Cancer
10 Sep 2006
Mature muscle fibres can revert to become cancerous, researchers find
Mature muscle fibres, rather than their less-developed neighbours, are the tissues that turn malignant in a soft-tissue cancer that strikes children and teens, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Centre and Children’s Medical Centre Dallas have found. The research, performed in fruit flies, not only provides a clue to how…
Children's health
04 Sep 2006
New genetic link to cot death identified
Babies born with specific variants of three key genes are 14 times more likely to die from cot death, new research has found. The findings – published in Human Immunology – build on earlier research by The University of Manchester team that had already associated one of these genes…
Children's health
04 Sep 2006
Experts Add To Growing Warnings About Asthma Drug
University of Iowa asthma experts are trying to ensure that an asthma drug combination is prescribed only when truly necessary. The long-acting asthma drug salmeterol used in combination with an inhaled corticosteroid can dangerously worsen asthma for a small subgroup of people with the condition. In a letter published…
Children's health
29 Aug 2006
Anxiety before Surgery Complicates Recovery in Children
Children who are anxious before surgery experience a more painful, slow, and complicated postoperative recovery, according to a Yale School of Medicine study published this month in Paediatrics. The study is important, said lead author, Zeev Kain, M.D., professor in the Departments of Anaesthesiology, Paediatrics, and the Yale Child…
Children's health
28 Aug 2006
Exposure to PCBs May Reduce the Effectiveness of Vaccines in Children
New epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants may have an adverse impact on immune responses to childhood vaccinations. The research appears in the Aug. 22, 2006, online edition of Public Library of Science Medicine. The study looked at two groups of children in the Faroe Islands, which…
Children's health
28 Aug 2006
Anxiety before Surgery Complicates Recovery in Children
Children who are anxious before surgery experience a more painful, slow, and complicated postoperative recovery, according to a Yale School of Medicine study published this month in Paediatrics. The study is important, said lead author, Zeev Kain, M.D., professor in the Departments of Anaesthesiology, Paediatrics, and the Yale Child…
Children's health
28 Aug 2006
MRI scans in premature infants can predict future developmental delays
A Washington University paediatrician at St. Louis Children’s Hospital has found that performing MRI scans on pre-term infants’ brains assists dramatically in predicting the babies’ future developmental outcomes. Terrie E. Inder, M.D., associate professor of paediatrics, of radiology and of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Blood
28 Aug 2006
Researchers Find Link Between Autism and Abnormal Blood-Vessel Function and Oxidative Stress
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that children with autism showed signs of abnormal blood-vessel function and damaging levels of oxidative stress compared to healthy children. The children with autism possessed levels of biochemicals that indicate the presence of constricted blood vessels via the endothelium (the…
Children's health
28 Aug 2006
Parental cigarette use is 'double whammy' for children
A new study exploring smoking, heavy drinking and marijuana use across three generations indicates that the children of a parent who uses any of these substances are more likely to smoke, binge drink or use marijuana in adolescence and adulthood. Drug transmission across generations, the study found, was for a…
