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Symposium at PAS annual meeting to focus on pediatric obesity

One of the biggest health problems facing children today is pediatric obesity. Getting to the core of what is causing obesity - and how the U.S. can tackle this problem - is the focus of a topic symposium at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

Maternal stress during first trimester of pregnancy puts newborns at risk for iron deficiency

Newborns whose mothers are under stress during the first trimester of pregnancy may be at risk for low iron status, which could lead to physical and mental delays down the road, according to a study to be presented Sunday, April 29, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

World must extend access to life-saving vaccines to all children

"For too long, there has been an unwritten rule that it can take 15 years or more before children in the poorest nations benefit from new life-saving vaccines in use in rich countries," Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, writes in this post in the Independent's "Notebook" blog.

27 Apr 2012

Ghanaian vaccination campaign hopes to prevent up to 14,000 child deaths

In a Huffington Post Blog opinion piece, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), describes watching the suffering of an infant with severe pneumonia and his parents while in Ghana on Thursday, writing that the experience was "a personal reminder as to why our work to prevent disease is so perilous, and why disease control so promising in Africa."

27 Apr 2012

Long-duration breastfeeders sacrifice considerable income

Pediatricians and other breastfeeding advocates often encourage new mothers to breastfeed their babies for at least the first six months of their infants' lives based on the purported health benefits to both mothers and children. Many breastfeeding proponents also argue that breastfeeding has financial advantages over formula-feeding-breastfeeding is free, they say.

27 Apr 2012

Smoking during pregnancy may increase risk of autism in children

Women who smoke in pregnancy may be more likely to have a child with high-functioning autism, such as Asperger's Disorder, according to preliminary findings from a study by researchers involved in the U.S. autism surveillance program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

27 Apr 2012

U.S. government 'catalyzing' international community to end preventable child deaths

"When it comes to promoting global health, the American people have much to celebrate and be proud of. With strong bipartisan support, the U.S. government has not only committed many billions of dollars and saved many millions of lives, it has changed the way the world approaches foreign aid," former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul writes in an opinion piece in The Hill.

27 Apr 2012

Ghana launching childhood immunization campaign for rotavirus, pneumococcal disease

"Starting this week, Ghana will vaccinate the first babies in a new campaign against rotavirus -- a cause of severe diarrhea -- and pneumococcal disease, which causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis," Reuters reports.

27 Apr 2012

Study investigates possible links between maternal age and autism

In a study published in the May 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, led by Mr. Sven Sandin, of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and King's College London, researchers analyzed past studies to investigate possible associations between maternal age and autism. While much research has been done to identify potential genetic causes of autism, this analysis suggests that non-heritable and environmental factors may also play a role in children's risk for autism.

27 Apr 2012

Share 35 policy reduces racial disparities in kidney transplantation among children

A policy instituted in 2005 has reduced racial disparities in kidney transplantation among children, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology.

27 Apr 2012

Simple wrist sensor could gauge severity of epileptic seizures

In this week's issue of the journal Neurology, researchers at MIT and two Boston hospitals provide early evidence that a simple, unobtrusive wrist sensor could gauge the severity of epileptic seizures as accurately as electroencephalograms (EEGs) do - but without the ungainly scalp electrodes and electrical leads.

27 Apr 2012

Ghana rolls out vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea

Ghana has become the first African country to introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines at the same time, simultaneously tackling the leading causes of the world’s two biggest childhood killers – pneumonia and diarrhoea.

26 Apr 2012

Minimally-invasive spinal surgery helps Motocross rider return to racing

Since he was a young five years old, New Jersey resident Demetrius Economou has been tearing through the woods on a Motocross bike. A long-time family passion, Demetrius learned to ride when he was just 5 years old and riding quickly consumed his life and became a constant thought on his mind. While many children were playing team sports like baseball or soccer, Demetrius was learning how to modify his 70cc bike to keep up with the bigger bikes.

26 Apr 2012

Fatter children more likely to develop cardiometabolic disease, hypertension

A new study from presented at the European Society of Hypertension conference in London shows that children who show greater adiposity (fatness) in early life are at a substantially increased risk for hypertension and cardiometabolic problems in later life.

26 Apr 2012

Medicaid news: Florida prepares for shift to managed care

Preparing for Florida's shift to a statewide Medicaid managed-care system, 20 health companies and organizations are interested in competing for contracts to serve seniors who need long-term care. ... The list of potential bidders only reflects health plans interested in the long-term care portion of a statewide managed-care system. AHCA has not sought similar letters of intent for plans hoping to serve the broader Medicaid population, such as children and women.

26 Apr 2012

Fragile-X gene linked with disrupting de novo mutations in children with autism

A team led by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) publishes research today indicating a striking association between genes found disrupted in children with autism and genes that are targets of FMRP, the protein generated by the gene FMR1, whose dysfunction causes Fragile-X syndrome.

26 Apr 2012

Researchers identify new components of genetic pathway that controls neural stem cells

Can one feel too attached? Does one need to let go to mature? Neural stem cells have this problem, too. As immature cells, neural stem cells must stick together in a protected environment called a niche in order to divide so they can make all of the cells that populate the nervous system. But when it's time to mature, or differentiate, the neural stem cells must stop dividing, detach from their neighbors and migrate to where they are needed to form the circuits necessary for humans to think, feel and interact with the world.

26 Apr 2012

CEHC develops list of ten chemicals that contribute to autism, learning disabilities

An editorial published today in the prestigious journal Environmental Health Perspectives calls for increased research to identify possible environmental causes of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders in America's children and presents a list of ten target chemicals including which are considered highly likely to contribute to these conditions.

26 Apr 2012

Study shows how PCBs could add to autism risk

New research from UC Davis and Washington State University shows that PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, launch a cellular chain of events that leads to an overabundance of dendrites - the filament-like projections that conduct electrochemical signals between neurons - and disrupts normal patterns of neuronal connections in the brain.

26 Apr 2012

'Global Pulse' summarizes event launching USAID child survival social media campaign

At an event on Monday launching USAID's "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" social media campaign, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah described how $30 worth of materials contained in a backpack he carried onto stage, including zinc to prevent diarrhea and vaccines to prevent pneumococcal diseases, "can lead to a massive reduction in preventable child death in the developing world," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports.

26 Apr 2012