Children | Common News Update

Jan72020 by adminNo Comments

Study: Roughly 10% of U.S. children receive unnecessary medical care

Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Roughly one in 10 American children receive unnecessary healthcare services, driving up costs and exposing them to potential side effects, a new analysis suggests. An analysis of medical data for 8.6 million publicly and privately insured children in 12 states, published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics, suggests young people receive diagnostic tests, imaging tests and prescription drugs they ultimately don't need. Many were treated for conditions, like acute sinus infections, they didn't have and were given antibiotics for colds, which is considered inappropriate according to most care guidelines. Part of the issue may be a fear of missing something, on the part of both doctors and parents, researchers say. "There are steps that parents can take to minimize the possibi...

Jan62020 by adminNo Comments

Brain ‘shrinks’ if children neglected

Health

An early life full of neglect, deprivation and adversity leads to people growing up with smaller brains, a study suggests. The researchers at King's College London were following adopted children who spent time in "hellhole" Romanian orphanages.They grew up with brains 8.6% smaller than other adoptees.The researchers said it was the "first and most compelling" evidence of the impact on the developing brain. The appalling care at the orphanages came to light after the fall of Romania's communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989."I remember TV pictures of those institutions, they were shocking," Prof Edmund Sonuga-Barke, who now leads the study following those children, told the BBC. He described the institutions as "hellholes" where children were "chaine...

Dec272019 by adminNo Comments

Brain imaging may predict mood, attention disorders in children

Health

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Brain imaging may help identify children at risk for mood disorders as they grow up, a new study suggests. In findings published Thursday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, researchers were essentially able to predict attention problems, as well as mood disorders such as depression and anxiety, in young grade school children using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI. Although additional research is needed to confirm and expand upon these results, the authors told UPI their findings mean that brain imaging could one day be used as a screening tool for these disorders. "A child's brain and behavior change a fair amount over the years," said co-author Silvia Bunge, professor of developmental psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. "A minor issue, suc...

Nov242019 by adminNo Comments

Study links parental use of marijuana to abuse of drugs by children

Health

Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Roughly one in 10 parents in the United States uses marijuana -- and partaking in the drug increases the risk that their kids may later abuse substances, a new study suggests. In results published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers from Harvard Medical School, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Drug Abuse noted that approximately 8 percent of mothers with adolescent or young adult children living at home have used marijuana within the past year, while more than 9 percent of fathers had done so. Their children were nearly 50 percent more likely to use the drug themselves compared to those living in marijuana-free homes. "Parent use of marijuana is rising, and several fathers have confided i...

Nov192019 by adminNo Comments

Russia repatriates 32 children of IS members from Iraq

World

Russia says it has repatriated 32 children of members of the Islamic State group from IraqByThe Associated PressNovember 19, 2019, 10:14 AM1 min read Russia says it has repatriated another 32 children of members of the Islamic State group from Iraq. Russia’s state TV on Tuesday showed footage of the children arriving at Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow. It said the children aged between one and nine will undergo extensive medical check-ups before relatives take them home. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the children had been held in asylum centers in Iraq or in prisons with their mothers. Their arrival represents the fourth group of Russian children to be repatriated from Iraq. The Foreign Ministry said a total of 122 children have been brought home. Russian President Vladimir Putin has sai