Adolescents News and Research

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Suddenly sugar isn't looking so sweet

University of Florida researchers have identified one possible reason for rising obesity rates, and it all starts with fructose, found in fruit, honey, table sugar and other sweeteners, and in many processed foods.

7 Dec 2005

Disruption of normal gene interaction linked to schizophrenia

Disruption of the normal interaction between the genes PRODH and COMT contributes directly to major symptoms of schizophrenia by upsetting the balance of the brain chemicals glutamate and dopamine, according to a group of investigators that includes a scientist now at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2 Dec 2005

Marijuana damages teenage brains

Researchers say that teenagers who regularly smoke marijuana risk damaging a key brain pathway associated with language development and some predisposed to schizophrenia may contract the illness early.

2 Dec 2005

Depression treatment in children - poor data

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared in 2004 that certain antidepressants are linked to an increased risk of suicide in adolescents, there was surprisingly little data about how depression was being treated in young patients.

28 Nov 2005

New findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure

Two studies just released by physicians at Texas Children's Hospital are addressing new findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure, and on the growing prevalence of high blood pressure in children.

28 Nov 2005

Kidney disease may be a more important risk factor for heart disease than is cholesterol

Jefferson researchers have found that mice with low levels of the protein hormone adiponectin may also have high levels of a protein called albumin which, in humans, may be a sign of kidney disease.

28 Nov 2005

Good neighbor relations helps prevent teen sex

Having the right kind of neighbors can help prevent teens from having sex at an early age, according to new research.

16 Nov 2005

How parents treat their children can affect an adolescent's risk of depression

How parents treat their adolescent children, including the way they discipline them, as well as the kind of life events and social interactions teenagers experience, can affect an adolescent's risk of depression, regardless of any genetic predisposition towards the mental illness.

14 Nov 2005

2 million American children at risk of diabetes

According to a new study, as many as 2 million children in the U.S. aged 12 to 19 have a prediabetic condition or prediabetes, that is often linked to obesity and physical inactivity.

8 Nov 2005

Exposure to movie smoking accounts for smoking initiation among over one-third of U.S. adolescents

The first national study to look at the connection between smoking in movies and smoking initiation among adolescents shows that exposure to smoking in popular films is a primary risk factor in determining whether young people will start smoking.

7 Nov 2005

Young hockey player injuries studied - suprising findings

Unintentional collisions and falling into the boards cause more injuries in young hockey players than the practice of body checking, researchers at the University at Buffalo have found.

3 Nov 2005

Interracial relationships and marriages more common

The number of interracial marriages involving whites, blacks and Hispanics each year in the United States has jumped tenfold since the 1960s, but the older individuals are, the less likely they are to partner with someone of a different race, finds the new study.

3 Nov 2005

Pre-teens need vaccine against sexually transmitted virus

According to a poll of doctors in the U.S., most would be prepared to give 11- and 12-year-old patients a vaccine to prevent infection with a sexually transmitted virus.

31 Oct 2005

Growth hormone illegal for off-label anti-aging use

Because of 1988 and 1990 amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, off-label distribution or provision of human growth hormone to treat aging or age-associated illnesses is illegal in the United States, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

25 Oct 2005

Depression alone affects approximately 1.3 million Australian women ever year

Women's health problems, depression and child abuse represented a major health crisis in Australia, a seminar focusing on women and mental health over the weekend was told.

24 Oct 2005

New whooping cough vaccine for adolescents and adults

In the first study of its kind, researchers at Saint Louis University have demonstrated that immunization with a new vaccine could potentially prevent more than a million cases of pertussis (whooping cough) each year in adolescents and adults.

24 Oct 2005

Successful prevention programs for children and adolescents

The future is bleak for children whose behavior seriously goes against the norm at a tender age. Early and long-term interventions make all the difference.

20 Oct 2005

Ethnic differences in cardiovascular risk factors

Heredity plays a major role in determining the blood lipid profile and heart rate variability of blacks and whites, two major risk factors for coronary artery disease, researchers say.

16 Oct 2005

Relationship between drinking early in adolescence and later negative outcomes

Alcohol experimentation in late childhood or early adolescence is a common event. An early age of first drink (AFD), however, is associated with a variety of negative outcomes.

13 Oct 2005

Canadian adolescents and complementary or alternative medical treatment

While the study does not look at the effectiveness of these treatments, "what's concerning is that young people across the country have different levels of access to alternative therapies as publicly-funded services," says Dr. McColl. "There are noticeable differences in access and utilization based on education, income and geographic location."

13 Oct 2005