http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—Five tests and procedures that obstetricians/gynecologists and their patients should question the need for are outlined in a list released by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) as part of the Choosing Wisely campaign. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-ob-gyn-group-procedures.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Sun, 03 Mar 2013 14:48:47 EST news281544522 A new study from a Tel Aviv University researcher says that children with learning disabilities develop less secure attachments with mothers and teachers, and that closer and more secure relationships with parents and adults may help them overcome these disabilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-closer-personal-relationships-teens-disabilities.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 28 Feb 2013 12:05:27 EST news281275521 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 Several studies have found evidence that children who undergo repeated surgical operations with general anesthesia before the age of 4 may be at an increased risk for learning disabilities. In the March issue of Anesthesiology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers report an animal study indicating that several factors – age, the specific anesthetic agent used and the number of doses – combine to induce impairments in learning and memory accompanied by the inflammation of brain tissue. An accompanying paper from the same team finds that the offspring of mice that received a specific anesthetic gas during pregnancy also showed the effects of neuroinflammation and impaired learning. Both articles have been released online. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-neuroinflammation-general-anesthesia-associated-disabilities.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:57:52 EST news278251002 While a great deal of research on childhood obesity has spotlighted the long-term health problems that emerge in adulthood, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition's immediate consequences and shows that obese youngsters are at far greater risk than had been supposed. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-childhood-obesity-linked-health-problems.html Overweight and Obesity Mon, 14 Jan 2013 04:27:12 EST news277360007 Using brain scans of children and adults watching Sesame Street, cognitive scientists are learning how children's brains change as they develop intellectual abilities like reading and math. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-brain-big-bird-sesame-street.html Neuroscience Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:00:05 EST news276434099 India's Supreme Court said Thursday that unregulated clinical trials of new drugs were causing "havoc" in the country as it ordered the health ministry to monitor any new applications for tests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-drug-trials-india-havoc-human.html Medications Thu, 03 Jan 2013 05:45:45 EST news276414338 An international team of geneticists, pediatricians, surgeons and epidemiologists from 23 institutions across three continents has identified two areas of the human genome associated with the most common form of non-syndromic craniosynostosis ― premature closure of the bony plates of the skull. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-basis-birth-defect-premature-skull.html Genetics Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:00:09 EST news272463188 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 (Medical Xpress)—A formulation of the hormone progesterone, shown to be effective in women at risk for another preterm birth because they had a prior preterm birth, was not found to be effective in preventing preterm birth for women in their first pregnancy who have a short cervix, according to a National Institutes of Health network study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-progesterone-preterm-birth-high-group.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:42:11 EST news269764919 (Medical Xpress)—The stresses of poverty—such as crowded conditions, financial worry, and lack of adequate child care—lead to impaired learning ability in children from impoverished backgrounds, according to a theory by a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health. The theory is based on several years of studies matching stress hormone levels to behavioral and school readiness test results in young children from impoverished backgrounds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-stresses-poverty-impair-ability-young.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:50:01 EST news265538399 A drug originally developed to stop cancerous tumors may hold the potential to prevent abnormal brain cell growth and learning disabilities in some children, if they can be diagnosed early enough, a new animal study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-cancer-drug-potentially-disabilities-kids.html Cancer Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:49:46 EST news265459779 Good health helps children with stressful transitions from elementary school to middle school, finds a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health. Students with chronic conditions such as asthma, obesity, learning disabilities, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and those with health-related needs, were noted to have lower academic performances. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-good-health-grades-students-puberty.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:20:02 EST news265447265 As a result of extensive research and a robust new classification system conducted by academics at Canterbury Christ Church University, athletes are now eligible to compete again in the London 2012 Paralympics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-re-introduces-athletes-difficulties-paralympic-games.html Other Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:21:26 EST news264842476 First-time mothers who pay attention to their emotional and physical changes during their pregnancy may feel better and have healthier newborns than new mothers who don't, according to research to be presented at American Psychological Association's 120th Annual Convention. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-psychology-possibilities-health-happiness.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:20:03 EST news263125196 Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a very rare disorder that causes paralysis that freezes one side of the body and then the other in devastating bouts that arise at unpredictable intervals. Seizures, learning disabilities and difficulty walking are common among patients with this diagnosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-gene-discovery-mysterious-paralysis-childhood.html Genetics Sun, 29 Jul 2012 13:00:27 EST news262781153 Stem cells that come from a specific part of the developing brain help fuel the growth of brain tumors caused by an inherited condition, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-pediatric-tumors-stem-cells-brain.html Cancer Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:00:14 EST news261052534 Adults with learning disabilities are ten times more likely to be blind or have impaired vision according to researchers from Lancaster University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-adults-disabilities-greater-sight-problems.html Ophthalmology Mon, 02 Jul 2012 07:47:04 EST news260434011 (HealthDay) -- Youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are at high risk for not participating in postsecondary education or employment, particularly in the first two years after high school, according to a study published online May 14 in Pediatrics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-youth-asd-poor-postsecondary-outcomes.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:01 EST news256228928 (AP) -- One in 3 young adults with autism have no paid job experience, college or technical schooling nearly seven years after high school graduation, a study finds. That's a poorer showing than those with other disabilities including those who are mentally disabled, the researchers said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-autistic-young-adults-lack-jobs.html Pediatrics Mon, 14 May 2012 04:00:01 EST news256185791 A recently evolved pattern of gene activity in the language and decision-making centers of the human brain is missing in a disorder associated with autism and learning disabilities, a new study by Yale University researchers shows. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-evolution-gift-root-autism.html Genetics Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:10 EST news255868881 Overcoming a learning disability to become a physician will actually help in being compassionate toward patients, writes a medical student of his struggle with a severe reading disability in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-disability-physician-in-training-doctor.html Health Mon, 07 May 2012 12:00:02 EST news255605444 The challenges that come with battling a chronic medical condition or developmental disability are enough to get a young person down. But being left out, ignored or bullied by their peers is the main reason youths with special health care needs report symptoms of anxiety or depression, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-left-youths-special-depression.html Pediatrics Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:33:53 EST news254903612 Readers whose mother tongue is Arabic have more challenges reading in Arabic than native Hebrew or English speakers have reading their native languages, because the two halves of the brain divide the labor differently when the brain processes Arabic than when it processes Hebrew or English. That is the result of a new study conducted by two University of Haifa researchers, Dr. Raphiq Ibrahim of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities and the Learning Disabilities Department, and Prof. Zohar Eviatar of the Department of Psychology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-brain-involvement-language-graphic.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:17:15 EST news251547427 Tisha Lourens suffered brain damage when her mother drank during pregnancy. Now the slight teenager who was abandoned as a baby in a Cape Town hospital battles with learning problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-south-africa-grapples-toll-heavy.html Health Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:20:01 EST news248936790 Mayo Clinic researchers have found that multiple exposures to anesthesia at a young age are associated with higher rates of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-young-children-exposed-anesthesia-multiple.html Attention deficit disorders Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:31:05 EST news247375836 New research on autism in adults has shown that adults with a more severe learning disability have a greater likelihood of having autism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-university-leicester-autism-published-today.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:22:07 EST news247227717 Eighty-five percent of children's learning is related to vision. Yet in the U.S., 80 percent of children have never had an eye exam or any vision screening before kindergarten, statistics say. When they do, the vision screenings they typically receive can detect only one or two conditions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-comprehensive-accessible-vision-device.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:30:01 EST news246103732 Preparing to act in a particular way can improve the way we process information, and this has potential implications for those with learning disabilities. Researchers funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) have shown that using a grabbing action with our hands can help our processing of visual information. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-actions.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:24:22 EST news245953443 (Medical Xpress) -- An analysis of five previous studies has uncovered additional evidence of the effectiveness of progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone, in reducing the rate of preterm birth among a high-risk category of women. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-additional-benefits-progesterone-preterm-birth.html Health Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:06:31 EST news243155183