http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Jeffrey is a daytime custodian at a fast-food restaurant. And he has autism. On the job, he found it difficult to switch from one task to another or to complete complex tasks. Trying to calm himself, Jeffrey would sometimes spin in place or hum, disturbing customers. At risk of losing his job, he was trained to use an Apple iPod Touch as part of a study conducted by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-ipods-workers-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:03:02 EST news268470173 (AP)—Double-amputee runner Oscar Pistorius, probably the biggest star of the upcoming Paralympics, hasn't been able to skip one of the games' biggest bureaucratic hurdles: the disability classification system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-disabilities-tricky-paralympics.html Other Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:56:14 EST news265218965 (HealthDay) -- As many as one in 20 children may predominantly walk on their toes in early childhood. Youngsters who have developmental delays or neuropsychiatric disorders, however, are more likely to walk on their toes, according to a new study from Sweden. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-toe-walking-common-kids-mental-woes.html Health Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:20:01 EST news262256080 A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple "pull-to-sit" task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-simple-task-months-age-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 17 May 2012 11:42:03 EST news256473663 With the aid of multiple force sensors and a digital dinosaur, a team of Rice University seniors known as Helping Hands hopes to restore strength and flexibility to the hands and wrists of children with cerebral palsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-patients-cerebral-palsy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 10 May 2012 13:29:09 EST news255875339 Researchers at the Perinatology Research Branch of the National Institutes of Health, located at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Detroit Medical Center, have demonstrated that a nanotechnology-based drug treatment in newborn rabbits with cerebral palsy (CP) enabled dramatic improvement of movement disorders and the inflammatory process of the brain that causes many cases of CP. The findings strongly suggest that there may be an opportunity immediately after birth for drug treatment that could minimize CP. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scientists-window-opportunity-cerebral-palsy.html Neuroscience Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:02 EST news253973406 (Medical Xpress) -- The relative risk of blood loss during corrective spine surgery in children appears linked to the underlying condition causing the spinal deformity, according to a new study from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-blood-loss-childhood-surgery-varies.html Surgery Mon, 09 Apr 2012 07:10:00 EST news253174166 (Medical Xpress) -- A team of researchers led by University of Kansas scientist Nancy Brady has developed a new way to assess the communication capability of individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities who often communicate with gestures, body movements and vocalizations instead of spoken words. The study was published in the February 2012 American Journal of Speech Language Pathology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-people-severe-disabilities.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 28 Mar 2012 05:23:27 EST news252130990 Five-year-old Lauren's cerebral palsy used to make eating meals an ordeal, going to bed a challenge, and crawling an impossibility. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-intervention-children-cerebral-palsy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:10:25 EST news251021345 The number of children with conditions such as muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative disorders or severe cerebral palsy who are surviving into adulthood has been underestimated, a new study shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-children-life-limiting-conditions.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:20:01 EST news250691056 US researchers have begun a groundbreaking trial to test the potential of umbilical cord blood transplants, a kind of stem cell therapy, to treat and possibly reverse hearing loss in infants. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-stem-cell-trial-loss.html Medical research Wed, 08 Feb 2012 04:10:01 EST news247895713 The skeletal structure of the foot and ankle differs significantly between human sprinters and non-sprinters, according to Penn State researchers. Their findings not only help explain why some people are faster runners than others, but also may be useful in helping people who have difficulty walking, such as older adults and children with cerebral palsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-foot-ankle-differs-sprinters-non-sprinters.html Other Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:56:57 EST news246624932 Because of care advances, more infants and children with previously lethal health problems are surviving. Many, however, are left with lifelong neurologic impairment. A Children's Hospital Boston study of more than 25 million pediatric hospitalizations in the U.S. now shows that neurologically impaired children, though still a relatively small part of the overall population, account for increasing hospital resources, particularly within children's hospitals. Their analysis, based on data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Kids' Inpatient Database (KID), was published online January 17th in PLoS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-neurologically-impaired-children-hospitals.html Health Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:36:18 EST news246044170 Two out of every thousand babies are at risk of brain damage in connection with birth. Researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have identified mechanisms behind these injuries, which could lead to better treatment and a richer life for the infants affected. Roughly two in every thousand babies are at risk of suffering brain damage as a result of events before, during and after delivery. Infections in the blood or a reduced supply of oxygen and blood can lead to inflammation in the brain, causing injury. This type of brain damage, which is much more common in premature babies, can result in neurological problems such as cerebral palsy, learning difficulties and epilepsy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-toll-like-receptors-role-brain-newborns.html Medical research Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:40:03 EST news241262616 Multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other conditions involving muscle spasticity be better understood following the discovery by Australian researchers that muscle fibres buckle when at rest. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-muscles-buckle.html Medical research Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:03:21 EST news239356994 (Medical Xpress) -- Technology developed at the University of Cambridge to detect peripheral visual field loss in young children will enable the earlier detection of brain tumours, potentially saving sight and lives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-children-vision-loss-video.html Medical research Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:49:42 EST news237620965 Being born prematurely may increase your risk of developing epilepsy as an adult, according to a new study published in the October 4, 2011, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-premature-birth-epilepsy-life.html Neuroscience Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:11:39 EST news236880689 A successful new rehabilitation approach to treating children with cerebral palsy puts its focus on where a child lives and plays, not just improving the child's balance, posture and movement skills. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-environment-child-equal-benefit-children.html Neuroscience Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:53:02 EST news232811558 Before New York Yankees pitcher Bartolo Colon pulled his hamstring while running from the mound to first base on June 11, fans would have been forgiven for thinking he had chugged from the Fountain of Youth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-stem-cell-treatment-hype-science.html Health Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:40:44 EST news229793990 (Medical Xpress) -- In a new study published in Nature Neuroscience, a team of researchers revealed the discovery of a key protein necessary for nerve repair and could lead to the development of a treatment for brain injuries due to a lack of oxygen, such a cerebral palsy, as well as multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects adults all over the world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-infant-brain-injuries-cerebral-palsy.html Neuroscience Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:20:01 EST news228366899 When Noah and Alexis Beery were diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age 2, their parents thought they at last had an answer to the problems that had plagued their twin infants from birth. However, that proved only a way station on a journey to find an answer to the children's problems that combined their mother's determination, the high tech world of next-generation sequencing in the Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center (HGSC) and the efforts of talented physicians from across the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-mother-next-generation-sequencing-solutions-twins.html Genetics Wed, 15 Jun 2011 14:00:01 EST news227362031 (Medical Xpress) -- Every day, 1,500 babies in the United States are born too early, according to the March of Dimes. Even babies born just a few weeks too soon can face serious health problems and are at risk of lifelong disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, blindness and hearing loss. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-silent-infections-role-preterm-birth.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:28:14 EST news223021670