January 3, 2008, 9:55 PM CT

Children sipping and tasting alcohol in the home

Most studies of alcohol use among youth have focused on drinking by children in middle or high school. This study is one of the few to examine the earliest exposure to alcohol sipping or tasting in a large community sample of children. Findings indicate that the introduction to alcohol occurs long before adolescence, and it is an experience that occurs in the home.

Results are published in the recent issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research

Almost all of the limited scientific literature on alcohol use in children has focused on drinking, not sipping or tasting alcohol, said John E. Donovan, an associate professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Local community studies seem to show that drinking by children not sipping correlates with higher levels of disinhibition, more positive alcohol expectancies, more peer alcohol use, and lower school grades, just as it does in adolescence.

Donovan, also the corresponding author for the study, added that most surveys of adolescent and child drug and alcohol use ask about ever having had more than a few sips of alcohol. This type of question essentially ignores the alcohol experience of those who have only had sips and tastes of alcohol, which can be a substantial number of children, he said. I wanted to determine what percentage of young children have had this level of experience with alcohol, and to find out if children who have only sipped alcohol are different from those who have not......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

January 3, 2008, 9:14 PM CT

Thyroid treatment no 'quick fix' for weight loss

Children treated for hypothyroidism aren't likely to drop pounds with therapy for the condition says a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study is the first to examine the link between hypothyroidism therapy and weight loss in pediatric patients.

Parents of overweight children often desire a quick fix for the problem and request thyroid tests, but, unfortunately, screening for hypothyroidism is not the answer," said the study's lead author, Dr. Jefferson P. Lomenick, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics' Division of Pediatric Endocrinology. "Most experts agree thyroid function tests are generally unnecessary in an overweight child if he/she has normal linear growth and no other symptoms of hypothyroidism. The results of our study support this.

The study followed 68 children with acquired hypothyroidism treated in the pediatric endocrinology clinic at Kentucky Childrens Hospital from 1995 to 2006. Most of the subjects had severe cases of hypothyroidism. Scientists found therapy with levo-thyroxine, which normalized the childrens thyroid levels, did not lower weight or BMI from baseline to any time point measured, either short-term or long-term.

"These findings were true for the group as a whole, as well as those children who were overweight," Lomenick said. "In fact, the entire group of 68 subjects actually gained 2.4 pounds by the first follow up visit despite their therapy. We did find that about a third of the children experienced weight loss by the second visit. However, these subjects had extremely severe cases of hypothyroidism, far worse than the children who did not lose weight, and they didnt lose that much, only about five pounds......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

December 10, 2007, 10:28 PM CT

Missing protein may be key to autism

A missing brain protein may be one of the culprits behind autism and other brain disorders, as per scientists at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.

The protein, called CASK, helps in the development of synapses, which neurons use to communicate with one another and which underlie our ability to learn and remember. Improperly formed synapses could lead to mental retardation, and mutations in genes encoding certain synaptic proteins are linked to autism.

In work reported in the Dec. 6 issue of Neuron, Li-Huei Tsai, Picower Professor of Neuroscience at MIT, reported that she has uncovered an enzyme that is key to the activity of CASK.

Tsai studies a kinase (kinases are enzymes that change proteins) called Cdk5. While Cdk5's best-known role is to help new neurons form and migrate to their correct positions during brain development, "emerging evidence supports an important role for Cdk5 at the synapse," she said.

To gain a better understanding of how Cdk5 promotes synapse formation, Tsai's lab looked into how Cdk5 interacts with synapse-inducing proteins like CASK. A key scaffolding protein, CASK is one of the first proteins on the scene of a developing synapse.

Scaffolding proteins such as CASK are like site managers, supporting protein-to-protein interactions to ensure that the resulting architecture is sound. Mutations in the genes responsible for Cdk5 and CASK have been found in mental retardation patients......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

December 2, 2007, 8:52 PM CT

sleep disorders on teens' academic performance

The Pediatric Daytime Sleepiness Scale (PDSS) is an independent, reliable tool in predicting the negative impact of a sleep-related breathing disorder and daytime sleepiness on a teenagers academic performance, as per a research studyreported in the December 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.

The study, authored by Daniel Perez-Chada, MD, of Hospital Universitario Austral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, focused on 2,884 students, whose answers to a Spanish version of the PDSS were provided by their parents.

As per the results, 49 percent of the students reported sleeping less than eight hours per night on weeknights while 83 percent slept less than eight hours per night on weekends. Snoring was reported by 23 percent of the subjects, occasional in 14 percent and frequent in nine percent. Witnessed apneas were witnessed in 11 percent of the cases, being frequent in four percent and occasional in seven percent. Reported snoring or apneas and the PDSS were independent predictors of poor academic performance, as snorers had lower mean grades in mathematics and language.

While students in other populations attempt to catch up on sleep debt during weekends, youngsters in our sample seemed to aggravate their sleep debt by further reducing sleep time on weekends, said Dr. Perez-Chada. Thus, this population appears to be at a strikingly high risk for chronic sleep debt. This and other sleep problems need to be confronted through education and enhanced diagnosis of a sleep related breathing disorder as well as changing poor sleep habits among adolescents......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

December 2, 2007, 8:42 PM CT

Leading cause of death in 'preemies' might be controlled

Blocking signals from a key molecular receptor that normally switches on the intestines immune response but instead becomes too intense in the presence of stress and toxins may help reverse necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), a leading cause of death in premature newborns, as per researchers at the American Society for Cell Biology 47th annual meeting.

David J. Hackam and his laboratory team at the Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh report that neonatal mice with inactivating mutations in the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) are protected from NEC. Its a case of defenders becoming unwitting attackers, says Hackam.

Toll-like receptors are key players in the innate immune system. Protruding from enterocytes that form the innermost barrier-like layer of the small and large intestines, TLR4 receptors are primed to recognize pathogenic bacteria and sound the alarm.

But Hackams group observed that the stresses of oxygen deprivation and bombardment by bacterial toxins, conditions that can occur in premature infants with underdeveloped lungs, stimulate too much production of TLR4. Like an unstoppable alarm, the increased numbers of TLR4 blare out signals that eventually tip the cells into cellular suicide. They also stop enterocytes from migrating to close wounds in the intestines......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

November 14, 2007, 9:24 PM CT

A dose of God may help medicine

Waltham, MAFor some families, the cancer diagnosis of a child strengthens existing religious ties or prompts new ones. Now, a new study by scientists at Brandeis University and the University at Buffalo - SUNY in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology reports that while most pediatric oncologists say they are spiritual, and a number of are open to connecting with the families of very sick children through religion or spirituality, they typically lack the formal healthcare training that could help them build such bridges.

Increasingly, religion and spirituality are being recognized as important in the care of critically ill patients and we know that a number of parents draw on such resources to cope with their childs illness, said coauthor Wendy Cadge, a Brandeis sociologist. This study suggests that we should consider training to help physicians relate spiritually to families confronting life-threatening illness such as cancer.

The study surveyed 74 pediatric hematologists and oncologists at 13 elite hospitals from the U.S. News & World Report ranking of honor roll hospitals. The findings include:

• 93.3 percent of the physicians surveyed were raised in a religious tradition; 31 percent Protestant; 25.7 percent Catholic; 25.7 Jewish, and 10.8 percent other.........
  
  
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November 12, 2007, 10:11 PM CT

Early academic skills, best predict school success

An educational study unprecedented in scope finds that children who enter kindergarten with elementary mathematics and reading skills are the most likely to experience later academic success -- whether or not they have social or emotional problems.

We find the single most important factor in predicting later academic achievement is that children begin school with a mastery of early math and literacy concepts, said Northwestern University researcher Greg Duncan and the study's primary author. Attention-related skills, though more modestly, also consistently predict achievement.

But it is the seeming lack of association between social and emotional behaviors and later academic learning that most surprised the scientists -- a lack of association as true for boys as for girls and as true for children from affluent families as for those from less affluent families.

Children who engage in aggressive or disruptive behavior or who have difficulty making friends wind up learning just as much as their better behaved or more socially adjusted classmates provided that they come to school with academic skills, said Northwestern's Duncan. We do not know if their behavior affects the achievement of other children.

Appearing in the recent issue of Developmental Psychology, the study findings are based on an analysis of existing data from more than 35,000 preschoolers in the United States, Canada and England......... Posted by: Janet      Read more         Source

November 5, 2007, 8:30 PM CT

Breastfeeding boost IQ in infants

Breastfeeding boosts infants IQs, but only if the babies have a genetic variant that enhances their metabolism of breast milk, a Yale researcher and collaborators report today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It is this genetic variant in FADS2, a gene involved in the control of fatty acid pathways, that may help the children make better use of the breast milk and promote the brain development that is linked to a higher IQ score, said Julia Kim-Cohen, assistant professor of psychology and a member of the research team.

Children who do not carry the helpful genetic variant have normal average IQ scores, Kim-Cohen said. Being breastfed for them is not linked to an IQ advantage.

The study included scientists from Kings College, London, Duke University, and the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The intelligence quotient (IQ) has long been at the heart of debates about nature versus nurture. Twin studies document both strong genetic influences and nongenetic environmental influences on IQ, especially for young children.

This study looked at how long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAS), which are present in human milk but not in cows milk or most infant formulas, are metabolized. LC-PUFAS in breast milk, the authors said, is believed to enhance cognitive development because the fatty acids are mandatory for efficient neurotransmission and are involved in neuronal growth and regeneration......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

November 5, 2007, 8:23 PM CT

Children with gene show reduced cognitive function

Children who possess a gene known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease already show signs of reduced cognitive function, an Oregon Health & Science University study has observed.

Researchers in the OHSU School of Medicine discovered that 7- to 10-year-olds with a member of a family of genes implicated in development, nerve cell regeneration and neuroprotection display reduced spatial learning and memory, linked to later-life cognitive impairments.

Results of the study, presented today at Neuroscience 2007, the 37th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego, suggest that changes predisposing a person to Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia might occur much sooner in the brain than previously thought.

"One of our questions has been is this a risk that only happens with age, or is it already - early on - the cause of differences in performance," said co-author of study Jacob Raber, Ph.D., associate professor of behavioral neuroscience and neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine. "This study suggests there already are cognitive differences very early on in life."

The results also mean therapeutic interventions that delay the effects of cognitive decline may be possible at a much younger age, Raber says.

Prior studies have shown that a member of the apolipoprotein E gene family, apoE4, increases a person's risk of age-related cognitive decline and cognitive injury from such "environmental" challenges as brain trauma. Mice expressing human apoE4 developed progressive, age-dependent impairments in spatial learning and memory......... Posted by: JoAnn      Read more         Source

November 1, 2007, 9:58 PM CT

Breastfeeding study dispels sagging myth

Nursing mothers needn't worry. A new study shows that breastfeeding does not increase breast sagging. University of Kentucky plastic surgeon Dr. Brian Rinker and colleagues conducted the study with patients at UK HealthCare Cosmetic Surgery Associates. The study observed that breastfeeding does not adversely affect breast shape.

"A lot of times, if a woman comes in for a breast lift or a breast augmentation, she'll say 'I want to fix what breastfeeding did to my breasts'," Rinker said. As a result, Rinker decided to find out if breast sagging was a direct result of breastfeeding.

Rinker and colleagues interviewed 132 women who had come to UK for a breast lift or augmentation between 1998 and 2006. The women were, on average, 39 years old; 93 percent had had at least one pregnancy, and most of the mothers58 percent-- had breastfed at least one child. Additionally, the research team reviewed the patients' medical history, body mass index, pre-pregnancy bra cup size, and smoking status.

The results showed no difference in the degree of breast ptosis (TOE-sis) the medical term for sagging of the breast--for those women who breastfed and those who didn't. However, scientists observed that several other factors did affect breast sagging, including age, the number of pregnancies, and whether the patient smoked......... Posted by: Emily      Read more         Source