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Language skills are essential to a child’s ability to communicate and develop. These skills enable children to engage with other people and learn from their surroundings and in the classroom.

An insight into caring for dementia in particular 'aggressive dementia'

By the age of 65 one out of every ten persons has some form of dementia, and by the age of 85 (the fastest growing segment of the population), one out of every two. Statistically families (and many doctors who are not dementia specialists) ignore the early warning signs because they incorrectly believe that the odd behaviors are just a normal part of aging and untreatable senility.

27 May 2004

Genes and family support can buffer children against behavioral problems for which poverty puts them at risk

According to a new study, the genes and warm support received from parents also can buffer these children against many of the cognitive and behavioral problems for which poverty puts them at risk. The findings are published in the May issue of the journal Child Development.

26 May 2004

New International Portal for Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) today launched the International Portal for Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health at a Regional Conference on Food Safety for Asia and the Pacific.

25 May 2004

Researchers dedicated to improving the health of all New Zealanders now have a new home

Research teams dedicated to improving the health of all New Zealanders now have a new home at The University of Auckland’s Population Health Complex.

25 May 2004

Damage to the left half side of brain may make a right-handed person more susceptible to infection

A major immunological difference between the opposite halves of the human brain is now confirmed in a study published May 24, 2004 in the online edition of the Annals of Neurology. Researchers have found that damage or surgery to the left half of the brain may make a right-handed person more susceptible to being immunocompromised.

24 May 2004

Cochlear implant early in life helps children with hearing loss to acquire language and communication skills

Receiving a cochlear implant early in life helps children with profound hearing loss to acquire language and communication skills similar to their hearing peers, according to an article in the May issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, a theme issue on pediatric cochlear implants and one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

22 May 2004

Study helps to visualize how brain develops with age

The brain's center of reasoning and problem solving is among the last to mature, a new study graphically reveals. The decade-long magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study of normal brain development, from ages 4 to 21, by researchers at NIH's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) shows that such "higher-order" brain centers, such as the prefrontal cortex, don't fully develop until young adulthood.

18 May 2004

Speaking their language aids dementia patients

Elderly dementia patients from non-English speaking backgrounds communicate more with others and take fewer psychiatric medications when living in ethno-specific nursing homes, an Australian study at Monash University has revealed.

17 May 2004

Health care and cultural differences at centre of Australian study

Ever wondered how difficult it must be for patients from different cultural backgrounds to be hospitalised in Australia? RMIT researchers will investigate whether these patients are at risk in a predominantly white Anglo health system.

12 May 2004

GenoMed adds to management team

GenoMed, Inc., a Next Generation Disease Management™ company that uses its expertise in genes to improve patient outcomes, said today that it has hired three additional full-time employees: a Chief Financial Officer, a Vice President for Marketing, and a Chief Technical Officer.

11 May 2004

FDA to improve access to health information for Hispanic communities

As part of the celebration for Cinco de Mayo 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health (NAHH) today strengthened their commitment to work together to improve access to health information, especially to Hispanic communities in the United States.

5 May 2004

Human brain makes much more extensive use of highly complex statistics when learning a language than scientists ever realized

A team at the University of Rochester has found that the human brain makes much more extensive use of highly complex statistics when learning a language than scientists ever realized.

3 May 2004

Minimal information available on the likelihood of side effects from prostate cancer treatment

When a man is diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, he must decide among four different treatment methods, each of which carries its own set of benefits and risks.

3 May 2004

New practice guidelines for treating fluid in the ears

Most toddlers and preschoolers will be diagnosed with fluid in their middle ears--or otitis media with effusion (OME)--at some time before school age.

3 May 2004

Bush on healthcare

The way I like to kind of try to describe health care is, on the research side, we're the best. We're coming up with more innovative ways to save lives and to treat patients.

1 May 2004

New medicare website shows inaccurate pricing

The new Medicare Web site with comparative prescription drug pricing contains inaccurate, erroneous information, sponsors of drug discount cards said on Friday. Companies offering the cards said the government and its contractor had posted inaccurate data just hours after the web site launch.

1 May 2004

Medicare triples customer phone support

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D. today announced that Medicare has more than tripled the number of customer service representatives available through its toll-free information line, 1-800-MEDICARE, which also received a record number of calls on Monday.

28 Apr 2004

Researchers to create tool for diagnosing children with apraxia of speech

A new National Institutes of Health grant will enable Oregon Health & Science University researchers to create a tool for diagnosing children with apraxia of speech -- a neurologically based speech motor disorder.

27 Apr 2004

Researchers show that language “center” of brain shifts with age

Along with left- or right-handedness, the hemisphere of the brain where language capacity resides is likely predetermined. Researchers have now shown that with age, language capacity in the brain becomes more evenly distributed between hemispheres.

27 Apr 2004

A high rate of marriage among deaf individuals can explain the increased frequency of connexin deafness in the United States

A high rate of marriage among deaf individuals can explain the increased frequency of connexin deafness in the United States and may have led to a doubling of its occurrence during the past 200 years, according to a study by hereditary deafness experts at Virginia Commonwealth University.

27 Apr 2004