Pediatrics

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The age limit of such patients ranges from birth to 18. In countries where the age of majority is 18, this age limit may be from birth to age 17 (such as in Canada). A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician.

What is Pediatrics?

Pediatrics is the branch of medicine dealing with the health and medical care of infants, children, and adolescents from birth up to the age of 18. The word “paediatrics” means “healer of children”; they are derived from two Greek words: (pais = child) and (iatros = doctor or healer). Paediatrics is a relatively new medical specialty, developing only in the mid-19th century. Abraham Jacobi (1830–1919) is known as the father of paediatrics.

Pediatrics Training

Pediatric Skin Conditions

Subspecialties of Pediatrics

Pediatrician: Role, Education, Training, Subspecialties

Infections in Childhood

A Brief History of Pediatrics

Child and Adolescent Sports Injuries

Importance of Sensory Stimulation for Babies

Supporting Children with Mental Health Disorders

How Fast Food Affects Children's Health

Mental Health Disorders and Children

See more featured articles »

Effects of Passive Smoking on Children's Health

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

Research confirms no association between SARS-CoV-2 and childhood asthma diagnoses

Whether severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection influences children's asthma risk.

16 Apr 2024

Tiny DNA circles are key drivers of cancer formation, study suggests

Tiny circles of DNA that defy the accepted laws of genetics are key drivers of cancer formation, according to an international study led by researchers at Stanford Medicine.

15 Apr 2024

SARS-COV-2 infection not linked to increased risk of asthma development in pediatric patients

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many families worried about the long-term effects posed by the SARS-COV-2 virus.

13 Apr 2024

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation offers hope for pediatric Down syndrome patients with OSA

While Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) affects about five percent of the general pediatric population, 80 percent of children with Down syndrome experience OSA. Continual OSA results in poor health, including disruptions to cognitive development and functioning, leading physician-researchers from Mass General Brigham to investigate better methods to treat these patients as early as possible to maximize their health outcomes.

12 Apr 2024

As bans spread, fluoride in drinking water divides communities across the US

Regina Barrett, a 69-year-old retiree who lives in this small North Carolina city southeast of Charlotte, has not been happy with her tap water for a while.

12 Apr 2024

New generative AI tool models the infant microbiome

The gut microbiome has a profound impact on the health and development of infants. Research shows that dysbiosis-;or imbalances in the microbial community-;is associated with gastrointestinal diseases and neurodevelopmental deficits.

10 Apr 2024

Baylor study reveals role of newly inherited DNA variants in recessive diseases

You have your mother's eyes and your father's smile, but genetics is much more than just what's on the surface.

10 Apr 2024

First-ever guidelines developed to help build a child's tolerance to common food allergens

Researchers with McMaster University have crafted the first-ever guidelines to help prepare families who plan to build their child's tolerance to common food allergens.

8 Apr 2024

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

In this interview, Dr. Church, the Molecular and Pediatric Pathologist at Boston Children's Hospital, talks to NewsMedical about their work in pediatric oncology, and the need to expand research and clinical options for children with cancer.

From Tecan 8 Apr 2024

Researchers develop first genetic maps for disease-linked DNA repeats

A research team led by the University of California, Irvine has built the first genetic reference maps for short lengths of DNA repeated multiple times which are known to cause more than 50 lethal human diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease and multiple cancers.

5 Apr 2024

More kids are dying of drug overdoses. Could pediatricians do more to help?

A 17-year-old boy with shaggy blond hair stepped onto the scale at Tri-River Family Health Center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.

5 Apr 2024

Discovery of a fundamental biological mechanism opens path for novel therapies

The lab of Yongchao C. Ma, PhD, at Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago discovered a fundamental biological mechanism that could lead to new treatments for neurological diseases, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and autism, as well as different cancers.

4 Apr 2024

Mechanical pressure revealed as key factor in embryonic organ formation

A collaboration between research groups at the University of California, TU Dresden in Germany and Cedars-Sinai Guerin Children's in Los Angeles has identified a mechanism by which embryonic cells organize themselves to send signals to surrounding cells, telling them where to go and what to do.

3 Apr 2024

Lurie Children's Hospital administers first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Illinois

On March 27, 2024, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago treated its first patient with ELEVIDYS (delandistrogene moxeparvovec-rokl), the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy – a rare, genetic disease characterized by progressive muscle damage and weakness.

3 Apr 2024

Rise in severe psychiatric cases among children during the pandemic

A new study found that during the pandemic pediatric emergency departments (EDs) saw more children and adolescents who needed a psychiatric admission, as well as an increase in severe conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and substance use disorders.

2 Apr 2024

New malaria vaccine strain shows promise in preclinical trials

In a report published on March 21, 2024 in EMBO Molecular Medicine (A replication competent Plasmodium falciparum parasite completely attenuated by dual gene deletion) investigators at Seattle Children's Research Institute and Sanaria Inc. describe the development of a whole malaria parasite vaccine strain that infects the liver, develops to the late liver stage, and then gets completely stuck and cannot burst out of the liver to cause symptomatic blood infection.

2 Apr 2024