Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Pediatrics for May 2006. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Total Pollen Level Declining in New York City Area
WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Levels of pollen from trees, grass and weeds have declined in the northern New Jersey-New York City metropolitan area since the early and mid-1990s, according to a study published in the May issue of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.
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Ventricular Fibrillation Onset Affects Children's Survival
WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Hospitalized children who experience cardiac arrest have a better outcome if either ventricular fibrillation or tachycardia are the initial pulseless rhythm rather than develop during the cardiac arrest, according to a study published in the June 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Canadians Have Better Access to Health Care Than Americans
WEDNESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- The Canadian health care system affords its citizens more equitable access to health care compared with their counterparts in the United States, thanks to universal coverage, according to a study published online May 30 by the American Journal of Public Health.
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Few Patients Consume Major Slice of U.S. Health Care Pie
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- A small percentage of the U.S. population continues to account for a disproportionate share of total U.S. health care spending for doctors, hospitals, prescription drugs and other personal health care services, according to a May report published by the U.S. Health and Human Service's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
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Iowa Mumps Outbreak Largest Since 1991
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- An ongoing investigation of the mumps outbreak originating in Iowa and involving at least 11 states has marked this as the highest outbreak in a single year since 1991, with a total of 2,597 cases so far, according to a report in the May 26 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Low Apgar Score Associated with Epilepsy Risk Later in Life
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of epilepsy is about seven times higher in people with a low Apgar score shortly after birth, according to a study in the May issue of Epidemiology.
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Researchers Describe How Ritalin May Work
TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Methylphenidate appears to work by elevating norepinephrine levels and suppressing nerve signal transmissions in the sensory cortex of awake rats, which could have implications for producing more effective drugs for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a study published online May 10 in the Journal of Neurophysiology.
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Teens with Type 2 Diabetes Face Unique Challenges
FRIDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Parents of adolescents with type 2 diabetes believe factors such as a perceived lack of normalcy influence their children's self-management of the disease, according to a study in the May issue of Diabetes Care.
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Teens' Urge to Smoke Can Lie Dormant for Years
FRIDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents' urge to smoke after trying a cigarette just once can lie dormant for years, according to a study published in the May issue of Tobacco Control.
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FDA Approves Shingles Vaccine for Patients Over 60
FRIDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the new vaccine Zostavax to help prevent herpes zoster, or shingles, in those aged 60 years or more. Zostavax, a live virus vaccine, is made by Merck & Co. and administered by a single injection to the upper arm.
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Caesarean Deliveries May Cause Harm in Latin America
THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- In Latin America, high rates of Caesarean delivery may be associated with an increased risk of maternal and newborn illness and death, according to a study published online May 23 by The Lancet.
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More Programs Needed to Curb High School Dating Violence
THURSDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- About 9 percent of high school boys and girls say they have been involved in some form of physical violence with a person they are dating, according to a report published online May 19 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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Two Treatments Comparable for Necrotizing Enterocolitis
WEDNESDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Laparotomy succeeds about as well as peritoneal drainage in treating premature infants with perforated necrotizing enterocolitis, according to a study in the May 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Diabetic Teens Limit Carbohydrates But Not Fat
WEDNESDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents with type 1 diabetes obtain more calories from fat than carbohydrates and exceed the recommended fat intake compared with adolescents without diabetes, according to a study in the May issue of Diabetes Care.
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More Poor Adolescents 15-17 Years Old Are Overweight
TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of being overweight is more than 50 percent higher in poor adolescents aged 15 to 17 years than in non-poor adolescents in the United States, possibly due to less physical activity, drinking sugary beverages and skipping breakfast, according to a report in the May 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Unnecessary Tests During Physicals Could Cost Millions
TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Unnecessary medical interventions during routine office visits for preventive medical exams could be costing $47 million to $194 million a year in the United States, according to a report in the June issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
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Childhood Cancer Linked to Unemployment in Adulthood
TUESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- The effects of childhood cancer pose a significant risk for unemployment when survivors reach adulthood, according to a report published online May 22 in Cancer.
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Deprivation Has Lasting Effects on Romanian Adoptees
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- The adverse effects of the extreme deprivation endured by Romanian adoptees during their early childhood in institutions continue to affect their cognitive development even at age 11, according to a study published in the May/June issue of Child Development.
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Maternal Stress Linked to Child Development
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Contrary to popular wisdom, maternal anxiety, depression and stress during pregnancy at mild-to-moderate levels may aid rather than hinder fetal maturation, according to a study published in the May/June issue of Child Development.
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HIV Prevention Course Does Not Change Sexual Behavior
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- HIV prevention courses promoting condom use and emergency contraception aimed at high school students educate effectively and do not increase risky sexual behavior, but they also don't increase condom use, according to a report in the May 20 issue of BMJ.
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Home-to-Hospital Distance Rising for Terminally Ill
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- The home-to-hospital distance for patients who are terminally ill has increased over time and is greatest for children, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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Depressed, Anxious Children More Likely to Be Bullied
FRIDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are depressed and anxious are more likely to be bullied, and bullied children often develop a range of psychosomatic and psychosocial health problems, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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Children in Day Care Still Most Strongly Attached to Parents
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Children who are placed in home-based or center-based childcare settings do not develop stronger relationships with their childcare providers than with their parents, according to a study published in the May/June issue of Child Development.
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Delaying Vancomycin Use May Prevent Hearing Loss
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- In children with pneumococcal meningitis, there is no advantage to early administration of vancomycin during combination therapy, and early administration is associated with increased risk of hearing loss, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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Parenting Affects Mental Development in VLBW Infants
THURSDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- The cognitive development of children born at very low birth weight (VLBW) and who subsequently have consistently responsive parenting by their mothers is similar to that of their counterparts born at term, and the effect persists for the first 10 years of childhood, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics.
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Caffeine Therapy Effective in Apnea of Prematurity
WEDNESDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- Methylxanthines reduce the need for mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen in the first seven days of treatment in premature infants with very low birth weight (VLBW), according to a study in the May 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Early Hearing-Impairment Detection Improves Language
WEDNESDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- Language skills, but not necessarily speech, are better in school-age children if their bilateral hearing impairment is confirmed by 9 months of age (usually after detection during universal newborn screening) compared with children whose hearing impairment is confirmed after that age, according to a study published in the May 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Advair Diskus, Serevent Diskus Product Labels Updated
WEDNESDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- In response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration public health advisory issued in November 2005, GlaxoSmithKline has updated the product labels for its Advair Diskus (fluticasone propionate; salmeterol xinafoate) and Serevent Diskus (salmeterol xinafoate) to note that the medications may increase the risk of severe asthma episodes or death when severe episodes occur. GlaxoSmithKline has also issued new medication guides, according to an update published this week by the FDA.
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Imaging Study Shows Autistic Brain Fails to Rest
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Metabolic activity in certain regions of the brain normally associated with resting and daydreaming is absent in patients with autism, according to a report published online May 15 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Bausch & Lomb Issues Global Recall of Contact Solution
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Bausch & Lomb has issued a global recall of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens cleaning solution product because it can increase the risk of Fusarium infection, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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U.S. Kids' Tennis Success Often Fostered by Parents
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Among families of junior tennis players, 59 percent of parents help their kids succeed at junior tennis, but more than one-third hinder their children by being overly critical or expecting too much, according to a study published online May 15 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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Working Women Report Better Health in Middle-Age
TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Stay-at-home mothers tend to be heavier and to report poorer health in middle-age than working mothers, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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Infant Eczema Predictor of Atopic Dermatitis at 3 Years
MONDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Infants who develop eczema at the arms and joints are most likely to have atopic dermatitis at 3 years of age, according to a study published in the May issue of the Archives of Dermatology.
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Ventricular Assist Devices Help Kids Awaiting Transplant
MONDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Ventricular assist devices can help children with congenital heart disease or cardiomyopathy survive until heart transplantation surgery, according to a report in the May 16 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
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Carcinogens Found in Urine of Infants Exposed to Smokers
MONDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of infants under a year old who are exposed to cigarette smoke in the home or car have detectable levels of a marker of tobacco smoke in their urine, according to a study in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
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Treatment Benefits Children with Congenital Toxoplasmosis
MONDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Using pyrimethamine plus sulfadiazine to treat children with congenital toxoplasmosis can result in normal cognitive, neurologic and auditory function and no new eye lesions, according to a study in the May 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.
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Type 1 Diabetes Risk Higher With Affected Dad Than Mom
FRIDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Fathers with type 1 diabetes are more likely to have children with the disease than diabetic mothers, especially if they were diagnosed at an early age, according to a report in the May issue of Diabetes.
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Some U.S. States Seek to Change Life Support Laws
THURSDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- More than two-thirds of U.S. states allow patients or their representatives to decide whether to withdraw life-sustaining treatment when the patient is in a persistent vegetative state, according to a report published in the June issue of Neurology. However, laws and proposed legislation in some states may force the burden on the patient's representative to show that life support should be withdrawn and reverse 30 years of law and health care ethics, the authors write.
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Frivolous Claims Account for Small Fraction of Costs
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- The majority of resources involved in malpractice claims go toward resolving and paying those that involve errors, indicating it may be more cost-effective to streamline claims processing rather than discourage claims, according to a study in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Inhaled Corticosteroids Don't Prevent Asthma Development
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- In infants and young children at high risk for asthma, inhaled corticosteroid therapy does not modify the subsequent development of asthma, nor the progression from episodic to persistent wheezing, according to a pair of studies in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Gleevec May Alter Bone Metabolism in Cancer Patients
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia or gastrointestinal stromal tumors, including those with normal serum phosphate levels, imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) therapy may cause changes in bone and mineral metabolism and inhibit bone remodeling, according to a study in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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New Donor Factor May Affect Kidney-Graft Outcomes
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- A newly identified donor factor, an allotype of the C3 complement molecule, may be associated with better long-term outcomes for patients who receive cadaveric kidney grafts, according to a study in the May 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Causes of Cough Differ in Adults and Children
WEDNESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- The management of chronic cough should be approached differently in adults and children because the causes of cough are so different between the two groups of patients, according to a study published in the May issue of Chest.
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About 11 Million in U.S. Could Use Refractive Correction
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- More than 11 million people in the United States who are 12 or older have impaired vision that could be helped with refractive correction, according to a study in the May 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Growth Hormone Key to Calorie-Restricted Longevity
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Growth hormone signaling could be key to the life-extending effects of calorie restriction, since mice lacking its receptor live as long as calorie-restricted mice, according to a report published online May 8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Off-Label Prescribing Common in Doctors' Offices
TUESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Office-based physicians frequently prescribe drugs off-label, with approximately one-fifth of drugs prescribed in this way, often without scientific support, according to a study in the May 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Autism Affects About 300,000 Children in United States
MONDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Autism affects an estimated 300,000 U.S. children between the ages of 4 and 17, according to an analysis of two nationally representative surveys published online May 5 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The diagnosis is 3.7 times as common in males than females and the peak prevalence was observed at ages 6 to 11.
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Obesity Evident by Age 11 Unlikely to Resolve with Age
FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- About 25 percent of children are obese or overweight by age 11 or 12, and the excess weight is likely to persist into adolescence, according to a study of London schoolchildren published online May 5 in BMJ.
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High Folate Levels Increase Likelihood of Twins After IVF
FRIDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of folate are associated with an increased likelihood of a twin birth after in vitro fertilization (IVF) with multiple embryo transfer, suggesting that fortifying foods with folic acid could lead to an increase in twin births after fertility treatment, according to a report in the May 6 issue of The Lancet.
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Teens Likely to Deny Making Virginity Pledges After Sex
THURSDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents who take virginity pledges are likely to deny having made a pledge if they break their promise of sexual abstinence, according to a study in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Emergency Rooms Report Dire Shortage of Specialists
THURSDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- About three in four emergency department directors report inadequate on-call specialist coverage at their facilities in 2005, compared with two in three directors who reported the problem in 2004, according to a new report from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
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CD3 Mutation Causes New Type of Immunodeficiency
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- A recessive mutation in a subunit of the T-cell receptor-CD3 complex can cause a previously unrecognized type of immunodeficiency, according to a case report in the May 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Hyperbilirubinemia Not Linked to Later Neurologic Deficit
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Infants with elevated levels of bilirubin who are treated with either phototherapy or exchange transfusion show neurodevelopmental progress similar to that of normal children, according to a report in the May 4 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Study Suggests 3.2 Million Annual Stillbirths Worldwide
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- The first systematic worldwide study of stillbirth incidence indicates that there were over 3 million in 2000 alone but the number is likely an underestimate, according to a report published online May 2 in The Lancet. For various reasons, these deaths go largely unaccounted for in health surveys.
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Teens Involved in Sports Have Better Dietary Habits
WEDNESDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Teens who participate in weight-related and power team sports have better nutrient intake and eating habits compared to their counterparts who do not play sports, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
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Prevalence of Diabetes Rising in U.S. Adolescents
TUESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Some 134,000 U.S. adolescents may have diabetes and another 2.8 million may have impaired fasting glucose levels, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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More Than Half of Diabetic Youths Have Bad Eating Habits
TUESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer than half of young people with diabetes adhere to the American Diabetes Association's dietary recommendations, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
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Underage Drinkers Spent $22.5 Billion on Alcohol in 2001
MONDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Underage drinkers are responsible for 17.5 percent of alcohol sales in the United States, spending about $22.5 billion in 2001, according to a study in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Underage drinking and adult alcohol abuse and dependence accounted for $48.3 billion or 37.5 percent of alcohol sales, the study notes.
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Parents Unaware That Children Know Firearms Are in Home
MONDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Parents in the United States who own firearms are often unaware that their children know where the guns are kept and have handled them, according to a survey of rural residents published in the May issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In 22 percent of the gun-owning homes, children said they had handled guns without the parent's knowledge.
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Drug Approved for Pompe Disease After Priority Review
MONDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first treatment for Pompe disease, which affects one in 40,000 to 300,000 children, and results in a deficiency in the enzyme acid alpha-glucosidase. Myozyme (alglucosidase alfa) has been approved for intravenous administration based on clinical trials in 39 patients aged 1 month to 3.5 years at the time of the first infusion.
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Mothers Main Source of H. pylori Infection in Children
MONDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Children infected with Helicobacter pylori are more likely to acquire the infection from their mothers than their fathers, according to a report published in the May issue of Epidemiology.
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