Children's health
06 Apr 2006
Electrical Impulses Foster Insulation of Brain Cells, Speeding Communications
Electrical impulses foster myelination, the insulation process that speeds communication among brain cells, report researchers at two institutes of the National Institutes of Health. “This finding provides important information that may lead to a greater understanding of disorders such as multiple sclerosis that affect myelin, as well as a…
Children's health
06 Apr 2006
Ankle intra-articular steroid effective in juvenile arthritis
Image-guided steroid injection produces durable clinical improvement in inflamed ankles of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis and may help prevent irreversible deformity, Dr Kevin Baskin (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA) reported at the 2006 Society of Interventional Radiology annual scientific meeting “The take-home message is to get into the…
Cancer
05 Apr 2006
Preschool diet linked to later breast cancer risk
Diet during preschool may be associated with the risk of breast cancer in adulthood, according to findings published in the February issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Dr. Karin B. Michels, of Harvard Medical School, Boston, conducted a case-control study including 582 breast cancer patients and 1569 healthy…
Children's health
03 Apr 2006
Prescribing of hyperactivity drugs is out of control
The figures are mind-boggling. Nearly 4 million Americans, most of them children and young adults, are being prescribed amphetamine-like stimulants to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Up to a million more may be taking the drugs illegally. Now, amid reports of rare but serious side effects, leading researchers…
Cancer
31 Mar 2006
Changes to in utero environment may alter onset of cancer
Manipulating the in utero environment may alter the onset of cancers that appear later in the lives of mammals, according to a new University of Toronto study published in the journal Carcinogenesis. “We know that cancer-causing agents can travel across the placenta and harm the developing embryo or fetus,”…
Children's health
27 Mar 2006
Doernbecher Researchers To Study Effectiveness Of Stem Cell Transplant In Human Brain
Researchers in Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at Oregon Health & Science University will begin a Phase I clinical trial using stem cells in infants and children with a rare neurodegenerative disorder that affects infants and children. The groundbreaking trial will test whether HuCNS-SC(TM), a proprietary human central nervous stem cell product…
Children's health
21 Mar 2006
Parents susceptible to suicide after death of ill child at home
In addition to prolonged anxiety and depression, parents who have a child who dies at home may be at increased risk of suicide, according to a report published in the British Medical Journal for March 18th. Accessibility to the child’s opioid medication after the death may provide an easy avenue…
Children's health
21 Mar 2006
WA Leads World-First Bid to Crack Diabetes Code
Three thousand Australian families with children affected by diabetes are being asked to join a nationwide effort to set up a DNA database that could help prevent the chronic condition. The creation of the Australian Childhood Diabetes DNA Repository is being funded by a 1.78 million dollar grant from…
Children's health
17 Mar 2006
Watchdog Report Finds Children's TV Programs Are More Violent Than Prime-Time Adult Shows
A media watchdog group has released a report that finds that children’s television programs are more violent that those shown during prime time. Parents Television Council analyzed entertainment targeted for children. Its report, “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: A Content Analysis of Children’s Television,” found that programming for children was…
