Baby Health Line

Children’s Health

• Many kids still exposed to secondhand smoke in cars - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new government study reports that while fewer kids and teens are getting exposed to secondhand smoke while riding in the car, rates of exposure are still high enough to warrant concern. The authors recommend that more...
• Child abuse experts calls for U.S. campaign - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly 4,600 U.S. children were hospitalized with broken bones, traumatic brain injury and other serious damage caused by physical abuse in 2006, according to a new report. Babies younger than one were the most common v...
• Health Tip: Common Reasons for Potty Training 'Accidents' - (HealthDay News) -- Potty training accidents can be frustrating for parents and kids, but they're usually a part of the learning process.
• Humana posts higher profit, lifts forecast - (Reuters) - Humana Inc posted a big rise in fourth-quarter earnings that was generally in line with analysts' targets, helped by higher membership in its Medicare plans for the elderly, and the health insurer slightly lifted its full-year prof...
• US: Too many kids breathe others' smoke in cars - Texting while driving, speeding and back-seat action aren't all that parents need to worry about when their kids are in cars: Add secondhand smoke to the list.
• Fewer Teens Exposed to Tobacco Smoke in Cars: Report - MONDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Although fewer kids are being exposed to smoking while riding in cars, more than 20 percent of nonsmoking teens still are, U.S. health officials report.
• Orexigen, FDA agree on trial design for obesity drug - (Reuters) - Orexigen Therapeutics Inc said it reached an agreement with U.S. health regulators on the design of a heart-safety trial required for the approval of its experimental obesity drug. The biopharmaceutical company plans to enroll about 10...
• FDA questions Amgen drug for prostate cancer - Scientists for the Food and Drug Administration say that an Amgen drug slowed the spread of cancer to the bone in men with hard-to-treat prostate cancer, though the drug did not extend life and carried significant side effects.
• Marathoners who go the distance 100 times or more - NEW YORK (Reuters) - For most people running one marathon is a daunting prospect but research scientist Leslie Miller belongs to group of runners who have completed 100 or more marathons, many of them just for the fun of it. "It's my hobb...
• Dr. Oz's health effort nets 1 million participants - Television already has "The Biggest Loser." Dr. Mehmet Oz is looking for the biggest number of losers.

Infant Health Research

• Children hospitalized at alarming rate due to abuse, U.S. study finds - In one year alone, over 4,500 children in the United States were hospitalized due to child abuse, and 300 of them died of their injuries, researchers report in a new study.
• Breastfeeding linked to improved lung function at school-age, especially with asthmatic mothers - Breastfeeding is associated with improved lung function at school age, particularly in children of asthmatic mothers, according to a new study.
• DNA test that identifies Down syndrome in pregnancy can also detect trisomy 18 and trisomy 13 - A recent study shows that a new DNA test that identifies Down syndrome in pregnancy can also detect trisomies 18 and 13.
• Gene regulator in brain's executive hub tracked across lifespan - Scientists have tracked the activity, across the lifespan, of an environmentally responsive regulatory mechanism that turns genes on and off in the brain's executive hub. Genes implicated in schizophrenia and autism are among those in which regulatory activity peaks during an environmentally-sensitive critical period in development. The mechanism, called DNA methylation, abruptly switches from off to on within the human brain's prefrontal cortex during this pivotal transition from fetal to postnatal life.
• Risks of pregnancy via egg donation similar for women over age 50 as for younger women - Although women over age 50 who become pregnant via egg donation are at an elevated risk for developing obstetrical complications, their complication rates are similar to those of younger recipients, according to a new study. This is contrary to epidemiological data suggesting that these women are at greater risk of certain complications of pregnancy, including hypertension, gestational diabetes, premature birth, and placenta abnormalities.
• Overweight mothers who smoke while pregnant can damage baby's heart, study finds - Mothers-to-be who are both overweight and smoke during their pregnancy risk damaging their baby's developing heart, according to new research.
• The pupils are the windows to the mind - The eyes are the window into the soul -- or at least the mind, according to a new article.
• In the brain, signs of autism as early as 6 months old - Measuring brain activity in infants as young as six months may help to predict the future development of autism symptoms. In their first year of life, babies who will go on to develop autism already show different brain responses when someone looks at or away from them. The findings suggest that direct brain measures might help to predict the future development of autism symptoms in infants as young as six months.
• Antiretroviral drugs guard against HIV but may lead to birth defects - HIV-positive mothers have been able to guard against transmitting the disease to their babies by taking antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. Although the drugs prevent children from being born with HIV, they could cause birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate. A new study explores any links between antiretroviral prophylaxis and cleft lip and palate.
• Genetic abnormalities may cause cerebral palsy, study suggests - For years it was thought that a difficult birth and other perinatal factors were the leading causes of cerebral palsy (CP), a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking. Now, researchers suggest that the majority of cerebral palsy causes may in fact be caused by genetic abnormalities.