A new therapy corrects low blood sugar in children with a genetic disorder that causes the pancreas to produce too much insulin, researchers say. Congenital hyperinsulinism (HI) is the most common cause of persistent low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) in infants and children. “There are currently very few medical treatments for HI, and those treatments are… read on > read on >
Life would be much better for farm animals if children were in charge, a new British study suggests. Unlike adults, children believe farm animals should be treated the same as people and pets, and children are less likely to view eating animals as morally acceptable. The study included 479 people in England from three age… read on > read on >
Pfizer Inc. said Thursday that its booster shot raised levels of neutralizing antibodies against both the original coronavirus strain and the Omicron variant in children aged 5 to 11. They said in a statement that they would ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the emergency use of a booster for this age… read on > read on >
Rising coronavirus infections in New York state appear to be driven by two new versions of the Omicron BA.2 variant, and may explain why the state has been the national coronavirus hot spot in recent weeks, state health officials said Wednesday. The two subvariants — called BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 — accounted for more than 70%… read on > read on >
Health risks tied to obesity are often serious, with new research showing it boosts odds for heart failure among older women, especially those who go through menopause later than usual. Women whose periods stopped at 55 or after were at greatest risk, according to the study, published April 13 in the Journal of the American… read on > read on >
The structure of teens’ families influences their risk of delinquent behaviors such as shoplifting, graffiti or robbery, new research suggests. For the study, the researchers analyzed survey data gathered between 2016 and 2019 from more than 3,800 14- and 15-year-olds in Sweden. They used a statistical measure called incident rate ratio, or IRR, to compare… read on > read on >
As the number of known coronavirus cases worldwide hit 500 million on Tuesday, health experts called for increased testing, vaccination and contact tracing. There’s been a sharp rise in known cases so far this year, from 300 million in early January to 400 million in early February and half a billion now, The New York… read on > read on >
Immune system-triggered inflammation is the likely reason for the loss of smell reported by many COVID-19 patients, a new study finds. “As a neuropathologist, I wondered why smell loss is a very common symptom with COVID-19 but not with other respiratory diseases,” said lead study author Dr. Cheng-Ying Ho. She is an associate professor of… read on > read on >
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic kept people isolated at home, sexually transmitted disease (STDs) cases increased across the United States. Although cases fell in the pandemic’s early months, infections rose again by the end of 2020, with gonorrhea, syphilis and congenital syphilis surpassing 2019 levels, according to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and… read on > read on >
Drug overdose deaths among America’s teens have skyrocketed during the pandemic, and not because drug use is more common, researchers report. In 2020, overdose deaths among adolescents nearly doubled, compared with 10 years before the pandemic. They rose another 20% in the first six months of 2021, a new study finds. “Teen drug use rates… read on > read on >
