by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on December 6, 2009
Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.
Yoga is thought to have many healing powers, but is fighting eating disorders one of them? One patient tells her story of how brain stimulation helps keep her epileptic seizures at bay. Children’s professionalism and ethical practice expert talks about the changing mammography guidelines and gives insight into the health care reform. Children’s Dr. Sharon Levy discusses whether or not home-based drug kits are useful on the MSNBC show “Dr. Nancy.” The National Institute of Health announced 13 new government-approved embryonic stem cell lines, 11 of which were developed at Children’s. The HealthMap team gave us our weekly H1N1 update. Did you know that children with RSV are more likely to be hospitalized than those with seasonal flu? Our Mediatrician sings his praises of Guitar Hero but adds a warning about appropriate lyrics. Good Morning America features Children’s research on autism and facial recognition.
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 22, 2009
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 15, 2009
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on November 3, 2009
Photo by Webb Chappell
By Ellen Hanson, PhD, Developmental Medicine Center
“Has autism increased or hasn’t it?” As a researcher and psychologist with a specialty in developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), this is a question I get all the time. I wish I had a short answer, but I don’t. On the other hand, if you have a few minutes, read on.
The question is a really important one. A study just came out in Pediatrics, saying that the prevalence of ASDs is now one in 91 U.S. children – and one in 58 boys. This is much higher than the most recently quoted rate of one in 150. And that is up from one in 1500 in the early 1990s.
That jump would scare anyone! But is it real? Full story »
by Emmanuel Romero on October 20, 2009
Nearly 13 percent of U.S. babies are born prematurely, according to a recent report from the March of Dimes. These babies face a host of health problems – including taking their first breath, which for a premature newborn can be difficult if not impossible. Preemies are frequently placed on ventilators to pump oxygen into their tiny, immature lungs, but this treatment is often part of the problem: the constant air pressure from the ventilators can cause inflammation and lead to chronic lung disease. Now, however, there’s an alternative. Full story »
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 18, 2009
by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on October 11, 2009
Here’s a quick look at what Thrive was up to last week.
Canada is delaying its seasonal-flu vaccine program. Should we be worried? There are an alarmingly high number of glass-table injuries involving children. Six months after Children’s Hospital Boston’s Division of Emergency Medicine published a study on these injuries, new standards have been recommended in the production of glass-tables. A Children’s study showed that side effects or accidental overdoses of medications in children are more common than you might think. In part 7 of our milk allergy series, Robyn Nasuti shares her tips on keeping her kitchen safe. French Parliament wants to pass a law that would mandate a bold print notice when images have been digitally enhanced. Children’s Alison Field, ScD, who specializes in eating disorders, talks about what we can do to educate our children about images in the media. We follow one family’s story when they discovered their child, Ann Louise, showed signs of a congenital heart defect. Children’s David Ludwig, MD, addresses the soda-tax solution in an opinion piece for the Los Angeles Times. The HealthMap team gives their weekly H1N1 update. The Mediatrician weighs in on what computer games, if any, are good for a 2-year-old.
by Kristin Cantu on September 28, 2009
Last week, a Duke University study published in Child Development concluded that spanking has detrimental effects on the behavior and mental development of children. The researchers found that children who were spanked as 1-year-olds tended to behave more aggressively at age 2, and didn’t perform as well as other children on a test measuring thinking skills at age 3.
Here, Children’s Hospital Boston’s Jayne Singer, PhD, clinical director of the Child and Parent Program and a clinical psychologist for the Brazelton Touchpoints Center, weighs in on the spanking study and offers her professional views on the subject. Full story »
