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Study reveals smaller teeth in premature children

The size of teeth in premature children is smaller. This has been established in a study from the Faculty of Odontology at Malmö University in Sweden.

28 Oct 2011

Bisphenol A can affect newborns' cholinergic signal system

Newborn mice that are exposed to Bisphenol A develop changes in their spontaneous behavior and evince poorer adaptation to new environments, as well hyperactivity as young adults. This has been shown by researchers at Uppsala University. Their study also revealed that one of the brain's most important signal systems, the cholinergic signal system, is affected by Bisphenol A and that the effect persisted into adulthood.

27 Oct 2011

Late pregnancy snoring could harm mother and baby alike

Nearly half of pregnant women may develop snoring by their final trimester and this could lead to dangerous health problems for mother and baby, Australian sleep researchers have shown. According to professor of medicine, Colin Sullivan, research found woman who started snoring during the later stages of pregnancy were at increased risk of developing high blood pressure.

27 Oct 2011

U.N. officials warn Yemen facing humanitarian, health disasters

High-level officials from UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) this week warned that "routine immunization of children has dropped by 40 percent in some areas of Yemen, leading to outbreaks of polio and measles and reflecting a growing collapse of public services in a country that is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster," IRIN reports.

27 Oct 2011

Children have fewer components that strengthen their immune defense than adults do

Children have fewer components that strengthen their immune defense than adults do. This is shown in a mapping of children's saliva that was carried out at Malmö University in Sweden. The study may have found an explanation for children's inability to fend off infections.

27 Oct 2011

UNICEF issues statement clarifying reports of polio cases in Madagascar

UNICEF released a statement on Tuesday correcting an October 21 report by its office in Madagascar "expressing concern over a resurgence of polio in Madagascar after a routine health survey identified vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) in several healthy children." According to the statement, "there was no re-emergence of polio in Madagascar," and "the last wild poliovirus case in Madagascar was detected in 1997."

27 Oct 2011

Surgeons freeze organoid units and regenerate TESI for short bowel syndrome

Surgeons at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have conducted a study that could put regenerative tissue treatment for short bowel syndrome one step closer to the bedside. The researchers were able to successfully isolate and store organoid units and later generate tissue-engineered small intestine (TESI) in a mouse model. The groundbreaking results were presented at the 2011 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

27 Oct 2011

Al Jazeera examines maternal mortality in Afghanistan

Al Jazeera examines maternal mortality in Afghanistan, which "remains one of the worst places to be a mother," 10 years after the beginning of the U.S. war in Afghanistan and "despite billions of dollars in aid and considerable progress." In an accompanying video, the news service reports, "One in five children born in Afghanistan dies by the age of five, and the statistics for mothers aren't good either."

27 Oct 2011

Computer-delivered intervention for pregnant women at risk for alcohol use

A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have received a three-year grant to develop a computer-delivered intervention for pregnant women at risk for alcohol use, which can lead to lifelong negative effects on the fetus.

27 Oct 2011

Breast milk component induces expression of P-glycoprotein

Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have found that a component of breast milk induces expression of P-glycoprotein (Pgp), a protein that is protective against necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)--a complex, lethal disease that affects up to 7 percent of babies admitted to the NICU.

27 Oct 2011

Parent behavior training can effectively treat ADHD in young children

Formal training in parenting strategies is a low-risk, effective method for improving behavior in preschool-age children at risk for developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while there is less evidence supporting the use of medications for children younger than 6 years old, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

27 Oct 2011

Less incidence of nearsightedness in kids who spend more time outdoors: Study

A new study finds that children who play outdoors often are smarter, leaner and stronger than kids more inclined toward indoor activities. They're less likely to suffer from nearsightedness, in which objects in the distance appear blurry.

26 Oct 2011

Routine HPV vaccine for boys advised by health advisory panel

A government advisory panel on Tuesday decided that the vaccine against cervical cancer causing virus – HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) should also be given to boys, in part to help prevent the cancer-causing virus through sex. The HPV virus has been recommended for girls aged 9 to 26 since 2006.

26 Oct 2011

Tiny teeth in tatters

The tiny teeth of Australian toddlers are rotting and dental researchers at the University of Sydney are poised to start a long-term study to find out why.

25 Oct 2011

BPA exposure in mothers may affect unborn daughters’ behavior: Study

A new federal study revealed Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows that bisphenol A (BPA) - a chemical used widely in plastic bottles, metal cans and other consumer products could be linked to behavioral and emotional problems in toddler girls.

25 Oct 2011

The unvaccinated population contributing to the measles outbreak

As the US faces its largest outbreak of measles in 15 years - affecting 214 children so far – new research suggests too many unvaccinated U.S. children could be the reason. Experts speculate that unfounded fears regarding safety of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine leading to many children bring missed out could have led to this situation.

24 Oct 2011

UNICEF warns of possible polio resurgence in Madagascar amid outbreak involving three children

"An outbreak of polio in three children from the south of Madagascar has raised concerns over a possible resurgence of this crippling disease," BBC News reports, adding, "UNICEF spokesman Daniel Timme says three cases of polio without symptoms have been identified ... during UNICEF's Mother and Child Health week following tests and urine samples".

24 Oct 2011

Opinion pieces address World Polio Day

Though the number of new polio cases has dropped by 99 percent over the past 20 years, World Polio Day is recognized "because we haven't done enough yet," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in his blog, "The Gates Notes."

24 Oct 2011

external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation pediatric clinical trial for ADHD receives NeuroSigma funding

NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles-based medical technology company, announced today that it has signed a contract with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to fund a Phase I pediatric clinical trial to study the use of non-invasive, external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (TNS) for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

24 Oct 2011

Sustained 'vigilance and money' necessary to fight malaria

With the RTS,S malaria vaccine trial results showing "moderate" success, helping to reignite "optimism about eradicating malaria entirely," "there are other big hurdles still to surmount," a New York Times editorial states.

24 Oct 2011