News

Offspring of obese mother rats or those overfed after birth are considerably heavier and are more likely to be fatter, glucose intolerant, have high lipid levels and have changes in appetite hormones, according to study findings published online July 17 in Endocrinology.

Infants of low-income women who are predominantly breast-fed have a lower risk of gastrointestinal infection but a higher risk of iron deficiency than infants who are partially or entirely formula-fed, according to the results of a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

Pediatricans may be less susceptible to subconscious racial attitudes and stereotypes than other doctors, according to a report in the July Medical Care.

Routine vaccination of 12-year-old girls against human papillomavirus, combined with an initial catch-up campaign to cover girls up to the age of 18, would likely be cost-effective, according to research published online July 17 in BMJ.

The U.S. health system is operating poorly compared to its potential, with America falling further behind other nations that are leading on performance indicators, according to a report released by The Commonwealth Fund on July 17.

Implicit racial bias is present in pediatricians, but is not associated with differences in treatment decisions, according to an article published in the July issue of Medical Care.

Five new changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) yearly recommendations to fight the flu call for more and earlier immunizations.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that while smoking prevalence among high school students declined from 1997 to 2003, it has remained stable between 2003 and 2007.

Children ages 3 to 13 with the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori may be less likely to have asthma, according to the online Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Childhood infection with Helicobacter pylori reduces the likelihood of developing asthma and related illnesses, according to an article published online July 3 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. A related review in the May issue of Gut discusses the current evidence and possible mechanisms linking H. pylori infection, asthma and allergy.

Pay-for-performance programs benefit from use of exclusion reporting, whereby certain patients are excluded from quality calculations, and the practice of excluding patients to disguise missed targets, known as gaming, is rare, according to study findings published in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Medical schools must adapt their admission requirements and curricula to changes in scientific theory, and are also facing a challenge to the traditional definition of who is suited to the study of medicine, according to two articles published in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

More than 80 percent of breech infants in the United States are born by Caesarean section, although rates vary widely by state, researchers report in the July issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The United States must focus on effective delivery if adolescents are going to benefit from the development of recent vaccines, according to two articles published in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Menthol content in cigarettes is one of the ways in which tobacco companies manipulate the sensory characteristics of cigarettes to appeal to adolescents and young adults, according to the results of a study published online July 16 in the American Journal of Public Health.

Children whose mothers ate nuts on a daily basis during pregnancy may be at increased risk of asthma, according to the results of a study published in the July 15 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Decreased gestational age at birth was associated with a higher risk of severe medical disabilities in adulthood, as well as a lower likelihood of reaching several educational milestones or having a high income, according to research published in the July 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Young adolescents who believe that they have easy access to cigarettes are more likely to become regular smokers, especially if they have friends who smoke, according to study findings published in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Background television may have a disruptive influence on the behavior of children ages 12 to 36 months, as reported in the July/August Child Development.

Between the ages of 9 and 15, physical activity fell steeply for American boys and girls in a geographically diverse sample, according to research published in the July 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The use of simvastatin was not associated with cognitive improvements in children with neurofibromatosis type 1, contrary to findings in mouse models suggesting efficacy of this treatment, according to research published in the July 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

From the post-Civil War years to the civil rights era a century later, the American Medical Association (AMA) made decisions that helped support a division between white and black Americans in the field of medicine in the United States, according to an article in the July 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In North Carolina, an innovative community care program improves quality and reduces costs and may be a model for other states to follow, according to an article published in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Exposure to violence makes a direct contribution to health inequalities by restricting people's ability to exercise outdoors and inhibiting delivery of health-related services, according to a report published online July 15 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Abatacept, a drug effective for adults with rheumatoid arthritis, is also effective compared with placebo in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis who had already shown an initial response to the drug and failed other treatments, according to an article published online July 15 in The Lancet.

More than 60% of food products aimed at kids that have poor nutritious content claim some kind of nutritious benefit, according to the July Obesity Reviews.

The incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma among white men and women aged 15 to 39 has significantly increased since 1973, and has more than doubled among younger women, according to a letter published online July 10 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

An analysis published in the online Journal of Pediatrics identified the potential risks for infants associated with being placed in a bassinet.

The introduction of shoulder dystocia training for all hospital maternity staff can significantly improve management of the complication as well as neonatal outcomes, according to research published in the July issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

An office-based intervention by primary care physicians can contribute to violence-prevention efforts by reducing children's media exposure and improving safe storage of firearms, researchers report in the July issue of Pediatrics.