January 18, 2006, 8:08 PM CT

Parent Deployment And Teen's Emotions

Understanding how a parent's deployment affects the emotional and behavioral development of their teenage children is the focal point of research conducted by Angela Huebner, associate professor of human development at Virginia Tech, National Capital Region, and Jay A. Mancini, professor of human development, Blacksburg campus.

Through a grant funded by the Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University, and supported by the Department of Defense, the research team, based in Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, conducted focus groups comprised of 107 youth attending summer camps in Hawaii, Washington, Georgia, Texas, and Virginia, all sponsored by the National Military Family Association.

The war in Iraq and the global war on terrorism have changed the course of military service for Active Duty, National Guard and Reserve members. Today, the context of military service includes a higher operation tempo, increased deployments, relocations and family separations. In short, military families are facing more stressors than ever before. About 39 percent (over 469,999) of the children of deployed parents are age one and under), 33 percent (over 400,000) are between the ages of six and 11 and about 25 percent (over 300,000) are youth between the ages of 12 and 18.........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 18, 2006, 0:26 AM CT

Parents In The Operating Room

Knowing whether the presence of a parent diminishes or increases a child's anxiety previous to surgery may soon be answered with a new psychometric instrument developed at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Georgia.

An article in the recent issue of Anesthesiology details PCAMPIS (Perioperaitve Child-Adult Medical Procedure Interaction Scale), a scale that creates a complex coding of parent-child communications during the period before surgery. The instrument was developed by Alison Caldwell-Andrews, associate research scientist in the Department of Anesthesiology at Yale School of Medicine and Ronald Blount of the University of Georgia.

The senior author of the study, Zeev Kain, M.D., professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology, Pediatrics, and the Child Study Center at Yale, said bringing parents into the operating room for surgical procedures is not always beneficial to the child or to the parents and may even increase the child's anxiety.

"We simply must look at the interactions between the parents and child," said Kain, who is executive director and founder of the Center for the Advancement of Perioperative Health (CAPH) at the medical school. "We think that what parents say and do is what is important, not simply whether or not they are present".........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 18, 2006, 0:08 AM CT

Stress In Infancy May Lead To Addictions

Female rats appear to be affected more than males by stress early in life, leading to a higher likelihood of cocaine addiction and eating disorders as adults, as per a studyby Yale School of Medicine scientists in Neuropsychopharmacology.

"These results differ somewhat from our prior study conducted with male rats," said Therese Kosten, research scientist, Department of Psychiatry, and lead author of the study. "Early life stress produces a greater increase in cocaine self-administration in female versus male rats".

In addition, the neonatal stress enhances responding for food treats in female, but not male, rats, she said. "We believe this may suggest that women with early life stress have an enhanced risk of developing drug addiction, as well as eating disorders," Kosten said.

Of the rats in the research, some were isolated from their mothers as "infants." The rats were studied as adults who had learned to self-administer cocaine and food treats. The scientists found the rats that had been kept in isolation worked harder to obtain food and drug rewards.

"The results of the cocaine self-administration study along with our prior work demonstrating enduring effects of neonatal isolation in female rats point to the possibility that women with early life stress experience may be at increased risk of initiating and maintaining drug addiction," Kosten said. "The fact that early isolation enhances responding for food in female rats, but not male rats, may provide an insight into the role of early life stress on gender differences in vulnerability to develop eating disorders".........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 15, 2006, 3:05 PM CT

Hope For Children Facing Immune System Disorders

For 11 of Lacey Conners's 12 years of life, she's had to visit a hospital every three weeks for an antibody replacement treatment to treat her primary immunodeficiency (PI). On top of being diagnosed with Crohn's disease and heart disease, Lacey's immune system is unable to adequately produce the specific antibodies needed to fight off infection. With the establishment of the Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies, the Emory Children's Center joins children like Lacey on the front line of the fight against PI disorder.

The new Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic Center for Primary Immunodeficiencies at the Emory Children's Center was made possible by a donation from the Jeffrey Modell Foundation (JMF). The center is the only of its kind in Georgia dedicated to the diagnosis and therapy of patients with PI. Emory was designated as a location for one of 23 Jeffrey Modell Diagnostic Centers worldwide because of its excellence in patient care and research into the complex disorders of PI. To date, physicians at Emory have diagnosed and treated over 250 children living with the disorder.

PI includes more than 120 genetic defects that cause a reduced or absent ability for the immune system to produce specific antibodies to fight off infection. It is often misdiagnosed as common chronic childhood illnesses such as sinus and ear infections, pneumonia, fever, and bronchitis. PI illnesses can range from chronic sinusitis to "bubble boy disease," the common term used to describe severe combined immune deficiency.........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 15, 2006, 2:55 PM CT

Addressing Expecting Moms Concerns

Is there an Emory doctor in the house? You can find one each month in the pages of Pregnancy Magazine. Gynecologist Stephen Weiss, MD has been appointed as the publication's resident physician, and uses his expertise to educate readers in a monthly QandA column in the magazine geared toward expecting moms.

Dr. Weiss's first column helped readers sort through questions about breast-feeding, toddler tantrums, and fatigue. His upcoming columns will address issues such as incontinence, labor stages, and exercise.

"This is an ideal opportunity for both Emory and 'Pregnancy Magazine'," says Dr. Weiss, an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology, Emory University School of Medicine. "I'm honored to be able to help answer the unaddressed questions that women have about pregnancy and the transition into motherhood. I may never see most of the women who read my column in my office, but they'll be aware of the commitment and expertise in women's health the Emory team has to offer."

Below are two examples of questions Dr. Weiss answered from the Pregnancy Magazine (January 2006) readers:.

Q: I have been feeling extreme fatigue as a result to giving birth. Sometime it's hard for me to even hold my baby for long periods of time. How can I get my strength back?.........

Posted by: Emily      Permalink


January 9, 2006, 10:41 PM CT

More children in the United States will be protected

The 2006 Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule was released recently, with the updated schedule including new recommendations that will help protect adolescents from meningitis and pertussis (also known as "whooping cough") and all children from hepatitis A. The annual childhood and adolescent immunization schedule is a joint effort of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). The 2006 immunization schedule can be located at CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule --- United States, 2006.

" This new schedule reflects the great strides we are making to protect children against serious diseases," said Anne Schuchat, M.D., director of the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Thanks to new vaccines, we can now protect children and adolescents from more diseases than at any time in our history. In almost every case, vaccines are the best and most effective way to prevent the harm that is caused by these infectious diseases".

The recently licensed meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) is being recommended to protect against meningococcal disease, while the new Tetanus, Diphtheria and acellular Pertussis recommendation stems from the availability of new "booster" vaccines known as Tdap that will help reduce the number of cases of whooping cough among adolescents. Under the updated schedule, these vaccines would be routinely administered to children when they are 11 to 12 years old.........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 9, 2006, 10:30 PM CT

Estimating Frequency of Birth Defects

Among the 18 major birth defects studied, orofacial clefts (cleft lip and cleft palate) were the most common birth defect in the United States, affecting an estimated 6,800 infants annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates released in its journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). Major birth defects are conditions that are present at birth and have a serious, adverse impact on health, development or functional ability.

The condition with the second highest prevalence was Down syndrome, which affects about 5,500 infants a year. Among the 18 major birth defects selected for this study, each of 10 different types of birth defects affected more than 1,000 babies per year.

"Birth defects are a leading cause of death in the first year of life," said Jose Cordero, director of CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. "With more accurate estimates of how often and where birth defects are occurring, we hope to learn more about how we can prevent them. With improved information, we can better plan for and address the health and education needs of children with birth defects".

Eventhough federal, state and local surveillance data suggest that approximately 3 percent of babies born in the United States are affected by a major birth defect of some type, this is the first effort to develop population-based national prevalence estimates for these 18 specific birth defects.........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 9, 2006, 10:25 PM CT

Age And Success Of Assisted Reproductive Technology

More than 48,000 babies were born in the United States as a result of assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures carried out in 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported today. This is up from the 45,751 babies born as a result of ART in 2002. ART includes infertility therapy procedures in which both egg and sperm are handled in the laboratory. The most common ART procedure is in vitro fertilization.

CDC's ninth annual ART report summarizes national trends and provides information on success rates for 399 fertility clinics around the country. Overall, 28 percent of ART procedures resulted in the birth of a baby for women who used their own fresh eggs.

The 2003 report offers more evidence that a woman's age is one of the most important factors in determining whether she will have a live birth by using her own eggs. "Women in their 20s and early 30s had relatively high rates of success for pregnancies, live births, and single live births," said Victoria Wright, a public health analyst in CDC's Division of Reproductive Health. "But success rates declined steadily once a woman reached her mid-30s."

Overall, 37 percent of the fresh non-donor procedures started in 2003 among women younger than 35 resulted in live births. This percentage of live births decreased to 30 percent among women aged 35-37, 20 percent among women aged 38-40, 11 percent among women aged 41-42 and 4 percent among women older than 42.........

Posted by: Emily      Permalink


January 7, 2006, 4:03 PM CT

Take Folic Acid To Reduce Birth Defects

January 9-15 is Folic Acid Awareness Week and the March of Dimes is reminding women capable of having a baby to add folic acid to their diet - before starting a family.

If all women of childbearing age took 400 micrograms of folic acid daily - before and during pregnancy -- it could help prevent up to as much as 70 percent of pregnancies affected by neural tube defects, (NTDs), serious birth defects of the brain and spine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Julia Flores of Chicago knows the benefits of folic acid. Her first child, 10-year-old Gabriel was born with a brain stem malformation. Her second baby, Nicholas, was born three years later with spina bifida and lived only three hours.

Before her next pregnancy, Mrs. Flores' doctor prescribed 800 micrograms of folic acid daily. Her third baby, Jacob, who will be five in May, was born healthy.

"Thank goodness my doctor knew about folic acid and prescribed it for me. I'm not planing to have any more children, but I still take it in a multivitamin, " said Mrs. Flores. "I tell all the women I know to take folic acid. Just take it. My sister's doctor instructed her to take it because of my history - and her babies are fine".

Since 1995, the March of Dimes and the CDC have recommended that all women of childbearing age take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, before conception and continuing into the early months of pregnancy. NTDs occur in the first few weeks after conception, often before a woman knows she's pregnant and affects about 3,000 pregnancies annually.........

Posted by: JoAnn      Permalink


January 4, 2006

Adolescent Trauma Survivors' Emotional Distress

Adolescents who suffer physical injuries are vulnerable to emotional distress in the months following their hospitalization, yet almost 40 percent of hospitalized adolescents interviewed for a new study had no source for the follow-up medical care that could diagnose and treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress. These young trauma survivors are at risk for high levels of post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms, as well as high levels of alcohol use, according to research by researchers at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

"Primary Care Utilization and Detection of Emotional Distress After Adolescent Traumatic Injury: Identifying an Unmet Need" is published in the January 2006 issue of Pediatrics. The research involved injured adolescents, aged 12 to 18, who were hospitalized at a level I regional trauma center. They were screened for post-traumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms and alcohol use on the surgical ward, and again 4 to 6 months after hospitalization.

The scientists also conducted interviews with the adolescents' primary care providers 4 to 6 months after the injury. Of the 99 adolescents who agreed to participate in the study, 39.4 percent reported that they had no usual source of primary medical care. The follow-up interviews indicated that 30 percent demonstrated a high level of post-traumatic stress symptoms, 11 percent reported depressive symptoms, and 16.6 percent reported problem alcohol use.

Of the adolescents who did receive follow-up care from their primary care providers, 45.2 percent had at least one symptom of psychological distress, yet these symptoms were not detected during the follow-up appointments. Prior studies have shown that screening for emotional distress is not a routine part of adolescent primary care.........

JoAnn      Permalink