Group Psychotherapy Effective for Treating Depression of Displaced African Girls
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Group psychotherapy was effective in reducing depression among displaced adolescent girls who are survivors of war in northern Uganda, though the intervention was not effective for adolescent boys, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.
“Over 1.8 million individuals, mainly ethnic Acholi, have been internally displaced during 20 years of conflict between the government of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army. The Lord’s Resistance Army has been accused of human rights abuses including mass violence, rape, and the abduction of more than 25,000 children.
Sex-Trafficked Girls and Women From South Asia Have High Prevalence of HIV Infection
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Nearly 40 percent of repatriated Nepalese sex-trafficked girls and women tested were positive for HIV infection, with girls trafficked before age 15 having higher rates of infection, according to a study in the August 1 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.
“Trafficking across or within national borders for purposes of sexual exploitation including forced prostitution, i.e., sex trafficking, is recognized as a major gender-based human rights violation with significant individual and public health consequences and is increasingly discussed as a potentially critical mechanism in the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) across developing nations,” the authors write.
Infant blood pressure high if mother smokes
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Very young infants, especially boys, who were exposed to tobacco smoke in the womb tend to have higher systolic blood pressure - the number on top of the reading—than their unexposed counterparts, results of a study in the Netherlands suggest.
Multiple investigations have revealed evidence of an association between mothers who smoke during pregnancy and higher blood pressure in their offspring, note Dr. Cuno S.P.M. Uiterwaal and colleagues in the medical journal Hypertension. However, they add, the question remains as to whether the association occurs in the women or during the postnatal period.
Dietary carbs linked to vision loss
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The carbohydrates present in a diet can influence the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of vision loss in older adults, according to a report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“AMD appears to share several carbohydrate-related mechanisms and risk factors with diabetes-related diseases, including (eye) and cardiovascular disease,” write Dr. Allen Taylor, of Tufts University, Boston, and colleagues. “However, to date, only one small study has addressed this issue.”
Overweight women at risk of pregnancy complications
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The heavier a woman is before pregnancy, the greater her risk of a range of pregnancy complications, a large study suggests.
Using data from more than 24,000 UK women who gave birth between 1976 and 2005, researchers found that the risk of problems, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and premature delivery climbed in tandem with a woman’s pre-pregnancy weight.
Hearing loss may foretell infant deaths, study says
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Hearing tests routinely administered to most newborns may soon be used to identify children that are at risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, according to Seattle researchers.
Records of hearing tests administered to 62 infants in Delaware show that those who subsequently died of SIDS had a unique pattern of partial hearing loss, according to a report this week in the journal Early Human Development.
Study Solves Mystery of Mammalian Ears
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A 30-year scientific debate over how specialized cells in the inner ear amplify sound in mammals appears to have been settled more in favor of bouncing cell bodies rather than vibrating, hair-like cilia, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The finding could explain why dogs, cats, humans and other mammals have such sensitive hearing and the ability to discriminate among frequencies. The work also highlights the importance of basic hearing research in studies into the causes of deafness. A report on this work appears in the advanced online issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
Watch out, you may catch obesity
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Like the common cold, obesity can be spread from person to person, new research suggests.
A person’s social network can influence their risk of obesity, according to new study findings reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. The results suggest that if you want to stay thin, you may not want to surround yourself with obese friends and relatives.
Researchers reverse cocaine effects in mice-study
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Researchers working with laboratory mice have found a way to reverse the effects of cocaine on the brain, according to a study published on Thursday that could lead to better treatments for drug addicts.
The researchers focused on the part of the brain they knew was involved with pleasure and addictive drugs and found a way to repress hyperactive cells charged up by cocaine.
Lo-glycemic index diets help obese lose weight
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Overweight adults who would like to shed some pounds may want to replace their white bread with a serving of beans, a research review suggests.
In an analysis of six clinical trials, Australian researchers found that diets based on the glycemic index were generally effective at helping overweight and obese adults lose weight in the short term. What’s more, these low-glycemic index diets seemed to work somewhat better than traditional calorie- and fat-conscious weight-loss plans.
Steroid Medications Ineffective in Treating Common Infant Lower Respiratory Infection
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For infants with a common and potentially serious viral lower respiratory infection called bronchiolitis, a widely used steroid treatment is not effective. A new study co-authored by Dr. Joan Bregstein of the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian and Columbia University Medical Center found that steroid treatment did not prevent hospitalization or improve respiratory symptoms for bronchiolitis, the most common cause of infant hospitalization. Bronchiolitis symptoms frequently include fever, runny nose, coughing and wheezing.
The multicenter study, conducted by the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), is published in the July 26 New England Journal of Medicine.
Hypertension in Childhood
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There is no current standard UK definition of hypertension in children. However, the issue has been researched in some detail in America were a working group in 2004 defined the condition as an average systolic and/or diastolicblood pressure ≥95th percentile for gender, age, and height on 3 or more separate occasions. The working group also introduced the concept of ‘pre-hypertension’ which it defines as a blood pressure level ≥90th percentile but <95th percentile.
As with adults, blood pressure is a variable parameter in children. It varies between individuals and within individuals from day to day and at various times of the day. Attention must be paid to correct technique in measuring blood pressure and with small patients this includes the use of a small cuff.
Gallstone Disease: Are You at Risk? Tips on Gallstone Disease
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Gallstones are one of the most common gastrointestinal (GI) problems, especially for women. Women between the ages of 20 and 60 years are three times more likely to develop gallstones than men. Gallstones are solid clumps of cholesterol or pigment material that form in the gallbladder, and can range in size from a single grain of sand up to the size of a ping-pong ball.
Dietary Supplement Can Turn the Skin Permanently Blue
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Colloidal silver is peddled as a cold medicine, decongestant, all-around germ fighter, and a kind of cure-all. Is there any legitimate reason for taking the dietary supplement? The short answer is no, and there may be some serious and strange side effects, reports the August 2007 issue of the Harvard Health Letter.
Silver has several uses in conventional medicine. Silver sulfadiazine is used to treat serious burns. Fabric impregnated with silver is sometimes used as a dressing for wounds or skin infections. And silver nitrate is occasionally used to treat warts and corns.
New Model for Autism Suggests Women Carry the Disorder and Explains Age as a Risk Factor
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A new model for understanding how autism is acquired has been developed by a team of researchers led by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Autism is a developmental disorder, characterized by language impairments, social deficits, and repetitive behaviors. The researchers analyzed data on autism incidence and found a previously unrecognized pattern. The pattern can be explained by assuming that spontaneous germ-line mutation is a significant cause of the disorder. Parents, especially women, who acquire the mutation – but do not exhibit severe symptoms of the disorder – have a 50% chance of passing the mutation on to their children. Sons often show the most severe symptoms.
Spontaneous mutations are changes in a chromosome that alter genes. Germ-line mutations are newly acquired in a germ cell of a parent, and sometimes are transmitted to offspring at conception.
