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Infant foods must be protected against fumonisin toxin

An international team of scientists calls for protecting complementary food for infants in developing countries - especially those where corn is a staple food - against fumonisin, a toxin produced by fungi. Until now, physicians thought the growth retardation of children in those regions was to be blamed on the poor nutritional value of the complementary maize porridge they receive when breast milk is no longer sufficient. But toxins indeed are involved, the scientists report in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.

10 Nov 2010

New stem cell gene, enzyme replacement treatment for Tay-Sachs disease

StemCellRegenMed, Inc. announces that a new stem cell gene and enzyme replacement treatment has been performed on a fourteen month old child with Tay-Sachs disease on November 2, 2010. Tay-Sachs is a devastating disease that afflicts children primarily of parents of Jewish heritage and in very rare cases families of Eastern European background and the Cajun region in the U.S.A.

10 Nov 2010

Obese teens become obese adults

A new report shows that obese adolescent Americans tend to carry their extra weight into adulthood. The nationally representative study of American youth showed that one in 12 teenagers became severely obese as they entered adulthood with some 100 pounds above their ideal weight. And nearly half the girls and more than a third of the boys who are obese as teenagers grew up to be obese adults with a high risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers.

10 Nov 2010

Study shows dogs attack children's face, eyes

As dog bites become an increasingly major public health concern, a new study shows that unsupervised children are most at risk for bites, that the culprits are usually family pets and if they bite once, they will bite again with the second attack often more brutal than the first.

10 Nov 2010

Low levels of growth hormone may contribute to growth defects in cystic fibrosis

A new study using a pig model of cystic fibrosis (CF) suggests that low levels of a growth promoting hormone at or before birth may contribute to growth defects in patients with CF.

10 Nov 2010

Article shows link between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy, SIDS

The link between maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome may relate to the negative effects of nicotine on the development of brain centers that regulate breathing, according to an article in the recent issue of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

10 Nov 2010

Psychologists find stress is taking physical and emotional health toll on family and children

Findings from the American Psychological Association's (APA) newly released 2010 Stress in America survey raise red flags about the long-term impact that chronic stress could have on our physical and emotional health and the health of our families, psychologists said today.

10 Nov 2010

New type of heart pump for infants born with univentricular circulation

Researchers have created a new type of heart pump inserted with a catheter to improve the survival rate for infants undergoing a series of surgeries to correct a deadly birth defect.

10 Nov 2010

Lower-protein infant formula helps attain same growth rate as breastfed infants

Newly published findings indicate that infants fed a lower protein infant formula developed by Pfizer Nutrition gained weight at a similar rate to those who were breastfed, according to a study published online today in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Pfizer Nutrition has always recognized that breast milk is the best source of infant nutrition. The study established that infants fed a new, lower-protein infant formula attained the same growth rate and growth pattern as breastfed infants.

10 Nov 2010

mHealth Alliance annual summit kicks off with $1M HP donation, discussion of improving maternal, child health

The mHealth Alliance on Monday at its summit in Washington, D.C., "announced a two-year $1 million aggregate donation from HP" aimed at furthering the alliance's goal of delivering quality health care "at the furthest reaches of wireless networks and mobile devices," mobihealthnews reports.

10 Nov 2010

Malaria drug artesunate found more effective than quinine at preventing severe falciparum malaria deaths in children, study says

Researchers found that the death rate among children diagnosed with severe falciparum malaria was almost one-fourth lower when they received the drug artesunate rather than the standard treatment of quinine, according to research which was presented at the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) over the weekend and published Monday in the Lancet, HealthDay News/U.S. News and World Report writes.

10 Nov 2010

Forceps delivery can pose risk to mother and child

Forceps might be a better instrument than a vacuum cup for assisting a successful birth, but new mothers might experience more trauma and complications after a forceps delivery, according to a new review of studies.

10 Nov 2010

Families fight to care for disabled kids at home after they reach the age of 21

NPR reports on families who are fighting for continued funding to care for their severely disabled children at home.

10 Nov 2010

Children unhappy with school and home lives more likely to drink and engage in sexual behavior

Young children who don't like school are more likely to be involved in underage drinking and sexual activity. A study reported in BioMed Central's open access journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy, has found that pupils' general wellbeing and specific satisfaction with school were both associated with the incidence of risky behaviors.

10 Nov 2010

World Lung Foundation report highlights prevalence of acute respiratory infections worldwide

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) - such as influenza, pneumonia and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) - cause 4.25 million deaths each year often among young children in developing countries, according to the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, which was released on Tuesday by the World Lung Foundation, Reuters reports (11/9).

10 Nov 2010

Parents' talk about numbers improves young children's math skills

The amount of time parents spend talking about numbers has a much bigger impact on how young children learn mathematics than was previously known, researchers at the University of Chicago have found.

10 Nov 2010

Education can help prevent preterm birth

Doctors and patients should discuss a pregnant woman's risk of preterm birth by the twelfth week of pregnancy, according to a commentary published in the November issue of Ob.Gyn. News.

10 Nov 2010

Home smoking restrictions needed to reduce tobacco-related carcinogens in children's urine

Ninety percent of children who lived in a house where an adult smoked had evidence of tobacco-related carcinogens in their urine, according to research presented at the Ninth AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here from Nov 7-10, 2010.

10 Nov 2010

Study evaluates therapeutic hypothermia in children after cardiac arrest

When the heart is stopped and restarted, the patient's life may be saved but the brain is often permanently damaged. Therapeutic hypothermia, a treatment in which the patient's body temperature is lowered and maintained several degrees below normal for a period of time, has been shown to mitigate these harmful effects and improve survival in adults.

10 Nov 2010

Children with hypertension more likely to have learning disabilities, ADHD

Children who have hypertension are much more likely to have learning disabilities than children with normal blood pressure, according to a new University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) study published this week in the journal, Pediatrics. In fact, when variables such as socio-economic levels are evened out, children with hypertension were four times more likely to have cognitive problems.

10 Nov 2010