Prevention of ACL Injuries in Adolescent Female Athletes
July 1st 2013Adolescent girls who participate in competitive or recreational sports are at higher risk for anterior cruciate ligament injuries than adolescent boys, but through neuromuscular training and knowledgeable coaching some of these injuries may be preventable.
Partial livers: Good transplant option for infants
June 25th 2013Deceased-donor partial liver transplantation now has outcomes in infants and small children that are comparable to those achieved with whole organ transplantation. Increased confidence in this procedure could increase the pediatric organ pool dramatically, thereby decreasing the high waitlist mortality of this age group.
Researchers find gene for precocious puberty
June 17th 2013Researchers have identified the genetic mutation responsible for central precocious puberty. Experts say the finding may help unlock the mysteries surrounding the timing of puberty and make it possible to identify those at risk of early onset.
Breastfeeding makes children smarter?
June 17th 2013Breastfeeding exclusively for at least the first 3 months of life, as opposed to exclusively formula feeding or using a combination of breast milk and formula, seems to make children smarter, and the differences are clear much earlier than previously thought.
Program cuts inappropriate antibiotic use in kids
June 17th 2013An educational intervention, which includes periodic feedback to pediatricians, reduces inappropriate outpatient prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics to children with respiratory infections by about half, according to a new randomized trial.
Improving patient care: Smartphones and mobile medical devices
June 1st 2013The world is a much different place since the iPhone was released this month just 6 years ago in 2007. Because of our smart mobile devices, we talk, text and tweet, shop wisely, travel expediently, and socialize even when alone.
Alternate vaccine schedules are not safer and should be obsolete
June 1st 2013Since the days of Edward Jenner, the father of smallpox vaccine, there have been parents who have been vaccine hesitant, and at times vaccine refusers. After Benjamin Franklin’s son died of smallpox, he lamented the fact that he had prohibited his son from getting the smallpox vaccine due to his concerns over safety.
Are obese kids more vulnerable to food advertising than their healthy-weight peers?
June 1st 2013A recent investigation found that compared with healthy-weight children, those who are obese show significantly less brain activation in regions associated with cognitive control after viewing familiar food logos, such as McDonald’s “golden arches.” This suggests that obese children may be more responsive to food advertising than their normal-weight peers.
Pediatric subspecialists fail to follow guidelines for treating ADHD
June 1st 2013More than 90% of pediatric subspecialists who diagnose and manage attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children deviate from current recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry regarding treatment of pediatric ADHD.
Preterm infants may need higher daily intake of vitamin D
June 1st 2013Preliminary data from a randomized, double-blind trial reveal that giving preterm babies daily supplementation of 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D reduces vitamin insufficiency that may lead to softening and weakening of their bones.
Texting, Tweeting, and Talking: E-communicating with adolescents in primary care
June 1st 2013With rapidly increasing access to mobile devices and the Internet, adolescents spend increasingly less time communicating in person and more time communicating electronically. Health care providers may be in a position to harness the power of novel mobile and electronic technologies to improve communication with adolescent patients and potentially enhance their health outcomes.
Black spots on a toddler’s skin
June 1st 2013You are called to the emergency room to evaluate a healthy 2-year-old boy with black spots on his legs that were noted yesterday evening. His younger brother developed similar black spots this morning. The boys are healthy, and the lesions are not symptomatic and appear to be superficial.
Bed sharing with parents raises risk for SIDS
May 28th 2013Infants who share a bed with their parents during the first 3 months of life are at a 5-fold greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than babies who share their parents’ rooms and sleep in their own beds, according to a British study.