Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Insect Genes Provide Clues to Help Beat the Heat
New findings from insect studies at Queen’s and U of T may help to protect our brains from extremely high fevers that sometimes trigger seizures, particularly in infants and small children. While the seizures themselves are generally harmless, a prolonged fever resulting from infection or heatstroke of over 108 degrees…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Children who Complete Intensive Early Childhood Program show Gains in Adulthood
By the time they reached adulthood, graduates of an intensive early childhood education program for poor children showed higher educational attainment, lower rates of serious crime and incarceration, and lower rates of depressive symptoms than did non-participants in the program, reported researchers in a study funded in part by the…
Children's health
09 Nov 2007
Proteins Involved in New Neurodegenerative Syndrome Identified
The interplay of two proteins that bind to messenger RNA, a molecule that mediates translation of the information encoded in genes into proteins, triggers the appearance of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FTAX), a late-life disorder associated with the gene that causes fragile X syndrome in children, said researchers from Baylor…
Children's health
30 Oct 2007
Allergies, Asthma and Wealth
Children in richer nations are more likely to have allergy-related asthma than their counterparts in poorer nations. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after studying more than 50,000 kids from 22 countries, ranging from wealthy European nations to poor nations in Africa. Overall, children from rich countries who suffered from allergies…
Children's health
30 Oct 2007
Myths about Halloween Treats can be Tricky to Dispel
Tales of rotting teeth and sugar highs from Halloween candy are often exaggerated, Medical College of Georgia dentists and nurses say. “When it comes to kids’ teeth, the problem is not just the amount of sugar, but also the frequency of exposure,” says Dr. Steven Adair, chair of paediatric dentistry.
Bone
30 Oct 2007
Facial Characteristics offer Insights into Genetic Conditions
The general public easily recognises the faces of people with Down’s syndrome, but there are over 700 genetic conditions where there are characteristic facial features: the eyes may be set further apart than usual, the nose shorter and the ears set lower down on the head along with many other…
Bone
30 Oct 2007
The Connection between Genes and Height
It became clear nearly a century ago that many genes likely influence how tall a person grows, though little progress, if any, has followed in defining the myriad genes. Now an international research team brings light to this age-old question by pinpointing a genetic variant associated with human height –…
Children's health
30 Oct 2007
Research Shows New Risks from Seeing Movie Smoking
Exposure to smoking in movies is not only likely to influence adolescents to start smoking, but it also appears to be closely associated with adolescents’ risk of becoming established smokers, according to a new study by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Established smokers are defined as…
Cancer
30 Oct 2007
Topotecan shows Promise against Wilms Tumour
St. Jude researchers have shown that the drug topotecan holds promise as a treatment for the recurrent form of a kidney cancer called Wilms tumour, a solid tumour of the kidney that arises from immature kidney cells, and the fifth most common tumour among children. The investigators recommend further evaluation…
