Cincinnati
More than 45,000 infants and children in the United States are hospitalized each year for urinary tract infections, but a new study reveals significant variability across hospitals in treatment and
CINCINNATI--University of Cincinnati (UC) cancer cell biologists have identified a distinct gene linked to increased lung cancer susceptibility and development. They say this gene--known as RGS17--could result in a genetic predisposition to develop lung cancer for people with a strong family history of the disease.
Cincinnati, OH, April 2, 2009--Little is known about the long-term effects of the death of a child in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on survivor siblings. These siblings may encounter unforeseen emotional difficulties and developmental consequences that can occur whether the siblings are born before or after the infant's death.
A congenital heart disease that often leads to death in newborns is significantly more common during the summer, leading researchers to believe that the environment, and not just genes that affect the heart, may play a role in causing "mini-epidemics" of this disease.
Pediatric surgeons are able to repair complex heart defects with a survival rate of greater than 90 percent, but that doesn't necessarily mean a happy ending for these children and teens. Some may have a great quality of life and others, with the same condition, may not.
CINCINNATI - March 23, 2009 - A review by researchers at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL.) and University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) of the utility of probiotics in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) found that Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 was the only probiotic strain out of 13 different individual strains or preparations reviewed to significantly improve symptoms o
CINCINNATI--University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have identified the specific biological mechanisms believed to lead to a rare and incurable blood disease known as Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA). Scientists say with further investigation, their discoveries could result in drastic changes to current thinking about treatment for this disease and may lead to promising new drug therapies.
For many children, a trip to the doctor or dentist is a stressful experience. The sensory environment (i.e., the sounds, smells, and lights associated with the clinical setting) can cause a child's anxiety levels to rise.
A new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, even at extremely low levels, is associated with decreases in certain cognitive skills, including reading, math, and logic and reasoning, in children and adolescents. The study is the largest ever to look at the effects of environmental tobacco smoke on children's health. It is published in the January issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. "This study provides further incentive for states to set public health standards to protect children from exposure to environmental tobacco smoke," says Kimberly Yolton, PhD, a researcher at the Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's and the study's main author.
In laboratory studies at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, researchers have successfully treated the most common malignant abdominal tumor of childhood: neuroblastoma tumors. Researchers successfully treated the tumor in mouse models by administering a treatment based on a weakened version of the herpes simplex virus.
Scientists have developed a new application for the use of retroviruses as a vector to transfer genetic information into cells. The findings give rise to a new set of applications for vectors and hold implications for improved cell therapies and treatments of other blood-based disorders.
Scientists believe they have answered some critical questions that address how signaling molecules, called morphogens, work. Morphogens are secreting signaling molecules that play a key role in the formation of the shape and size of organs. For example, these molecules play a role in determining the bean-like shape of human kidneys. But when these molecules malfunction, they can lead to organ defects and cancers. This study provides insights into the mechanisms of organogenesis and could have implications for treating organ defects and cancers.
A new study shows that rates of a recently identified and debilitating disorder called eosinophilic esophagitis have risen so dramatically in recent years that they may be at higher levels than that of other inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders, such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. ''Despite this explosion in incidence rates, there is so little information available about the disease that patients often suffer for a number of years before a diagnosis is made.'' Eosinophilic esophagitis (EE) is characterized by severely elevated levels of eosinophils -- a type of white blood cell -- in the esophagus. These eosinophils grow in an uncontrolled manner and attack the gastrointestinal system, leading to vomiting and difficulty with growth and swallowing food.
A new study by a nurse researcher shows that imagery -- a simple method of distraction -- can be used with pain medications to significantly reduce post-operative pain in children. In the study, which was led by a nurse researcher at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, children who had their tonsils or adenoids removed were given an audio tape that enabled them to imagine they were going to ''a favorite place.'' The children who used the tape reported significantly lower pain in the 24 hours after surgery than those who didn't use the tape.
A new study points to the important role fathers play in their children's emotional and behavioral health. The study shows that a father in good mental health can substantially reduce the negative influence of a mother's poor mental health on a child's behavioral and emotional well-being. ''If a mother and father are depressed, the odds that a child will have behavioral or emotional problems go up eight-fold,'' according to Robert S. Kahn, M.D., M.P.H., a physician/researcher in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's and the study's lead author. ''The risk is less elevated if only the mother reported poorer mental health and not elevated at all if only the father reported poorer mental health.''
