Pediatrics News and Research

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Pediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. The age limit of such patients ranges from birth to 18. In countries where the age of majority is 18, this age limit may be from birth to age 17 (such as in Canada). A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician.

New research aims to take the study of the human genome to the next level

A global consortium of biologists, geneticists, mathematicians, clinicians, and other scientists is all set to elevate the study of the human genome to the next level—developing an exhaustive atlas of genetic variants to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.

2 Apr 2021

Psychoactive component of marijuana stays in breast milk for up to six weeks, study finds

In a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers at Children's Hospital Colorado have found that tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of marijuana, stays in breast milk for up to six weeks, further supporting the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine to abstain from marijuana use during pregnancy and while a mother is breastfeeding.

9 Mar 2021

Gut mycobiome correlates with metabolic outcomes in response to diet

Studies of the microbiome in the human gut focus mainly on bacteria. Other microbes that are also present in the gut -- viruses, protists, archaea and fungi -- have been largely overlooked.

8 Mar 2021

Front-of-pack labels of infant and toddler food may not accurately represent the actual ingredients

The descriptions on the fronts of infant and toddler food packages may not accurately reflect the actual ingredient amounts, according to new research.

11 Feb 2021

Study suggests the need to characterize patient-specific responses to respiratory syncytial virus

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that while most individuals responded to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) natural reinfection with a typical sustained antibody response associated with protection, a few individuals surprisingly responded atypically, not being able to sustain the antibody response, which declined to levels that made the individuals susceptible to RSV reinfection.

5 Feb 2021

School-based gardening improves vegetable intake among children

Getting children to eat their vegetables can seem like an insurmountable task, but nutrition researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have found one way: school gardens and lessons on using what's grown in them.

5 Feb 2021

Intensive BP lowering effective in reducing cardiovascular risk in patients exposed to air pollution

Evidence suggests particulate matter is the air pollutant which poses the greatest threat to global health. Studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns is associated with acute and chronic elevations in blood pressure (BP) as well as hypertension.

2 Feb 2021

Metabolites may be predictive indicators for recurrent major depressive disorder

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in collaboration with Dutch scientists, have found that certain metabolites -- small molecules produced by the process of metabolism -- may be predictive indicators for persons at risk for recurrent major depressive disorder.

13 Jan 2021

Researchers provide a list of genes implicated in congenital heart disease

Over two million babies, children, and adults in the United States are living with congenital heart disease--a range of birth defects affecting the heart's structure or function.

15 Dec 2020

New genetic associations predict susceptibility to Takayasu arteritis

A team of international collaborators, headed by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, have detected novel genetic associations that can estimate the susceptibility of individuals to Takayasu arteritis—a rare inflammatory disease.

14 Dec 2020

New approach can prevent toxicity linked to neurological gene therapy

Scientists have deigned a new method to inhibit a toxicity observed in the sensory neurons of DRG following gene therapy to treat neurological diseases.

12 Nov 2020

Placental gene expression related to preeclampsia may be affected by vitamin D status

According to the World Health Organization, preeclampsia affects between 2% to 8% of pregnancies. It can cause serious, sometimes fatal, complications in the mother and child.

10 Nov 2020

Research projects receive BTCA awards to develop new drugs

Five research projects with exceptional promise to deliver new life-changing and health-altering therapies have received the inaugural Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards (BTCA) at Harvard Medical School.

30 Oct 2020

Ketogenic diets can prevent or reverse heart failure caused by metabolic process

Research from Saint Louis University finds that high fat or "ketogenic" diets could completely prevent, or even reverse heart failure caused by a metabolic process.

27 Oct 2020

Study could explain why some people are severely affected by Bardet-Biedl syndrome

Geneticists usually split disorders into “simple”, where mutations in several genes contribute modest quantities.

13 Oct 2020

Early introduction of gluten may prevent coeliac disease in children

Introducing high doses of gluten from four months of age into infants' diets could prevent them from developing coeliac disease, a study has found.

29 Sep 2020

Research shows how mutations in DNA packaging machines can drive cancer development

Like wrenches made of Legos, SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes tighten or loosen DNA in our cells to control how genes are turned on and made into proteins.

9 Sep 2020

Study shows cell surface proteins in placental tissue prevent COVID-19 transmission

Scientists from the Maxwell Finland Laboratory for Infectious Diseases at Boston Medical Center have discovered properties in the placental tissue that may play a significant role in inhibiting the transmission of COVID-19 infection from a mother, who has the novel coronavirus, to her fetus.

3 Sep 2020

Study looks into safety and early outcomes of gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy

In May 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a gene replacement therapy for the inherited, progressive neuromuscular disease 5q-linked spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

26 Aug 2020

Exposure to air pollution may increase risk of cardiometabolic diseases

Air pollution is the world's leading environmental risk factor, and causes more than nine million deaths per year.

21 Aug 2020