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Low birth weight and heart problems

Researchers who have followed 5,840 people from before birth to the age of 31 have found evidence suggesting that small size at birth and excessive weight gain during adolescence and young adulthood may lead to low grade inflammation, which, in turn, is associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease.

10 Apr 2008

Shutting down schools in the event of a bird flu pandemic could prevent up to one in seven cases

Closing schools in the event of a flu pandemic could slow the spread of the virus and prevent up to one in seven cases, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature.

10 Apr 2008

More Canadian children are surviving cancer

This year's report includes a special section on childhood cancer and reveals that the five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers is 82 per cent - an 11 per cent increase during the past 15 years.

10 Apr 2008

Shaken Baby Syndrome

Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), also known as childhood neurotrauma or inflicted traumatic brain injury, is the leading cause of death from childhood maltreatment.

10 Apr 2008

Boffins admit to using drugs to enhance their thinking

A survey of readers of a scientific journal has revealed that one in five use drugs to enhance their thinking.

9 Apr 2008

Over-the-counter sale of child cough medicine for young children to be banned

As from September this year the over-the-counter sale of cough medicines for children under the age of two years old will be banned in Australia.

9 Apr 2008

Using sunbeds under 35 could prove fatal

Eight out of ten sunbed users have increased their risk of a life-threatening form of skin cancer by around 75 per cent according to Cancer Research UK.

9 Apr 2008

Using street theater to channel the lessons of molecules

Molecules, any chemist will tell you, have lots to teach us. Giving voice to the lessons of molecules and other props of science, as the lamentable state of science literacy in the United States attests, is no easy task.

9 Apr 2008

Too many gene copies stimulate tumor cell growth

New data, generated by Peter Lichter and colleagues, at the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, have characterized a molecular pathway underlying low-grade forms of a type of brain tumor known as an astrocytoma.

9 Apr 2008

Autism is on the rise, why?

There is no question that autism is on the rise and the statistics speak volumes about this dramatic increase," says Michelle Rowe, Ph.D., a professor of health services at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.

9 Apr 2008

Post-traumatic stress treatment in children

Post traumatic stress disorder is commonly thought to effect victims of major trauma and those who witness violence, but a new University of Georgia study finds that it also can affect children who have lost a parent expectedly to diseases such as cancer.

9 Apr 2008

Rise in autism related to changes in diagnosis

Research funded by the Wellcome Trust suggests that many children diagnosed with severe language disorders in the 1980s and 1990s would today be diagnosed as having autism.

9 Apr 2008

Social deprivation linked to four-fold increase in risk of serious injury in child pedestrians

Rates of serious injury in child pedestrians are four times higher in the most deprived areas of England than in the least deprived, and three times higher for child cyclists, according to a study published today in the Online First edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood journal.

9 Apr 2008

Parents' behavior has direct impact on children's sleep

Parents who want their babies to sleep through the night would be wise to avoid co-sleeping arrangements or feeding their children evening snacks beyond early infancy.

9 Apr 2008

Pistachios good for the heart

More good news for pistachio fans! According to new data unveiled this week at the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego, snacking on pistachios has proved once again to have a positive impact on improving cardiovascular health by significantly reducing inflammation in the body, a prominent cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor.

9 Apr 2008

Negligent, attentive mouse mothers show biological differences

In mice, child neglect is a product of both nature and nurture, according to a new study.

9 Apr 2008

Researchers battle against dangerous corn toxin

The spiraling use of corn for food and fuel is creating heightened concerns about contamination of this staple crop with deadly aflatoxin.

9 Apr 2008

Diabetes drug may hold potential as treatment for epilepsy, using same mechanism as ketogenic diet

Two years ago, University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists reported they had suppressed epileptic seizures in rats by giving them a glycolytic-inhibitor, inhibiting the brain's ability to turn sugar into excess energy and blocking the expression of seizure-related genes.

9 Apr 2008

Children with obesity-related diabetes struggle with change

A new study shows that children with obesity-related diabetes are reporting serious difficulties in making basic lifestyle changes that could save them from a lifetime of complications.

9 Apr 2008

Angina drug ranolazine potentially useful against heart rhythm disorders

A recently approved angina drug may also represent a powerful new treatment for a rare hereditary syndrome that places teens at risk for sudden cardiac death, according to research presented on April 1st at the 57th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Chicago.

9 Apr 2008