Children | Common News Update

Dec102018 by adminNo Comments

UNICEF concerned 150K Iraqi children unprepared for cold

Dec. 10 (UPI) -- More than 150,000 Iraqi children are unprepared for freezing temperatures that are on the way, the United Nations children's agency said Monday. Efforts are underway to find hard-to-reach families and supply them with winter clothing. Many are members of the Yazidi ethic group, who are internally displaced after years of war and violence. "Winters in Iraq are harsh. It rains and snows and temperatures can fall below zero in the northern part of the country, where a majority of Yazidi and other displaced children live. It impossible to afford fuel for heating and winter clothing to keep their children warm," UNICEF said in the report Monday. "The devastating floods have made this winter even more difficult for displaced children who are extremely vulnerable to hypothermia ...

Dec72018 by adminNo Comments

Xanax: Treatment for addiction rises sharply in children

Health

The number of children being treated for addiction to tranquilisers has doubled in a year, to more than 300, according to Public Health England.The drug Xanax, and copies of it, accounted for the sharpest rise - from eight children receiving treatment in 2016-17 to 53 in 2017-18.Ambulance services around the country have also reported a growing problem. In 2017-18, more than 15,500 children had help for substance misuse, 88% for cannabis.The total number receiving treatment was 5% down on the previous year, What is Xanax?Xanax is the brand name for the drug alprazolam, a benzodiazepine prescribed for anxiety or panic attacks. But many of the pills taken by children are copies bought online, with no indication of their strength or...

Nov282018 by adminNo Comments

Migrant mother seen fleeing tear gas with children: 'I felt I was going to die'

World

The Honduran mother seen in a widely circulated photo wearing a colorful Disney "Frozen" T-shirt while fleeing from tear gas at the U.S.-Mexico border with her children told ABC News that she feared for their lives as the canisters of gas fell all around them. Maria Meza, 39, left her hometown of Villanueva to escape the gang violence and lack of employment, she said, describing the situation there as "terrible." The single mother of nine was only earning about 800 Honduran Lempiras -- about $ 33 in U.S. currency -- a week, and one of her older children was recruited by a neighborhood gang, she said. "The salary was not enough to support them," Meza said. "... They told me the U.S. was a country of opportunities where one can work. That's why I came to see if I could support my children...

Nov82018 by adminNo Comments

Most tonsillectomies performed on children no benefit to health

Health

Nov. 6 (UPI) -- New research suggests that most tonsillectomies performed on children provide no benefit to their health. Researchers at the University of Birmingham's Institute of Applied Health Research report in a new analysis of medical records that, among children who had their tonsils removed in Britain between 2005 and 2016, just 11.7 percent of the procedures were necessary. For the new study, published Tuesday in the British Journal of General Practice, researchers analyzed medical records for 1.6 million children under age 15 who had the procedure at one of 700 U.K. general practices. Of the 18,271 children who had their tonsils removed, only 2,144 -- seven in eight -- had enough sore throats to justify surgery, according to findings In addition, many children who might benefit...

Oct72018 by adminNo Comments

Study identifies genetic mutations among children of soldiers exposed to radiation

Science

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Scientists have identified a pattern of genetic mutation among the children of soldiers exposed to radar. Prior to the 1990s, most radar systems were poorly insulated. Those operating and working in close proximity to the systems were regularly exposed to the unconfined radiation. Today, the radiation emitted by radar systems is well-contained and soldiers are better protected. However, some soldiers exposed to radiation in the 1970s and 1980s -- so-called "radar soldiers" -- have experienced health problems after leaving the service. New research suggests the effects of radiation also explain genetic mutations among the children of radar soldiers. Families affected by radiation exposure have raised concerns about radiation's generation impacts, but until now, the science ...