A team led by UT Southwestern researchers has identified brain circuitry that plays a key role in the dysfunctional social, repetitive, and inflexible behavioral differences that characterize autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The findings, published online this week in Nature Neuroscience, could lead to new therapies for these relatively prevalent disorders. The Centers for Disease Control
Children’s Health
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 14 2020 Researchers at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh found that infusing umbilical cord blood – a readily available source of stem cells – safely and effectively treated 44 children born with various non-cancerous genetic disorders, including sickle cell, thalassemia, Hunter syndrome, Krabbe disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) and an array
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 14 2020 For the first time in the world, an international study team with substantial participation from researchers from the Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC) of MedUni Vienna and Vienna University Hospital identifies the molecular differences between individual tumor cells in ependymomas, which are an aggressive type of brain tumor. The
Extremely preterm children have very low birth weights, underdeveloped organs, and risks of long-term problems or disabilities. Antenatal treatment — therapy given before birth — can improve outcomes in preterm children. Statistical analysis of medical records can tell clinicians which antenatal treatments can best protect against severe neurodevelopmental impairment or death. The UAB News Studio
In contrast to previous hypotheses, researchers from the University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust found no evidence of unique viral sequences from patients with pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS). Their study is published on the medRxiv* preprint server. Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Colorized scanning electron
GE Healthcare (GEHC) chose University Hospitals (UH) Cleveland Medical Center in November of 2019 as the first hospital in the US to evaluate its new mobile x-ray system enabled with Critical Care Suite, the world’s first on-device AI solution for triage & notification of critical findings and quality errors. The tool is designed to quickly
Pregnant women are among those most in need of safe and effective preventives and treatments for HIV and co-infections. Yet because they are commonly excluded from research, they are among the least likely to have robust, timely evidence to inform decisions around the use of medications. “The resulting evidence gaps and delays are significant,” said
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 11 2020 A new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba has found that bacteria are shared and possibly transferred from a mother’s milk to her infant’s gut, and that breastfeeding directly at the breast best supports this process. The research, published today
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 9 2020 Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have identified how specific brain cells interacting during development could be related to neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including some that occur later in life. Brain function depends on the precise formation of millions of connections between specific brain cell
Researchers from IRB Barcelona, the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute – Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (SJD) have set up Gate2Brain, a company based on a novel technology developed at IRB Barcelona to transport drugs into the brain. Gate2Brain is the second joint spin-off between IRB Barcelona and
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 9 2020 A new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology shows that a University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) community outreach initiative has helped adolescents in Rochester adopt long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) at a rate far higher than the U.S. overall. The study, “Impact of the
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 9 2020 The news about remdesivir, the investigational anti-viral drug that has shown early promise in the fight against COVID-19, keeps getting better. This week researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Gilead Sciences reported that remdesivir potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2, the
A commentary published in the journal Pediatrics, the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, concludes that children infrequently transmit Covid-19 to each other or to adults and that many schools, provided they follow appropriate social distancing guidelines and take into account rates of transmission in their community, can and should reopen in
Since late December 2019, there has been an emergence of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has to date infected over 12.2 million individuals across the globe and killed over 554,000 persons. One of the notable features of this virus is its particularly severe course among the elderly and those with comorbid
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 9 2020 Living close to natural green space can mitigate some of the changes in infant gut bacteria associated with formula feeding, according to new research published in the journal Environment International. Not every infant can be breastfed. This is one of the first pieces of evidence for a nature-related
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 8 2020 More than a decade into the community development initiative called Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families, the 30-block Southern Orchards neighborhood on Columbus, Ohio’s South Side had clear, notable improvement. Home vacancy fell from 30% to under 6%. High school graduation rates increased. More than $40 million in investments were
Chest radiation is used to treat children with Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma as well as lung metastases in various solid tumors. But radiation itself is a potential cancer risk, including an increased risk for breast cancer later in life. Girls receiving chest radiation for childhood cancer face a breast cancer risk as high as 30
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 8 2020 Differences in lung physiology and immune function in children could be why they are more often spared from severe illness associated with COVID-19 than adults, according to pediatric and adult physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Baylor College of Medicine, who
Previous research has tied mental health issues and developmental disorders to gut health. Now, a team of British scientists has shown that foods that broaden the profile of helpful bacteria in the gut, which are collectively known as probiotics, can help ease anxiety and depression. The researchers from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and
Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Jul 7 2020 Toddlers who were obese or overweight show concerning signs of cardiovascular disease at 11-12 years of age, according to a new study led by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). The study, published in Pediatrics, found Australian children who were obese or overweight very early in life already