MSNBC
October 5, 2009

"After much ballyhoo, vaccinations against the swine flu become available this week. But don't try to make that appointment just yet.

This week's initial shipments to states are so small that, with a few exceptions for children, most states are reserving them for health workers so they'll stay healthy enough to care for the flu-stricken and vaccinate others."

Jezebel
October 5, 2009

"Two studies show more American kids have autism spectrum disorders than previously thought, about one in a hundred. But critics caution that the study methodology may be flawed.

A previous estimate had put the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (including Asperger's, which affects the young artist pictured above) at one in 150, but a new telephone survey and a more in-depth CDC estimate indicate the disorders are more common. Some of the rise may be due to improved detection, but Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, says, "The concern here is that buried in these numbers is a true increase. We're going to have to think very hard about what we're going to do for the 1 in 100."

The New York Times
October 2, 2009

"Swine flu is now widespread across the entire country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday as federal health officials released Tamiflu for children from the national stockpile and began taking orders from the states for the new swine flu vaccine.

Also, as anecdotal reports and at least one poll showed that many Americans are nervous about the vaccine, officials emphasized that the new shots were nearly identical to seasonal ones, and said they were doing what they could to debunk myths about the vaccine.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, the disease control center’s director of immunization and respiratory disease, said there was “significant flu activity in virtually all states,” which, she added, was “quite unusual for this time of year.”"

Time
October 2, 2009

"What parent hasn't used candy to pacify a cranky child or head off a brewing tantrum? When reasoning, threats and time-outs fail, a sugary treat often does the trick. But while that chocolate-covered balm may be highly effective in the short term, say British scientists, it may be setting youngsters up for problem behavior later. According to a new study, kids who eat too many treats at a young age risk becoming violent in adulthood.

The research was led by Simon Moore, a senior lecturer in Violence and Society Research at Cardiff University in the U.K., who specializes in the study of vulnerable youngsters. Moore had been investigating the factors that lead children to commit serious crimes, when, during the course of his work, he discovered that "kids with the worst problems tend to be impulsive risk takers, and that these kids had terrible diets — breakfast was a Coke and a bag of chips," he says."

Los Angeles Times
October 1, 2009

"Researchers at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston will sequence the genomes of at least 85 people diagnosed with autism in a bid to tease out the genetic basis for some cases of the neuropsychiatric disorder.

Funded by $4.5 million from the federal stimulus package, the study's broad outlines were unveiled Wednesday.

The study's first phase will focus on 85 autistic patients from the Middle East. All have a recessive form of the disease, and all are linked by common ancestry. Studying this unique population, researchers have already narrowed the hunt for the common genetic mutation they share to an area that represents just 1% of their genome."

Time
October 1, 2009

"Like most 14-year-old girls, Natalie Morton probably didn't spend too much time worrying about cervical cancer. But along with all of her female classmates at the Blue Coat Church of England school in Coventry, she received a vaccine on Sept. 28 designed to protect her from the disease. Within a few hours, she was dead.

Amid the ensuing media bonanza, local health officials immediately announced a "full and urgent" investigation into Morton's death and ordered a batch of the vaccine to be withheld as a precaution. Less than a day later, a preliminary post-mortem examination found that the vaccine was unlikely to have killed Morton, blaming instead a "serious underlying medical condition." Still, as many Western nations are about to begin massive inoculation programs against the H1N1 influenza, Morton's death underlines the cruel reality behind any vaccination campaign: there's always the risk that a small number of vaccine recipients will suffer an adverse reaction — and that it sometimes can be deadly."

CNN
September 29, 2009

"Parents can check out growth charts -- a nifty graph that tells them where their child falls in relation to peers in terms of height and weight -- just about everywhere, from a child's vaccination records to the doctor's office.

But there's a problem: A new study suggests that most parents don't know how to read the charts and may think a child's weight is perfectly fine, when, in fact, the child is obese or overweight compared to peers.

More than 12.5 million children and adolescents are overweight, and these numbers are on the rise, according to the U.S. surgeon general. If most parents don't realize that their child is overweight, the new study, which appears in the October 4 issue of the journal Pediatrics, has implications in the war against childhood obesity."

MSNBC
September 29, 2009

"Being fat in middle age may slash women's chances of making it to their golden years in good health by almost 80 percent, a new study says.

American researchers observed more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of the women were healthy when the study began in 1976. Researchers then monitored the women's weight, along with other health changes, every two years until 2000.

For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 percent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined "healthy survival" as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs."

The New York Times
September 29, 2009

"When the label tells you the food you are buying “contains probiotics,” are you getting health benefits or just marketing hype? Perhaps a bit of both.

Probiotics are live micro-organisms that work by restoring the balance of intestinal bacteria and raising resistance to harmful germs. Taken in sufficient amounts, they can promote digestive health and help shorten the duration of colds. But while there are thousands of different probiotics, only a handful have been proved effective in clinical trials. Which strain of bacteria a given product includes is often difficult to figure out."

The New York Times
September 29, 2009

"Pregnant women are deluged with advice about things to avoid: caffeine, paint, soft cheese, sushi. Even when evidence of possible harm is weak or purely theoretical, the overriding caveat is, “Don’t take it, don’t use it, don’t do it.”In a few contexts, the admonition is warranted; in most, it is merely inconvenient and anxiety provoking. But in the case of pandemic influenza, it may be deadly. With the second wave of swine flu at hand, and up to 50 percent of the public at risk, the usual mode of thinking about pregnancy and medications threatens to make a worrisome situation worse.

In a few contexts, the admonition is warranted; in most, it is merely inconvenient and anxiety provoking. But in the case of pandemic influenza, it may be deadly. With the second wave of swine flu at hand, and up to 50 percent of the public at risk, the usual mode of thinking about pregnancy and medications threatens to make a worrisome situation worse."