A new study by researchers at Hasbro Children's Hospital offers a closer look at the association between childhood sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), including snoring and sleep apnea, and behavioral problems like hyperactivity and anxiety.
Published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the study revealed that children with SDB who are also overweight, sleep for short periods of time, or have another sleep disorder like insomnia are more likely to have behavior issues.
"It's important for clinicians to consider the contributions of these risk factors when screening, triaging, evaluating and designing treatments for children with SDB, particularly since they can help identify those patients who are in need of aggressive interventions and close follow-up," says lead author Judith A. Owens, M.D., M.P.H., director of the pediatric sleep disorders clinic at Hasbro Children's Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Research shows middle-aged and elderly people in poor neighborhoods 'significantly more likely' to suffer mobility and cognitive problems.
Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School, South West England, has found strong links between neighbourhood deprivation and the physical and intellectual health of older people.
Two studies were conducted, both using data on participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA).
DPATue, 08 Apr 2008 17:53 UTC
Dengue fever infections are mounting alarmingly in Singapore due to a change to a more deadly strain of the disease, sparking fears of the city-state's potentially worst epidemic yet, news reports said Tuesday.
Unless the trend of infections is halted, health officials warn that the number of sick people could hit record levels within three years.
The number of infections from January through March is already 60 per cent higher than during the first quarter of 2007, said figures published in The Straits Times.
The brain cells responsible for triggering Parkinson's disease have been identified by scientists who believe the discovery could lead to new ways to treat the condition.
The "mother cells" which have been identified produce and use the chemical dopamine to transmit messages in the brain.
It is a depletion of these cells - so-called "dopaminergic neurons" - and the associated lack of dopamine which causes chronic and progressive symptoms including tremors, stiff muscles and slow movement in sufferers.
Andrew Stern
ReutersMon, 07 Apr 2008 17:30 UTC
People with depression are more likely to later develop Alzheimer's disease, according to two studies published on Monday, and one team said that chronic stress may damage their brains.
"What we think it suggests is that depression truly is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, and not simply a sign that the disease is developing," Dr. Robert Wilson, a neuropsychologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago who led one study, said in a telephone interview.
Toronto's public health agency is investigating a measles outbreak of four cases, but officials are emphasizing the risk of infection is considered low.
Toronto Public Health is focusing on one person who may have exposed other people to measles by visiting Toronto East General Hospital, a community health centre and a Wal-Mart last week.
The health agency says the risk to the general public is low because most people are immune to measles as a result of past illness and Canada's high immunization rates.
KXANMon, 07 Apr 2008 14:16 UTC
Allergies, insect bites and kidney stones seem to be plaguing Central Texas.
Dr. John Villacis with the Austin Diagnostic Center on North Mopac said oak allergy season is definately here, so if you have tree allergies, try to stay indoors and take some allergy medicine.
Villacis also sees a lot of stinging insect bites this time of year, especially bees and wasps. If you are allergic to these insects, be careful.
Central Texas is in the middle of the stone belt, an area that stretches through the southeastern states where kidney stone cases are high. It is something to watch out for, especially if you love to work out outdoors.
The suicide rate in Crawford County has steadily increased the past few years.
"We went from about 300 calls per year to 500 calls per year. During the past three months, we have had 115 calls for people at-risk of suicide," said Jonathan Suter, public relations officer for Community Counseling.
According to Ed Kirkpatrick, director of crisis intervention at the agency, the common denominator is always depression or a depressed mood.
"Contributing factors can be alcohol or drug use, the economic situation in the county such as loss of jobs, financial stress or the increase in costs of everything and relationship problems or divorce," Kirkpatrick said.
The agency helps people in distress.
Ryan Sabalow
ReddingMon, 07 Apr 2008 13:57 UTC
The suicide rate in Shasta County remained alarmingly high in 2007, despite a slight dip in the number of people who killed themselves compared to the previous year.
Forty-two Shasta County residents killed themselves in 2007 - a drop from 49 in 2006, according to annual preliminary cause of-death statistics released last week by the Shasta County Public Health department. Even with the slight drop, Shasta County's residents are more than twice as likely to kill themselves as other areas in the state.
As a dietician, Mississippi native and Orangeburg resident Rebecca Sibley was conscious of her food intake and caring properly for her body. So it was of great concern to her in 1986 when she began experiencing uncontrollable weight gain, among other symptoms.
"I had the moon face, the buffalo hump on the back of my neck, thin skin, I bruised real easily, and I had depression," Sibley said. "I knew something was wrong, being a dietician, but I just didn't know what was wrong. I knew I wasn't eating enough to be gaining the weight I was gaining."
