Cancer
24 Sep 2006
Improved treatment raises medulloblastoma survival rate
A team of investigators led by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has announced that improvements in the treatment of the childhood brain cancer medulloblastoma have significantly increased the rate of survival of children with this disease. The treatment increased the overall five-year survival for 86 children with average-risk medulloblastoma…
Cancer
24 Sep 2006
Clues to hearing loss from chemotherapy
Children with cancer who suffer hearing loss due to the toxic effects of chemotherapy might one day be able to get their hearing back through pharmacological and gene therapy, thanks to work done with mouse models at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Mice with a variety of genetic mutations that…
Blood
13 Sep 2006
Inflammation
Inflammation is a completely natural process that is part of the body's response to any injury that it undergoes. This could be a toxin, a…
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
Vaccine combination leads to fevers, more ER visits for babies
Infants receiving a new combination of vaccines were twice as likely to require medical attention for fevers after their shots as babies who received the prior shot regimen, University of Florida and Columbia University researchers have found. Babies who received a new shot that mixes five vaccines into one…
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
Rotavirus: Messy nappies may be sign of severe intestinal infection
Anyone who’s ever cared for an infant or young child knows what it’s like to change the occasional smelly, messy nappy. While mild bouts of diarrhoea aren’t uncommon in young children, moderate to severe diarrhoea, lasting several days, could be a sign a dangerous infection in the intestines known…
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
Study Identifies New Genetic Risk Factor for Schizophrenia, Particularly in Females
UCLA scientists have discovered that infants who possess a specific immune gene that too closely resembles their mothers’ are more likely to develop schizophrenia later in life. Reported in the October issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, the study suggests that the genetic match may increase foetal susceptibility…
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
What is childhood depression?
Depression in children has dramatically increased in recent years with approximately 3 to 5 percent of preteens and up to 15 percent of teenagers suffering from depression. The good news is that awareness and intervention from parents or other adults can help children with depression live normal, happy, functioning lives.
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
Fact or fiction: Somatoform disorders explored
Sometimes a child complains continually of a pain or physical disability for which a physician cannot find a physical cause or the cause found does not account for the level of impairment experienced by the child. The pain or disability, however, is very real to the child. When pain…
Children's health
12 Sep 2006
Food Allergies: Sending your child with food allergies to school
Food allergies develop when the immune system – the body’s protection from foreign substances – gets mixed up and fights against a particular food protein even though it’s harmless. Many people have food intolerances, which result in conditions such as minor skin rashes or gastrointestinal upset. But food allergies,…
