When Giuseppina Miller’s 8-year-old son, Peter, was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, he necessarily got a lot of his parents’ attention. “We tried to adjust pretty well, but I was getting no sleep because I had to check his blood sugar in the middle of the night, and I was worried all the time.…  read on >

For older adults with a urinary tract infection (UTI), antibiotic treatment should begin immediately to prevent serious complications, a new British study finds. Delaying or withholding antibiotics in this age group can increase the risk of bloodstream infection (sepsis) and death, researchers reported Feb. 27 in the BMJ. The findings suggest that doctors should “consider…  read on >

Nicotine use among teens is soaring, but not because of traditional cigarettes. E-cigarettes are the most common form of smoking among youth in the United States, the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens says. Although they’re commonly marketed as safer alternatives, they still put teens at risk, the agency says. Young people who use…  read on >

If you’re in a frequent tug of war with your kids over turning off their gadgets, it could be the tactic you use when you try to persuade them to disengage. It turns out that giving 1- to 5-year-olds a time warning that screen viewing is about to end makes the transition away from a…  read on >

The actual number of childhood cancer cases worldwide is nearly double the recorded number, a chilling new study finds. “Our model suggests that nearly one in two children with cancer are never diagnosed and may die untreated,” said study author Zachary Ward. He is a researcher at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health in…  read on >

Feeling trapped behind a desk, a counter or on the factory floor does no favors for the mind. Now, research helps confirm that women with jobs that demand long hours may be more prone to depression. Researchers found that compared with women who worked a standard 40-hour week, those who were on the clock 55…  read on >

Obesity and severe obesity have been added to the list of conditions that put children and teens at increased risk for early heart disease. So says a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). “Parents need to know that some medical conditions raise the chances of premature heart disease, but we are learning…  read on >

Flu season is in full swing. Thousands of children under the age of 5 have been hospitalized for the flu in the last decade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. The CDC suggests following these precautions to protect younger children: Keep yourself and the child away from people who are sick. If…  read on >

When parents abuse prescription painkillers, their teenagers may follow their example, a new study finds. The study of thousands of U.S. teenagers found that kids were 30 percent more likely to abuse prescription opioids if one of their parents had. The results mirror what’s been seen in past studies of substance use, including cigarette smoking:…  read on >

Kids can be as strongly influenced by TV commercials as by the shows themselves, and many studies have found that tempting food ads have a particularly harmful effect, contributing to childhood obesity. While the government has stepped in with nutrition guidelines for manufacturers, these are largely voluntary and, therefore, not enforceable. So it’s up to…  read on >