Pediatrics News and Research

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

Combating childhood malnutrition

Swollen bellies, orange hair, listlessness and dull eyes -- these are the traits of child malnutrition in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and where roughly one of every three children is chronically malnourished.

4 Aug 2006

FDA approves Keppra (levetiracetam) for epilepsy treatment

UCB has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Keppra (levetiracetam) injection for use as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of partial-onset seizures in adults with epilepsy.

2 Aug 2006

Labour induced in the morning means fewer complications

Australian researchers say pregnant women who need for one reason or another to have their labour induced are better having the induction done in the morning than in the evening.

2 Aug 2006

Conception and pregnancy put at risk by marijuana use

According to new research the use of marijuana when a woman is trying to conceive or has just become pregnant, is not recommended as it endangers the passage of the embryo from the ovary to the uterus and can result in a failed pregnancy.

2 Aug 2006

Genes may be responsible for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to run in families, causing members of several generations to experience severe anxiety and disturbing thoughts that they ease by repeating certain behaviors.

26 Jul 2006

Feeding solid foods to infants before 6 months of age can increase the risk of allergies

Exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months may prevent the onset of allergic symptoms later in life

26 Jul 2006

Understanding postpartum depression critical to improving care for mothers and infants

Physicians should screen mothers for postpartum depression regularly for at least a year following childbirth to better identify women who develop symptoms throughout the year and those whose depression persists, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers say.

26 Jul 2006

Interaction of proteins in the intestinal system may be allergic indicators

Researchers have identified one of the proteins that may be responsible for causing food allergies, which could lead to the development of more accurate non-invasive tests to identify true food allergies.

25 Jul 2006

Discovery could help identify genes that cause human heart defects

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified a group of fruit fly gene mutations responsible for "broken hearts" in the embryonic stages of development, a discovery that could help identify genes that cause human heart defects.

25 Jul 2006

FDA expands use of Oncaspar to include treating children and adults with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded the approved use of Oncaspar to include treating children and adults with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) as part of a multiple drug chemotherapy regimen.

25 Jul 2006

Researchers identify potential ovarian cancer stem cells

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified potential ovarian cancer stem cells, which may be behind the difficulty of treating these tumors with standard chemotherapy.

21 Jul 2006

Hyperactive girls more likely to develop heart problems later in life

Hyperactive girls are more likely to develop hints of heart problems later in life, according to a new Finnish study that tracked 708 kids into young adulthood. However, it's not clear if there's a direct cause-and-effect link.

21 Jul 2006

School-based programmes for preventing smoking

It may take more than anti-smoking lessons in the classroom to keep school-age children and teens from lighting up, according to a recent review of studies.

19 Jul 2006

Conjugate vaccines for preventing meningococcal C meningitis and septicaemia

A new systematic review suggests that a certain kind of vaccine may help to protect babies and small children from a devastating killer: meningococcal meningitis.

19 Jul 2006

Cleaning water at household is best diarrhea prevention

Clean water can prevent diarrhea and save lives, but among the world's most susceptible populations, it is cleaned best at its point of use rather than its source, researchers report in a large new review of studies.

19 Jul 2006

Research shows which sex differences are developmental vs. sociological vs. hormonal

Differences in the way men and women perform verbal and visuospatial tasks have been well documented in scientific literature, but findings have been inconsistent as to whether men and women actually use different parts of their brains.

19 Jul 2006

Highly active antiretroviral therapies associated with reduced infections in HIV-infected children

Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapies, there has been a substantial reduction of opportunistic infections and other infections in HIV-infected children, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.

19 Jul 2006

Researchers isolate rare cancer stem cells that cause leukemia

Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital Boston and their colleagues have isolated rare cancer stem cells that cause leukemia in a mouse model of the human disease.

18 Jul 2006

$26 billion dollar bill for prem babies each year

According to experts one in every eight babies now is born prematurely and they are calling for earlier ultrasound examinations during pregnancy and tighter guidelines for infertility treatment as essential in the battle to control what they say is a growing problem.

17 Jul 2006