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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.

Foundation NHS trusts and teaching hospitals outperform others

Some NHS trusts consistently outperform others on a range of measures of patient experience, finds research published online in BMJ Quality & Safety.

15 Mar 2012

House IPAB repeal linked to tort reform legislation

Joining the two measures is causing some Democrats who back the repeal of the health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board to change their positions.

15 Mar 2012

People with RBD more likely to develop Parkinson's, MCI

People with symptoms suggesting rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, or RBD, have twice the risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Parkinson's disease within four years of diagnosis with the sleep problem, compared with people without the disorder, a Mayo Clinic study has found.

15 Mar 2012

Recent studies aim to find better treatment for children with speech problems

Recent studies by a UT Dallas researcher aim at finding better ways to diagnose young children with language impairments.

13 Mar 2012

FDA denies AstraZeneca Citizen Petitions on SEROQUEL labeling

AstraZeneca today announced that on March 7, 2012, the Food and Drug Administration denied Citizen Petitions requesting that the FDA withhold finally approving any generic quetiapine product with labeling that omits certain hyperglycemia warning language that the FDA required AstraZeneca to include in the labeling for SEROQUEL (quetiapine fumarate) tablets and SEROQUEL XR (quetiapine fumarate) extended-release tablets.

12 Mar 2012

First study to document potential effects of cancer on young children's development

Infants and toddlers who have been treated for cancer tend to reach certain developmental milestones later than do their healthy peers, say researchers at the National Institutes of Health and in Italy.

12 Mar 2012

Potentially dangerous repercussions if proposed changes take effect

All over the globe, the mental health community is buzzing about the upcoming publication of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), to be released in May 2013. GoodTherapy.org, a leading mental health directory dedicated to advocating healthy therapy practices, has announced its support of the American Psychological Association's Division 32 committee on DSM-5 reform, citing potentially dangerous repercussions if the proposed changes take effect.

10 Mar 2012

Obama administration: Mandate is respectful of individual rights

The Department of Justice argues that the individual mandate is more protective of individual choices than programs such as Medicare. In other news related to the health law, the clashes between consumer and business groups over the measure's required benefit summaries don't appear to be over.

9 Mar 2012

Biologists identify how and where the brain processes FM sweeps

In both animals and humans, vocal signals used for communication contain a wide array of different sounds that are determined by the vibrational frequencies of vocal cords. For example, the pitch of someone's voice, and how it changes as they are speaking, depends on a complex series of varying frequencies. Knowing how the brain sorts out these different frequencies-which are called frequency-modulated (FM) sweeps-is believed to be essential to understanding many hearing-related behaviors, like speech.

9 Mar 2012

Bioethicist calls on Congress to protect physicians in war zones

Greater leadership is needed from the U.S. government to protect physicians and health facilities from increased attacks in armed conflict zones like Syria, experts told members of Congress in a special briefing today.

8 Mar 2012

Measuring wellbeing in Huntington’s disease

The new tool, the first Huntington’s disease-specific quality of life instrument of its kind, aims to fully capture the impact of this complex disease on the everyday life of sufferers. By using this new tool to more accurately measure the impact of Huntington’s and also any effect of therapeutic interventions, scientists will be in a better position to evaluate the usefulness of interventions on patients’ everyday quality of life to see if there is actually a practical benefit. It is hoped that in this way, this tool will lead to more effective treatments.

8 Mar 2012

Scientists identify 2,000 important genes linked to singing

Can the song of a small bird provide valuable insights into human stuttering and speech-related disorders and conditions, including autism and stroke? New research by UCLA life scientists and colleagues provides reason for optimism.

8 Mar 2012

Nuance enters definitive agreement to acquire Transcend

Nuance Communications, Inc. and Transcend Services, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement for Nuance to acquire Transcend, a leading provider of medical transcription and speech editing services, for approximately $300 million, net, in cash.

7 Mar 2012

Study: Patients need greater access to their electronic medical data

Health care organizations need to do more to help patients realize the full benefits of electronic data from emerging health information exchange systems, according to a new study commissioned by Consumers Union that appears in the March 2012 Health Affairs.

7 Mar 2012

New research provides explanation for some of autism's mysteries

New research from Carnegie Mellon University's Marcel Just provides an explanation for some of autism's mysteries - from social and communication disorders to restricted interests - and gives scientists clear targets for developing intervention and treatment therapies.

7 Mar 2012

A&G, Mayo Medical sign license agreement for new progranulin blood test for FTD

Mayo Clinic today announced that Mayo Medical Laboratories has signed an agreement with A&G Pharmaceutical, Inc. and will receive a non-exclusive license to certain patent rights and proprietary antibody reagents for the detection and measurement of progranulin in blood.

7 Mar 2012

Planned Parenthood poll says Texans want group to remain in Texas women's program, Fla. anti-abortion bill stopped in Senate

A poll commissioned by Planned Parenthood in Texas says voters want to keep the provider in the state's Women's Health Program while an anti-abortion bill in Florida is stopped in the Senate.

7 Mar 2012

Almost 70% of young adults with Asperger syndrome have suffered from depression

Given that almost 70% of young adults with Asperger syndrome have suffered from depression, it is vital that psychiatric care staff are aware of this so that patients are given the right treatment, reveals research from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

6 Mar 2012

With 'Super Tuesday' on the horizon, GOP presidential candidates embroiled in health policy, social issues

Also in the news, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds that GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is experiencing a resurgence, just as President Barack Obama's approval rating hit its highest point since last May.

6 Mar 2012

Senate rejects Blunt amendment

In a mainly party-line vote, the Senate rejected this amendment, offered by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to an unrelated transportation bill. It would have broadened religious exemptions to the Obama administration's birth control rule.

3 Mar 2012