Genomic Functions – Health News

Posts Tagged ‘Children’

In cities, children with poorly controlled asthma or skin allergies may be more likely to develop food allergies.

Researchers found that among 228 children cared for residents of New York at his clinic, that 28 percent had allergies to eggs, peanuts and milk, among others, when the rate of food allergies in the child population in the United States is 4 percent. And 71 percent were sensitive to at least one food, which means that the immune system blood had antibodies against this product. In other words, the organism was alert and had more risk of an allergic reaction. That figure also exceeds the average number.

Most of these children (62 percent) had never had a bad reaction to a food. But I had done test because they were asthmatic or had drug-resistant eczema. The participants were patients at a clinic specializing in allergies, so they do not represent the child population in the cities. Still, the results suggest that physicians who treat this population with asthma or eczema resistant “should be suspicious of food allergies,” said Dr. Julie Wang told Reuters Health. In such cases, said the lead author of the study, should undertake a detailed history of symptoms and refer the family to an allergy specialist if necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Children living in homes with visible moisture problems are at high risk of developing asthma and allergies, according to a new study.

Researchers found that in 61 international studies conducted since the 1990s, children living in homes with leaks and moisture are more likely to be asthmatic, wheezing or nasal allergies than others. This does not prove that moisture is the “trigger,” the authors write.

But laboratory tests have suggested that exposure to moisture and mold spores in the air can cause inflammation of the airways, said Dr. Christina Tischer, German Research Center for Environmental Health in Neuherberg. This highlights the importance of getting rid of moisture and avoid, she added by e-mail.

Tischer’s team selected the studies that had examined the mold, which is the most obvious indication of the problem, and separated from smaller ones in which the authors had analyzed samples of the mold components obtained in homes.

In general, children living in homes with visible mold were 49 percent more likely to have asthma than those not exposed to this fungus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disease Prevention (CDC for its acronym in English), almost 10 percent of U.S. children have asthma. Read the rest of this entry »

Scientists in Italy have good news for parents of infants with colic: a daily dose of a “good” bacteria help their children to mourn less. After 3 weeks under treatment with probiotic bacteria, a group of babies cried about half an hour per day, while a second group treated with placebo was still crying about an hour and a half daily.

At baseline, all babies crying from 5 to 6 hours per day. The exact cause of colic, which affects up to 28 percent of babies under 3 months is unknown, said Dr. Francisco Savino, Children’s Hospital Regina Margherita, Turin, Italy. In an email to Reuters Health, Savino said the cause “would be multifactorial” and include social and psychological factors, as well as allergies to certain foods such as cow’s milk.

The study’s lead author said recent research had suggested that infants with colic have a normal balance of bacteria in the gut. In the study published in Pediatrics and funded by BioGaia AB, Stockholm, a company that produces probiotic drops for infants, among other products with the bacterium L. reuteri, the researchers compared the “good bacteria” with placebo. Read the rest of this entry »

Appendicitis is one of the most common surgeries in hospitals of the country, although it is believed that only affects adults, the statistics of the National Institute of Child Health (INSN) show that during the first half of 2010 to 288 children participated, a figure close to that of adults treated in other hospitals.

Luis Cifuentes, Chief of General Surgery INSN explained that the total of 114 cases seen are girls and 174 children, 90 percent of care was conducted under 14, and 10 percent adolescents between 15 and 18. In the case of Hospital Emergency José Casimiro Ulloa, statistics reveal that during the first six months of the year, 385 people attended in the operating room. The figure includes both children and adults.

Avoid self-medication
The specialist advised avoid self-medication when there is evidence of any abdominal pain, and recommended moving the child immediately to the nearest health center, where the possible box diagnosed appendicitis. “The intake of pills or nonprescription drugs only aggravate the situation because the correct diagnosis difficult,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »