Children’s Health

Glioblastoma brain tumors are especially perplexing. Inevitably lethal, the tumors occasionally respond to new immunotherapies after they’ve grown back, enabling up to 20% of patients to live well beyond predicted survival times. What causes this effect has long been the pursuit of researchers hoping to harness immunotherapies to extend more lives. New insights from a

New research from Boston Medical Center finds that using clear, unambiguous language when recommending HPV vaccination both increases vaccine acceptance and increases conversation efficiency while preserving patient satisfaction. Published in Vaccine, the new research findings show that adolescents are nine times more likely to receive a vaccine when providers introduce the topic to parents with

Traditional gendered patterns of child care persisted during the COVID-19 shutdown, with more than a third of couples relying on women to provide most or all of it, according to a study from University of Georgia researcher Kristen Shockley. Some previous research has found that typical familial patterns may get upended during crises, but that’s

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Dutch scientists, have found that certain metabolites -; small molecules produced by the process of metabolism -; may be predictive indicators for persons at risk for recurrent major depressive disorder. The findings were published in the January 11, 2021 online issue of

Two studies in today’s Nature Neuroscience, led by researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), and Harvard Medical School (HMS), implicate mosaic mutations arising during embryonic development as a cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The findings open new areas for exploring the genetics of ASD and could eventually inform diagnostic testing.

A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found a 25% increase in food insufficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic. Food insufficiency, the most extreme form of food insecurity, occurs when families do not have enough food to eat. Among the nationally representative sample of 63,674 adults in the US, Black and Latino

Stress on an expectant mother could affect her baby’s chance of developing disease – perhaps even over the course of the child’s life, UC researchers have found. Psychosocial factors creating stress — such as lack of social support, loneliness, marriage status or bereavement — may be mutating their child’s mitochondrial DNA and could be a

A new study has found that up to 20% of glioblastomas–an aggressive brain cancer–are fueled by overactive mitochondria and may be treatable with drugs currently in clinical trials. Mitochondria are responsible for creating the energy that fuels all cells. Though they are usually less efficient at producing energy in cancer, tumor cells in this newly

Recent years have provided substantial research displaying the effect of genetic mutations on the development of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Based on those studies, researchers have focused attention on the commonalities behind those mutations and how they impact on the functioning of the brain. A study conducted by Professor Sagiv Shifman from the Life

An analysis of a large nationally representative longitudinal study by University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science report that starting tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, before the age of 18 is a major risk factor for people becoming daily cigarette smokers. Reporting in the January 11, 2021 online

Physicians have long known that necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a potentially lethal inflammatory condition that destroys a premature infant’s intestinal lining, is often connected to the development of severe brain injury in those infants who survive. However, the means by which the diseased intestine “communicates” its devastation to the newborn brain has remained largely unknown. Now,

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have conducted a study showing that wearing facemasks in the classroom setting can be highly effective at reducing the aerosol transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, the filtration efficiency of facemasks can be low if they

SNSF Sinergia grant awarded to research groups in Switzerland and Norway to identify novel treatment strategies for children with aggressive brain tumors. The new Sinergia consortium involves principal investigators from the DMG/DIPG Center Zurich, at University Children’s Hospital, the ETH Zurich, and the Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway (NCMM) and aims to harness novel technologies

The fatal threat from diarrhea and pneumonia to young children in the world’s poorer countries can be drastically reduced by using traditional performing arts to encourage mothers to provide youngsters with safe food and water, a new study reveals. The Gambia, like many other Low- and Middle-income Countries (LMICs) faces high rates of under-five deaths

Canada is at the forefront of global efforts to end child marriage abroad. Yet this practice remains legal and persists across the country. In Canada, more than 3,600 marriage certificates were issued to children, usually girls, under the age of 18 between 2000 and 2018, according to a new study from researchers at McGill University.

A recent study, currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server, is among the first to reveal the presence of antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in colostrum and to demonstrate elevated cytokine levels in colostrum from women exposed to the virus. Current recommendations endorse breastfeeding for mothers infected with SARS-CoV-2, a

One question that continues to remain unanswered during the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been why is there a distinctive hit-and-miss pattern when it comes to severe disease? An interesting new study that appears on the medRxiv* preprint server pinpoints one highly relevant risk factor: the state of the oral and gut microbiomes.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg now suggest a possible cure for children with hard-to-treat forms of neuroblastoma using a new combination of drugs. In a new study in the journal Cancer Research, they describe how a two small molecule-based drug combination likely inhibit the tumor’s growth. Neuroblastoma is the most common form of childhood

A paper written by Arash Shaban-Nejad, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor, and Nariman Ammar, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow, both at the Center for Biomedical Informatics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, was recently published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research – Medical Informatics. The paper discussed how

A team of renowned scientific experts has joined forces from across the world to help fight the spread of misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines, which hold the key to beating the deadly pandemic and releasing countries from debilitating lockdown restrictions. Together they have created a unique online guide, published today and led by the University