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Even though they know better, women still drink alcohol while pregnant

A study by a consultant paediatrician at Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney has found that as many as one third of Australian women admit to drinking alcohol when pregnant, even though they know it could affect their unborn child.

13 May 2008

Children eat healthier when all snacks are banned

According to a study from researchers at Cardiff University, one way to encourage children to eat healthily is to ban all unhealthy snacks in schools.

13 May 2008

Would you let your child participate in medical research?

Advances in medicine - new treatments, cures, vaccines and medicines - are driven by research involving humans. But when it comes to medical research that requires children to be involved, researchers often struggle to find participants.

13 May 2008

Facing the Presidential candidates; pollsters say sweeping health reform unlikely in new administration and congress

Despite the prominent role that health care reform is playing in the 2008 presidential election, leading Republican and Democratic pollsters agree that deep partisan divides among voters -- combined with a worsening economy -- may permit only incremental, rather than sweeping, changes to the health care system. The perspectives of political pollsters William McInturff and Celinda Lake are featured in a far-reaching thematic issue on health reform in the May/June 2008 issue of the journal Health Affairs.

13 May 2008

AP/Miami Herald looks at Democratic Presidential candidates' proposed health plans

The AP/Miami Herald on Sunday looked at the health plans proposed by Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.). While likely Republican nominee Sen. John McCain said the Democratic plans would "move closer to a nationalized health system," AP/Herald describes that characterization as "a stretch."

13 May 2008

Breastfeeding may protect women from rheumatoid arthritis

Swedish researchers have found in a study on rheumatoid arthritis that breastfeeding protects women from the disease.

13 May 2008

Death toll in China now at 39 as 5 more children die from enterovirus 71

The death toll in China from enterovirus 71 (EV71) has risen to 39 with the deaths of five more children; EV71 belongs to the same family as the polio virus and is a strain of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

13 May 2008

Study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity

A St. Jude Children's Research Hospital study shows that T cells, the body's master immune regulators, do not use simple on/off switches to govern the cellular machinery that regulates their development and function. Rather, they possess sophisticated molecular controls that enable them to adjust their function with exquisite precision. Such subtle adjustment enables T cells to modulate their development and function, including avoiding autoimmunity

12 May 2008

How embryonic stem cells develop into tissue-specific cells demonstrated by researchers

While it has long been known that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any kind of tissue-specific cells, the exact mechanism as to how this occurs has heretofore not been demonstrated.

12 May 2008

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

Scientists at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), demonstrate for the first time in a mouse model that skeletal muscle cells cultured in a low-calorie environment refrain from differentiating, an energy-demanding process by which cells mature and specialize.

12 May 2008

New plan says no vaccination no school

New proposals by Britain's Labour government will see children banned from starting primary school unless they have been vaccinated.

12 May 2008

Discovery of gene mutation which causes epilepsy and mental retardation - but only in women

An Australian and British research team have discovered a gene mutation that causes epilepsy and mental retardation but only in women.

12 May 2008

CDC report finds increase in reports of respiratory illness in children after hurricane Katrina; New Orleans Mayor pushes for city residents to leave trailers

The number of children in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina who complained of symptoms of bronchitis, pneumonia and other lower respiratory illnesses rose in the years after the storm, according to a 49-page CDC report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

11 May 2008

Is divorce bad for the parents?

The elderly are cared for by their adult children regardless of their marital status. In a unique study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, researchers found British adult children help their elderly parents according to current need (i.e. health) rather than past behaviour. This contrasts with other countries such as the US, where parents with a history of divorce see less of their children and receive less help from them.

11 May 2008

Childhood and adolescent obesity impacts cardiac health

Study findings presented at the May 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity negatively impacts vascular endothelial function, which relates to cardiac health.

11 May 2008

Radioactive carbon-14 determines the number of fat cells remains constant in all body types

The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and '60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human's body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in fat cell volume, not an increase in the actual number of fat cells.

9 May 2008

Researchers step closer to finding ways to treat type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis working with diabetic mice have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells long thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

9 May 2008

University of Leicester to lead audit of adults with autism

The University of Leicester is leading on a national study to calculate the number of adults with autism, it has been announced today.

9 May 2008

New guidelines say botulinum toxin effective for many neurological disorders, but not headache

New guidelines developed by the American Academy of Neurology confirm that the drug botulinum toxin is safe and effective for treating a variety of neurological conditions. Surprisingly, the drug may not be effective for chronic headaches, accrding to Allison Brashear, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Neurology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, who helped develop the guidelines.

9 May 2008

Link found between birth order and asthma symptoms

Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children.

9 May 2008

Children News and Research

Even though they know better, women still drink alcohol while pregnant

Children eat healthier when all snacks are banned

Would you let your child participate in medical research?

Facing the Presidential candidates; pollsters say sweeping health reform unlikely in new administration and congress

AP/Miami Herald looks at Democratic Presidential candidates' proposed health plans

Breastfeeding may protect women from rheumatoid arthritis

Death toll in China now at 39 as 5 more children die from enterovirus 71

Study shows how T cell's machinery dials down autoimmunity

How embryonic stem cells develop into tissue-specific cells demonstrated by researchers

Molecular pathway in muscle helps explain effectiveness of diabetes interventions

New plan says no vaccination no school

Discovery of gene mutation which causes epilepsy and mental retardation - but only in women

CDC report finds increase in reports of respiratory illness in children after hurricane Katrina; New Orleans Mayor pushes for city residents to leave trailers

Is divorce bad for the parents?

Childhood and adolescent obesity impacts cardiac health

Radioactive carbon-14 determines the number of fat cells remains constant in all body types

Researchers step closer to finding ways to treat type 1 diabetes

University of Leicester to lead audit of adults with autism

New guidelines say botulinum toxin effective for many neurological disorders, but not headache

Link found between birth order and asthma symptoms

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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