News

Maternal race is associated with induction of labor, with rates increasing disproportionately among non-African American women, according to the results of a study published in the September issue of Medical Care.

Children and adolescent cancer survivors may continue to face the risk of increased morbidity and mortality due to recurrence of their original cancer, researchers report in the Oct. 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The growing popularity of high-caffeine content energy drinks has resulted in an increasing number of reports of caffeine intoxication, and an increase in the combined use of caffeine and alcohol, according to a study published online Sept. 21 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

The rate of women in America seeking abortion hit a 30-year low in 2004, but this trend masks disparities in abortion rates across various demographic groups, according to a report published in August by the Guttmacher Institute.

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigation of more than 1,000 retail markets which may have brought Chinese infant formula into the U.S. yielded no such items, the FDA stated.

When the American Academy of Pediatrics released revised recommendations for the management of hypercholesterolemia in children this year, a media firestorm erupted over the inclusion of statins as potential first-line pharmacologic agents. But the epidemic of childhood obesity has forced pediatricians to balance the unknown risks associated with pharmacologic therapy in children against the risk that failure to treat could lead to heart attacks and other complications in young adulthood, according to a Perspective article published in the Sept. 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Prophylactic administration of nasal insulin soon after birth does not prevent children with HLA genotypes and autoantibodies from developing type 1 diabetes, nor does it delay onset of the disease, according to research published online Sept. 23 in The Lancet.

Children who are foreign-born are increasingly likely to lack health insurance, according to survey results published in the November American Journal of Public Health.

Parents of babies who die as a result of extreme prematurity or potentially lethal congenital abnormalities report that religion, spirituality and hope guided their decisions about resuscitation rather than the physician's predictions about morbidity and death, according to an article published in the September issue of Pediatrics.

There will be no change to the Part B Standard Medicare premium in 2009 compared with 2008. This is the first time since 2000 that the premium has not risen over the prior year, according to an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

In children with a first demyelinating event, those with lower vitamin D levels are more likely to progress to multiple sclerosis, and the incidence of first demyelinating events is significantly greater at higher latitudes, where the sun's rays are weaker and vitamin D insufficiency is more common, according to research presented at the World Congress on Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis held Sept. 17 to 20 in Montreal, Canada.

About a fifth of Down syndrome patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia have a mutation in the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) protein, according to a report published online Sept. 20 in The Lancet.

The Immunization Alliance, which includes the American Academy of Pediatrics and 21 other groups, is calling for greater awareness about immunization rates in children.

Regularly measuring fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (NO) didn't lead to improvement in asthma symptoms or lung function in young patients with asthma, according to research published in the Sept. 20 issue of The Lancet.

Screening all newborns for a panel of 29 disorders recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics would help detect significantly more children with rare disorders, according to a report published in the Sept. 19 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The use of paracetamol (acetaminophen), whether in the first year of life or later in childhood, is associated with higher risk of asthma symptoms at ages 6 and 7, according to research published in the Sept. 20 issue of The Lancet.

Factors associated with asthma diagnosed in adulthood include persistent wheezing in early life, bronchial hyper-responsiveness at 6 years of age, and allergic or non-allergic rhinitis in adulthood, according to the results of two studies published in the Sept. 20 issue of The Lancet.

A concerted international and national response, behavior change by consumers and providers, and the development of antibacterial agents are all urgently needed to tackle the global problem of rapidly increasing antibiotic resistance, according to an article published online Sept. 18 in BMJ.

Problems at school are more likely in children who worry about their parents arguing, reported researchers in the September/October Child Development.

Preoperative antibiotics significantly reduce postpartum endometritis compared to antibiotics given at cord clamping, but do not affect neonatal outcomes, according to research published in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Spanish-speaking Hispanics in America have less access to health care, while immigrant children are increasingly uninsured and disparities along the border with Mexico are a persistent problem, according to three studies published online Sept. 17 in the American Journal of Public Health.

Women who go into spontaneous preterm labor without ruptured membranes and no obvious signs of infection should not receive antibiotics because it may increase their children's subsequent risk of functional impairments and cerebral palsy, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in The Lancet.

U.S. parents seek assistance from a health care professional or school employee regarding emotional and behavorial issues for 14.5% of children ages 4 to 17, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report has found.

An abnormal cochlea and abnormal cochlear nerve are the most common inner ear abnormalities in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and inner ear abnormalities are more common among patients with severe and profound SNHL and in children with unilateral hearing loss, according to a report in the September issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery.

While absent nasal bone and increased nuchal folds are both markers for Down syndrome, nasal bone hypoplasia is a more efficient test, according to a report in the September issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other organizations called on political leaders to address pressing health issues of children nationwide at a news event convened by Every Child Matters (ECM) in Washington, D.C., on September 16.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded its indication of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil to include vaginal and vulvar cancer in girls and women ages 9 to 26.

The rate of child deaths under five continued to decline in 2007, according to UNICEF.

Up to 30 percent of epileptic children have medically refractory epilepsy and may benefit from surgery, according to a review published in the September issue of Neurosurgical Focus.

Second-generation, or atypical, antipsychotic drugs used to treat children and adolescents with early-onset schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder are not necessarily superior to first-generation drugs, according to an article published online Sept. 15 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.