October 30, 2007, 10:23 PM CT

Treadmill training helps Down syndrome babies walk

Starting Down syndrome infants on treadmill training for just minutes a day can help them walk up to four or five months earlier than with only traditional physical treatment, a new study from the University of Michigan says.

The study also suggests that infants who do high intensity treadmill training may walk even sooner.

Getting infants walking is critical because so a number of other skills arise from locomotion: social skills, motor skills, advancement of perception and spatial cognition, says professor Dale Ulrich of the University of Michigan Division of Kinesiology and principal investigator on the treadmill training project.

"The key is if we can get them to walk earlier and better then they can explore their environment earlier and when you start to explore, you learn about the world around you," Ulrich said. "Walking is a critical factor in development in every other domain".

Infants with typical development learn to walk independently at about 12 months of age. Babies with Down syndrome typically learn to take independent steps at 24-28 months.

In the study, 30 infants were randomly assigned lower intensity, generalized treadmill training, or high intensity, individualized treadmill training, implemented in the homes by their parents. The training was used as a supplement to physical treatment......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 19, 2007, 5:05 AM CT

The specific cell that causes eye cancer

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have identified the cell that gives rise to the eye cancer retinoblastoma, disproving a long-standing principle of nerve growth and development. The finding suggests for the first time that it may one day be possible for researchers to induce fully developed neurons to multiply and coax the injured brain to repair itself.

A report of this work appears in the Oct. 19 issue of the journal Cell. Michael Dyer, Ph.D., an associate member in the St. Jude Department of Developmental Neurobiology, is the reports senior author.

Retinoblastoma arises in the retinathe multi-layered, membrane lining the back of the eye that responds to light by generating nerve impulses that are carried into the brain by the optic nerve.

The immediate importance of the St. Jude finding is that it unexpectedly showed that retinoblastoma can arise from fully matured nerves in the retina called horizontal interneurons. This disproves the scientific principle that fully formed, mature nerves cannot multiply like young, immature cells, Dyer said. Human neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimers disease can occur when differentiated nerves in the brain try to multiply, and in the process, trigger a self-destruct program called apoptosis. Differentiation is the process by which cells lose their primitive, stem-cell-like properties that include the ability to grow and multiply, and instead develop specialized shapes and functions......... Posted by: Mike      Read more         Source

October 17, 2007, 8:12 PM CT

Young toddlers think in terms of the whole object

Seeing through a child's eyes can help parents better introduce new words to young toddlers, as per research from Purdue University.

"This new research shows that as young toddlers learn language, they are more likely to focus on objects rather than parts," said George Hollich, an assistant professor of psychological sciences. "Because of this bias, children automatically assume you are talking about an object. So, when labeling more than just an object, adults need to do something special such as pointing at the part while saying its word or explaining what the item does".

For example, when introducing a young toddler to a dog, the child automatically thinks of the object as a dog. If adults want to talk about the dog's tail or its bark, then they need to be more explicit when communicating with the child. If adults do not make this effort, it can hinder the child's understanding, said Hollich, who also is director of Purdue's Infant Language Lab.

The study appears in the fall issue of the journal Developmental Psychology. Hollich studied 12- and 19-month-olds because their vocabularies are still in the beginning stages of development. Forty-eight children took part in the study. During the experiments, the young toddlers were introduced to familiar objects, such as a cup with a lid and a shoe with laces, as well as two made up objects that were wood cutouts and could be separated. One part of these wood cutouts was designed to be more attractive to a child. Even with the part's visual appeal, Hollich found the children paid more attention to the entire object than to the part......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 16, 2007, 7:21 PM CT

Ear infection superbug resistant to all pediatric antibiotics

Scientists have discovered a strain of bacteria resistant to all approved drugs used to fight ear infections in children, as per an article would be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). A pair of pediatricians discovered the strain because it is their standard practice to perform an uncommon procedure called tympanocentesis (ear tap) on children when several antibiotics fail to clear up their ear infections. The procedure involves puncturing the childs eardrum and draining fluid to relieve pressure and pain. Analyzing the drained fluid is the only way to describe the bacterial strain causing the infection.

Even after the ear tap and additional rounds of antibiotics, infections persisted in a small group of children in a Rochester, New York, pediatric practice, leading to ear tube surgery and, in one case, to permanent hearing loss. The physicians realized they may be dealing with a superbug and tested the children's ear tap fluid at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The tests showed that the superbug, called the 19A strain, could be killed only by an antibiotic (levofloxacin, Levaquin) approved for adults that had a warning in its label against use in children. With no other choice, they treated the children with crushed, adult-approved pills, and it worked......... Posted by: Mark      Read more         Source

October 4, 2007, 9:45 PM CT

Swimming Babies And Infections

Researchers of the GSF - National Research Center for Environment and Health (Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres) found indications for an association between attendance of swimming pools in the first year of life and the frequency of infections. Diarrhoea and otitis media during the first year of life are particularly noteworthy. No increased risks were found for atopic diseases during the first six years.

"In this way, the study shows that allowing babies to swim is possibly not as harmless with regard to infections as has been presumed till now," underlines Dr. Joachim Heinrich. He leads the research unit environmental epidemiology at the GSF Institute for Epidemiology.

Prof. Dr. Dr. H. Erich Wichmann, Director of the GSF Institute of Epidemiology, adds: "This is a first indication. Nevertheless, it requires other evidence to be able to achieve consequential results whether the water quality in German swimming-pools protects sufficiently against infections in infants, and, in particular, against gastro-intestinal infections".

Within the scope of the LISA study, a cohort study conducted from birth, 2,191 children were re-examined at age 6. Furthermore, the data of swimming-pool attendances during infancy were collated, while further data on children's health and life-style factors was collected by parental interviews......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 4, 2007, 9:38 PM CT

Kids still not drinking enough milk

American children are drinking too little milk and what they are consuming is too high in fat, as per a Penn State study.

"There is a strong connection between dairy consumption and calcium," says Sibylle Kranz, assistant professor of nutritional sciences. "While there is calcium in fortified orange juice, for example, it is not as bioavailable as that found in milk." She notes that people need to take calcium with vitamin D and some protein for optimal use in the body.

Kranz, working with Po-Ju Lin, doctoral student and David A. Wagstaff, statistician, looked at children's average daily dairy intake and compared it with that recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's My Pyramid dairy recommendations and Adequate Intake of calcium for various ages from 2 through 18. Their findings, reported online in press in the Journal of Pediatrics, are that only 2 to 3 year olds meet the MyPyramid dairy recommendations.

They also noticed that most children choose to consume more of the highest fat varieties of cheese, yogurt, ice cream and dairy-based toppings.

The various recommendations for dairy intake in children established by a variety of organizations suggest two cups for 1 to 3 year olds, two to three cups for 4 to 8 year olds, and three to four cups for 9 to 18 year olds depending on the recommending agency......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 4, 2007, 5:03 AM CT

Combination vaccines okay for infants

A University of Rochester study brings relief to new parents who, while navigating a jam-packed childhood vaccine schedule, can expect to soothe their newborn through as a number of as 15 pokes by his or her six-month checkup.

The study, recently published in The Journal of Pediatrics, shows that no efficacy or safety is compromised when clinicians administer a new combination vaccine that streamlines the process in effect, tripling up three of the recommended shots to reduce the poke total from five to three, at each of three bimonthly, well-child checkups.

Only more immunizations will enter the schedule, said Michael Pichichero, M.D., professor of Microbiology/Immunology, Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Rochester and the studys lead author. Coupling or tripling of these vaccines is increasingly important, as this streamlining helps to promote parent compliance, timely vaccination and fewer administration errors.

The study overturns findings (and fears) from a prior study that suggested problems when two specific vaccines were given at the same time Pediarix, a combination of vaccines that guard against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B and poliovirus, and Prevnar, which protects against 76 strains of Streptococcus pneumonia. The earlier studies observed that when the vaccines were co-administered, a suboptimal immune response was produced against whooping cough, and more uncomfortable reactions, such as swelling at the injection site, could be expected......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 1, 2007, 10:00 PM CT

Hazards of using crib bumper pads

Eventhough bumper pads are theoretically designed to prevent injury to a baby while in the crib or bassinet, the risk of accidental death or injury to an infant from using them outweighs their possible benefits, as per a new study by pediatric scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

In the study, which appears in the September 2007 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, the scientists evaluated three U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission databases for deaths correlation to crib bumpers and crib-related injuries from 1985-2005. They found 27 accidental deaths reported by authorities of children from 1 month old to 2 years old that were attributed to suffocation or strangulation by bumper pads or their ties. They also found 25 non-fatal injuries in infants attributed to bumper pads.

Of the deaths in which there was a formal investigation, 11 infants likely suffocated when their face rested against the bumper pad, 13 infants died from being wedged between the bumper pad and another object and three infants died from strangulation by a bumper tie.

"A number of infants lack the motor development needed to free themselves when they become wedged between the bumper pad and another surface," said Bradley Thach, M.D., professor of pediatrics and staff doctor at St. Louis Children's Hospital who researches infant apnea and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. "They are likely to suffocate because they are rebreathing expired air or their nose and mouth are compressed"......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 1, 2007, 5:42 AM CT

Childhood TV viewing a risk for behavior problems

Daily television viewing for two or more hours in early childhood can lead to behavioral problems and poor social skills, as per a research studyof children 2.5 to 5.5 years of age conducted by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Hopkins scientists observed that the impact of TV viewing on a childs behavior and social skills varied by the age at which the viewing occurred. More importantly, heavy television viewing that decreased over time was not linked to behavior or social problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under age 2 watch no television while children age 2 and older are limited to no more than two hours of daily viewing. The study is reported in the October 2007 issue of Pediatrics.

Many studies have demonstrated negative effects of heavy television viewing. However, timing of exposure is an important consideration as reducing viewing to acceptable levels can reduce the risk of behavioral and social problems, said Kamila Mistry, MPH, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in the Bloomberg Schools Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health.

For the study, the research team analyzed data for 2,707 children collected from the Healthy Steps for Young Children national evaluation. Parents were surveyed about their childs television viewing habits and behavior at 2.5 and at 5.5 years of age......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

October 1, 2007, 5:34 AM CT

Children having trouble falling asleep more than maintaining

Children have more difficulty initiating sleep than maintaining sleep. Further, parents tend to underestimate their childrens sleep problems. This highlights the importance of having therapy options available to help a child overcome a sleep disorder, as per a research studyreported in the October 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study, authored by Leonie Fricke-Oerkermann, PhD, of the University of Cologne in Gera number of, centered on 832 children and their parents, who were surveyed using questionnaires three times on an annual basis. The average age of the children was 9.4, 10.7 and 11.7 years at the three assessments.

As per the results, in child and parental reports, about 30 to 40 percent of the children had problems falling asleep at the first assessment. One year later, the child and parental reports indicated that about 60 percent of those children continued to have difficulties initiating sleep.

One of the striking results of the study, notes Dr. Fricke-Oerkermann, is the difference between the children and their parents in the assessment of the childrens sleep problems. Children described significantly more difficulties initiating and maintaining sleep than what their parents reported on their behalf. For example, in the parental reports, four to six percent of the children often had difficulties initiating sleep, whereas up to five to 10 percent of the children reported difficulties initiating sleep. About 40 percent of the children reported difficulties initiating sleep which occur sometimes, in comparison to 25 to 30 percent of what the parents reported for their children. Sleep onset problems in all surveys were present in 13.5 percent of the children as per their parents and 24 percent of the children as per the childrens ratings......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source