Bone
11 May 2008
Falls a leading cause of injury-related emergency department visits for infants each year
Half of the estimated 328,500 infants 12 months of age or younger who were treated for injuries in hospital emergency departments each year from 2001 to 2004 were injured as a result of a fall, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first national…
Children's health
10 May 2008
New technique determines that the number of fat cells remains constant in all body types
The radioactive carbon-14 produced by above-ground nuclear testing in the 1950s and ’60s has helped researchers determine that the number of fat cells in a human’s body, whether lean or obese, is established during the teenage years. Changes in fat mass in adulthood can be attributed mainly to changes in…
Children's health
10 May 2008
Study supports reason for concern in childhood and adolescent obesity
Study findings presented at the May 2008 Pediatric Academic Societies and Asian Society for Pediatric Research Joint Meeting indicate that childhood and adolescent obesity negatively impacts vascular endothelial function, which relates to cardiac health. Obesity has been increasing rapidly in the U.S. during the past 20 years and obesity in…
Children's health
09 May 2008
Study finds link between birth order and asthma symptoms
Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children. Children with at least two older siblings were also 50%…
Children's health
08 May 2008
Teens think they have asthma under control, but benefit from new approach to treatment
Two studies that offer new insights to help adolescents and younger children improve their asthma control will be presented by researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center at this year’s annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Society (PAS) in Honolulu, Hawaii. One study, to be presented May 4, found that…
Cancer
08 May 2008
Researchers find gene location that gives rise to neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer
Using advanced gene-hunting technology, an international team of researchers has for the first time identified a chromosome region that is the source of genetic events that give rise to neuroblastoma, an often fatal childhood cancer. The investigators found that the presence of common DNA variations in a region of chromosome…
Blood
08 May 2008
Steroids provide no survival benefit for children with bacterial meningitis
Corticosteroids given to children who are hospitalised for bacterial meningitis do not provide a benefit in survival or in reduced hospital stays, according to a large multicenter study by pediatric researchers. This finding stands in contrast to previous studies in hospitalised adults, for whom corticosteroids dramatically reduced mortality. "Because of…
Children's health
08 May 2008
Study finds connection between mental fitness and multi-lingualism
Children who speak a second or third language may have an unexpected advantage later in life, a new Tel Aviv University study has found. Knowing and speaking many languages may protect the brain against the effects of aging. Dr. Gitit Kavé, a clinical neuro-psychologist from the Herczeg Institute on Aging…
Children's health
08 May 2008
Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies
Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center. The report, which was supported…
