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Blood test can predict pre-term births during second trimester

Though more than one in 10 American babies are born prematurely, there have been few clues to predict whether a particular baby is going to arrive too early - until now.

19 Apr 2011

Mother's diet during pregnancy can influence child's risk of obesity

Scientists have discovered that a mother's nutrition during pregnancy can strongly influence her child's risk of obesity many years later.

19 Apr 2011

IU, Ohio and Kentucky partner to advance childhood disease research

Children's doctors in Indiana soon will partner with colleagues in Ohio and Kentucky through a new program focused on working across state lines to advance research on childhood disease.

19 Apr 2011

Forehead scanning comparable to under arm temperature readings in newborns

Measuring the body temperatures of newborns with temporal artery thermometry (forehead scanning) provides readings comparable to results obtained by axillary (under arm) thermometry, the clinically recommended method for this patient population, but causes less discomfort, according to a new study reported in Advances in Neonatal Care.

18 Apr 2011

Scientists identify networks of genes critical in embryonic-heart development

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have identified networks of genes that play an important role in embryonic-heart development, advancing knowledge of how healthy hearts develop-and offering clues about how to combat a common birth defect known as congenital heart disease.

18 Apr 2011

Intellectual disability may have genetic origin, but is not hereditary

Mutations in a group of genes associated with brain activity frequently cause intellectual disability, according to a study led by scientists affiliated with the University of Montreal and the research centre at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine. Intellectual disability is a severe handicap that affects between one and two percent of children worldwide. It can often be attributed to genetic causes, but the specific genes involved were mostly unknown.

18 Apr 2011

Non-Hispanic black infants born with heart defects more likely to die within five years

Non-Hispanic black infants born with heart defects are more likely to die within the first five years of life than their non-Hispanic white and Hispanic peers. For certain types of congenital heart abnormalities, Hispanic children as well as non-Hispanic black children fare worse than non-Hispanic white children.

18 Apr 2011

Mother’s Day can be tough when your Mum has cancer

This May, in the spirit of Mother’s Day, youth cancer charity CanTeen reaches out to the 15,000 Australians aged 12-24 years who have a parent diagnosed with cancer each year.

18 Apr 2011

One in ten Aussie kids unable to perceive the tastes of food

The prevalence of taste disorders in Australian children could be three times above the level defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a major public health crisis, new research has found.

17 Apr 2011

HF/E bunk bed research can prevent deaths among children

Ryan was just four years old when he went to sleep on his bunk bed one night and never woke up. His mother found him strangled to death the next morning with his neck caught between the vertical post of his side ladder and mattress.

16 Apr 2011

Former UNICEF head accepts Nestle board position, says she will examine compliance with WHO breast milk code

Ann Veneman, the former executive director of UNICEF, "took a seat on the board of Swiss food and drinks company Nestle SA on Thursday" and said she plans to look into whether the company has adopted a WHO code on breast milk, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

16 Apr 2011

Children who have eczema with hay fever more likely to develop allergic asthma

Children who have eczema, particularly when occurring with hay fever, are nine times more likely to develop allergic asthma in their 40s, a new study reveals.

16 Apr 2011

Genentech receives FDA approval for Actemra to treat juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Actemra, given alone or in combination with methotrexate, for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children ages 2 years and older.

15 Apr 2011

Mandatory single embryo transfers for IVF may decrease risk and cost

The number of couples struggling with infertility is on the rise, and these couples often use assisted reproductive technologies, like in vitro fertilization (IVF), to get pregnant. Although IVF can be successful, it can also increase the risk of multiple pregnancies, which are often caused by transferring more than one embryo. Twins and triplets are likely to be born prematurely, and, as a result, many have medical complications.

15 Apr 2011

Researchers pinpoint new approach that can treat pediatric leukemia

A Loyola University Health System study points to a promising new approach to treating an aggressive and usually fatal leukemia in babies.

15 Apr 2011

Nearly all 2.6 million stillbirths worldwide occur in low-, middle-income countries, Lancet series says

Approximately 2.6 million pregnancies worldwide end in stillbirth - most commonly defined as death in the final trimester - each year, "with the poorest nations worst affected," according to a series of articles published Thursday in the Lancet, BBC reports.

15 Apr 2011

High rates of induction, C-section do not improve infant outcomes in low-risk women

In low-risk pregnant women, high induction and first-cesarean delivery rates do not lead to improved outcomes for newborns, according to new research published in the April issue of The Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.

15 Apr 2011

Study finds minimally invasive thyroid surgery effective in pediatric patients

Surgical approaches that reduce incision size and recovery time from thyroid surgery work well in children, physician-scientists report.

15 Apr 2011

Scientists develop new test for premature babies

Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have pioneered a new needle-free test to take the sting out of medicine testing in premature babies. The research will not only lead to greater accuracy in prescribing, but will also significantly reduce the trauma of such tests for newborn infants and their families.

15 Apr 2011

Obesity and smoking linked to stillbirths: Report

According to experts, excessive weight, smoking and late maternal age over 35 are contributing to thousands of stillbirths each year in high-income countries, including Australia, and the trend looks set to continue. These figures were published in the Lancet medical journal.

13 Apr 2011