Children’s Health

For decades, physicians have known that many kinds of cancer cells often spread first to lymph nodes before traveling to distant organs through the bloodstream. New research from Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) provides insight into why this occurs, opening up new targets for treatments that could inhibit the spread of

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) may cause severe disease in high-risk people, including the elderly, people with underlying health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, and those with weakened immune systems. Though most children and adolescents seem to be spared by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, a

Adding corticosteroids to standard intravenous (IV) immunoglobulin treatment for children with Kawasaki disease judged to be at higher risk of developing blood vessel complications made initial treatment more successful and prevented these complications. According to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart

New research from the CHILD Cohort Study has shed light on the influence of vitamin D supplementation on a baby’s developing gut microbiome. The study, published in the journal Gut Microbes, found that vitamin D supplementation is associated with compositional changes in a baby’s microbiome–notably a lower abundance of the bacteria Megamonas–at three months of

The COVID-19 pandemic has come under control in many Asian countries where it flared up early in its course. Among these is Japan, where the first case was reported on January 15, 2020, leading to a rapid increase in the number of infections. A new study explores whether and how the practice of routine BCG

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 18 2020 A new study reports that the risk of being involved in car crashes increases for those diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, looked specifically at the rate of car crashes by

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 18 2020 Despite decades of study, exactly how herpesviruses invade our cells remains something of a mystery. Now researchers studying one herpesvirus, the varicella zoster virus (VZV) that causes chicken pox, may have found an important clue: A key protein the virus uses to initiate infection does not operate as

Researchers at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Northwestern University have identified a subtype of autism arising from a cluster of genes that regulate cholesterol metabolism and brain development. The researchers say their findings, published Aug. 10 in Nature Medicine, can inform both the design of precision-targeted therapies for this specific form of

One of the most intensively researched areas today is the creation of an effective universal vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). An effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is the best single tool to help the world revert to a more normal situation by extinguishing viral spread without the need for lockdowns and travel

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 15 2020 A new study from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology describes how existing infrared technology can be adapted to measure recognition memory and other cognitive outcomes in infants. The study demonstrated that the eye tracking technology and computer-controlled stimulus presentation can be successfully used to automate

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 17 2020 Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have added to the growing body of understanding about how hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is not a possible defense against COVID-19. Specifically, they found that HCQ is not effective in preventing COVID-19 in patients with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), suggesting a broader interpretation

Cookies for breakfast, staying up late and maybe a little more TV than usual. For some families, what happens at grandma’s house stays at grandma’s house. But for others, clashes over parenting choices and enforcing parents’ rules can cause major strife between a child’s parents and grandparents, a national poll suggests. Nearly half of parents

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 15 2020 Being pregnant is a wonderful experience, but at the same it can be incredibly stressful – throw a global pandemic into the mix and those nine months may see an expecting mother go from happy and joyful, to fearful and concerned. The impact of chronic emotional stress on

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 15 2020 Past discriminatory housing practices may play a role in perpetuating the significant disparities in infant and maternal health faced by people of color in the U.S., suggests a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. For decades, banks and other lenders used redlining maps to

More than 380,000 babies are born prematurely in the United States each year, according to the March of Dimes. “Preemies” can be severely underweight babies and struggle to get the nutrients they need from breast milk alone, so neonatal intensive care units provide an additional milk fortifier, either in the form of cow’s milk or

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 13 2020 Progress against DIPG, a fatal childhood brain tumor, is usually a game of inches. Studies that hint at even small gains are cause for celebration. That’s why researchers at the University of Michigan and their collaborators are excited about discoveries that point toward a new potential treatment approach

With the cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) skyrocketing globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) is now warning the public to avoid routine dental procedures to reduce the risk of infection. In a new interim guidance released by the World Health Organization (WHO), the health agency advises that routine non-essential oral health

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 14 2020 New research supported by the National Institutes of Health delineates how two relatively common variations in a gene called KIF3A are responsible for an impaired skin barrier that allows increased water loss from the skin, promoting the development of atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema. This finding could

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in August 2020 shows that the placenta in pregnant women infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) does not show any signs of abnormality that can be attributed to the infection. The current COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading in many parts of the world,

A new study by Californian researchers has shown that youth and teenagers who use electronic cigarettes are five times more likely to be affected by COVID-19 disease, and those that use both electronic and traditional cigarettes are seven times more likely to get the infection. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging across the world since the