Pediatrics News and Research

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

The George Washington University Professor to comment on water-borne diseases

Dr. Peter Hotez from The George Washington University is available to comment on the risk of water-borne diseases as a result of the recent flooding in Pakistan.

19 Aug 2010

Decline in SIDS rate contributes to overall infant mortality reduction in New Jersey

The rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a leading cause of infant mortality, declined in New Jersey by 45 percent between 2000 and 2006, the most recent year for which final SIDS data are available, report Barbara M. Ostfeld, PhD, and Thomas Hegyi, MD, professors in the Department of Pediatrics at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and program director and medical director, respectively, for the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) Center of New Jersey.

19 Aug 2010

UT Southwestern pediatric urologist pioneers surgical procedure for girls with rare vaginal defects

A pediatric urologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center has pioneered a successful surgical procedure for young girls who have absent or malformed vaginas, a condition that affects about one in 4,000 females.

19 Aug 2010

New study finds no link between exposure to sexualized media and early onset of sexual activity

The prevalence of sex in the mainstream media has led many researchers to study its effect on impressionable adolescents. Several published, peer-reviewed studies have indicated that there is a link between exposure to sex in the media and the early onset of sexual activity among teens. However, a study led by Temple psychologist Laurence Steinberg questions these findings.

19 Aug 2010

Prenatal pesticide exposure increases susceptibility to ADHD in children

Exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides before birth can increase susceptibility to attention disorders such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). The new study is part of a growing body of research indicating that exposure to OP pesticides can adversely affect brain development.

19 Aug 2010

Study finds factor behind alcohol use disorder after liver transplantation

Patients who receive a liver transplant due to alcoholic liver disease need to demonstrate periods of abstinence and often attend addiction treatment before transplantation. However, alcohol use disorders can recur, as can other diseases requiring transplantation, and thus alcohol use after liver transplantation is not uncommon.

19 Aug 2010

More young people are losing their hearing: Study

A new study from US reveals that hearing loss is becoming more common among young people. The study reports that 1 in 5 adolescents now have some hearing problems, particularly in perceiving high-frequency sounds. Researchers say loud music could be one of the reasons for this.

18 Aug 2010

Aggressive children more inclined to misuse drugs

Aggressive and hyperactive boys with low parental monitoring are more likely to befriend deviant peers and become heavy drug users as teens, according to a new study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors. Yet the investigation by scientists from the Universit- de Montr-al and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center found that bad boys can be protected from heavy substance use as teenagers if they are highly monitored and befriend good boys as children.

18 Aug 2010

Study finds disparities in evaluation, diagnosis of abuse among infants with traumatic brain injury

Black children are more likely to be evaluated for abuse than white children with comparable injuries, according to a new study from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, raising concerns some children are being subjected to unnecessary testing while other cases of abuse go undiagnosed.

18 Aug 2010

NHLBI awards Vanderbilt Pediatrics and Nashville Parks $12 million to fight childhood obesity

Vanderbilt's Department of Pediatrics, in partnership with Metro Nashville Parks and Recreation, has been awarded a $12 million, seven-year grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for an ambitious project aimed at stopping obesity in preschoolers before it can take hold.

18 Aug 2010

Simple measure saves children’s lives: study

A new study has found that dozens of deaths and injuries of children in car crashes could be prevented with clearer size labelling on child safety seats.

17 Aug 2010

PRA International to host audio conference on CV drug development strategy

PRA International, a leading Clinical Research Organization, will host an audio conference on strategies for successful cardiovascular (CV) drug development on 24 August 2010 at 11:30 am (EDT). Dr. Michael Kirchengast, Vice President and Head of PRA's Scientific Affairs unit, will be the presenter.

17 Aug 2010

Simple, low-cost interventions reduce most common hospital-acquired infections

Urinary catheters are often left in place longer than needed, and new research shows that reminder systems that encourage hospital staff to remove catheters promptly can reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52 percent.

17 Aug 2010

Albert Einstein College of Medicine named 1 of 5 Nathan Shock Centers

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has been named one of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. The select group of five centers nationwide provides leadership in the pursuit of basic research into the biology of aging. Einstein's designation includes a $3.1 million, five-year grant from the NIH's National Institute on Aging.

17 Aug 2010

Doctors online

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's plans for e-health mean that physicians will be able to diagnose patients using webcams over the internet under a hi-tech health policy. Ms Gillard launched her futuristic health plans in Brisbane yesterday. Under this $392 million health plan, families with home computers will be able to get access to an after hours online doctor using webcams and internet messaging services such as Skype from July 2012. Services would improve once the Government rolls out its high-speed national broadband network.

16 Aug 2010

UCI Medical Affiliates third-quarter revenues increase 9.23% to $21.04 million

UCI Medical Affiliates, Inc. today announced that it had filed its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2010.

16 Aug 2010

Kaiser Permanente uses integrated care delivery model to aid mothers understand benefits of breastfeeding

August is National Breastfeeding Awareness Month, and Kaiser Permanente believes that one of the most important choices a mother can make to promote the health of her family is to choose to breastfeed exclusively. Kaiser Permanente, with more than 90,000 births in 2009, uses its integrated care delivery model to help mothers understand the benefits of breastfeeding to both mother and child and support the mother's infant feeding decision.

16 Aug 2010

Researchers pace embryonic heart with laser

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University and Vanderbilt University found that pulsed light can pace contractions in an avian embryonic heart, with no apparent damage to the tissue. The work, "Optical pacing of the embryonic heart," will be published in the advanced online issue of Nature Photonics on Aug. 15, 2010.According to the scientists, this non-invasive device may prove an effective tool in understanding how environmental factors that alter an embryo's heart rate lead to congenital defects. It may also lead to investigations of cardiac electrophysiology at the cellular, tissue and organ levels, and possibly the development of a new generation of pacemakers.

16 Aug 2010

Significant differences develop in obesity trends over time by race and ethnicity: Study

Obesity rates have started to decline and level off for many adolescents, but continue to increase for certain racial and ethnic minorities, according to a new UCSF-led study. The evidence of increasing racial disparities for obesity underscores the need for more tailored intervention programs and policies that target high-risk groups, the authors conclude.

16 Aug 2010

Researchers discover genetic alterations responsible for Kabuki syndrome

Using a new, rapid and less expensive DNA sequencing strategy, scientists have discovered genetic alterations that account for most cases of Kabuki syndrome, a rare disorder that causes multiple birth defects and mental retardation. Instead of sequencing the entire human genome, the new approach sequences just the exome, the 1-2 percent of the human genome that contains protein-coding genes.

16 Aug 2010