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Mobile-phone addiction in teenagers may cause severe psychological disorders

Such a harmless and common object in our society represents a real problem for four in ten young adults in Spain, for whom their mobile phone has turned into an addiction that can lead them to consequences as dangerous as those caused by alcohol or drugs.

27 Feb 2007

New toy helps teach words to autistic childre

Helma van Rijn has developed a toy that uses a new method for teaching words to autistic children. She developed this toy as part of her graduation project at Delft University of Technology's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering.

27 Feb 2007

Cancer Research UK secures fenretinide orphan drug licence

A previously shelved drug could prove effective for treating a group of rare childhood cancers, and Cancer Research UK today announced it has been granted exclusive marketing rights for the drug in these indications by the European Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

27 Feb 2007

New method for rapid diagnosis of intestinal illnesses

Academics have found, for the first time, smells from healthy faeces and people with infectious diarrhoea differ significantly in their chemical composition and could be used to diagnose quickly diseases such as Clostridium difficile (C. Diff.).

27 Feb 2007

Single-slice magnetic resonance imaging reveals 'hidden' fat that puts adolescents at risk for disease

According to a new study featured in the March issue of Radiology, single-slice magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a fast, non-invasive way to measure intra-abdominal fat, which when excessive, may put children and teenagers at risk for developing heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses.

27 Feb 2007

New treatment for migraines combines Botox and surgery

Five years ago, Sharon Schafer Bennett suffered from migraines so severe that the headaches disrupted her life, kept her from seeking a job and interfered with participation in her children's daily activities.

27 Feb 2007

Teenage pregnancies in England increased in 2005

The number of pregnancies among girls under age 18 in England increased from 39,593 in 2004 to 39,683 in 2005, according to figures released Friday by the Office for National Statistics, London's Daily Telegraph reports.

27 Feb 2007

Defense Secretary Gates announces creation of independent panel to study military health care conditions

Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday announced the creation of an independent panel to examine outpatient conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals, the Los Angeles Times reports (Barnes, Los Angeles Times, 2/24).

27 Feb 2007

Governors criticize provisions on SCHIP in fiscal year 2008 budget request from President Bush

A bipartisan group of governors at the National Governors Association winter meeting on Sunday asked Congress to provide $765 million in supplemental funds for SCHIP, the Bergen Record reports (Jackson, Bergen Record, 2/26).

27 Feb 2007

NASA undersea mission to test space medicine concepts

NASA will send a flight surgeon, two astronauts and a Cincinnati doctor under the ocean off the Florida coast May 7-18 to test space medicine concepts and moon-walking techniques. It is the first undersea mission to include a NASA flight surgeon.

26 Feb 2007

GAVI Alliance contributes US$139 million to UN Foundation to tackle measles

The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today that it has received a US$139 million contribution from the GAVI Alliance to support the worldwide effort by the Measles Initiative to reduce measles deaths by 90 percent by 2010.

26 Feb 2007

High exposure to secondhand smoke from cigarettes detected in Baltimore bars

Workers and patrons of Baltimore bars are exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke, according to two studies conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

26 Feb 2007

Medics in Libyan HIV sham now accused of slander

In the latest development in the cases of the foreign medics sentenced to death in Libya for supposedly deliberately infecting children at a hospital with HIV, the six are now being subjected to a slander trial.

26 Feb 2007

Living in green neighborhoods or close to grocery stores associated with reduced risk of being overweight

...according to a study of more than 7,000 children ages 3 to 18 conducted by researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine; the Department of Geography, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and the University of Cincinnati.

26 Feb 2007

Osteopenia and cancer in children and adolescents

Physicians caring for children with cancer should be on the lookout for signs of bone fragility caused by disease and treatment, according to a new report.

26 Feb 2007

Old drug pentylenetetrazole may improve learning and memory in Down syndrome victims

Researchers in the United States have discovered that an old drug once used to study epilepsy substantially improved learning and memory in mice with Down syndrome symptoms.

26 Feb 2007

Simple eye movement test spots fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Canadian researchers have found that simple eye movement tests can effectively diagnose fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in children.

26 Feb 2007

Is Medicaid sustainable?

As Congress prepares to debate the President's budget and looks ahead to address the growing federal deficit and the future sustainability of Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, a new study of future funding requirements for Medicaid by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) projects a less dire situation than suggested by conventional wisdom.

25 Feb 2007

State actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals

The following highlights recent news of state actions on human papillomavirus vaccine proposals. Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil and GlaxoSmithKline's HPV vaccine Cervarix in clinical trials have been shown to be 100% effective in preventing infection with HPV strains 16 and 18, which together cause about 70% of cervical cancer cases.

25 Feb 2007

6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel rules against authorities for prolonged detention of abortion-rights opponents

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled against law enforcement authorities from Springboro, Ohio, and the FBI for detaining abortion-rights opponents for three hours after they protested in the city, the AP/Zanesville Times Recorder reports.

25 Feb 2007