According to the most recent U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission statistics, there were 74,000 sledding, snow tubing, and tobogganing-related injuries treated at hospital emergency rooms, doctors' offices and clinics in 2004. But by taking a few precautions, you can help your children make sure their sledding and snow tubing activities are both thrilling and safe.
With the excitement of the holidays, parents and relatives eagerly purchase the hottest toys and latest items for their children. But it’s during the hustle and bustle of the season that many fail to buy age appropriate gifts for their children, and they tend to disregard warnings on these toys and gifts to ensure they are safe.
Doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the American Academy of Pediatrics give tips on how to purchase safe toys for kids.
A wide-scale study of the effectiveness of flu vaccine in children is needed in Europe to fully assess the benefits, not only in keeping the kids from getting sick, but limiting the spread of flu to adults.
That is the conclusion of a doctor at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, writing in the December issue of The Lancet Infectious Disease journal based in London.
Doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center want to make sure children are protected from influenza this flu season. The flu is an infection of the nose, throat and lungs caused by a variety of strains of influenza viruses. While the flu typically causes mild symptoms, it can be severe enough to cause hospitalization or even death. Flu most commonly occurs in the winter and early spring.
Monsters, goblins and super-heroes will soon be descending on homes everywhere and while Halloween is a time for fun and treats, certain dangers abound.
Scientists have identified a genetic basis for determining the severity of allergic asthma in experimental models of the disease. The study may help in the search for future therapeutic strategies to fight a growing medical problem that currently lacks effective treatments.
Marc E. Rothenberg, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Allergy and Immunology at Cincinnati Children’s, has received an NIH MERIT Award to extend funding of his long-standing investigation into “Regulation of Gastrointestinal Eosinophils.”
Not only are the children of the 15.3 million unemployed Americans feeling the impact of financial hardship brought on by the economic recession, many of their children may be experiencing an avoidable loss of healthcare coverage, according to new research by the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center published in the July issue of Health Affairs.
A third of Ohio children with special health care needs have unstable or inadequate insurance coverage despite the fact that they may qualify for government health programs, according to a new data analysis by the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
A new nationwide registry will allow researchers to conduct larger, more effective studies of often misdiagnosed disorders that affect thousands of children in the United States.
African American women are less likely to breastfeed their children, in part due to the preconceived attitudes that women have regarding breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, according to a new study from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center researchers.
The first comprehensive comparative effectiveness clinical trial of three widely used anti-seizure drugs for childhood absence epilepsy – the most common form of epilepsy in kids – has established an evidence-based approach for initial drug therapy. Results from the trial will appear March 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Rewarding health care organizations for achieving large-scale, population-based improvement has significant potential to accelerate the spread of evidence-based interventions, improve quality, and control costs at a national level, according to a commentary in the February 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Mutation of a gene that helps protect the body from genetic instability leads to cellular and molecular changes in the pregnant uterus that trigger premature birth, according to a study appearing online Feb. 1 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The research by scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center sheds new light on the still poorly understood genetic and physiological reasons for preterm births.
The earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12 has evoked emotions of sadness, grief and helplessness in many around the world. While adults may know how to express these feelings, often they do not know how to talk with children about the way the children are feeling.
With the excitement of the holidays, parents and relatives eagerly purchase the hottest toys and latest items for their children. But it’s during the hustle and bustle of the season that many fail to buy age appropriate gifts and they tend to disregard warnings on these toys and gifts when it comes to ensuring safety.
Researchers have transplanted genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells into mice so that their developing red blood cells produce a critical lysosomal enzyme – preventing or reducing organ and central nervous system damage from the often-fatal genetic disorder Hurler’s syndrome.
The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns – like that now underway for H1N1 – could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines, according to a paper in The Lancet.
According to a recent study of clinical characteristics of teens who underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery from 2002 until 2007, doctors may have a much narrower window of opportunity to reverse morbid obesity in teens than previously thought.
Fostering innovation to speed the improvement of health care is the goal of an $8.3 million grant to researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The system of providing care for the chronically ill is broken. What we aim to do, building on our previous successes, is to create a totally new system of providing care through widespread collaboration.
Scientists have identified the main genetic switch that causes excessive mucus in the lungs, a discovery that one day could ease suffering for people with chronic lung disease or just those fighting the common cold. The discovery is reported in a study posted online Sept. 14 by the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Inhibiting an enzyme in the brains of newborns suffering from oxygen and blood flow deprivation stops brain damage that is a leading cause of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and death, according to researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Reporting their results in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists show blocking the brain enzyme, tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), in newborn rats prevented progressive brain damage triggered by the lack of oxygen and blood supply.
"As children begin preparing to return to school, it's important for parents and children to go over safety tips together," says Susan Laurence, injury prevention coordinator, Trauma Services at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "This will help ensure a safe, enjoyable start to the school year for everyone." Laurence offers guidelines regarding bus, pedestrian and home safety to help parents and caregivers keep children safe during throughout the school season.
"Taking time to talk with and listen to children about the upcoming school year is one of the best ways parents can help them make the transition to school life," says David Smith, Ph.D., clinical child psychologist in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
While parents are preparing to send their child back to school, they need to remember that nutrition plays a huge role in their child's academic success. Mary Pat Alfaro, MS, RD, LD, clinical manager in the Division of Nutrition Therapy at Cincinnati Children's, explains multiple studies have shown that poor nutrition adversely effects school performance and overall achievement.
Many children and teenagers carry backpacks during the school year for schoolbooks and other supplies. "When used correctly, backpacks are the most efficient way to carry a load and distribute the weight among some of the body's strongest muscles," says Eric Wall, Director, Orthopaedic Surgery Division.
Many children return to school sports, such as soccer, football, cross-country and volleyball in late-July or early-August. Jon Divine, M.D., director of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, says it's most important for children to be in shape even before showing up for the first day of practice or tryouts to reduce the risk of injury. Because of their smaller size, younger athletes have a smaller surface area available for evaporative cooling and are less efficient at cooling body temperature then adults.
With summer ending and school underway, parents are transitioning from hearing their children moan about not being able to swim everyday, to hearing their child complain about homework, their new teachers or being in a different class than their friends. Many parents also begin to hear more complaints of tummy aches and headaches as a result of their child returning to school.
The psychological term for illnesses a child may develop when he or she is trying to avoid school is School Avoidance, or School Refusal. Symptoms may include nausea, fatigue, headaches and abdominal pain. According to Lori Crosby, Psy.D., Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, in general, if children complain about stomachaches and other ailments and do not have symptoms of fever or a contagious illness, parents should feel comfortable sending them to school. "If the parent is unsure about whether to send a child to school, scheduling a visit with the chil
Scientists have linked an overactive response by one of the immune system's key weapons against infection "“ natural killer cells "“ to biliary atresia in infants, a disease where blocked bile ducts can cause severe liver damage and death. The study, to appear in the Aug. 3 Journal of Clinical Investigation, shows blocking a gene that helps NK cells attack bile duct tissues may be a way to treat a common cause of liver disease in children.
Scientists have identified a master regulator gene for early embryonic development of the pancreas and other organs, putting researchers closer to coaxing stem cells into pancreatic cells as a possible cure for type1 diabetes. The study appears in the July 21 Developmental Cell.
According to the American Cancer Society, most of the more than 1 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosed yearly in the United States are considered to be sun-related. Melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, accounts for about 8,110 of the 10,850 deaths due to skin cancer each year. Medical experts believe that too much exposure to the sun in childhood or adolescence is a major cause of skin cancer and premature skin aging later in life.
Childhood drownings and near-drownings can happen in a matter of seconds and typically occur when a child is left unattended or during a brief lapse in supervision. Two minutes after submersion, a child will lose consciousness. Irreversible brain damage occurs after four to six minutes and determines the immediate and long-term survival of a child.
The Headache Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has been named one of 10 clinical centers of excellence for headache, the only pediatric center in the United States to receive this designation.
The strong preference kids with autism have for certain foods places them at risk for nutritional deficiencies because their diets lack sufficient variety, according to research from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center at this year's Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Baltimore.
In comparison to non-obese children, obese children are significantly more likely to have lower body injuries, such as in their ankles and legs. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study, which was conducted to determine if different body parts are injured in obese children compared to non-obese children so that prevention strategies can be developed, will be presented May 2 at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore.
Children enrolled before they are six months old in a home-based program that teaches language skills to the deaf or hard of hearing are not only able to achieve appropriate language skills but also to maintain them over time, according to a new study.
Nearly 75 percent of children ages 3-6 are in child care centers, and many are not be getting enough exercise. A focus group study of child care providers by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center shows several reasons children are not getting as much physical activity as they should.
Recent initiatives in global health have made significant advances in knowledge, prevention and reduction of diseases affecting children in low-income countries. Those advances will be the subject of discussion on Sunday, May 3, at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore. The discussion will be led by Mark C. Steinhoff, MD, director of the Center for Global Child Health Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and Jennifer Read of the National Institutes of Health.
While African-American and low-income children are at increased risk for asthma, the "financial strain" that many families are under better explains the risk of risk of hospital readmission for asthma than does either race or income.
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 outcomes.
Research in Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens appears to solve a long standing medical mystery by identifying a viral protein, VP16, as the molecular key that prompts herpes simplex virus (HSV) to exit latency and cause recurrent disease.
Researchers have discovered a gene that modifies the severity of lung disease in people with the lethal genetic condition, cystic fibrosis, pointing to possible new targets for treatment, according to a new study in Nature.
Screening for mutations in a gene that helps the body metabolize a kidney transplant anti-rejection drug may predict which children are at higher risk for toxic side effects, according to new research in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
Researchers led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center identified an apparent population of cancer stem cells for neuroblastoma, then used a reprogrammed herpes virus to block tumor formation in mice by targeting and killing the cells.
A Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that a growing number of adults know about the potential risk of swallowing magnets, but medical complications from magnets continue to be extensive worldwide and throughout childhood.
With the excitement of the holidays, parents and relatives eagerly purchase the hottest toys and latest items for their children. But it's during the hustle and bustle of the season that many fail to buy age appropriate gifts for their children and they tend to disregard warnings on these toys and gifts when it comes to ensuring safety.
The holiday season is usually a time of joy but it also brings the potential for poisonings, according to the Drug and Poison Information Center (DPIC), a service of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The following information includes safety hazards and precautionary ways to ensure that families have a safe holiday season.
While Halloween can be a fun holiday for children who Trick-or-Treat, the night can indeed be a scary experience for any of the three million youth who suffer from food allergy. Experts estimate that food allergy occurs in six to eight percent of children four years of age or under, and in four percent of adults. In recent years, it was reported that an estimated 29,000 people go to US emergency rooms each year as a result of allergic reactions to food.
With summer ending and school underway, parents are transitioning from hearing their children moan about not being able to swim everyday, to their child complaining about homework, their new teachers or being in a different class than their friends. Many parents also begin to hear more complaints of tummy aches and headaches as a result of returning back to school. The psychological term for school-induced illnesses a child may develop when he or she is trying to dodge school is School Avoidance, or School Refusal. Symptoms include nausea, fatigue, headaches and abdominal pain.