping on £60,000 a day on translation services: Report

A new report shows that Britain’s NHS pays out £60,000 a day on translation and interpretation services, with Leeds among the highest spenders. Research by think-tank 2020Health showed NHS trusts spent £23.3 million on written translation and interpreters last year, an increase of 17% since 2007.

7 Feb 2012

Proposed Australian e-health records system criticised

Both the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) and the Australian Privacy Foundation have criticized the private corporation established by the federal and state governments to roll out the federal government's proposed electronic health records. They have told a Senate inquiry hearing in Canberra that personally-controlled e-health records should not go live on July 1 as planned.

7 Feb 2012

Medicaid news: Kansas insurer says 'no' to Medicaid

The state of Kansas' largest insurance company has decided it doesn't want to participate in Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to move Medicaid patients into privatized managed-care programs. In a letter addressed "Dear provider," Angie Strecker, director of institutional relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, said the insurer "has decided not to submit a proposal to the state to be a Medicaid contractor."

6 Feb 2012

Future of social robotics requires meeting the expectations of human brain

After years of existing only in fiction, social robots are finally being designed that can more closely emulate how people express themselves, interact and learn - and doing so while performing jobs like teaching social behavior to children with autism or helping stroke patients with their physical rehabilitation exercises.

4 Feb 2012

Brain may replace sensory experiences to help understand common metaphors

When a friend tells you she had a rough day, do you feel sandpaper under your fingers? The brain may be replaying sensory experiences to help understand common metaphors, new research suggests.

4 Feb 2012

Whole-exome sequencing discovers cause of glycosylation disorders

Sequencing a patient's entire genome to discover the source of his or her disease is not routine - yet. But geneticists are getting close. A case report, published this week in the American Journal of Human Genetics, shows how researchers can combine a simple blood test with an "executive summary" scan of the genome to diagnose a type of severe metabolic disease.

4 Feb 2012

Websites advertising statins for sale contain poor levels of safety information

A new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety reveals that internet sites selling prescription statins directly to consumers are widespread, and that most websites advertising statins for sale to the general public contain very poor levels of information relevant to safe use of the medicine and side effects.

3 Feb 2012

Reduced insulin sensitivity linked to smaller brain size, deteriorated language skills in seniors

New research from Uppsala University shows that reduced insulin sensitivity is linked to smaller brain size and deteriorated language skills in seniors. The findings are now published in the scientific journal Diabetes Care.

2 Feb 2012

New UNC clinic to address individuals with Angelman Syndrome

February 3, 2012 marks the grand opening of the UNC Comprehensive Angelman Syndrome Clinic at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD).

1 Feb 2012

Too much social networking makes girls less happy: Study

Researchers have studied the effects of too much social networking among young girls and found that it is ruining their girlhood. The new Stanford University study looks at data from girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who spend “considerable” time using social media and finds that they are likely to be “less happy” than their unplugged peers.

30 Jan 2012

Reason for language development delay in boys – Testosterone: Study

For the new study researchers collected umbilical cord blood from 767 Australian newborns and tested for testosterone. Newborn boys are exposed to 10 times the levels of testosterone before birth, compared to girls. Sex hormones, like testosterone, are known to play a key role in shaping how the brain develops. Then, the researchers evaluated the children’s language skills when they were 1, 2 and 3 years of age.

29 Jan 2012

Roundup: Calif. fights feds on mental hospital oversight; Art for health care swap in N.Y.

California officials Monday filed documents in U.S. District Court opposing extended federal oversight of two state mental hospitals, arguing that new leaders have already taken measures to improve patient care and safety. The state attorney general's filing came in response to a scathing U.S. Justice Department portrayal last month of Napa State Hospital and Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk.

25 Jan 2012

Studies indicate infant brains come equipped with knowledge of 'intuitive physics'

While it may appear that infants are helpless creatures that only blink, eat, cry and sleep, one University of Missouri researcher says that studies indicate infant brains come equipped with knowledge of "intuitive physics."

24 Jan 2012

Mass. Gov. again seeks health insurance payment overhaul; Iowa lawmakers review denial of health coverage to residents with HIV

Articles detail the Massachusetts state of the state address, efforts in Iowa to probe denials in the high risk pool and other legislative news.

24 Jan 2012

Kids not getting enough Vitamin D

According to Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England, young children and some adults are not getting enough vitamin D. Not receiving enough of the vitamin can lead to health problems including rickets, broken bones, muscle weakness and infections including TB. Research last year suggested that a quarter of Britain's toddlers did not have enough vitamin D in their bloodstreams.

24 Jan 2012