December 16, 2005

Tobacco Scenes In Movies Boost Teen Smoking

The first complete review of research on the link between teenagers viewing on-screen smoking and then taking up smoking themselves finds that one leads to the other.

The review concludes that eliminating scenes of smoking in new youth-rated films should substantially reduce smoking initiation in the adolescent years, when the vast majority of smokers start.

"The weight of dozens of studies, after controlling for all other known influences, shows the more smoking that kids see on screen, the more likely they are to smoke," said lead author Annemarie Charlesworth, a research specialist at the University of California, San Francisco Institute for Health Policy Studies. "This strong empirical evidence affects hundreds of thousands of families".

The research review, published in the recent issue of Pediatrics, a peer-reviewed publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics, examined the findings of 42 studies on how viewing on-screen smoking affects adolescent and teen smoking behavior.

Among the conclusions:

• U.S. movies again show as much smoking as they did in 1950. The balance of smoking has swung toward youth-rated (G/PG/PG-13) films.
• Films very rarely depict negative consequences of smoking. They depict smoking as "adult" and skew smoking unrealistically toward higher status characters.
• For teen audiences, anti-tobacco spots shown before movies with on-screen smoking countered much of the promotional effect of smoking in the movies.

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Janet      Permalink


December 16, 2005

Screening Newborn for 'Bubble Boy Disease'

Two new UCLA studies show that newborn screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) - a rare, treatable disorder of the immune system usually known as "bubble boy disease" - is both cost-effective and could be done accurately using a two-tiered testing method.

"We wanted to determine whether testing for SCID should be added to the universal screening panel for inherited disorders," said Dr. Sean McGhee, clinical instructor of pediatric immunology at Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA. "Treatment is now advanced enough that 95 percent of children can be cured, but newborns must be detected in the first month, before the onset of severe infections".

In the first study - detailed in the November edition of the Journal of Pediatrics - UCLA scientists concluded that SCID screening could result in a large benefit to infants, making screening relatively cost-effective in spite of the low incidence of the disease. However, an adequate test would be critical to cost-effectiveness.

The analysis is the first of its kind to examine formally cost and benefits of SCID newborn screening.

To conduct the study, scientists used information about the costs of diagnosing and treating SCID and the benefits of early diagnosis, and performed a cost-benefit analysis comparing universal screening with screening only those with a family history of SCID.

Scientists determined that a SCID screening test that cost less than five dollars with a false-negative rate of 0.9 percent and a false-positive rate of 0.4 percent would be considered cost-effective by most currently accepted standards.

A nationwide screening program would cost an additional $23.9 million per year for screening costs, but would result in 760 years of life saved per year of screening.........

JoAnn      Permalink


December 15, 2005, 11:22 PM CT

Prenatal Test: Detection Of Genetic Disorders

A new chromosomal test developed at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston can now alert pregnant women to an array of fetal disorders otherwise undetectable by conventional tests. This testing is discussed in a commentary and editorial in today's edition of the journal Nature.

"It's the beginning of a sea change in prenatal diagnosis," said Dr. Arthur Beaudet, chair of molecular and human genetics at BCM. "You are going to be able to detect a range of the most severe conditions, and in the future this can be cheaper than current methods hopefully using a very noninvasive approach." The new test can find more disorders and is as at least as fast as prior techniques.

The technique could even lead to more general use of prenatal screening for these disorders, said Beaudet.

The new test uses a gene chip or microarray to analyze various areas of the human genome for abnormal regions that contain too a number of or too few copies of the genetic material. These gains or losses in DNA can lead to devastating genetic conditions that present serious disabilities for the lives of children born with them.

The microarray or gene chip is like a map that is covered with tiny dots consisting of DNA from known locations on each of the 46 chromosomes. DNA from the patient is labeled one color (for example, red), and DNA from a normal person (control) is labeled another color (in this example, green). The two DNAs are then mixed and added to the microarray. The appropriate part of the genome seeks out the appropriate dot of DNA on the chip and attaches to it. If the DNA in both patient and control is normal, then the two colors of the dye even out and that dot turns yellow. If there is too much DNA (as happens when there are three instead of two copies of a region or an entire chromosome), the dot is more red because there is more of the patient's DNA. If there is too little, the dot is greener because there is more of the control's DNA and less of the patient's.........

Emily      Permalink


December 13, 2005

More Women Physicians Maychoose Pediatric Subspecialties

Concerns among health care analysts that the majority of pediatricians in training are now women and that that might cause shortages in the future in pediatric subspecialties appear to be almost entirely unfounded, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study concludes.

Unlike in the past, women pediatricians are increasingly likely to enter subspecialties, scientists discovered, saying that the news is reassuring.

"This shows that women are breaking into the glass ceiling in more areas," said Dr. Michelle Mayer, research associate at UNC's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. "Pediatrics appears to be a field with great opportunities for women.".

Mayer also is a faculty member in health policy and administration at the UNC School of Public Health.

"For nine of the 16 pediatric medical subspecialties we studied, the percentages of board-certified women were significantly greater among younger pediatricians than among older ones," she said. "Subspecialties that remain predominately male among the younger group include cardiology, critical care medicine, gastroenterology, pulmonary and sports medicine.".

A report on the study appeared recently in the journal Pediatrics. Along with Mayer, Dr. John S. Preisser, research associate professor of biostatistics in public health, carried out the study. Their work involved analyzing extensive board certification data from the American Board of Pediatrics and dividing the doctors listed into older and younger groups as part of that analysis.

According to information supplied by the board, the number of women choosing to become pediatricians is rising. In 2003, data showed that 63 percent of pediatricians seeking certification were women, Mayer said. Because women doctors in past decades were more likely to practice general pediatrics than to work in subspecialties, concerns developed about the future supply of doctors in some disciplines.........

Janet      Permalink


December 13, 2005

Pre-K And Early Head Start Programs Enhance Children's Development

In two studies appearing in a special issue of Developmental Psychology, scientists show the benefits of universal pre-K programs (serving 4-year-olds) and Early Head Start programs (serving infants, toddlers, and their families) on children's cognitive and language development, but particularly for those children who are from low-income families. The study of pre-K documented benefits in several aspects of school readiness, and the Early Head Start study showed gains in social-emotional development and benefits for parents as well. Developmental Psychology is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Findings from both studies confirm the positive effects of these programs for children from birth to age five, including higher performance in children's cognitive and language functioning. The Early Head Start program benefited children's social and emotional development and health as well as reduced aggressive behavior, and improved parent-child relations, and the pre-K program increased parents' involvement in school and home activities.

In the study authored by public policy professor William T. Gormley, Jr., Ph.D., and colleagues of Georgetown University, 1,567 pre-K 4-year-old children and 1,461 children who just completed one of the pre-K programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were compared on letter-word identification, spelling and applied problems. Statistical controls for demographic characteristics equalized the two groups. Those children who participated in the state-funded universal pre-K program did better on cognitive tests that measured pre-reading and reading skills, prewriting and spelling skills and math reasoning and problem-solving skills than those children who did not participate in the pre-K program.

The pre-K program improved performances for children from different ethnic backgrounds (Hispanic, Black, White and Native American) and income brackets (measured by those who are eligible for a full price lunch, a reduced-price lunch and no lunch subsidy), according to the study. Disadvantaged children and Hispanic children benefited the most.........

JoAnn      Permalink


December 13, 2005

Prematurity Awareness Day

More than 100 landmarks nationwide - including a replica of the Apollo Saturn V Rocket at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama - will be lit pink and blue as the March of Dimes observes the third annual Prematurity Awareness Day.

November is Prematurity Awareness month and will be recognized throughout the nation with rallies, expert panel discussions, and tours of neonatal intensive care units. In addition to the space rocket, Niagara Falls in New York; Hoover Dam on the Arizona-Nevada border; the skylines of Philadelphia and Chicago; state capital buildings; and governors' mansions will be lit pink and blue in honor of Prematurity Awareness Day. Also, nearly two dozen state or local government officials will issue proclamations designating November 15 as Prematurity Awareness Day and recognizing the serious crisis of premature birth.

"Prematurity is now the nation's leading killer of newborns," says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes. "It has now reached epidemic proportions - 499,008 babies were born premature in 2003, the most recent year for which we have final data. The health consequences for infant survivors can be devastating: cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and other neurological conditions. Our purpose today is to raise public awareness about prematurity, and to mobilize the political will to act.".

Dr. Howse will hit the Prematurity Awareness Day Campaign trail in New York City on November 15, traveling in one of two specially-designed pink and blue buses that will visit Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. One bus will carry celebrities, civic and corporate leaders, and maternal and child health experts who will make stops at key locations to talk about the dangers of prematurity (birth at less than 37 weeks gestation) and what Americans can do to help prevent premature births.........

JoAnn      Permalink

Holiday Air Travel with Infants and Toddlers (December 11, 2005)
Nervous about how your holiday plane flights will go with your little one? Mayo Clinic pediatric sleep specialist Suresh Kotagal, M.D., offers some suggestions for making your infant or toddler more comfortable during a long flight and ensuring a smooth ride for the child, parent and fellow passengers: .

Using Food Incentives In Middle Schools (December 7, 2005)

Teen Weight Control Behavior (December 7, 2005)

Personal Fulfillment As Motivation (December 7, 2005)

Parents trained to help treat teens' eating disorders (December 7, 2005)