Children’s Health

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 7 2020 No one knows for sure how long they will live. A new study, however, suggests that leukocyte telomere length may offer some key insights into a woman’s longevity and further demonstrates how maternal age at birth of last child affects telomere length and long-term health. Study results are

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 Only about one in every 170 children take them. But “orphan drugs” accounted for 1 in every 15 private insurance dollars spent on children’s health care in the United States in 2018, according to a new study. That’s up 65% from just five years before. Even though insurance

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 7 2020 Researchers from the University of Iowa may have discovered a safe new way to manage blood sugar non-invasively. Exposing diabetic mice to a combination of static electric and magnetic fields for a few hours per day normalizes two major hallmarks of type 2 diabetes, according to new findings

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 A University of Queensland-led team of international researchers says supercharged “clones” of the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes are to blame for the resurgence of the disease, which has caused high death rates for centuries. UQ’s Dr Stephan Brouwer said health authorities globally were surprised when an epidemic was detected

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 Training parents of children with autism spectrum disorder virtually about early behavioral intervention is an accessible and effective approach during the coronavirus pandemic or in other instances when in-person instruction is not possible, according to a Rutgers researcher. The study, which was published in The Journal of Applied

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 6 2020 The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused widespread harm to the health and well-being of already vulnerable children and adolescents in the U.S., particularly those in low-income households and children of color. Nevertheless, evidence-based programs known to reverse the negative effects of poverty are being widely neglected, according to

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 5 2020 A new study examining the link between peanut and tree-nut anaphylaxis in children and holidays found spikes at Halloween and Easter. The study, led by a team of researchers from the Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MCH-MUHC), found that most were previously unknown allergies,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 5 2020 Most parents know or suspect when their child smokes, but they are much more likely to be in the dark if the child vapes or uses other tobacco products, according to a large national study by researchers at UC San Francisco. The study, which tracked more than 23,000

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 29 2020 A team of researchers found out that children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased levels of the amino acid hydroxyproline. According to the medics, this may be associated with joint hypermobility, a common symptom in ASD patients. This information can help improve anti-ASD therapy. The work was

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected over 33.8 million people worldwide, claiming over one million lives. To date, thousands of pregnant women have been infected with this virus. However, cases of transmission of the infection from the infected mother to the baby are rare and to date,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 Many of our children play a lot of computer games. Some youth play so much and develop such big problems that a new diagnosis called Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has been proposed. Symptoms of a gaming disorder include that it has an impact on school, work or friendships,

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 As many as 800 million children have dangerously high lead values in their blood. The neurotoxin can cause permanent brain damage. The huge international numbers come from a new report from Pure Earth and UNICEF. Pure Earth works to solve pollution problems that can be harmful to humans.

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 When newborn babies or children with heart or lung distress are struggling to survive, doctors often turn to a form of life support that uses artificial lungs. This treatment, called Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), has been credited with saving countless lives. But in some cases, it can also

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 30 2020 Scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health have discovered bacteria linked to post-infectious hydrocephalus (PIH), the most common cause of pediatric hydrocephalus worldwide. Results of the study led by Pennsylvania State University with CII scientists and clinical colleagues

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Oct 1 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has shifted many of our interactions online, with Zoom video calls replacing in-person classes, work meetings, conferences and other events. Will all that screen time damage our vision? Maybe not. It turns out that our visual perception is highly adaptable, according to research from Psychology

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 30 2020 As many as 70% of very premature infants (born earlier than 32 weeks gestation) show signs of white matter abnormalities at birth. But only some of those infants go on to develop cognitive, language, motor, or behavioral disorders as they grow. Now, scientists say a new software tool

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 29 2020 Researchers in China have discovered a potential way to prevent a lack of oxygen or blood flow from causing long-lasting brain damage in newborn children. The study, which will be published September 29 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), suggests that targeting the histamine H2 receptor with

Sep 30 2020 Carrying a fetus that is small for gestational age (SGA) is associated with increased rates of stillbirth and neonatal death as well as metabolic disease in later life. The Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory (PHaB Lab) team at Flinders University: (Back Row, Left to Right) Dr Tanja Jankovic-Karasoulos, Melanie Smith, Dr Anya

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 30 2020 Researchers at University of California San Diego report that while Kawasaki disease (KD) occurs in clusters, the traits, and thus the triggers of the inflammatory disease vary among clusters. The findings are published in the September 2020 online issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. “The importance of this

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 29 2020 An international team led by current and former McMaster University researchers has developed an artificial lung to support pre-term and other newborn babies in respiratory distress. The group has proven the concept using a live piglet, a major step along the route toward approval for use in humans,