Health News

Students' Weight Influenced By Soda Consumption, Screen Time, Team Sports At School

Date: Oct-31-2012
Soda consumption, TV and video/computer games, and the frequency of meals heavily influenced students' weight in an Indiana University study that examined the impact of a school-based obesity intervention program over an 18-month period. More soda consumption and screen time meant students were more likely to be overweight or to gain weight. The more frequently students ate meals each day, the less likely they were to stay overweight or gain weight during the study, which examined the Healthy, Energetic, Ready, Outstanding, Enthusiastic Schools program...

Sexual Relationships, Satisfaction, Can Suffer During IVF

Date: Oct-31-2012
An Indiana University study has found that women undergoing in-vitro fertilization report that the process of infertility treatment has many negative impacts on their sexual relationship with their partner. Little attention has been given to the sexual dynamics of couples as they navigate infertility and treatments such as IVF, despite the important role that sex plays in a couple's attempt to conceive a child...

Children's Achievement Threatened By Homelessness, Moving House Frequently

Date: Oct-31-2012
Children who are homeless or move frequently have chronically lower math and reading skills than other low-income students who don't move as much. That's the finding of a new longitudinal study on children's risk and resilience conducted through a university-community partnership by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Public Schools, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Iowa, and Hong Kong Sue Yan University. The study appears in the journal Child Development...

Child Development Up To 6 Months Of Age Similar In Children With And Without Autism

Date: Oct-31-2012
The development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is much like that of children without ASD at 6 months of age, but differs afterwards. That's the main finding of the largest prospective, longitudinal study to date comparing children with early and later diagnosis of ASD with children without ASD. The study appears in the journal Child Development and has implications for clinical work, public health, and policy...

Heart Failure In Children Often Goes Unrecognized Until It's Too Late

Date: Oct-31-2012
The Canadian Cardiovascular Society is the first in Canada to issue guidelines aimed at helping primary care and emergency physicians, as well as specialists, recognize and manage heart failure in children. The guidelines were released at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. Pediatric heart failure is often fatal and occurs in about 3,000 children annually in North America. Worldwide, the problem is far greater and the causes are diverse. To date there has been little guidance to assist practitioners who deal with children with heart failure...

Study Compares 'Cardio-Toxicity' Of Toronto-Area Neighborhoods

Date: Oct-31-2012
Your chances of having a sudden cardiac arrest can depend on where you live, warned Dr. Paul Dorian at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2012 in Toronto, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. His study of Greater Toronto Area (GTA) neighborhoods with high and low rates of cardiac arrests found that the factors causing increased risk are complex. "The reasons are more multifaceted than traditional explanations of income, social economic status and education levels," says Dr...

Molecules That Drive The Development Of 3 Forms Of Leukemia Point To New Potential Therapeutic Targets

Date: Oct-31-2012
A team of national and international researchers, led by Weill Cornell Medical College scientists, have decoded the key "software" instructions that drive three of the most virulent forms of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). They discovered ALL's "software" is encoded with epigenetic marks, chemical modifications of DNA and surrounding proteins, allowing the research team to identify new potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets...

Smoking Causes Asthma In Second Generation Offspring

Date: Oct-31-2012
The dangers of smoking on smokers and their children are widely known but new research published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Medicine demonstrates that nicotine exposure also causes asthma in the smoker's grandchildren. Asthma is a major public health problem. It is the most common chronic disease of childhood. While there are many factors which contribute to asthma maternal smoking during pregnancy is a well known, and avoidable, risk. During pregnancy nicotine can affect a developing foetus' lungs, predisposing the infant to childhood asthma...

Insights Into A New Therapy For A Rare Form Of Cystic Fibrosis

Date: Oct-31-2012
Scientists at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto have established that a drug recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat a rare form of cystic fibrosis works in an unconventional way. Their results reveal new possibilities for treating various forms of cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease afflicting about 70,000 people around the world. Cystic fibrosis patients carry a defective gene that disables or destroys its protein product, which normally regulates the transport of ions across cell borders...

Dog Lovers Should Be Aware That Natural Feeding Behavior Makes Dogs Target A Daily Dietary Intake That Is High In Fat

Date: Oct-31-2012
An international team of researchers has shed new light on the natural feeding behavior of domestic dogs and demonstrated that they will naturally seek a daily dietary intake that is high in fat An international team of researchers has shed new light on the natural feeding behaviour of domestic dogs and demonstrated that they will naturally seek a daily dietary intake that is high in fat. The study also showed that some dogs will overeat if given excess food, reinforcing the importance of responsible feeding to help ensure dogs maintain a healthy body weight...