October 7, 2008
NIMH pulls the plug on chelation therapy trial for autism
A clinical trial of chelation therapy in autistic children with detectable blood levels of mercury has been cancelled by the NIMH.
The agency explained that a suggested link between mercury-containing vaccines and autism has not been proven.
Also, rat studies suggested that chelation therapy might be dangerous in the absence of blood lead.
No children had been enrolled in the clinical trial before it was cancelled.
All of Medicine tab
This month’s edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood compiles a recent study finding no link between the MMR vaccine and autism with letters responding to that study.
Practical Articles/News
A recent article in Psychiatric Times reviews complementary therapies for autism.
Evidence-based Medicine
Placebo worked just as well as chelation therapy in reducing distress among people concerned about the mercury in their dental fillings, according to an old randomized study found in this article category.
(The chelating drug did elute mercury, but people on placebo scored equally on anxiety and somatization measures after treatment.)
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Adolescent, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Uncategorized | Tagged: immunization, chelation therapy, autism, vaccines, mercury, lead | 
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October 7, 2008
CDC says far too few tots get influenza vaccine, urges shots from 6 months
All children older than six months should get the flu shot, according to a new advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Infants between six and 23 months old are at particular risk of hospitalization with influenza. Yet last year only one in five tots in this age range received the influenza vaccine.
The agency is paving the way for your conversation with parents, using a major mass media campaign that targets consumer health blogs and parenting websites.
Twenty two leading agencies, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics, joined last month in a new alliance to bolster public confidence in immunization.
Infants younger than six months can be protected from influenza if the expectant mother gets a flu shot, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Practice Guidelines
Quickly find the latest guidelines on prevention and treatment of influenza in children.
Patient Education
Here’s the place to find reliable information for parents on the question of preventing and treating flu in their kids.
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Adolescent, Family Medicine, Influenza, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Women | Tagged: pregnancy, Influenza, vaccinations, children, flu | 
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August 12, 2008
Calories—not sugar, carbs, or fat—cause type 2 diabetes in those at risk
What people eat controls what they weigh, and that (setting aside genes and exercise) seems to determine the risk of type 2 diabetes—not the types of macronutrients themselves. That’s the upshot of two new studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine, according to a review in the same issue.
It’s not the sugar in soft drinks or juices but the poundage they so easily add that predisposes to type 2 diabetes, according to a study of young African-American women in the July 28 issue of Archives.
It was probably weight loss per se, not the low-fat or high-fiber diet, that reduced glycemia among postmenopausal women in the other study.
Which is best for weight loss: low carbs, low fat, or the Mediterranean diet? Depends on the patient’s underlying risk profile. The latter may be best for people at risk of diabetes, according to another new report, this one in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Related searches
Mediterranean diet diabetes
obesity children juice
menopause metabolic syndrome testosterone
Research/Reviews
How much exercise do patients need to maintain weight loss? Find more new reports in this article category.
Patient Education
Look in this category for trustworthy information for patients about physical activity and diabetes.
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Adolescent, Cardiovascular, Diabetes_Endocrine, Family Medicine, Gastrointestinal, Geriatrics, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Women | Tagged: calories, carbohydrates, Diabetes_Endocrine, fat, menopause, obesity, weight loss | 
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June 24, 2008
To create an eating-disordered teen: Turn on MTV, then call her chubby
The largest, longest-running study of disordered eating among adolescents and teenagers shows that about 10% of girls and 3% of boys binge eat, purge, or both at least weekly in order to lose weight. Data come from about 11,000 children of women in the national Nurses Health Study II.
A large group of girls who purge without binge eating are going unrecognized, the authors suggest, because they don’t fit current diagnostic criteria.
The study set out to define predictors of disordered eating. These include
* teasing about weight,
* maternal history of eating disorder (but only for adolescent girls), and
* also for girls, wanting to look like young women in the media.
They urge that young women at risk should be educated about issues of media and body image.
Related Searches
bulimia nervosa
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Research/Reviews
The results show that adolescent girls are at greater risk if their mothers were affected. What is the evidence about heritability of eating disorders?
Evidence-based Articles
The new study adds to already solid evidence that teasing about weight breeds eating disorders and other emotional problems.
No Comments » | Adolescent, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry | Tagged: eating disorder, media, teasing | Permalink
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June 24, 2008
Increase in body piercings causes headaches for health providers
Doctors should prepare for the consequences as piercing of body parts other than earlobes gains in popularity, according to a government-sponsored study in the UK.
About one in ten adults has had something other than an earlobe or two pierced, the study found. Navels were the most common site (reported by one teen girl in three, with complications in one-third of those cases). Oral piercings are on the increase.
A startling one piercing in ten took place outside a specialist piercing shop. There was at least one report of piercing by self or a friend for every body part mentioned in the study, including nipples and genitals.
One body piercing in 100 ended in hospitalization.
These data confirm and expand on similar results from the United States.
Related searches
auricular perichondritis
tattoos
Research/Reviews
There are numerous reports about the risks that body piercing may cause viral hepatitis.
No Comments » | Adolescent, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Uncategorized | Tagged: body piercing, hepatitis, tattoos | Permalink
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