Pediatrics News and Research

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

Most low birth weight survivors grow up to become productive adults

Most survivors of extremely low birth weight grow up to become productive adults, according to a study led by a Michigan State University economist.

2 Dec 2010

Study finds inconsistency in OTC medications for children

Instructions on boxes and bottles of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for children in the United States are confusing and hard for parents to understand and follow, according to a study in the December 1 issue of JAMA.

2 Dec 2010

Improved support may reduce health care cost in children with diabetes

Managing diabetes in a child requires a careful balance of insulin, diet, and exercise. Buying essential medical supplies, such as needles and testing strips, adds a financial burden to families. According to a new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics, the resulting food insecurity that arises from the financial burden of diabetes management increases a child's risk of being hospitalized due to complications from diabetes.

2 Dec 2010

Number of big babies rise along with obstetric complications

Doctors say that with more babies born oversized mostly to obese or overweight mothers the risks of shoulder injury and getting stuck during labour is on the rise. Horrifyingly sometimes obstetricians are resorting to breaking baby’s collarbones to facilitate delivery because their shoulders get stuck during childbirth. This is usually done in a potentially life-threatening is known as shoulder dystocia that compresses the umbilical cord or puts pressure on the neck, leaving the child starved of oxygen if not delivered immediately.

30 Nov 2010

Group drumming can improve social, emotional behavior in low-income children: NAMM Foundation

The NAMM Foundation today announced the findings of a recent study that shows how group drumming can improve social and emotional behavior in low-income children.

30 Nov 2010

Prescription rates for controlled medications double for teens, young adults

Adolescents and young adults are most likely to abuse prescription medications. Yet prescription rates for controlled medications, or drugs the Drug Enforcement Administration deems as having the potential for abuse, have nearly doubled for those age groups in the past 14 years, according to a recent study published in Pediatrics. Overall, a controlled medication was prescribed for young adults at approximately one out of every six visits and for young adult by adolescents one out of every nine encounters.

30 Nov 2010

Children with autism improve creative skills by playing with building blocks

In an attempt to help children with autism learn the building blocks of creativity, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) tapped a toy box staple for help - legos. By building lego structures in new and unique ways, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) learned to use creativity, an important skill that they had seen as very challenging prior to the study.

30 Nov 2010

DePuy Spine, Lanx, Medtronic, Zimmer Spine and Codman support NREF's post-residency clinical fellowships

The NREF has reached agreements with Medtronic, Lanx and Zimmer Spine to provide funding to the NREF in support of the Foundation's post-residency clinical fellowship grant program. The NREF is pleased to report that it has renewed its agreements with Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. and DePuy Spine, Inc., who supported the inaugural year of the fellowship program in 2010.

29 Nov 2010

Toshiba to highlight dose reduction technologies at RSNA annual meeting

Reducing radiation dose is a high priority for medical imaging manufacturers and healthcare facilities. Expanding its dedication to reducing CT radiation dose while maintaining diagnostic confidence, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. is expanding its suite of low dose CT technologies. Toshiba will showcase dose reduction technologies, such as Target CTA and Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR), at this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, held in Chicago, Nov. 28 - Dec. 3, 2010

28 Nov 2010

New study finds no decrease in patient harm at hospitals

Despite concerted efforts, no decreases in patient harm were detected at 10 randomly selected North Carolina hospitals between 2002 and 2007, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

25 Nov 2010

Diogenes study investigates optimum diet composition for preventing, treating obesity

Researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, can now unveil the results of the world's largest diet study: If you want to lose weight, you should maintain a diet that is high in proteins with more lean meat, low-fat dairy products and beans and fewer finely refined starch calories such as white bread and white rice.

25 Nov 2010

Best diet: High protein and low good carbs

A group of European researchers have found that eating more protein and fewer refined carbohydrates helps to stay within normal weight. The team showed that men and women who had lost at least eight percent of their body weight on a low-calorie diet were kept on a maintenance diet high in protein and low in refined carbohydrates for six months. They were least likely to regain any weight, and were also the least likely to drop out of the study.

24 Nov 2010

Heartburn drugs safe in pregnancy: Study

Pregnancy brings about a lot of heartburn sometimes beginning in the first trimester and continuing until delivery. To date the drugs available for general use in heartburn called proton-pump inhibitors or PPIs were wrought with safety concerns during pregnancy.

24 Nov 2010

Dr. Yves DeClerck honored as first recipient of Richard Call Family Endowed Chair

Yves A. DeClerck, MD, professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, has been inducted as the inaugural holder of the Richard Call Family Endowed Chair in Pediatric Research Innovation.

24 Nov 2010

Study finds solution for debate about mutation testing to prevent children with cystic fibrosis

Testing for genetic mutations beyond those medically recommended is unlikely to prevent the birth of children with classic cystic fibrosis and may detect mutations causing only mild disease, according to a study published online in Genetics in Medicine, the official publication of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG).

From Quest Diagnostics 24 Nov 2010

Hepcidin hormone may be potential therapeutic tool for anemic blood disorders

A hormone made by the body may be a potential therapeutic tool for the treatment of two anemic blood disorders beta-thalassemia and hemochromatosis. The new research was led by scientists at Weill Cornell Medical College and published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and the journal Blood.

24 Nov 2010

Loyola University professor suggests general travel tips for children with nut allergies

No matter the mode of transportation, holiday travel holds special challenged for parents. Either you're stuck in an enormous security line at an airport filled with cranky people or hearing the constant stream of "are we there yet" from the back seat of the car. It's enough to make a Scrooge out of even the most Tiny Tim of us. For many families adding to the chaos is the reality that their child has a dangerous nut allergy.

23 Nov 2010

Racial disparities in risk and survival among children with neuroblastoma: Study

Black, Asian, and Native American children are more likely than white and Hispanic children to die after being treated for neuroblastoma, according to new research on the pediatric cancer. The study, of more than 3,500 patients with the disease, is the largest ever to look at racial disparities in risk and survival for the most common solid cancer found in young children.

23 Nov 2010

Late-preterm babies at increased risk for cognitive, emotional problems

Late-preterm babies - those born between 34 and 36 weeks - are at an increased risk for cognitive and emotional problems, regardless of maternal IQ or demographics, according to new research published by Michigan State University researchers in the current edition of the journal Pediatrics.

23 Nov 2010

HIV drugs lead to insulin resistance

The same powerful drugs that have extended the lives of countless people with HIV come with a price - insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

23 Nov 2010