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Examining improvements in neonatal survival

This post in PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog reports on changes in newborn mortality over the last decade, writing, "Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program worked with over 150 contributors and 60 health experts to produce A Decade of Change for Newborn Survival, a supplement published by Health Policy and Planning."

7 Jul 2012

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AJPM introduce Childhood Obesity Challenge

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have announced the launch of the Childhood Obesity Challenge, a competition that aims to promote creative and innovative solutions to childhood obesity outside the standard framework of scientific research publications.

6 Jul 2012

Bullying can happen at summer camp or in cyberspace, school

The threat of bullying doesn't stop at the schoolyard gate nor does it end when the final bell signals the beginning of summer vacation, warns Dr. Jennifer Caudle of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Caudle is a family physician who has lectured on the subject of bullying to thousands of schoolchildren, parents and educators across the country.

6 Jul 2012

Diabetes on the rise among Chinese teenagers

A study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found Chinese teenagers have a rate of diabetes nearly four times greater than their counterparts in the United States. The rise in the incidence of diabetes parallels increases in cardiovascular risk, researchers say, and is the result of a Chinese population that is growing increasingly overweight.

6 Jul 2012

Reprogramming asthma-promoting immune cells diminishes airway damage and inflammation

Reprogramming asthma-promoting immune cells in mice diminishes airway damage and inflammation, and could potentially lead to new treatments for people with asthma, researchers have found.

5 Jul 2012

Researchers use maternal blood sample to sequence genome of an unborn baby

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have for the first time sequenced the genome of an unborn baby using only a blood sample from the mother.

5 Jul 2012

Developing countries struggle to meet UN’s child hunger target

Insufficient progress has been made in most developing countries to meet the United Nations' target of halving the proportion of children who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990 levels, according to a systematic analysis of data on children's height and weight, published today in the Lancet.

5 Jul 2012

SET policy reduces risk of perinatal mortality in IVF and ICSI infants

A policy of single embryo transfer (SET) reduces the risk of perinatal mortality in infants born as a result of IVF and ICSI. The conclusion emerged from an analysis of more than 50,000 births recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Technology Database between 2004 and 2008, where the introduction of an SET policy has been associated with a reduction in overall perinatal mortality for IVF and ICSI babies.

4 Jul 2012

Children at increased risk for heat-related illness

Extreme heat continues to plague the nation with many areas seeing record temperatures. Though everyone needs to take precautions when it comes to dangerous heat, it's especially important to watch your kids. Children are at a greater risk than adults of sustaining a heat injury.

4 Jul 2012

Signs that a child is seriously ill: Interview with Professor Middleton

There are several signs that indicate that a child is seriously ill. These can be spotted by parents, teachers and carers as well as by me or any other doctor or nurse.

4 Jul 2012

Perinatal mortality risk in IVF reduced by single embryo transfer

4 Jul 2012

Important insight into association between childhood maltreatment and suicide

Exposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk for most psychiatric disorders as well as many negative consequences of these conditions. This new study, by Dr. Gustavo Turecki and colleagues at McGill University, Canada, provides important insight into one of the most extreme outcomes, suicide.

4 Jul 2012

Track-related injuries on the rise among U.S. children and adolescents

With the 2012 summer Olympic games about to take place in London, children everywhere are looking forward to watching their sports idols and role models take center stage. While the Olympics may inspire some to try a new sport, such as track, parents should be aware that this participation does not come without risk of injury.

4 Jul 2012

Scientists reprogram amniotic fluid cells without introduction of extra genes

Stem cells found in amniotic fluid can be transformed into a more versatile state similar to embryonic stem cells, according to a study published today in the journal Molecular Therapy. Scientists from Imperial College London and the UCL Institute of Child Health succeeded in reprogramming amniotic fluid cells without having to introduce extra genes.

4 Jul 2012

Annual report on MDGs shows success in some areas, but continued lack of progress in other areas, including maternal health

"An annual report card on the ambitious U.N.-led initiative known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) says that in three areas -- poverty, slums and water -- the goals have been met ahead of the 2015 deadline, but persistent gaps remain, notably in the critical area of maternal health," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Jul 2012

Students with 'observable' disabilities more likely to bully, be bullied in school

Students receiving special-education services for behavioral disorders and those with more obvious disabilities are more likely to be bullied than their general-education counterparts - and are also more likely to bully other students, a new study shows.

3 Jul 2012

Study provides evidence for meth abuse's causal effect on foster home admissions

Methamphetamine abuse leads to an increase in child abuse and neglect, which causes an increase in foster care admissions, according to a study from Baylor University.

3 Jul 2012

Deleting a single gene results in autism-like behavior

Deleting a single gene in the cerebellum of mice can cause key autistic-like symptoms, researchers have found. They also discovered that rapamycin, a commonly used immunosuppressant drug, prevented these symptoms.

2 Jul 2012

Safer imaging of children with otolaryngologic disease is a shared responsibility

Advances in diagnostic imaging have benefited children with otolaryngologic disease, allowing shorter hospital stays, fewer invasive procedures, more targeted surgical procedures, and earlier and more precise diagnoses. However, despite improved technology, concerns about exposure of children to ionizing radiation have recently come to the forefront, according to a commentary in the July 2012 issue of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

2 Jul 2012

Study links procedural pain and detectable oxidative stress in neonates

There was a time when a belief was widely held that premature neonates did not perceive pain. That, of course, has been refuted but measurements of neonate pain tend to rely on inexact measures, such as alertness and ability to react expressively to pain sensations. Researchers at Loma Linda University reported in The Journal of Pain that there is a significant relationship between procedural pain and detectable oxidative stress in neonates.

2 Jul 2012