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Research unveils key gaps in continuity of care for sickle cell patients

Research unveiling key gaps in continuity of care for sickle cell patients transitioning from pediatric to adult care will be presented this week during the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH).

11 Dec 2012

Intensified chemotherapy can reduce risk of relapse in pediatric patients with B-ALL

Young patients with an aggressive form of leukemia who are likely to relapse after chemotherapy treatment can significantly reduce those odds by receiving additional courses of chemotherapy, suggest the findings of a clinical trial led by investigators at Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center in Boston.

11 Dec 2012

Strong association between bedroom TV viewing and childhood obesity

The average American child from age 8 to 18 watches about 4.5 hours of TV each day. Seventy percent have a TV in the bedroom and about one-third of youth aged 6-19 is considered obese.

11 Dec 2012

Metformin therapy improves BMI and fasting glucose levels in obese children

Metformin therapy has a beneficial treatment effect over placebo in improving body mass index (BMI) and fasting glucose levels in obese children, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). The study showed reduction in BMI was sustained for six months.

11 Dec 2012

Access4Kids benefits children with fine motor impairments

Imagine not being able to touch a touch-screen device. Tablets and smartphones-with all their educational, entertaining and social benefits-would be useless. Researchers at Georgia Tech are trying to open the world of tablets to children whose limited mobility makes it difficult for them to perform the common pinch and swipe gestures required to control the devices.

11 Dec 2012

Oxytocin administration to fathers increases parental engagement with their infants

A large body of research has focused on the ability of oxytocin to facilitate social bonding in both marital and parenting relationships in human females. A new laboratory study, led by Dr. Ruth Feldman from Bar-Ilan University in Israel and published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, has found that oxytocin administration to fathers increases their parental engagement, with parallel effects observed in their infants.

11 Dec 2012

Mothers with vitamin D deficiency have babies with lower birth weight

Mothers' vitamin D levels at a gestation of 26 weeks or less were positively related to birth weight and head circumference, and, in the first trimester were negatively associated with risk of a baby being born small for gestational age, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

11 Dec 2012

Vodafone partners with GSK, GAVI to use, study mobile technology to improve vaccination rates

"British mobile phone group Vodafone and drug maker GlaxoSmithKline are joining forces on a novel project to increase childhood vaccination rates in Mozambique using text messaging," Reuters reports.

10 Dec 2012

Severe RSV disease may impair innate immune response in infants

Infants with severe lower respiratory tract infection caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) may have a dysfunctional innate immune response that relates to the severity of their disease.

10 Dec 2012

Childhood obesity: an interview with Professor Clodagh O’Gorman

Childhood obesity is harder to define than adult obesity. This is because any definition of obesity relies on measurements of both height and weight, and the calculation of body mass index (BMI) based on these measurements.

10 Dec 2012

Parents prefer hearing screenings for kids

Just yelling "turn it down" isn't enough when young people are blasting music directly into their ears via earbuds and headphones, parents say. A new poll from the University of Michigan shows parents are strongly in favor of required hearing screenings for kids all the way up to age 17.

10 Dec 2012

Giving iron supplements to low birth weight infants reduces behavior problems later in life

In a study published today in Pediatrics, scientists at Umeå University in Sweden conclude that giving iron supplements to low birth weight infants reduces the risk of behavior problems like ADHD later in life.

10 Dec 2012

SketchUp program helps open new communication doors with grandparents of autistic children

For three years, University of Utah researchers have been deploying a computer-based design program called SketchUp in workshops to teach and develop life skills for youth on the autism spectrum. An earlier study showed that using the program helps kids develop their spatial and visual acuity, as well as to leverage those strengths to build positive social interactions.

10 Dec 2012

Study examines association between ischemic-hypoxic conditions and ADHD

Children who had in-utero exposure to ischemic-hypoxic conditions, situations during which the brain is deprived of oxygen, were significantly more likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder later in life as compared to unexposed children, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal Pediatrics.

10 Dec 2012

Exposure to passive smoking may increase risk of invasive meningococcal disease in children

The dangers of second-hand smoke (passive smoking) on children continue to become ever more apparent. A new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Public Health shows that second hand smoke and foetal exposure due to maternal smoking while pregnant significantly increase the risk of invasive meningococcal disease.

10 Dec 2012

Children's eyes at greater risk for permanent damage from sunlight

Anderson Cooper, host of "Anderson Live," was temporarily blinded for 36 hours following a two-hour boat trip in Portugal where the sun damaged and burnt his cornea. Eye health concerns like cataracts, skin cancer of the eyelids and melanoma in the retina can all result from sun-damaged eyes.

7 Dec 2012

U.S. government announces grants for implementation science projects on PMTCT

Last week, the U.S. government announced up to $7.5 million in grants over the next two years to fund "implementation science projects exploring how to achieve the goal of eliminating new pediatric HIV infections while keeping mothers alive," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

7 Dec 2012

Neonaticides have fallen significantly over the last 10 years in Austria

Since 2002, the number of new-born babies who have suffered a violent death has more than halved in Austria. This encouraging development is due to the introduction of the Anonymous Birth scheme in 2001. Scientists at the MedUni Vienna have now been able to provide proof of the scheme's effectiveness.

7 Dec 2012

Ketogenic diet and fasting can reduce seizures in children

Children with persistent and drug-resistant seizures treated with the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet may get an added therapeutic benefit from periodic fasting, according to a small Johns Hopkins Children's Center study.

7 Dec 2012

Microarray technology provides comprehensive result during prenatal care of women

A new method for detecting abnormalities in unborn children is providing physicians with more information to analyze the results than conventional, microscopic testing, according to two George Washington University researchers.

7 Dec 2012