ArchivesTag : journal
Are you sufficiently worried about the risk of choking? Probably not, pediatricians say.
Parents, the American Academy of Pediatrics wants you to know that you probably don’t worry enough about the risk that your children may choke to death . And you’re not alone. The pediatricians’ group also thinks the federal government isn’t doing enough to protect children from choking hazards either. It may sound funny, but choking is one of the leading causes of injury and death in children, especially those under age 3 who have yet to develop mature airways and are still mastering the crucial life skills of chewing and swallowing. An analysis by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 17,537 kids under the age of 15 were brought to hospital emergency rooms after choking in 2001 alone. Almost 60% of those kids choked on food, and about 30% choked on coins or other foreign objects. (In the rest of the cases, the cause was unknown.) In addition, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission documented 449 choking deaths involving non-food items between 1972 and 1992. But food is the most dangerous threat to children’s airways, according to a 1984 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. That study found that aspirated food caused one death in the U.S. every five days. Hot dogs alone accounted for 17% of those deaths among kids below the age of 10. In a new policy statement on choking being published Monday in the journal Pediatrics , the academy explains why hot dogs pose a singular danger. A hot dog “is cylindrical, airway sized, and compressible, which allows it to wedge tightly into a child’s hypopharynx and completely occlude the airway.” Hot dogs aren’t the only risky foods. Other edible dangers include hard candy, peanuts, nuts and seeds, whole grapes, raw carrots, apples, popcorn, peanut butter chunks, marshmallows, chewing gum and sausages, according to the academy’s Committee on Injury, Violence, and Poison Prevention. Pediatricians should do more to make parents aware of the choking risks posed by food, toys and coins. Likewise, food manufacturers should take choking risks into account when they design food products and should redesign existing foods “to avoid shapes, sizes, textures, and other characteristics that increase choking risk to children,” according to the statement. The academy’s policy statement also includes a long to-do list for government regulators too. For example, the group says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration should: Require manufacturers to label foods that pose the greatest choking risk; Create a surveillance system to track and prevent choking-related injuries and deaths; and Conduct public education campaigns about the choking hazards. The academy also calls on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to: Work harder to make sure toys sold in vending machines, store bins and online include warnings about choking hazards; Convince toy makers to conduct more effective recalls of dangerous toys; Step up efforts to prevent toys from being sold on eBay and other online auction sites after they have been recalled. For more information on choking risks, check out this useful guide from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. — Karen Kaplan Photo: Pediatricians say these hot dogs should come with a warning label. Photo credit: Mark Lennihan/Associated Press
Full StoryAnother study finds no link between mouse virus and chronic fatigue syndrome
For the second time in as many months, researchers have been unable to replicate a controversial study which showed that many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome carry a virus that might be linked to the disease. Researchers are now trying to figure out whether the discrepancies result from studying different patient populations or from fundamental problems between the laboratories involved. Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome (CFIDS),
Full StoryGoing through two tubes a week of Poligrip? You might want to reconsider.
Denture wearers tend to want their dentures to stay in place. As this is not a fleeting or a temporary need, they must use adhesives for the long term. Some of them likely and perhaps understandably
Full StoryAlcohol and young women drivers: a deadly combination
Drinking and driving is always a concern with young people, but a new study shows there may be fewer reasons to worry about young male drivers and more reasons to be concerned about young female drivers. Alcohol is becoming more of a factor in car crashes involving young women. Researchers from UC San Diego, UC Irvine and Yale University looked at data on fatal road traffic collisions from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1995 to 2007 and broke young drivers down into the following age categories: 16, 17, 18, 19-20, and 21-24. During that time, 179,891 drivers age 16 to 24 were involved in fatal accidents. Overall, more men than women were involved in crashes. However, when broken down, the numbers tell more: Rates for fatal crashes for young men fell by 2.5 crashes per 100,000 per year, decreased in men up to the age of 20, and stayed steady for ages 21 to 24. Rates for young women decreased by 0.8 per 100,000 for 16-year-olds, didn't change for 17 and 18-year-olds, and increased 0.7 for 19 and 20-year-olds and 0.6 for 21 to 24-year-olds. The number of young women involved in fatal crashes who had a positive blood alcohol test also increased proportionately over young men–3.1% versus 1.2%. The biggest increase in all deadly crashes was seen in the number of drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .15% of more — almost twice the legal limit in California, which is .08%. For men that rose 2.4%, for women, 2%. In the study, the authors note that substance abuse is growing among young women, and write, “Overall, these findings should raise the urgency of implementing effective gender-specific countermeasures to alcohol-impaired driving, including messages and education targeted to women in this age group.” The study was released today in the journal Injury Prevention . –Jeannine Stein Photo credit: Steve Osman / Los Angeles Times
Full StoryFacebook profile reflects the true you
Online social networking sites have become a huge part of socializing. People 30 and younger, in particular, use Facebook and My Space to interact with friends throughout the day. However, there has been very little research on whether the people behind the page are the same people face to face. One prevailing theory in psychology is that people use their social networking pages to protect an idealized version of themselves, not the person they really are. In one of the first studies to look at this question, researchers
Full StoryNew vaccine storage technology could revolutionize immunization in the developing world
British researchers have devised a way to capture vaccines in a glass-like membrane composed of sugar, a feat that could eliminate the need for refrigeration of vaccines and revolutionize their distribution in the developing world. Tests have shown that the technique can preserve vaccines for as long as a year at tropical temperatures, according to the report Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine . Most current vaccines, especially those for children, require refrigeration or freezing for storage. That adds at least $200 million to the cost of distributing vaccines in developed countries and can produce an insurmountable barrier in many developing countries that don't have the infrastructure for such efforts. The need for vaccines that don't require refrigeration has been identified as one of the Grand Challenges in Global Health , a partnership launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The candy-coated vaccines were developed by a team headed by Dr. Matt Cottingham of Oxford University and are being developed by British specialist manufacturer Nova Bio-Pharma Technologies. The concept is simple: The vaccine is mixed with a solution of the sugars trehalose and sucrose. The mixture is then left to dry out on a simple filter or membrane. As it dries and the water evaporates, the vaccine mixture first turns into a thick syrup, then crystallizes into a stable glass-like membrane. When water is added, the mixture instantly dissolves and is ready to be injected. Cottingham and his colleagues reported that they studied the technology with two prototype live-virus vaccines they are developing, one based on an adenovirus (the family that includes cold viruses and viruses used in gene therapy)
Full StoryNew Data Analysis Shows Possible Link between Childhood Obesity and Allergies
A new study indicates there may be yet another reason to reduce childhood obesity — it may help prevent allergies. The study published in the May issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology showed that obese children and adolescents are at increased risk of having some kind of allergy, especially to a food. The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), both parts of the National Institutes of Health.
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