Health care news

Allergic? Kiss With Caution Pass on Peanuts Before Puckering for a Peck Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives June 14, 2002 -- Eating nuts before puckering up could send your mate reeling -- into the emergency room, that is. Researchers say a surprisingly large number of people with severe food allergies have reported potentially life-threatening reactions after kissing someone who's eaten nut products up to six hours beforehand. A report in the June 6 New England Journal of Medicine shows 20 out of 379 people with food allergies to nuts or seeds who were interviewed by researchers just happened to mention that kissing had prompted an allergic reaction -- even though researchers hadn't specifically asked them about it. "The possibility of an allergic reaction to a kiss is probably far from the minds of most people with food allergies ," write Rosemary Hallett, MD, and colleagues from the University of California, Davis. ...

Allergic? Kiss With Caution. Pass on Peanuts Before Puckering for a Peck Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives June 14, 2002 -- Eating nuts before puckering up could send your mate reeling -- into the emergency room, that is. Researchers say a surprisingly large number of people with severe food allergies have reported potentially life-threatening reactions after kissing someone who's eaten nut products up to six hours beforehand. A report in the June 6 New England Journal of Medicine shows 20 out of 379 people with food allergies to nuts or seeds who were interviewed by researchers just happened to mention that kissing had prompted an allergic reaction -- even though researchers hadn't specifically asked them about it. "The possibility of an allergic reaction to a kiss is probably far from the minds of most people with food allergies ," write Rosemary Hallett, MD, and colleagues from the University of California, Davis. ...

MMR Vaccine Is Safe Experts Say Benefits Are Proven, Risks Are Not From the WebMD Archives June 12, 2002 -- Despite overwhelming scientific evidence in favor of the safety of the MMR vaccine , some controversial research has raised questions about a possible link between this common childhood vaccine and developmental disorders such as autism. But now there is even more reason for parents to feel confident about the safety of the MMR vaccine. The latest dose of reassurance comes from a comprehensive review of the research on the MMR vaccine and its benefits and potential risks. In their report, Anna Donald, MD, and Vivek Muthu, MD, of Bazian Ltd, an independent healthcare research group in London, analyzed the most significant studies on both the MMR -- measles , mumps, and rubella -- and single measles vaccination. They found no scientific evidence that MMR or the measles vaccine is associated with autism . The researchers say the study clearly shows, however, that the vaccine vi...

Tobacco Laws Don't Curb Teen Smoking From the WebMD Archives June 5, 2002 -- Making it harder for teenagers to buy cigarettes doesn't necessarily make them less likely to smoke. New research shows there's no evidence that the widespread enactment of so-called "youth access" laws that make it illegal to sell cigarettes to teenagers has any effect on youth smoking rates. Researchers looked at nine recent studies on the issue and found no real difference in teen smoking rates in communities with tighter restrictions on youth access to cigarettes compared to those without. And there wasn't any sign that increased compliance by tobacco sellers with youth access restrictions produced any reductions in teen smoking . "Virtually all smokers smoke their first cigarette as teenagers, so it would seem logical that making it more difficult for teenagers to obtain cigarettes would reduce the likelihood that a teen would become a smoker," write the study autho...

Neighborhood Noise Harms Kids Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD From the WebMD Archives May 31, 2002 -- Noisy neighborhoods with high levels of everyday sounds like street traffic and trains may have a negative impact on children's mental health and behavior in school. And researchers say children born prematurely or with low birth weight may be especially at risk. A study published in the June issue of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is one of the first to look at the effect of everyday noise exposure on child development . Researchers found noise exposure was significantly related to problems in the classroom and even mental health issues in children. Researchers from the Institute of Hygiene and Social Medicine in Innsbruck, Austria, looked at the effect of environmental noise on more than 1,400 children aged 8 to 11. The children lived in a central Austrian area known as Tyrol, which has a number of small mountain towns and villages. The region contains a mix of indu...

Safe Drug Prevents Pregnancy Deaths From the WebMD Archives May 30, 2002 -- An inexpensive, readily available drug may be able to save the lives of tens of thousands of women who die each year during childbirth as a result of eclampsia , or toxemia of pregnancy. A major new study shows the drug -- magnesium sulfate -- can cut in half a woman's risk of developing potentially fatal seizures . As many as 8% of all pregnant women suffer from pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy-induced form of severe high blood pressure that can lead to eclampsia, which causes potentially fatal convulsions. Researchers estimate that approximately one-fourth of all deaths directly caused by pregnancy-related complications are due to pre-eclampsia and eclampsia. Although the conditions are relatively rare in developed countries, affecting about one in 2,000 deliveries, they are a much bigger public health threat in developing countries where frequency ranges from one in 100 to one in 1,700 births. Antiseizure ...

Egg Yolks Good Choice for Weaning Babies Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives --> May 24, 2002 -- Moms and dads of weaning infants may want to incorporate egg yolks into their babies' diet. This may be an easy and practical way to provide iron and other much-needed nutrients that may become depleted during this time.   Both breastfed and formula-fed infants face several important nutritional challenges as they approach weaning age of 4 to 6 months. For example, since breast milk is a good source of iron, iron-rich weaning foods are needed to prevent iron deficiency.   Formula-fed infants may experience a deficiency of a fatty acid known as DHA, which is vital to the growth and development of the brain . The FDA recently approved the addition of DHA to infant formulas in the U.S. to avoid this problem. Breastfeeding provides sufficient DHA. However, doctors still don't know if weaning foods high in fatty acids such as DHA are important fo...

Stronger Is Better for Heavy Kids Written by Daniel J. DeNoon Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives May 23, 2002 -- Strength training may be the best type of exercise for obese children, a Chinese study suggests. Most exercise programs for children stress aerobic workouts. These are great -- but heavy kids tend to drop out before they get much help. This led Rita Y.T. Sung, MD, and colleagues at Chinese University of Hong Kong to come up with a different idea. Instead of aerobic exercise , Sung's team put obese boys and girls on a strength-training regimen. During six weeks of summer vacation, these 41 youths aged 8 to 11 went to regular 75-minute training sessions. Each session included: 10 minutes of warm-up, 20 minutes of strength training (a maximum of 10 repetitions of near-maximum-effort work with major muscle groups), 10 minutes of aerobic exercise (treadmill), 10 minutes of agility training (dance), Five minutes of cool-down. All chil...

Meningitis Vaccine Working in U.K. Written by Daniel J. DeNoon Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD From the WebMD Archives May 23, 2002 -- Routine meningitis vaccination seems to be working in the first nation to try it: the United Kingdom. Faced with increasing rates of bacterial meningitis , the U.K. in 1999 began offering meningitis vaccine to everybody under the age of 18. The idea was that if enough people took the vaccine, even unvaccinated people would be unlikely to catch the disease. Did it work? So far, so good. A research team led by Martin C.J. Maiden of Oxford University finds that vaccination reduced the number of people carrying bacterial meningitis germs by two thirds. Their report appears in the May 25 issue of the journal The Lancet . The researchers found that about 70% of the 14 million people targeted were successfully vaccinated. That was enough, Maiden and colleagues think, to protect even people who did not take the vaccine . Follow-up studies will show wheth...

Vaginal Birth After C-Section: Risk Low Written by Daniel J. DeNoon Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives May 21, 2002 -- You've had a C-section. Now you're pregnant again and want to try normal delivery. What should you do? For most women, the surprising answer is this: decide for yourself. There are many things to consider. One of them is the latest report in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Gordon C.S. Smith, MD, PhD, of England's Cambridge University. Smith and colleagues find that the risk of a baby dying during labor is very low: a little more than 1 in 800. But that same study shows that the risk is 11 times lower if the mother plans -- and has -- a second C-section. The risk that the mother will die during labor is also very low (less than 1 in 2,000), but it's eight times higher than if she had a planned C-section. What does all this mean to a pregnant woman? "The absolute risk [of vaginal birth after...

Cancer Drug Helps Sickle Cell Patients Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives May 17, 2002 -- People who suffer from sickle cell disease may find relief from an experimental drug used to treat cancer patients. A clinical trial shows that decitabine works in sickle cell patients -- even those who don't respond to standard sickle cell treatments -- and produces fewer side effects. The study is published in the June 1 issue of the journal Blood. Although it can affect anyone, sickle cell anemia is most common in people of African descent -- about one in 500 black people suffers from the disease. It is caused by an inherited genetic mutation of the red blood cells that affects how the body creates hemoglobin -- the substance in the cells that supplies oxygen to cells throughout the body. The defective hemoglobin (called hemoglobin S) causes the red blood cells to take on a crescent or sickle shape and reduces their ability to carry oxygen where it...

You've Got the Cutest ... Monkey Face? Written by Daniel J. DeNoon Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives When looking at monkey faces, adults have a hard time telling one animal from another. Young babies have no such problem -- but they lose this ability by the time they are nine months old. Researchers studying mental development report the findings in the May 17 issue of Science magazine. One of the study authors is Michelle de Haan, PhD, of the Institute of Child Health at University College in London. "There are these really remarkable changes in the first year of life in the face-processing system," de Haan says in a news release. People usually think of babies as gaining more and more mental function, not as losing abilities as the mature. But there's a price to pay. Earlier studies showed that as babies get better at learning their native language, they lose the ability to hear differences between sounds spoken in a foreig...

Fewer High School Students Lighting Up From the WebMD Archives May 16, 2002 -- After nearly a decade of steady growth, researchers say teen smoking rates are finally beginning to fall. A new CDC report shows cigarette smoking among high school students peaked in 1997and has declined significantly through 2001. In 1997, more than 36% of high school students identified themselves as current smokers in the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, but that number dropped to about 35% in 1999 and 29% in 2001. The percentage of high school students who say they've ever tried smoking also fell from 1997 to 2001, from 70% to 64%. Those numbers echo several other recent national surveys that have also hinted that smoking rates among high school students peaked in the late 1990s and are now experiencing a healthy decline. Officials credit the decrease to a 70% increase in the retail price of cigarettes from 1997 to 2001, increased school-based tobacco prevention efforts, and heightened exp...

Ear Tubes Should Stay in No More Than Four Years Written by Jeanie Lerche Davis Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD From the WebMD Archives May 13, 2002 -- Plenty of kids get ventilation tubes put in their ears to prevent chronic ear infections, or otitis media . A new study shows that up to age 7 -- the period when kids are at highest risk for infections -- they can safely have tubes for two to four years. In fact, if tubes are removed too early, they may have to be reinserted, says lead author Mohamed A. El-Bitar, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist at Children's National Medical Center and the George Washington University in Washington. He presents his study this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngologists. In the study, El-Bitar and colleagues reviewed charts of 67 boys and girls under age 7, and 59 age 7 and older, who had ventilation tubes. In the younger group, 13% had some drainage from the ear and more than two-thirds needed to have thei...

Mom Is Best Defense Against Drugs Written by Jeanie Lerche Davis Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives May 10, 2002 -- Caring moms are the single best defense against teen drug use. A survey of nearly 4,000 European teens "underscore[s] the role of families, but especially that of mothers, in regulating the substance-related behaviour of young people," writes study author Paul McArdle, PhD, a child health researcher at Newcastle University in England. "Of course, some marriages come to an end -- but both parents could still take an interest in the kids, or perhaps be persuaded to do so," he says in a news release. "I believe that effective prevention of drug use is more about family relationships than any other factor." His report appears this month in the journal Addiction . In their study, McArdle and colleagues surveyed 3,984 young teens -- 14 and 15-year-olds -- selected at random in England, Ireland, Italy, Germany...

Kids in Preschool Get Less Leukemia Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD From the WebMD Archives May 10, 2002 -- Nursery school and day care attendance may do more than just stimulate children's minds and social skills -- it may also reduce their risk of leukemia by stimulating their immune systems. Researchers from several University of California locations identified all leukemia cases between 1995 and 1999 in children aged 1-14 in Northern California. They matched and compared these children with healthy peers of the same age, gender, ethnicity, and area of residence. Compared with the 140 children with leukemia, the healthy children were more likely to have attended preschool or day care, to have begun earlier in life and remained longer, to have had more children in their center, and to have spent more total time in these group environments. Their findings appear in the May 6 issue of the British Journal of Cancer . "Our study contributes to the idea that i...

Timing of Sex Not Linked to Birth Defects Written by Jeanie Lerche Davis Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD From the WebMD Archives May 9, 2002 -- It's been thought that the timing of sex -- waiting too long after ovulation -- can cause birth defects. However, a new study finds no link between aging gametes (egg and sperm ) and major birth defects like Down syndrome. "Overall, our findings are reassuring for users of natural family planning, for couples who have intercourse episodically, or for couples who have intercourse infrequently of their own volition for health or other reasons," writes Joe Leigh Simpson, MD, an obstetrics/gynecology researcher with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. His study appears in this week's issue of The Lancet . In their study, Simpson and colleagues reviewed records of over 600 infants born to women who had recorded timing (with regard to presumed ovulation ) of sexual intercourse leading to conception . These were all women at...

Seat Belts Keep Adults, Kids Safe Written by Jeanie Lerche Davis Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD From the WebMD Archives May 9, 2002 -- Here's good reason to buckle up in the car: Two new studies looking at seat belt and injury records, show that belts do offer good protection -- whether you're a child or adult. Both studies appear in this month's British Medical Journal . In the first study, researchers analyzed records of 470 children and 1,301 adults, all provided by 10 Canadian crash-investigation centers. They looked at use of seat belts by the vehicle occupants, and severity of injury in children and adults. The findings: overall, 40% of children were unbelted; 22% of children in cars driven by belted adults were themselves unbelted. Children were nine times more likely to have a fatal or moderately severe injury if they road unbelted in the passenger seat. For those unbelted kids in the back seat, the risk of having a bad or fatal injury was twice as high as f...

Episiotomy Rates Drop Sharply Written by Salynn Boyles From the WebMD Archives May 9, 2002 -- Episiotomy rates have declined steadily among women giving birth in the U.S. to about half of what they were two decades ago. Approximately one in three deliveries now involve episiotomies, but many experts say that is still way too many. Data from a nationwide survey revealed that 31% of women having babies in U.S. hospitals received episiotomies in 1997, compared with 56% in 1979. Women having the procedure were more likely to be young, white, and covered by private insurance. "Episiotomies have traditionally been performed to protect women from tearing, but in fact the exact opposite is true," says Anne Weber, MD, who presented the findings in Los Angeles at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). "Studies now suggest that women who have episiotomies tear more instead of less. The only time they might be justified is during a ...

Safety-Net Antibiotics for Ear Infections From the WebMD Archives May 8, 2002 -- Your baby is screaming in pain from an ear infection, yet your baby's doctor still won't prescribe antibiotics . Sound familiar? Next time you find yourself in this situation, maybe a safety-net prescription is what you need. Most ear infections improve without antibiotics . So many pediatricians find themselves stuck between what they and the parents feel is best for the child. Unnecessarily prescribing antibiotics can lead to drug resistance, which can make those pesky ear infections even more difficult to treat. But researchers from the Cincinnati Pediatric Research Group (CPRG) have developed a plan that they think could help solve the dilemma of how to treat ear infections. First developed by English researchers, a safety-net prescription is given to the parent to fill only if symptoms either increase or do not resolve after 48 hours. They presented their findings May 6 in Baltimore, Md., a...

Flu Vaccine Recommended for Infants From the WebMD Archives --> May 8, 2002 -- Starting with this fall's flu season, experts are now recommending that even healthy babies be given the flu vaccine to prevent potential complications. The new recommendation comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in conjunction with the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. It's a departure from previous guidelines that only recommended the flu vaccine for young children who are at risk for complications caused by the flu , such as children with lung disorders. The AAP says the change is due to recent studies that show that children in the 6- to 23-month age groups are at a substantially higher risk for influenza-related hospitalizations. A formal, full recommendation from the AAP to vaccinate children aged 6 to 23 months each year with the flu vaccine is expected to be announced in the next one to three years. Although adults normally receive the flu vaccin...

Secondhand Smoke a Threat Even Outdoors From the WebMD Archives May 7, 2002 -- If you're a smoker, and a parent, you probably step outside to indulge your habit, thinking this will protect your little ones from the dangers of secondhand smoke . Not true, a new study shows. "We wondered if parents who said they were not smoking in the home or near their children had an impact on the child's environmental tobacco smoke exposure," says study leader Judith Groner, MD, clinical professor of pediatrics at Ohio's Columbus Children's Hospital, in a news release. So her team measured the amount of cotinine -- a by-product of nicotine metabolism -- in the hair of 327 children, aged 2 weeks to 3 years, and their mothers. As expected, children whose primary caregiver smoked, and did so in the home, had the highest levels of cotinine. But kids whose parents reported smoking only outside the home also showed potentially dangerous levels of exposure, albeit much lower ...