Children News and Research

RSS

Novartis Afinitor Phase III trial on tuberous sclerosis meets primary endpoint

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today Phase III trial results that showed more than one-third of patients taking Afinitor tablets experienced a 50% or greater reduction in the size of their subependymal giant cell astrocytomas, non-cancerous brain tumors associated with tuberous sclerosis complex.

8 Jul 2011

Children with hearing impairment can benefit from UNHS screening program

Hearing has a key role in the acquisition of speech, but 2 of every 1000 children are born with a hearing impairment. Early diagnosis and treatment can help these children learn to speak. In the latest issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, Martin Ptok of Hannover Medical School explores whether screening of newborns reliably detects hearing defects, the benefits of early diagnosis, and the potential risks of newborn hearing screening.

8 Jul 2011

Longer looks: Shortage of HIV doctors; Oregon program builds on British model

Of the 3,155 U.S.-based members of the HIV Medicine Assn., 45% are older than 50, according to a March 17 Institute of Medicine report on HIV screening and access to care.

8 Jul 2011

Jamie Oliver’s healthy school meal efforts analyzed

Jamie Oliver’s campaign against fast food in schools cost £500million to taxpayers and resulted in fewer pupils eating school lunches, it emerged yesterday. More than half of primary pupils and around two-thirds of secondary school youngsters are still rejecting the well known television chef’s healthier menus it was revealed.

7 Jul 2011

Smoking pregnant mums have smaller unhealthier babies

Professor Nick Macklon of Southampton University says even though most women now understand there is “overwhelming evidence” that smoking during pregnancy is harmful to the developing child, they continue to do so.

7 Jul 2011

Waiting times at NSW emergency departments - live updates on website

Health Minister Jillian Skinner launched the website emergencywait.com.au yesterday that tracks NSW emergency departments. The state government said its new website was about providing open, honest and transparent information to the public. A website that would be welcome but more resources are needed first to reduce waiting times said opposition health spokesman Andrew McDonald.

7 Jul 2011

Heartworm medication Ivermectin prevents malaria transmission in Africa

A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already being used to fight other parasites in Africa could also dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills almost 800,000 people each year, according to a new study published in the July edition of the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

7 Jul 2011

Half-matched transplants widen donor pool for leukemia and lymphoma

Identifying a suitable donor for leukemia and lymphoma patients who need bone marrow transplants may be far easier now that results of two clinical trials show transplant results with half-matched bone marrow or umbilical cord blood are comparable to fully matched tissue, thanks in large part to the availability of effective antirejection drugs and special post-transplant chemotherapy. The finding means that nearly all patients in need of a transplant can find donors, according to Johns Hopkins scientists who participated in the trials.

7 Jul 2011

Levels of urinary eosinophil protein-X may predict future atopy in asymptomatic children

The signs of atopy may be present long before symptoms begin, even in month-old babies, according to a new research study from Denmark. The study found that the level of urinary eosinophil protein-X (u-EPX), a marker of inflammatory cells, in newborn babies was linked to higher risk of allergic sensitization, nasal eosinophilia and eczema at six years.

7 Jul 2011

Data fusion of three vital signs may predict serious illness in children

The research will be presented today at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Academic Primary Care, hosted this year by the Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, University of Bristol. The research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research.

7 Jul 2011

Study provides information about trends in obesity, public health implications

Researchers out of Arizona State University recently published an article in the American Journal of Public Health titled "Shared Norms and Their Explanation for the Social Clustering of Obesity". It looked at why obesity seems to be common in some families and groups of friends.

7 Jul 2011

Gene therapy may help prevent progression of type 1 diabetes

Increasing a specific protein in areas of the pancreas that produce insulin blocks the immune attack that causes type 1 diabetes, researchers reported in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, published early online.

7 Jul 2011

EU to provide $14.5M for emergency food aid to North Korea

"Responding to the growing threat of a humanitarian crisis in North Korea, the European Union announced on Monday that it will provide about $14.5 million in emergency aid to feed more than some 650,000 North Koreans," the New York Times reports.

7 Jul 2011

Local school students' initiative for healthy computing

Move over, boy bands of America-there's a new group in town. Four middle-school students from Carmel Valley Middle School in San Diego, California, entered The Christopher Columbus Awards Competition, a science, technology, engineering, and math program that challenges middle-school students to identify a community problem and solve it using science and technology.

7 Jul 2011

Sports improve cognitive, emotional and behavioral well-being in boys

We know that physical education teaches children about fitness and encourages them to live a healthy lifestyle. Now a Tel Aviv University researcher has statistical evidence that sports participation is also beneficial to a child's cognitive, emotional and behavioral well-being.

7 Jul 2011

Study finds top grand challenges in global mental health

A Toronto-based researcher is at the helm of a massive, worldwide study that identifies the top global challenges in mental health. The paper resulting from the study appears in Nature today.

7 Jul 2011

Global research initiative to improve health care for people with MNS disorders

Mental health experts are calling for a greater world focus on improving access to care and treatment for mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders, as well as increasing discoveries in research that will enable this goal to be met.

7 Jul 2011

Overall risk of stillbirth low among ART children

The group looked at 60,650 singletons in a common Nordic database from ART registers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and compared these to a control group of 360,022 naturally conceived (NC) singletons. In both groups 0.4 % of singletons were stillborn, with a definition of stillbirth as a dead child after 22 weeks of gestation.

6 Jul 2011

Fiscal problems could be mitigated by ART conceived children

In 2009, 1,547 ART children were born in public clinics in Denmark, projecting a net tax revenue of -224 million and -247 million in 25 and 50 years respectively. The authors of the study calculated that reductions of 30-50% in ART cycles following the new policy would lead to cost savings of -67 - -111 million for the Danish government in 2034.

6 Jul 2011

Frozen embryo transfer may not adversely affect neonatal outcome

In the first study, French scientists looked at neonatal outcome in terms of mode of delivery, gestational age, preterm birth rate (less than 37 weeks of gestation), mean child measurements, low birth weight (less than 2,500g) and perinatal mortality. When comparing the cryo singletons to the fresh cohort, the scientists showed that mean birth weight, mean height and head circumference were lower in the fresh population.

6 Jul 2011