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Pediatric burn victims’ recovery, diabetes aided by Fenofibrate

One of the immediate serious results of sudden extreme trauma or stress, including burns and even surgery, is insulin resistance, or diabetes. As a result, healing is delayed, especially in the case of severe burns, and since the body is unable to fully use blood sugar for energy, muscle tissue is broken down as the body scavenges for other possible energy sources.

3 Apr 2005

Children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile

Chronic biochemical imbalance is often a primary factor in the development of many complex diseases but a possible metabolic basis for autism has not been well explored. Now Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute researchers report for the first time that children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile indicating increased vulnerability to oxidative stress.

3 Apr 2005

Community MRSA is re-emergence of 1950's pandemic

This "re-equipping and re-emergence" of a clone that caused a pandemic 40-50 years ago could mean that community acquired MRSA will spread faster and be more widespread than previously expected, warns an international team of researchers who have been studying the bacteria.

3 Apr 2005

Novel protein marker for early diagnosis of kidney failure

Researchers have found a novel protein marker that can give a rapid and early diagnosis of kidney failure in children undergoing heart surgery, reporting their results in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

3 Apr 2005

The facts on prenatal care

The nine months of pregnancy come complete with a rich folklore, from guessing at a baby’s sex by the expectant mother’s shape to home remedies for morning sickness. Along with these ageless stories and advice, women also face a variety of recommendations from the modern world of medicine on how best to take care of themselves during pregnancy.

3 Apr 2005

Parents drugs, alcohol and tobacco use harm their children's futures

A white paper - Family Matters: Substance Abuse and the American Family - released by The National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, says parents who use illegal drugs, abuse alcohol and use tobacco put half the nation's children - more than 35 million of them - at greater risk of substance abuse and of physical and mental illnesses.

30 Mar 2005

Discovery of the enzyme that destroys cartilage in inflammatory arthritis

A Melbourne-led team of scientists has discovered the enzyme that destroys cartilage in inflammatory arthritis, offering new hope to sufferers of this painful condition.

30 Mar 2005

Early onset of puberty – the EU gets serious

Children in Europe and other parts of the world are entering puberty at an ever younger age. The reasons for this are unknown, and the EU is now financing a major three-year project called PIONEER in a determined effort to get to the root of the problem. Two Swedish research groups are involved in the project, both from Karolinska Institutet.

30 Mar 2005

Solving sleep problems helps epileptic children

Sleeping woes may explain why children with epilepsy are often so hyperactive, say researchers with the University of Florida's Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute.

30 Mar 2005

Avoiding risks of skin cancer from ultraviolet radiation (UVR)

Cancer Research UK has launched the SunSmart Campaign for 2005 and NRPB strongly supports the health promotion messages in the campaign.

30 Mar 2005

High-rise homes have the highest levels of cockroach allergens

Roaches like to live high in the sky in places like Chicago, New York City and the Bronx, according to a recent study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The study, conducted by an allergist affiliated with Children's Medical Center Dallas, found high-rise homes in Northeastern cities had the highest levels of cockroach allergens -- leading to a higher incidence of asthmatic episodes.

30 Mar 2005

280 million pound package to transform the quality of school meals

Britain's Education Secretary Ruth Kelly today set down that schools should spend at least 50p per child on food ingredients as she unveiled a £280 million package to transform the quality of school meals.

30 Mar 2005

Important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems

Scientists have identified an important link between kidney damage and cardiac problems, creating new possibilities for treating the primary cause of death in kidney disease patients.

29 Mar 2005

Democratic Republic of Congo on alert for Marburg epidemic

Health officials in Angola are saying the outbreak of the Ebola-like Marburg virus has claimed a record toll of 126, but the government said the number of dead was lower.

29 Mar 2005

Working mothers do not effect their child's social and intellectual development

Working mothers in the United States can relax. Their kids might still get into Harvard. A study from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found no differences in children's social and intellectual development during the first three years of life between those whose mothers spent a lot of time with them in infancy and those whose mothers spent less time because they worked outside the home.

29 Mar 2005

Study links colic, maternal depression to family problems

Some families with new babies face excessive infant crying, or colic. And some new mothers go through maternal post-partum depression (PPD) following childbirth. Neither situation is considered healthy, but a recent study published in the Infant Mental Health Journal has found that the combined impact of colic and PPD can have a highly toxic outcome. Researchers have linked colicky babies and maternal depression to decrease in overall family functioning.

29 Mar 2005

Protecting children from industrial chemicals in the environment

American children are likely to face serious health consequences from new and existing industrial chemicals in the environment, argue a group of researchers in a report in this month's premier open-access global health journal PLoS Medicine.

29 Mar 2005

Surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus

Since 2000, U.S. infants have been routinely immunized against pneumococcal (Streptococcus pneumoniae) infection. Now, Boston researchers have made a surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus.

29 Mar 2005

Bacteria's rising threat studied

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

29 Mar 2005

American social, cultural, and political-economic contexts govern the structure, efficiency, and operational nature of U.S. health care

Medical sociologists examine how American social, cultural, and political-economic contexts govern the structure, efficiency, and operational nature of U.S. health care delivery in a special issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (JHSB), a scholarly publication of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

29 Mar 2005