Health News

Potential for 'uncapped' newborn organ donations with UK guideline review

Date: Mar-18-2014
In the UK, organ donation from newborns is practically unheard of. New research from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London suggests that this is primarily due to current death verification and certification standards. But the study authors say such guidelines need to be revised as there is "significant uncapped potential" for newborn organ donation in the UK.This is according to a study recently published online in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood - a journal of the BMJ.

Potential for 'uncapped' newborn organ donations with UK guideline review

Date: Mar-18-2014
In the UK, organ donation from newborns is practically unheard of. New research from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London suggests that this is primarily due to current death verification and certification standards. But the study authors say such guidelines need to be revised as there is "significant uncapped potential" for newborn organ donation in the UK.This is according to a study recently published online in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood - a journal of the BMJ.

How has China managed to halve tuberculosis prevalence in 20 years?

Date: Mar-18-2014
Thanks to a large-scale control program, China has more than halved its prevalence of tuberculosis over the past 20 years. A new analysis in the The Lancet examines how this has been achieved.China began to address its growing tuberculosis (TB) problem in the 1990s when an "internationally recommended directly observed, short course strategy" (or DOTS) was implemented across half of the population.Between 1990 and 2000, there was a 30% reduction in TB across the provinces that implemented the strategy. But the national prevalence fell by less than 20%.

How has China managed to halve tuberculosis prevalence in 20 years?

Date: Mar-18-2014
Thanks to a large-scale control program, China has more than halved its prevalence of tuberculosis over the past 20 years. A new analysis in the The Lancet examines how this has been achieved.China began to address its growing tuberculosis (TB) problem in the 1990s when an "internationally recommended directly observed, short course strategy" (or DOTS) was implemented across half of the population.Between 1990 and 2000, there was a 30% reduction in TB across the provinces that implemented the strategy. But the national prevalence fell by less than 20%.

TV, computer, video game use 'linked to poorer child well-being'

Date: Mar-18-2014
For most children, watching television, using computers and playing video games is a part of day-to-day life. But new research suggests that for young children, such activities are linked to poorer well-being.This is according to a study recently published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.The research team, led by Trina Hinkley, PhD, of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, says the use of electronic media can be a sedentary behavior and that this behavior can lead to adverse health outcomes, particularly if it is adopted from a young age.

TV, computer, video game use 'linked to poorer child well-being'

Date: Mar-18-2014
For most children, watching television, using computers and playing video games is a part of day-to-day life. But new research suggests that for young children, such activities are linked to poorer well-being.This is according to a study recently published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.The research team, led by Trina Hinkley, PhD, of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, says the use of electronic media can be a sedentary behavior and that this behavior can lead to adverse health outcomes, particularly if it is adopted from a young age.

One gene plays critical role in brain development

Date: Mar-18-2014
Research from the University of Adelaide has confirmed that a gene linked to intellectual disability is critical to the earliest stages of the development of human brains.Known as USP9X, the gene has been investigated by Adelaide researchers for more than a decade, but in recent years scientists have begun to understand its particular importance to brain development.

Saving brain cells after stroke by halting immune response

Date: Mar-18-2014
A new study in animals shows that using a compound to block the body's immune response greatly reduces disability after a stroke.The study by scientists from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health also showed that particular immune cells - CD4+ T-cells produce a mediator, called interleukin (IL) -21 that can cause further damage in stroke tissue. Moreover, normal mice, ordinarily killed or disabled by an ischemic stroke, were given a shot of a compound that blocks the action of IL-21.

The lingering negative effects of gang membership

Date: Mar-18-2014
Imagine two children, both with the exact same risk factors for joining a gang. As teenagers, one joins a gang, the other doesn't. Even though the first teen eventually leaves the gang, years later he or she is not only at significantly higher risk of being incarcerated and receiving illegal income, but is also less likely to have finished high school and more likely to be in poor health, receiving government assistance or struggling with drug abuse.

The lingering negative effects of gang membership

Date: Mar-18-2014
Imagine two children, both with the exact same risk factors for joining a gang. As teenagers, one joins a gang, the other doesn't. Even though the first teen eventually leaves the gang, years later he or she is not only at significantly higher risk of being incarcerated and receiving illegal income, but is also less likely to have finished high school and more likely to be in poor health, receiving government assistance or struggling with drug abuse.