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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.

Researchers investigate the nature of stuttering

Radio-TV-Film senior Alex Murphy has a knack for storytelling through short stories, poetry and screenwriting. One of his undergraduate classes was a professional communication course, which requires students to deliver oral presentations in class.

27 Jul 2011

Gridlock continues despite push to reach debt-ceiling deal

Democratic and Republican leaders are preparing their own backup plans as possibilities for a bipartisan approach appear increasingly dim. Both political and policy-oriented differences are making the process difficult. Medicare, Medicaid, other entitlement programs and even Tricare are in play. All the while, the deadline continues its approach.

26 Jul 2011

UH student receives prestigious 2011 Ima Hogg Scholarship for Mental Health

Ana Luisa Laws, a second-year student in the master of social work program at the University of Houston (UH) Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW), is one of five outstanding graduate students in Texas to receive the prestigious 2011 Ima Hogg Scholarship for Mental Health.

26 Jul 2011

fMRI scans can identify biological signs of autism in toddlers

The biological causes of autism are still not understood. A diagnosis of autism is only possible after ages three or four and the tests are subjective, based on behavioral symptoms. Now, in research that appeared in Neuron, scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, San Diego have found, for the first time, a method that can accurately identify a biological sign of autism in very young toddlers.

26 Jul 2011

State roundup: Doctor supply at issue in several states

Laramie, Wyoming, is a long way from Waycross, Georgia. Dr. Joel Higgins has mixed feelings about departing the Peach State. Born in Augusta, he practiced in Waycross as an ob/gyn from 2001 until last December. ... But a deteriorating financial situation drove him to move to Wyoming, he says. ... Roughly 70 percent of Higgins' Waycross patients were on Medicaid, the government insurance program for the poor and disabled.

26 Jul 2011

House committee votes to reinstate 'global gag rule' on abortion

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday voted to "reinstate a ban on providing foreign aid to groups that perform abortions or provide advice about the procedure," The Hill's "HealthWatch" blog reports on the "so-called 'global gag rule'".

25 Jul 2011

IAS, UIPHP to launch VKC for injecting drug users living with HIV

As a part of its new initiative, Expanding Access to Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) for People Who Inject Drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), the International AIDS Society (IAS) will launch a Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy.

21 Jul 2011

European Commission resumes foreign aid to Niger to improve education, health

"The European Commission resumed aid to Niger on Tuesday, releasing 25 million euros ($35 million) after the west African nation returned to democracy this year following a coup," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Jul 2011

Latest advances in Alzheimer's research presented at AAIC 2011

This week, more than 5,000 scientists from around the world gathered in Paris to report the latest advances in Alzheimer's research at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2011.

20 Jul 2011

Medco announces new offerings within Advanced Oncology Solutions

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. today announced new offerings within its Advanced Oncology Solutions, that include treatment pathways decision support with embedded pharmacogenomic testing and nutrition recommendations for cancer patients.

20 Jul 2011

Minorities get help accessing mental health care

Summer Blast, held July 9, addressed a key challenge — getting minorities to seek treatment for mental illness. So important is the issue that in 2008 the U.S. House of Representatives designated July as National Minority Mental Health Month, thanks in part to the efforts of author Bebe Moore Campbell, an advocate for greater mental health awareness among minority communities.

18 Jul 2011

Study finds retired football players at higher risk for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Retired NFL football players are at higher risk for mild cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, a Loyola University Health System study has found.

18 Jul 2011

Traumatic brain injury in older veterans increases risk of dementia

Older veterans who experienced traumatic brain injury showed a more than two-fold increase in the risk of developing dementia, according to new research presented today at the Alzheimer's Association® International Conference 2011 (AAIC 2011) in Paris.

18 Jul 2011

Information about hazards of unsafe volume levels need to be included with packaging of headphones

Concerned about the potential risk of noise-induced hearing loss that can occur from listening to headphones at high volumes for extended periods of time, members of the American Osteopathic Association's (AOA) House of Delegates voted today that the AOA should advocate for manufacturers to include information about the hazards of unsafe volume levels on or within the product packaging.

18 Jul 2011

Bill offered to undo HSA health law provision

Bipartisan legislation was introduced Thursday to remove restrictions on tax-exempt health spending accounts — a revenue-raising provision of the health law that was estimated to garner $5 billion over 10 years.

16 Jul 2011

HFA develops free online webinar, 'Addressing Cultural Diversity in Hospice Care'

The Hospice Foundation of America has developed "Addressing Cultural Diversity in Hospice Care," a free online webinar that looks at how, and why, different cultures may, or may not, utilize hospice.

15 Jul 2011

State roundup: Minn. shutdown's health, economic impact significant

A variety of state services, such as background checks for employees and license renewals for health-care workers, are not available. … Some of the affects may seem small or transitory, such as modified or canceled vacation trips to state parks. But others are more serious, such as a senior citizen's move to a nursing home because the senior could not continue to live at home when home-care assistants could not get licenses during the shutdown or their backgrounds could not be checked out.

13 Jul 2011

KiDA to host Third Annual Summit on Autism

Kids Institute for Development and Advancement (KiDA), a premier center for autism treatment, hosts its Third Annual Summit on Autism Saturday, September 17, 2011, at the University of California, Irvine's Bren Events Center, beginning at 8:00 am.

12 Jul 2011

Environmental factors play a critical role in development of autism

A study published this week again confirms that environmental factors play a critical role in the development of autism. Genetic Heritability and Shared Environmental Factors Among Twin Pairs With Autism, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provides further confirmation that genes alone cannot explain the exponential rise in autism rates over the past two decades.

11 Jul 2011

Scientists track public health trends through Twitter

Twitter allows millions of social media fans to comment in 140 characters or less on just about anything: an actor's outlandish behavior, an earthquake's tragic toll or the great taste of a grilled cheese sandwich.

8 Jul 2011