http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at the University of Essex have developed a free mobile app that turns an iPhone or iPod into a hearing aid that could revolutionise the future for people with hearing loss. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-mobile-app-iphone-biologically-aid.html Health Fri, 29 Mar 2013 07:58:12 EST news283762679 Lead is a common element but is found in old paints (including those once used on children's toys), soil, old piping, water, and the atmosphere from lead-containing vehicular fuels, even drinking vessels. At high dose it is lethal but also causes seemingly trivial symptoms such as headaches. However, in children lead can also lead to irreversible damage to the organs, the kidneys in particular, and the nervous system including the brain. Early detection to contaminated sources is important to prevent children coming to harm but exposure is not always apparent. The effects of high lead exposure amongst children can result in 'learning disabilities', behavioral problems, lowered intelligence, stunted growth, and hearing impairment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-poisoning-juvenile-crime.html Health Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:50:13 EST news279805806 Researchers in Belgium also show how dogs can help patients with severe sleep problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-dogs-sleepy-patients.html Health Thu, 13 Dec 2012 18:30:03 EST news274642645 It's a popularly held belief that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gravitate toward STEM majors in college (science, technology, engineering mathematics). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-youth-autism-gravitate-stem-majors.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:16:37 EST news272207790 Patients with diabetes have a significantly higher prevalence of hearing impairment than patients without diabetes, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). Study authors note that the finding is likely to be independent of the effect of aging or a noisy environment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-diabetic-patients-higher-prevalence-impairment.html Diabetes Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:06 EST news272047389 In general, a deaf or hearing-impaired child knows fewer words than a child who can hear well. Researcher Karien Coppens of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) discovered that the weakness in vocabulary is the greatest when it comes to difficult words for which an in-depth understanding of their meaning is required. A limited vocabulary is the most important cause of problems in reading comprehension. An electronic vocabulary test, which will be used in primary schools for children with special needs, has been developed on the basis of the research results. Coppens gained her doctorate from Radboud University Nijmegen on 5 October 2012. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-deaf-children-vocabulary-words-difficult.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:14:53 EST news271070076 (Medical Xpress)—New research published online first in The Lancet Neurology highlights the long-term, often hidden, after-effects of meningitis in children. The study, led by Professor Russell Viner at the UCL Institute of Child Health, shows that 1 in 3 children who have experienced meningococcal group B disease (MenB), the most common type of bacterial meningitis in the UK, will be left with after-effects. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-children-survive-meningitis-after-effects.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:10:01 EST news265015099 While Road Rippers Lightning Rods, Let's Rock Elmo and the I Am T-Pain musical microphone might be sought-after gifts this holiday season, parents should ensure that their children don't risk permanent hearing damage by misusing them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-urge-caution-noisy-toys.html Health Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:54:09 EST news243273222 In a summer with unprecedented weather events, from tornados, floods, fires and hurricanes, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing found that physiological changes associated with aging and the presence of chronic illness make older adults more susceptible to illness or injury, even death, during a disaster. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-elderly-long-term-residents-cognitively-disasters.html Health Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:04:03 EST news238410235 (Medical Xpress) -- Excessive noise is not the only thing that causes damage to hearing. In many cases, genetic factors are responsible for the loss of hearing at a young age. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin together with colleagues from Nijmegen have discovered a previously unknown genetic cause of progressive hearing impairment: the disease is caused by mutations of the SMPX (small muscle protein) gene, which is located on the X chromosome. It was not previously known that this gene, which is active in the skeletal muscle and heart, also plays a role in hearing. The discovery will make it easier to diagnose progressive hearing impairment and may also provide a starting point for the development of new treatment methods. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-mutated-muscle-protein-deafness.html Genetics Mon, 30 May 2011 10:27:41 EST news225969946 The prevalence of frailty, which is linked to earlier death, increases throughout adulthood as people age and not just after age 65, found an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Relatively good fitness levels at all ages were predictive of lower mortality and less reliance on health care services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-frailty-adults-linked-health-outcomes.html Health Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:37:05 EST news223043792