Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Novel Drugs Relieve Attacks of Swelling in Hereditary Angioedema
An investigational drug called ecallantide (also known as DX-88 significantly relieves attacks of a rare, life-threatening disease called hereditary angioedema, report researchers from Children’s Hospital Boston and 25 other study sites. The placebo-controlled trial was published in the August issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. A second…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Paediatric Screening Questionnaire Helps Identify Developmental Delays
Developmental and behavioural problems are estimated to affect 12 to 16 percent of children in the United States. Since well-child visits are typically scheduled for 15 to 30 minutes – an insufficient time for assessment of all areas of development in addition to administration of vaccines and discussion of other…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Can Iron Deficiency Cause Attention and Recognition Deficits?
Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) affects approximately 1 to 2 billion people worldwide, primarily women and children. Although the prevalence of IDA has noticeably declined in U.S. infants, low-income, minority, and immigrant infants and toddlers remain at increased risk. In the study, “An Event-Related Potential Study of Attention and Recognition Memory in…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Home Safety Products Commonly Misused in Inner City Housing
More than 90 percent of injury deaths in infants and toddlers occurred in the home, according to data from the US National Vital Statistics System (1985-1997). Many residential injuries can be prevented using home safety products such as smoke alarms, stair gates, and cabinet locks. According to a study conducted…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Language Barriers Put Patients at Risk for Wrong Prescriptions
Nearly 52 million Americans speak a non-English language at home, and 23 million Americans have limited English proficiency (LEP). Language barriers can result in adverse consequences in health care, but little is known about whether pharmacies provide sufficient care to patients with LEP. In the study, “Language Barriers to Prescriptions…
Bone
21 Aug 2007
Stress Fracture Risk in Active Adolescent Girls May Be Hereditary
For active teen girls and young women, heredity may be more important than the type of sports or exercise they engage in as a risk factor for stress fractures, according to the study, “Family History Predicts Stress Fracture in Active Female Adolescents.” Stress fractures are bone defects resulting from repeated…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
When is the Right Time to Leave the Hospital After Giving Birth?
There is no “one size fits all” answer to readiness for discharge after delivering a baby. The “Life Around Newborn Discharge” (LAND) study is the first ever to examine the decision-making of over 4,000 mothers and their paediatricians and obstetricians about postpartum discharge and to identify which factors most related…
Children's health
21 Aug 2007
Having a Pet Pig May Offer Some Benefits
Contact with farm environments in infancy might decrease the risk of juvenile Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. That’s according to a study conducted in Germany entitled, “Contact With Farm Animals in Early Life and Juvenile Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Case-Control Study.” Parents of children (ages 6 to 18) from 13…
Children's health
17 Aug 2007
Safety and Efficacy of Once-weekly Application of Etanercept in Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
Etanercept – a recombinant TNF receptor fusion protein – has been approved for the treatment of resistant polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Researchers at the University Children’s Hospital Tubingen, Germany, studied the safety and efficacy of once-weekly Etanercept in children with JIA. 0.4 mg/kg was given subcutaneously twice weekly. For…
