News

Children’s Health

  • Messy Facebook debut marks weak day on Wall Street - NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Friday after a sloppy debut by Facebook Inc spoiled hopes that a spectacular open for the most-anticipated stock sale in years would brighten the mood in what has been a gloomy month for equity markets. Sha...
  • Georgia woman with flesh-eating disease in "critical" condition - (Reuters) - A Georgia woman fighting a flesh-eating bacterial infection was in critical condition at Augusta Hospital on Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman said. The spokeswoman said she could not comment on whether Aimee Copeland had undergone surg...
  • Chicago protests on eve of NATO summit raucous, peaceful - CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hundreds of demonstrators staged raucous protests against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's budget cuts and other economic issues on the eve of the NATO summit, but police said there were few arrests and only minor clashes. The ...
  • Latest anti-NATO protest in Chicago small, peaceful - CHICAGO (Reuters) - About 500 demonstrators gathered outside the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Saturday to protest the recent closure of mental health clinics as part of a series of rallies and marches timed to coincide with a NATO summit ...
  • Keeping Your Family Safe From Dog Bites - SATURDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- More than 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs each year, and more than half of those victims are younger than age 14, experts say.
  • Females, Young Athletes Take Longer to Get Over Concussions - FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Female athletes take longer to recover from concussions, a new study says.
  • Chicago braces for largest anti-NATO protest - CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago police trying to keep the peace during the NATO summit may face their biggest test on Sunday when thousands of demonstrators were expected to march near the site where leaders of the military alliance begin a two-day me...
  • Fate of 'uninsurables' hinges on Supreme Court - Cancer patient Kathy Watson voted Republican in 2008 and believes the government has no right telling Americans to get health insurance. Nonetheless, she says she'd be dead if it weren't for President Barack Obama's health care law.
  • Healthy Dieting in Pregnancy May Be Helpful - FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a healthy, calorie-controlled diet during pregnancy can helps prevent excessive weight gain and cut the risk of obstetric complications, researchers report.
  • After stinging report, Pope softens tone for U.S. nuns - VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Friday held out an olive branch to American Roman Catholic nuns, who are reeling from a stinging Vatican report that criticized them as being feminist and politicized. "I wish to reaffirm my deep grat...

Infant Health Research

  • Weight in pregnancy best controlled by diet, study suggests - Pregnant women, including those who are obese or overweight, should be encouraged to minimize weight gain through diet, according to major new research.
  • New method detects traces of veterinary drugs in baby food - The quantities are very small, but in milk powder and in meat-based baby food, residues of drugs given to livestock were found. Researchers have now developed a system to analyze these substances quickly and precisely. Antibiotics, such as tilmicosine, or antiparasitic drugs, such as levamisole, are given to livestock in order to avoid illness, but they can remain later in food.
  • Multipotent stromal stem cells from normally discarded human placental tissue demonstrate high therapeutic potential - Placental stem cells with important therapeutic properties can be harvested in large quantities from the fetal side of human term placentas (called the chorion). The chorion is a part of the afterbirth and is normally discarded after delivery, but it contains stem cells of fetal origin that appear to be pluripotent -- i.e., they can differentiate into different types of human cells, such as lung, liver, or brain cells. Since these functional placental stem cells can be isolated from either fresh or frozen term human placentas, this implies that if each individual’s placenta is stored at birth instead of thrown away, these cells can be harvested in the future if therapeutic need arises. This potential represents a major breakthrough in the stem cell field.
  • Babies' susceptibility to colds linked to immune response at birth - Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.
  • Protein inhibitor points to potential medical treatments for skull and skin birth defects - Researchers have found new clues in the pathogenesis of skull and skin birth defects associated with a rare genetic disorder, Beare-Stevenson cutis gyrata syndrome (BSS).
  • Injuries associated with baby bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups in the U.S. surprisingly high - A new study examined pediatric injuries associated with baby bottles, pacifiers and sippy cups. Researchers found that from 1991 to 2010, an estimated 45,398 children younger than three years of age were treated in U.S. emergency departments for injuries related to the use of these products. This equates to an average of 2,270 injuries per year, or one child treated in a hospital emergency department every four hours for these injuries.
  • Breastfeeding benefits: Human breast milk ingredient adjusts to optimize for beneficial gut bacteria over time - A new study shows that human milk oligosaccharides, or HMO, produce short-chain fatty acids that feed a beneficial microbial population in the infant gut. Not only that, the bacterial composition adjusts as the baby grows older and its needs change. For the first time, scientists have shown that a complex mixture of HMO and a single HMO component produce patterns of short-chain fatty acids that change as the infant gets older.
  • Excess weight in pregnant women can have negative health Implications for offspring in adulthood - That overweight during pregnancy can lead to overweight children and adolescents has been known for some time, but new research indicates that excess weight before and during pregnancy can have long-lasting health consequences for the offspring of such mothers even later in life.
  • Maternal gluten sensitivity linked to schizophrenia risk in children - Babies born to women with sensitivity to gluten appear to be at increased risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders later in life, according to new findings from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Johns Hopkins University, United States.
  • Vaginal birth after c-section is option for women, not for some doctors, hospitals - The option of a vaginal birth after having a Caesarean delivery (VBAC) is difficult to find for women who want that procedure. More doctors and hospitals are not willing to perform the risky procedure. However, a VBAC advocate and practicing physician says provided the expectant mother meets certain guidelines and the delivery is performed in a fully-staffed and fully-equipped hospital, the VBAC can be performed safely.