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Uganda's Makerere University receives AMANET grant for malaria vaccine trial

The College of Health Sciences at Uganda's Makerere University will receive a grant from the African Malaria Network Trust to begin trials of the malaria vaccine candidate GMZ2 in Uganda's Iganga and Mayuge districts, Wen Kilama, managing trustee of AMANET, said Monday at the opening of the sixth Basic Research Ethics Workshop for African Ethics Committees, the New Vision reports.

28 Aug 2008

Exclusive breastfeeding increases child's risk for vitamin D deficiency; black, darker-skinned children already have increased risk

Exclusive breastfeeding can increase a child's risk of developing rickets because breast milk alone does not provide adequate levels of vitamin D, a critical ingredient that helps to absorb calcium and build strong bones, the New York Times reports. Rickets develops when a child's vitamin D levels are too low and is characterized by the curving of a child's legs and the softening of other bones. Some children are asymptomatic.

28 Aug 2008

Brain growth and development in very premature or low-weight infants

Brain development in infants who are born very prematurely is still incomplete. Factors that cause premature birth may have an impact on the development of the premature infant's brain both during pregnancy and later on after birth. A project conducted as part of the Academy of Finland Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO) is concerned to study brain growth and development invery premature or low-weight infants.

27 Aug 2008

Pre-school age exercises help prevent dyslexia

A typical characteristics of children's linguistic development are early signs of the risk of developing reading and writing disabilities, or dyslexia. New research points to preventive exercises as an effective means to tackle the challenges children face when learning to read. The results achieved at the Centre of Excellence in Learning and Motivation Research were presented at the Academy of Finland's science breakfast on 21 August.

27 Aug 2008

Young type-2 diabetic men suffer low testosterone levels

Young men with type 2 diabetes have significantly low levels of testosterone, endocrinologists at the University at Buffalo have found -- a condition that could have a critical effect on their quality of life and on their ability to father children.

27 Aug 2008

Researchers partner with moms to overcome breastfeeding obstacles

The message, "breast is best" may be familiar and powerful, but it's not enough to get some women to breastfeed. A new University of Rochester Medical Center project creates a partnership with mothers who are not likely to breastfeed exclusively, and tries to improve the rates by first understanding their perspective and obstacles.

27 Aug 2008

Child's aggressive cancer spotted in a photo sent to a friend

A baby girl's photograph shown online to a friend of her mother has led to the child being diagnosed with a cancerous tumour.

27 Aug 2008

Changes to California health insurance programs might result in loss of coverage for thousands of children

Efforts by California to expand health insurance to all children have "stalled," and "thousands of kids are in danger of losing insurance" as a result of recent changes to state programs, the Los Angeles Times reports.

26 Aug 2008

High cholesterol levels drop naturally in children on high-fat antiseizure diet

Elevated cholesterol levels return to normal or near normal levels over time in four out of 10 children with uncontrollable epilepsy treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet, according to results of a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study reported in the Journal of Child Neurology.

26 Aug 2008

Early trigger for type-1 diabetes found in mice

Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine are shedding light on how type-1 diabetes begins.

26 Aug 2008

Medication slows progression of myopia in children

Daily treatment with a medication called pirenzepine can slow the rate of progressive myopia, or nearsightedness, in children, reports a study in the August issue of the Journal of AAPOS (American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus).

26 Aug 2008

One dead and many sick in latest food scare in the U.S.

The latest in a series of contaminated food scares from North America concerns a suspected outbreak of Escherichia coli (E. coli) which has left one person dead and seen many more admitted to hospital after eating at a restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma.

26 Aug 2008

Hand foot and mouth disease rife in Singapore

According to reports in the media, Singapore is facing a possible outbreak of Hand Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD).

26 Aug 2008

Caesarean babies at risk of diabetes

New research from the UK is suggesting that babies born by Caesarean section have a 20% higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

26 Aug 2008

HIV-positive women in Swaziland protest Royal Family's use of funds

More than 1,500 mostly HIV-positive women on Thursday protested against a foreign shopping trip taken by eight of King Mswati's 13 wives in what appeared to be the first demonstration in the country by HIV-positive people questioning how money should be spent, AFP/Khaleej Times reports.

26 Aug 2008

Minnesota officials to examine autism in Somali immigrant children

Minnesota health officials are examining a "possible surge" in autism cases among Somali immigrant children in the state, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

26 Aug 2008

CMS official expresses concerns with timeline, scope of Texas Medicaid overhaul plan

In an Aug. 7 letter to Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Albert Hawkins, CMS official Dianne Heffron questioned whether the state's plan to overhaul Medicaid by providing subsidized health coverage to 2.1 million uninsured residents would move quickly enough and be broad enough to justify relaxing federal rules, the Dallas Morning News reports. Heffron wrote, "It appears that significant, comprehensive reform would not begin until September 2010."

26 Aug 2008

Presidential candidates' positions on health and economic issues

A number of newspapers have recently looked at the presidential candidates' positions on health and economic issues, and how new figures on the number of uninsured Americans may play in the campaign.

26 Aug 2008

Normalizing tumor vessels to improve chemotherapy drug delivery

Chemotherapy drugs often never reach the tumors they're intended to treat, and radiation therapy is not always effective, because the blood vessels feeding the tumors are abnormal-"leaky and twisty" in the words of the late Judah Folkman, MD, founder of the Vascular Biology program at Children's Hospital Boston.

25 Aug 2008

New Zealand Ministry of Health increases funding to the very low cost access and zero fees for under sixes schemes

The New Zealand Ministry of Health has further increased the amount invested into the primary health care sector to support the over 800 general practices/health centres charging very low fees and free healthcare to children under six.

25 Aug 2008