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Combination of ADHD drug and parental intervention can help children with autism

Researchers at The Ohio State University are conducting a study to determine which is more effective for helping children on the autism spectrum: training parents or taking medication.

4 Apr 2012

MedImmune's quadrivalent flu vaccine may protect children

An intranasal vaccine that includes four weakened strains of influenza could do a better job in protecting children from the flu than current vaccines, Saint Louis University research shows.

4 Apr 2012

UNICEF launches social media campaign to raise awareness of malnutrition among children in Sahel region

UNICEF on Tuesday launched a social media campaign "to raise awareness about children in the Sahel region in northern Africa who are in urgent need of food aid," CNN reports.

4 Apr 2012

FAAN plays a crucial role in supporting peanut allergy study

Why do some children develop a peanut allergy and others don't? Researchers trying to answer this crucial question in order to learn how to prevent this life-threatening food allergy believe that being exposed to peanuts through skin early in life could be a determining factor.

4 Apr 2012

Multiplier App can predict mature height and bone length in children

A free mobile application developed by the International Center for Limb Lengthening (ICLL) at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics (RIAO) of Sinai Hospital can predict the future mature height and bone lengths of children with the input of basic information.

4 Apr 2012

Parents can help autistic kids connect, communicate and learn

Does your baby take an interest in other children? Does he enjoy playing peek-a-boo and hide-and-seek? Does he smile when he sees your face? Does he respond to his name when you call? If you answered 'no' to these questions your baby may be displaying early signs of autism, which affects more than one in 110 children in the United States. But don't panic-cutting edge research reveals that parents can play a major role in teaching even the youngest children with autism spectrum disorders how to connect with others and live up to their potential.

4 Apr 2012

Preterm or post-term babies with autism more likely to self-injure

For children with autism, being born several weeks early or several weeks late tends to increase the severity of their symptoms, according to new research out of Michigan State University.

4 Apr 2012

Waist measures further specify lipid, blood pressure assessments in overweight and obese adolescents

Waist measures (waist circumference, waist to height ratio) in conjunction with body mass index appear to be associated with lipid and blood pressure assessments among overweight and obese adolescents, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

3 Apr 2012

Half of preschool children not being taken outside to play daily by parents

Parents reported that about half of the preschoolers in a nationally representative sample did not have at least one parent-supervised outdoor playtime per day, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a JAMA Network publication.

3 Apr 2012

Public service announcement on pediatric pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) sounds like an adult disease, but the life-threatening lung condition strikes children too. Ten-year-old Lucas Van Wormer is one of them.

3 Apr 2012

Early appendectomy can reduce length of stay, medical interventions and hospital charges

Pediatric surgeons can lower health care costs if they remove a young patient's perforated appendix sooner rather than later, according to new study results published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

3 Apr 2012

Moderate caloric intake may reduce risk of obesity in low-birth weight offspring

Babies who are born small have a tendency to put on weight during childhood and adolescence if allowed free access to calories. However, a new animal model study at UCLA found when small babies were placed on a diet of moderately regulated calories during infancy, the propensity of becoming obese decreased.

3 Apr 2012

South Sudan hoping to mark three years without recording polio case

"South Sudan officials are hopeful the country will soon be declared polio-free," if the nation can go another four months without recording a polio case, VOA News reports. "Before 2008, the area that is now South Sudan had been considered free of polio," but "that year the country was re-infected through an imported strain that originated in Nigeria," the news service writes.

3 Apr 2012

Prenatal antipsychotic drug exposure may reduce scores on infant neuromotor screening

Among 6-month-old infants, a history of intrauterine antipsychotic medication exposure was associated with significantly lower scores on a standard test of neuromotor performance, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA Network publication.

3 Apr 2012

New research: ADHD is more than one disorder

According to new research conducted at Oregon Health & Science University, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is more than one disorder. It's an entire family of disorders, much like the multiple subtypes of cancer.

3 Apr 2012

Researchers discover multiple genes associated with meconium ileus

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. In Canada, one in every 3,600 children born has the disease. Researchers have long been puzzled as to how individuals who carry the same CFTR mutations can experience such different courses of disease. Patients with CF are affected in multiple organs such as the lungs, pancreas and liver, to varying degrees.

3 Apr 2012

Some autistic children may “bloom” socially with early and the right therapy

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1 in 88 U.S. children have autism, a spectrum of disorders that ranges from severe communication and intellectual disability to much milder symptoms seen in children with Asperger's syndrome. Autism is marked by a group of symptoms, all arising from atypical brain development that causes problems with socialization, communication and behavior. Although the disorder can be mild or severe, in general children with autism have trouble communicating and making friends.

2 Apr 2012

Melanoma on the rise especially amongst the young

Women under 40 are hit hardest by the escalating incidence of melanoma, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, out today. Researchers examined records from a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, Minn., and looked for first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients 18-39 from 1970 to 2009. Melanoma cases increased eightfold among women in that time and fourfold for men, the authors say. However, death rates from melanoma fell during the same period, suggesting that early interventions may be helping to save some lives, said the researchers.

2 Apr 2012

Fizzy drinks may raise risk of heart disease later in life

About 2,000 12-year-olds took part in the investigation by the University's Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research. The scientists found that the children who drank one or more soft drinks each day had narrower arteries in the back of their eyes - a factor associated with increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure. It is the first study to show that soft drinks and carbohydrates in childhood are linked to narrower retinal vessels.

2 Apr 2012

Exclusive breastfeeding policy implemented in South Africa amidst criticism

On Sunday, South Africa's nine provinces began promoting the Tshwane Declaration, which "states unequivocal support for [exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)] for all infants up to six months, including HIV-exposed infants, who should receive antiretrovirals (ARVs) to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), as recommended in the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines," Inter Press Service reports.

2 Apr 2012