Codeine is one of the drugs at the center of the opioid epidemic affecting adults and teens across the United States. There are also concerns about its effects on very young children — not addiction, but life-threatening events and deaths due to codeine’s side effects. Codeine has often been prescribed to kids to ease pain… read on >
Infertility affects about 1 in 10 couples that are trying to have a baby, the U.S. National Institutes of Health says. Advancing age is a prime cause of infertility, but there are other factors that are more under a person’s control, the agency says, including: Alcohol consumption. Smoking. Environmental toxins, including pesticides and lead. Certain… read on >
Is the dinner table a battleground at your house? Getting your kids to eat better doesn’t have to cause a fight if you follow these fast and easy strategies to enhance dishes that they already know and love. In some households, veggies and kids just don’t mix. But carrot fries have serious visual appeal plus… read on >
An average of two children die from burns and more than 300 are treated for such injuries in U.S. emergency departments every day, a burn expert says. Burns are one of the leading causes of death and injury in the United States, and children are particularly vulnerable. Young children are at increased risk for accidental… read on >
Infants who are given general anesthesia for an hour are unlikely to suffer harm, but the safety of longer and repeated exposure remains unknown, a new study says. Among more than 700 infants in seven countries, the researchers didn’t find any measurable neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems up to the age of 5. “Nearly half the… read on >
Marijuana legalization has been sweeping across the United States, raising concerns that more teens will start toking as pot smoking gains in legitimacy. A new study suggests that’s not the case. Researchers actually found fewer teen marijuana users in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws. States with medical marijuana laws had 1.1 percent fewer… read on >
Being late to school can affect your child’s ability to learn, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. Getting out the door on time in the morning can be difficult, the academy acknowledges, suggesting these ways to get your child to school promptly and avoid absenteeism: Track your child’s attendance on a calendar. Make sure your… read on >
Older women, beware: New research warns that drinking a lot of diet sodas or artificially sweetened fruit juices may increase your risk for stroke. In a study that tracked nearly 82,000 postmenopausal women, those who drank two or more diet drinks per day saw their overall stroke risk rise by 23 percent, compared with those… read on >
If you think that sibling rivalry can border on brutality at times, you won’t be surprised by new research from British scientists. They found that children are more likely to be bullied by a sibling if they have more than one, and firstborn children and older brothers are most likely to bully siblings, a new… read on >
New (and pricey) hepatitis C medicines, such as Harvoni and Sovaldi, are living up to their promise and greatly reducing patients’ odds for liver cancer and death, a new French study finds. The news came as little surprise to one U.S. liver expert. The advent of this class of drugs “has led to almost universal… read on >
