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FDA changes policies regarding advisory committees

The Food and Drug Administration today announced several improved policies and procedures strengthening its management of FDA advisory committees. The improvements include stricter limits on financial conflicts of interest for committee members, improved voting procedures, and improvements to the processes for disclosing information pertaining both to advisory committee members and to specific matters considered at advisory committee meetings.

4 Aug 2008

Anti-reflux surgery - research may lead to changes in treatment recommendations

Researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have found that the reflux and swallowing problems that are common symptoms in patients with Rett syndrome and other neurological impairments, may be caused by a different mechanism than they are in healthy individuals. The finding leaves researchers to wonder if these patients truly benefit from anti-reflux surgery commonly performed in these children.

4 Aug 2008

Dartmouth researchers question effectiveness of current movie-rating system

In a paper published in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics, Dartmouth researchers document the alarming numbers of young adolescents age 10-14 who are exposed to graphic violence in movies rated R for violence.

4 Aug 2008

British parents will informed if their children are overweight

From September this year, parents of children who have been weighed and measured at school could automatically receive their child's results in a bid to get parents to be more aware about healthy lifestyles, and help their children achieve a healthy weight, Health Minister Ivan Lewis announced today.

4 Aug 2008

Immune system protein accurate predictor of survival in pediatric septic shock

About 4,000 children in the United States die every year from uncontrolled infections of the body known as septic shock, and researchers are pushing the boundaries of molecular science to find new therapies that can stem the condition. But a simple measure of an immune system protein within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital for septic shock can predict survival in children, yielding a powerful tool for diagnostics and clinical trials of new septic shock therapies, according to a research team led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the Aug. 1 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

4 Aug 2008

House votes to extend medical leave coverage for college students

The House on Wednesday by voice vote approved a bill (HR 2851) that would allow college students who take medical leave to continue to receive health insurance under the policies of their parents, the AP/Boston Globe reports (AP/Boston Globe, 7/30).

3 Aug 2008

Participation in Connecticut Charter Oak Health Plan off to slow start

Fewer than 3,000 primary care physicians and one hospital are currently participating in Connecticut's Charter Oak Health Plan for uninsured adults, which began accepting applications in July, the Hartford Courant reports.

3 Aug 2008

Advocates say expanding Utah's health care subsidy program could push children out of SCHIP

Utah advocates for children and low-income residents on Tuesday said that a federal waiver sought by the state that would allow more low-income families into the state's premium subsidy plan will, in effect, push out children now covered by SCHIP, the Salt Lake City Deseret News reports.

3 Aug 2008

New HIV infections, deaths from AIDS-related causes down; epidemic not over

The number of deaths worldwide from AIDS-related causes decreased by 10% in 2007 to two million, compared with 2.2 million in 2006, according to UNAIDS' 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic, which was released Tuesday ahead of the XVII International AIDS Conference, the Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 7/30).

3 Aug 2008

Desmopressin for bed-wetting linked to convulsions in children

Australian authorities have issued a warning regarding a drug sometimes used to treat primary nocturnal enuresis (bed-wetting) in children.

3 Aug 2008

Immunotherapy shows promise in high-risk pediatric sarcomas

Based on a pilot study in children with sarcoma, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) believe that immunotherapy could prove beneficial in treating high-risk forms of this cancer.

3 Aug 2008

Smoking among child cancer survivors highest in most at risk group

Childhood cancer survivors who are most at risk of developing a second cancer are more likely to smoke than other childhood cancer survivors - reveals a Cancer Research UK study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

3 Aug 2008

Genetic defect in skin cells leads to neurodermatitis, hay fever and asthma

New knowledge points to the fact that a genetically induced lack of filaggrin, a key protein of the skin barrier, plays a decisive role in the origin of allergies.

3 Aug 2008

Inherited form of hearing loss stems from gene mutation

Pat Phalin learned she had hearing loss at 30, when she volunteered to give hearing tests at her local school. The pupils heard sounds she could not hear.

31 Jul 2008

Men who marry a child's mother parent just as well, if not better than biological fathers

A large number of U.S. children live or will live with a "social father," a man who is married to or cohabiting with the child's mother, but is not the biological father. A new study in the Journal of Marriage and Family examined differences in the parenting practices of four groups of fathers according to whether they were biologically related to a child and whether they were married to the child's mother.

31 Jul 2008

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve, expand sexuality education

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean should improve and expand sexuality education programmes in order to prevent HIV and AIDS and reduce the impact of the epidemic in the region, a group of United Nations agencies said today.

31 Jul 2008

Mother support maximizes life-saving benefits of breastfeeding in all countries of the Americas and the World

Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life is the best and most cost-effective intervention to provide newborns with the nutrients they need, and to improve infant and children survival rates.

31 Jul 2008

Fight against HIV in mothers and children ramps up

As the world's leaders and AIDS community gather in Mexico for the biennial global conference on HIV and AIDS, UNITAID, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced an infusion of $50 million aimed at halting mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

31 Jul 2008

Unusual chromosomal changes increase the risk of schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia have an increased number of unusual chromosomal changes, particularly structural changes that have the potential to alter the function of the genes. These results were published today in the scientific journal Nature.

31 Jul 2008

Increase in number of homeless Australians receiving help

A new report says there has been a significant increase in the number of people receiving help from the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), a federal and state government initiative aimed at providing services and housing to Australians who are homeless.

31 Jul 2008