Feature Channels: Family and Parenting

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A new study shows a link between mothers with rheumatoid arthritis and children with epilepsy. The study is published in the November 16, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, a medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s own immune system to attack the joints. It differs from osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear on the joints.

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Allowing an infant to sleep in your bed or putting blankets or stuffed animals in their crib could be tragic mistakes, increasing their child’s risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

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Late summer and early fall have brought an uptick in the number of cases of the polio-like paralytic disease acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) that has been affecting children in the U.S. While the disease is rare – there were 89 cases reported in the first nine months of 2016 – the serious consequences and the fact that the cause remains a puzzle for health officials can make it worrisome for both pediatricians and parents.

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Research from the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions suggests the approach to preventing alcohol and drug use by some adolescents should begin in early childhood.

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Your baby is growing up so fast. It seems like just yesterday you were welcoming them home, listening to their first coos and, unfortunately, getting used to some sleepless nights. Now, you’ve entered a new phase: teething.

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Research led by the University of Adelaide has found that women whose babies are conceived in winter are more likely to develop gestational diabetes during pregnancy, increasing a range of risk factors for both child and mother.

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Siblings bear responsibility for the spread of problem behaviors. Identifying the exact nature of that influence has proven difficult, because behavior problems in siblings can also be traced to friends, shared genetics and shared experiences with parents. Evidence describing how problem behaviors spread between siblings has been scarce – until now, thanks to a first-of-its-kind longitudinal study on identical and fraternal twins.

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Prenatal exposure to a mother’s stress contributes to anxiety and cognitive problems that persist into adulthood, a phenomenon that could be explained by lasting – and potentially damaging – changes in the microbiome, according to new research in mice.

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Recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a recommendation that infants sleep in their parents’ room, close to the parents’ bed — but on a separate surface designed for infants — for at least 6 months, and preferably up to 1 year of age. Such a sleeping arrangement decreases the risk of SIDS by as much as 50 percent, according to the AAP.

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Parents may be confused with how and when to introduce peanut-containing foods to their infants. Presentations at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting will offer guidance, based on soon to be released guidelines, on how to approach this topic without going “nuts.”

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Researchers from the University of Adelaide have successfully tested a drug that is showing some early promise in efforts to prevent pre-term birth.

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B12 deficiency during pregnancy may predispose children to metabolic problems such as type-2 diabetes, according to research presented today at the Society for Endocrinology’s annual Conference in Brighton. These findings could lead to a review of current vitamin B12 requirements for pregnant women, whether through an improved diet or supplements.

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UAB launches study to see if family caregivers for dementia patients can benefit and improve quality of life from learning strategies to alter care-resistant behavior, such as refusal to take a bath, take medicine, accept routine mouth care, abstain from alcohol or go to a medical appointment.

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Exercise during pregnancy may be as effective in protecting the next generation from age-related health risks as efforts made during the offspring's own adulthood. Researchers from the University of Kentucky think that short-term lifestyle changes during pregnancy may have a long-lasting effect on future generations. Findings will be presented at the Integrative Biology of Exercise 7 meeting.

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First clinical study of its kind finds no benefit for women who eat their placenta as a source of needed iron after giving birth.

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The latest developments in prenatal technology conceived by scientists at the Wayne State University School of Medicine that make it possible to test for genetic disorders a little more than one month into pregnancy were revealed this week in Science Translational Medicine, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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About 160,000 people got divorced in 2014 in Florida, according to the state Department of Health. UF/IFAS Extension faculty hope to help lower that number a bit through a program called SMART Couples.

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Those first holidays with college freshmen returning home can be exciting . . . and frustrating. Here's how to cope.

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Mothers in therapy for drug and alcohol use recover faster if their children take part in their treatment sessions, according to a first-of-its-kind study.

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UCLA Health experts are available to discuss a wide variety of topics of interest for the month of November.

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A Cardiff University study has found that children using screen-based media devices at bedtime have over double the risk of inadequate sleep duration compared to children without access to such a device.

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Serious mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia has been shown to affect relationships and parenting capabilities. Children of parents with serious mental illness are vulnerable, and therefore comprehensive knowledge about their life circumstances is warranted for public health strategies to provide helpful supportive services. A study published in the November 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) found that the living arrangements of children whose parents have a serious mental illness differ from the general population.

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Celebrity news reports over the past four decades appear to have contributed to the changing makeup of the traditional American family by helping to destigmatize out-of-wedlock childbirths in the United States, according to a study by a University at Buffalo sociologist.

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UAB researchers hope to establish Cialis as a therapeutic agent for pregnant women exposed to chlorine and bromine during industrial accidents or acts of terrorism.

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Men can take birth control shots to prevent pregnancy in their female partners, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Individualized supplement doses help protect pregnant women from vitamin D deficiency, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Vitamin D supplements are less effective at raising vitamin D levels in pregnant women if they deliver their babies in the winter, have low levels of vitamin D early in pregnancy or gain more weight during pregnancy, a new Southampton study has shown.

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Digital media changes so quickly that the American Academy of Pediatrics updated its recommendations on media use and screen time for children just a year after issuing its previous guidelines.

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A sudden breast cancer diagnosis will shake even the hardiest soul. But when Linh Quan received her news in the Spring of 2012, it was like being doubly kicked when she was already down.

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Epidural anesthesia may do more than relieve pain during labor; in some women it may decrease the likelihood of postpartum depression, suggests a preliminary study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2016 annual meeting.

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Safety experts at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt know Halloween can be scary, but for different reasons than you think. On average, twice as many children are killed while walking on Halloween than on any other day of the year.*

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Sophisticated analyses of two clinical trials suggest that thousands of early preterm births could be prevented if pregnant women took daily docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplements

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Discussing the importance of addressing the emotional needs of all family members involved upon the announcement of a new addition to the family.

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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends providing interventions during pregnancy and after birth to support breastfeeding. The report appears in the October 25 issue of JAMA.

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family of small RNA molecules affects the development of cells that give rise to the placenta – an organ that transfers oxygen and nutrients from mother to fetus – in ways that could contribute to a serious pregnancy complication, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

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Pregnancy was not found to raise the risk of stroke in older women, but the risk was significantly higher in young women, according to a study from Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian.

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The Steering Committee of the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep (NAPPSS) is encouraged by the new American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment.”

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Shortly after Olivia Alva was born, doctors diagnosed her with biliary atresia, a rare disease of the liver that occurs in about 1 in every 15,000 babies. Olivia's mother, Patricia, became a living donor for her daughter by getting a portion of her liver removed to replace Olivia's diseased liver.

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The National Academy of Medicine has elected Andrew William Bazemore, MD, MPH, director, Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, and assistant professor of family medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine, as a lifetime member.

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New AAP guidelines say parents not only need to pay attention to the amount of time children spend on digital media – but also how, when and where they use it.

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In recent years, recommendations for breast feeding and safe sleep for infants have led to enormous challenges in moving from recommendations to action that benefit infant health. Now, a coalition funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aims to coalesce more than 60 groups to develop plans that move from “do and don’t” lists toward achieving the goals of breastfeeding and safe sleep advocates.

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An cost and live birth analysis of 6 conventional IVF treatment strategies against 6 similar, corresponding strategies using modified natural cycle IVF showed significant savings with the latter method. This lowers the barriers of access, particularly for young couples who tend to have fewer resources, that may not be able to afford conventional fertility treatment.

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Though most people know that family meals are important, finding time to sit down and share a meal together can be a challenge. Dine In Day promotes the importance of homemade, group meals in fostering family and community relationships, encouraging healthy diets and stretching food dollars.

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Researchers studying reproductive science identified a network of proteins often linked to cancer as also important to male fertility and the birth of healthy offspring, according to a study in the Oct. 18 online issue of Cell Reports.

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Statistics show Millennials are getting married later in life and are on pace to stay unmarried at rates higher than previous generations.

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Babies born to women aged 40 and over from assisted reproduction have fewer birth defects compared with those from women who conceive naturally at the same age, according to new research from the University of Adelaide.

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Case Western Reserve University Maternal-Fetal medicine doctor warns that the obesity epidemic is leading to a rise in high-risk pregnancies.

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Youth Villages, a national nonprofit organization helping more than 23,000 children, young people and families this year is using evidence-based Collaborative Problem Solving as part of a sweeping rethinking about what really makes kids act out, get into trouble with alcohol, drugs or sex, or even turn to violence or suicide. The partnership with Think: Kids includes a research component to further the evidence base in how to best help the most vulnerable children.

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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Janice English director of the newly established Patient and Family Experience Office.

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The key to preventing obesity in future generations is to make their parents healthier before they conceive, leading health researchers suggest.