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«Children can ‘grow out of’ autism, psychologists say, challenging the established view that autism is a permanent, incurable condition,» The Independent has reported.

The story is based on a study that documented a group of individuals with an early history of diagnosed autism. These individuals no longer met the criteria for this diagnosis in later life and seemed to function normally.

The study compared the functioning of this group with a group consisting of people with high functioning autism (often referred to as Asperger syndrome) and a second group of people who were developing or ha...

Children are growing up in a sea of radiofrequency radiation that has never existed in human history. In America today, about twenty million children under the age of fourteen have cellphones. Increasingly, scientists and policy makers in tech-savvy nations like Israel and Finland are concerned that the ways these devices are used imperil the brain. The iPhone plastic baby rattle case protects the phone’s glass screen from cracking when chomped on by teething babies, but does not protect the infant’s young brain from the phone’s pulsed digital microwave radiation.

This proliferation of ...

Obese children — already known to be at higher risk for heart disease and other ills in adulthood — may also experience more immediate problems, including asthma, learning disabilities and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a new study.

«Childhood obesity not only has long-term impact in terms of future heart disease, diabetes and other problems that we have been hearing so many things about,» said study author Dr. Neal Halfon, director of the Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities at the University of California, Los Angeles.

«It also has an immediate impa...

Doctors need to ask — and parents need to tell. That’s the upshot of a new study showing a distressing number of Canadians aren’t telling their physician, or pharmacist, when treating their kids with both alternative and conventional medicines. That’s a combination that carries potential risk to patients, especially the very young.

A variety of possible interactions can result when blending standard prescription drugs with alternative medicine, especially herbal remedies...

Denise Adams, Ph.D., from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and colleagues surveyed parents to examine the prevalence and patterns of CAM use in subspecialty clinics at one children’s hospital in western Canada (Edmonton) and one in central Canada (Ottawa).

The researchers found that CAM use was significantly higher at the western hospital (71 percent) than the central hospital (42 percent), despite similar demographic characteristics of the two populations. The majority of parents agreed or strongly agreed that they felt comfortable discussing use of CAM in their clinic...

Children with chronic health conditions are regularly treated with alternative therapies, according to a new Canadian study that suggests the use of so-called «complementary and alternative medicine» in pediatrics is on the rise. Many children in the study took multivitamins or minerals, while others tried treatments like massage, aromatherapy and chiropractic manipulation.

«The use of [alternative medicine] is always going to be much higher in those kids who have a specific condition, particularly one not well-treated with conventional medicine, because parents are always asking, ‘What can I ...

SCOFFING junk food three times a week may lead to asthma and eczema in kids, a study has revealed.

Scientists fear the high saturated fat levels lower children’s immune systems.

A research project involving more than 50 countries found that teenagers who ate food such as burgers three times a week or more were 39 per cent more likely to get severe asthma. Younger kids were 27 per cent more at risk.

Both were also more prone to the eye condition rhinoconjunctivitis. But three weekly portions of fruit and veg cut the risk by 14 per cent in the younger group and 11 per cent among the teens.

Res...

Children age 12 to 35 months who receive DTaP vaccine in their thigh muscle rather than their arm are around half as likely to be brought in for medical attention for an injection-site reaction. So says a new study of 1.4 million children at Group Health and seven other Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) centers across the country, e-published on January 14 in Pediatrics.

«These local reactions are the most common side effect of vaccinations,» said study leader Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute...

Could it be «Low T”?

By now, you’ve probably heard this line or seen a multitude of TV or newspaper ads for testosterone gel products. Drug makers have been tapping into this billion dollar market aimed at men over 40, which is when men may start to feel the signs of aging and decreased desire for sexual relations. The gel is easy to use. It’s applied once daily to the shoulders or upper arms. AndroGel can also be applied to the abdomen.

Testosterone is the body’s male hormone. It is primarily responsible for the normal growth and development of male sexual and reproductive organs...

A smartphone application that has potential to help children with autism communicate more effectively is now available for download.

Developed by Keith Allen, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a child psychologist at UNMC’s Munroe-Meyer Institute, the app uses evidence-based naturalistic teaching procedures to foster communication.

«We wanted to help parents do more to help their children learn basic communication skills...