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No intervention is necessary for most children with fluid in their ears

A Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh study finds that prompt insertion of tympanostomy tubes (small ear tubes) does not improve developmental outcomes of children at 6 years of age as once thought.

24 Aug 2005

Mouse model of Rett Syndrome displays reduced cortical activity

Sacha Nelson of Brandeis University in Waltham, MA and Rudolf Jaenisch of the Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA and their colleagues report online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition that spontaneous neuronal activity is reduced in the cortex of a knockout mouse model for the childhood neurodevelopmental disorder, Rett Syndrome.

23 Aug 2005

Health benefits of different types of language use and writing contexts now explored

Researchers have known for some time that expressive writing can have a positive effect on the writer's health, such as illness recovery.

22 Aug 2005

New hope for those deaf from immune system attack

A new study may one day help those deafened by immune system attack, and possibly also lead to a test that could show which patients may be helped by immediate steroid treatment.

16 Aug 2005

Babies recognize unfamiliar musical rhythms far more readily than adults can

Babies have us beat when it comes to picking up languages and distinguishing faces from foreign cultures. But babies also have the beat: Researchers at Cornell University and the University of Toronto find that babies also can recognize unfamiliar musical rhythms far more readily than adults can.

15 Aug 2005

Violent online games appear not to cause any substantial real-world aggression

Results from the first long-term study of online videogame playing may be surprising. Contrary to popular opinion and most previous research, the new study found that players' "robust exposure" to a highly violent online game did not cause any substantial real-world aggression.

13 Aug 2005

There are subtle effects of hearing loss on memory and cognitive function in older adults

In a new study, Brandeis University researchers conclude that older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss may expend so much cognitive energy on hearing accurately that their ability to remember spoken language suffers as a result.

13 Aug 2005

Plasma exchange treatment shown most helpful for severe attacks in subtype of MS patients

A Mayo Clinic study demonstrates that only those multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with evidence for antibody deposition or complement activation -- immune cells that can cause tissue destruction -- in their lesions are likely to respond to plasma exchange, a treatment for acute MS attacks.

11 Aug 2005

New study points to new treatments for some forms of Lou Gehrig's disease

A new study indicates that mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) enzymes that are associated with an inherited form of Lou Gehrig's disease cause the protein to become sticky in tissues. Partial unfolding of the mutant protein can expose hydrophobic residues that may promote abnormal interactions with other proteins or membranes in the cell.

11 Aug 2005

Study queries value of ear tube surgery for childrens' speech and language development

After conducting a study of nearly 400 children in 2001, researchers at the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, have come to the conclusion, that putting tubes in the eardrum to help drain a young child's middle ear infection does not guard against developmental problems later in life.

11 Aug 2005

New clues for the understanding of dementia

Researchers at the Medical Research Council MRC Prion Unit and the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease at the Institute of Neurology, University College London - in collaboration with groups from Copenhagen, Aarhus, Lund and Cambridge - have identified a gene that, when mutated, causes an early onset dementia.

24 Jul 2005

New research leads to better infant hearing aids

The University of Western Sydney's MARCS Auditory Laboratories is leading the way with groundbreaking research, exploring the auditory abilities of infants, so hearing aids can correctly amplify the frequencies that babies need to develop communication and language skills.

21 Jul 2005

1 in 166 children under age 10 are affected by autism

New statistics surrounding autism make it the number one growing developmental disability in the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates as many as one in 166 children under age 10 are affected by the disorder. Nearly two million people in the U.S. are living with autism.

19 Jul 2005

Compound derived from cottonseed could help improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy at treating head and neck cancer

The findings, which appear in the July issue of the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, could lead to a treatment that provides an effective option to surgically removing the cancer, helping patients preserve vital organs involved in speech and swallowing.

18 Jul 2005

BMA(NI) Chairman addresses doctors' annual conference in Manchester

BMA Northern Ireland Chairman, Dr Brian Patterson, in his speech yesterday, 29 June 2005, to the annual BMA conference in Manchester, said that whilst the Northern Ireland Assembly remained suspended health services suffered. "This is due largely to the lack of local accountability by politicians, civil servants and managers".

29 Jun 2005

BMA says Health Minister Gibbons has better understanding of NHS

According to Dr Tony Calland, the British Medical Association's (BMA) chairman in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government's understanding of the NHS is better under Health Minister Dr Brian Gibbons.

29 Jun 2005

This is not live aid, it's reverse aid

In a message setting a "very clear moral and ethical priority for the new Government as it chairs the G8 summit", the leader of the UK’s doctors, BMA Chairman James Johnson yesterday (Monday 27 June) criticised developed countries for draining skilled health professionals from some of the world’s poorest countries. The "rape of the poorest countries must stop" he said.

27 Jun 2005

Foxp2 gene plays an essential role in the development of social communication

The association between Foxp2 and language was first identified in a family in which half the members had severe speech and grammar impairments. Studies showed that all the affected family members had a mutation in the Foxp2 gene.

21 Jun 2005

Speech recognition by humanoid robot in real environment

Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), an independent administrative institution, has developed a speech recognition function in real environment using an array of microphones, successfully extending the sensing capability of humanoid robot under the Humanoid Robotic Project HRP-2 "Prométhée".

21 Jun 2005

Australian researchers at the forefront of an international project to identify genes associated with schizophrenia

University of Queensland researchers are at the forefront of an international project to identify genes associated with schizophrenia, a common mental illness whose causes are not fully understood.

20 Jun 2005