Extracts from the "Other" Journals relating to Children, Youth and
Families
in the fields of health, substance abuse, education, psychology, science
...
February 2008
Comparison of antipsychotic treatments in adolescents with schizophrenia
There is a wealth of scientific literature available on the treatment of adults diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, there is a paucity of data to guide the treatment of children and adolescents with schizophrenia. “Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the use of aripiprazole and risperidone for adolescents with schizophrenia, few controlled data are available to help guide clinicians regarding the management of children and adolescents with schizophrenia who fail to respond to these standard 'first-line' antipsychotic treatments,†according to Dr. Sanjiv Kumra. Dr. Kumra is one of the authors of a new study to be published in the March 1st issue of Biological Psychiatry, which was undertaken to help fill this gap in knowledge.
The authors recruited 39 children, 10-18 years of age, who had already failed to respond to at least two antipsychotic treatments, to participate in a 12-week, double-blind, randomized study †the most rigorous of clinical trial designs. After initial assessments, the patients received treatment with either clozapine or “high-dose†olanzapine (doses that exceed the package insert recommendations) and were monitored for improvement in their symptoms. The researchers discovered that clozapine was approximately twice as likely to produce a treatment response as olanzapine. Both positive symptoms (psychosis) and negative symptoms (blunted emotional response, reduced motivation) responded better to clozapine. John H. Krystal, M.D., Editor of Biological Psychiatry and affiliated with both Yale University School of Medicine and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, comments on the findings: “Olanzapine is among the most effective antipsychotic medications, so the distinctive effectiveness of clozapine in this study could be very important.â€
Dr. Kumra discusses this patient population: “The majority of these youth had histories of multiple hospitalizations, extreme violence, suicidality and trauma prior to study enrollment. Without appropriate intervention it is likely that many would have ended up in long-term care institutions, psychiatric prison settings, and/or experienced early death from drug use, violence, or suicide.†So, this preliminary data is hopeful, indicating that proper and effective treatment may be available for these adolescents, although there are also concerns.
Both medications produced significant weight gain and associated metabolic abnormalities. Dr. Krystal also adds that “clozapine has important side effects that have discouraged its prescription to children.†Dr. Kumra agrees, stating that “although clozapine is often considered as a treatment of ‘last resort’ because of its associated risk of agranulocytosis [a severe reduction in the number of white blood cells in the body], the striking symptom reduction observed in this clinical trial make apparent that clozapine has truly revolutionized the care of youth with treatment-refractory schizophrenia.â€
Dr. Krystal concludes: “The long-term risks of medications, such as clozapine and olanzapine, will need to be weighed against their potential benefits. Thus, additional research will be needed to follow-up on this exciting but very preliminary finding.â€
28 February 2008
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-02/e-coa022808.php
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UK
Teach sex in context, government told
Advocacy groups today welcomed the government's review of sex education in schools, but warned that putting sex into the context of relationships was paramount in cutting the UK's soaring rates of teenage pregnancy. Announcing the review of sex and relationship education (SRE) yesterday, the schools minister, Jim Knight, and children's minister, Beverley Hughes, said SRE had improved but delivery was still "patchy".
The UK has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe and ministers have repeatedly tried to tackle the problem.
The review will look at how to improve SRE teaching in primary and secondary schools and a steering group will be set up, co-chaired by Knight, Jackie Fisher, the principal of Newcastle College and Joshua McTaggart from the UK Youth Parliament. It will look at how to ensure that young people are provided with good SRE, irrespective of what school they attend, and how schools can share ideas on SRE and provide practical support for teachers in the form of good lesson plans, for example.
The group will also consider how schools can use outside professionals to add to SRE lessons, how SRE in schools can reflect the views of or complement parents' role, and whether schools should refer young people to specialist advice and support. It will also consider how to encourage headteachers, school senior management teams and governors to provide better leadership on SRE.
A spokeswoman for sexual health advisory service Brook said the review must produce clear guidance for schools about what SRE is appropriate and when it needs to start. "SRE needs to be in the curriculum from a very early age to help children negotiate relationships they do not want to be in and to resist peer pressure. Just because SRE has sex in it doesn't mean going on about or being graphic about sex with five year-olds. It's the relationships part that is so crucial. If schools don't put sex into context and build on that from an early age they are doing them an enormous disservice," she said. "We have so far failed to properly put sex in context for young people. It doesn't mean anything to them. We're still not very good at linking in sex to the rest of life."
A spokesman for the British Pregnancy Advisory Service also welcomed the review and said it would look at the role of parents in SRE.
The review follows a report from the Youth Parliament that found sex education in schools was failing. Knight admitted that SRE teaching is not up to scratch in some schools. "This is not acceptable. I want to look at what the best schools are doing and make sure every school follows their lead."
Hughes said: "We are continuing to make progress in reducing teenage pregnancy rates in this country and currently have the lowest level for 20 years. Good delivery of SRE is a vital part of our Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which is based on the best international evidence. Consistent delivery of SRE across England will also help to tackle teenage pregnancy in those areas that are still struggling with their rates and where local authorities have not fully implemented our tried and tested advice."
McTaggart said the UKYP had pushed to get better quality sex and relationships education into secondary schools across the UK and the review would be the first step.
Anthea Lipsett
26 February 2008
http://education.guardian.co.uk/sexeducation/story/0,,2260101,00.html
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Let's define 'learning disabilities' at last
The recent finding by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal over a lack of appropriate support for student Rebekah Turner indicates the serious shortcomings in understanding and support for learning disabilities in Australia. Now in year 11 at Ringwood Secondary College, Rebekah was awarded $80,000 in a discrimination case against the Education Department. The tribunal found she had been inadequately supported for her severe language disorder and learning disabilities.
Those to whom this article refers, including Rebekah Turner, may not be able to read it. About 10% of people have learning disabilities (sometimes called dyslexia). Compared with the US and Britain - and, more recently, New Zealand - learning disabilities have been ignored in Australia. The consequences are that these students are at risk of developing behavioural problems at school - of school dropout, mental health problems and delinquency. Policy and practice in Australia need to change to incorporate the significant knowledge now available to help this group.
In the UK and the US, the term "learning disabilities" is officially defined and is a part of policy and educational discourse and practice. In these countries, there are many schools established specifically to cater for the needs of these students; and in the UK many government schools have been awarded "dyslexia-friendly" status by the British Dyslexia Association.
In contrast, government inquiries in Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s argued against the existence of learning disabilities as a phenomenon intrinsic to the child. The genetic nature of the phenomenon that is now being indicated suggests that the US and UK decisions were accurate. Indeed, last year the New Zealand Ministry of Education finally recognised the need to take account of the particular needs of this group. Australia has yet to do so.
Because a shared definition of learning disabilities is not a part of Australian educational discourse, many teachers and parents are unaware of its genetic and permanent nature. In particular they are frequently unaware that learning disabilities are highly resistant even to skilled intervention. This includes the teaching of reading by phonic methods, which relies on the ability to analyse sounds, a processing skill that is very difficult for many students who have learning disabilities. Consequently, governments and the media frequently focus on literacy problems and assume these are due to inadequate pedagogy. At least to some extent they are likely to be due to learning disabilities.
It is also possible for Australian teachers to complete their training without being informed about learning disabilities and how to cater for the needs of these students. There is instead widespread confusion among Australian teachers over the terms "learning difficulties" and "learning disabilities". The terms are used interchangeably to refer to disparate groups of students, such as those who have intellectual disabilities, those who speak English as a second language, or those who have specific literacy skill difficulties despite their average to high ability in other areas.
This lack of precise information can result in teachers feeling they have failed their students, and push them to pursue yet another reading method as the way to achieve higher reading and spelling accuracy.
Lack of definition also precludes diagnosis. It is possible in Australia for students to progress through some schools without an accurate diagnosis that explains the difficulties faced by them and their teachers and that provides a basis for effective support.
This situation has been justified by a reluctance to apply negative labels to students. However, many who have learning disabilities recall being labelled - and labelling themselves - as stupid or lazy. Self-awareness and understanding, and taking control of the situation, are critical factors in achieving success for those with learning disabilities. Diagnosis is the first step in this process.
Finally, with such poor understanding of the phenomenon, there is little funding in Australian schools for programs targeted at learning disabilities. Knowledge of effective ways to cater for these students is available. It includes explicit teaching of targeted strategies, opportunity for revision, and use by teachers and students of mediums other than print. Furthermore, there is a need to teach these students to deal proactively with their circumstances. It is now known that the way students deal with their learning disabilities has more influence on their life outcomes than the learning disabilities themselves. Successful students and adults who have learning disabilities take charge of their lives, find compensatory strategies, persevere, and call on supportive parents and teachers.
At the Centre for Adolescent Health, in association with the education and paediatric departments of the University of Melbourne and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, we are researching the best ways to implement school-based programs that teach such adaptive coping. For now, however, students with learning disabilities are at risk of giving up, withdrawing socially or becoming disruptive in class.
Recognition of the problem and adequate funding for diagnosis and school support is urgently needed. A nationally agreed definition of learning disabilities, its compulsory study in teacher training, and at least one teacher with advanced specialist knowledge in each school would be an excellent beginning. Such support would prevent the economic and social costs that occur when students are not given the opportunity to develop their potential. It would help students such as Rebekah to succeed.
Nola Firth
25 February 2008
Dr Nola Firth is a research fellow at the Centre for Adolescent Health, Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.
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Cut salt to keep children thin: study
Reducing the amount of salt that children eat could provide a short-cut to keeping them slim, British researchers reported on Wednesday. They found that children who ate less salt drank fewer sugary soft drinks and could reduce their risk of high blood pressure and obesity.
Writing in the journal Hypertension, they said this could lower rates of heart attack and stroke in later life. "Sugar-sweetened soft drinks are a significant source of calorie intake in children," said Dr. Feng He of St. George's University of London. "It has been shown that sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption is related to obesity in young people," He added in a statement.
"If children aged 4 to 18 years cut their salt intake by half, there would be a decrease of approximately two sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week per child, so each child would decrease calorie intake by almost 250 kilocalories per week."
One pound of body weight equals 3,500 calories.
He and colleagues analyzed data from a 1997 national survey of more than 2,000 people between 4 and 18 in Britain. More than 1,600 boys and girls had salt and fluid intake recorded in a diary, with everything they ate and drank weighed. "We found that children eating a lower-salt diet drank less fluid," He said. "From our research, we estimated that 1 gram of salt cut from their daily diet would reduce fluid intake by 100 grams per day."
The children who ate less salt also drank fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks, and He predicted that a 1 gram reduction in salt would reduce sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption by 27 grams a day, after factoring in age, gender, body weight and level of physical activity.
He said parents should check labels, choose low-salt food products and not add salt during cooking and at the table. "Small reductions in the salt content of 10 percent to 20 percent cannot be detected by the human salt taste receptors," she said.
According to the American Heart Association, healthy adults should reduce their sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams or 2.3 grams per day. This is about 1 teaspoon of salt.
Americans and Britons consume up to 75 percent of their sodium from processed foods like tomato sauce, soups, canned foods and prepared mixes.
Maggie Fox
20 February 2008
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Teens, parents may not see a weight problem
Many parents of children classified as overweight or even extremely overweight do not perceive their child as being excessively heavy, with some wrongly believing that their child is "about the right weight," new research suggests. In addition, if the parent fails to perceive a weight issue, odds are the child will also fail to see a problem. These findings are "important" and "troublesome," the researchers say in their report in the medical journal Diabetes Care, because recognition that a child is overweight is a critical first step to making diet and lifestyle changes to promote weight loss.
Dr. Asheley Cockrell Skinner of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and colleagues interviewed 104 adolescents with type 2 diabetes and their parents about perceptions of the adolescents' weight, diet and exercise habits. To gauge weight perceptions, the teens and their parents were asked if they thought the adolescents were "very overweight, slightly overweight, about right, slightly thin, or very thin?"
While 87 percent of children were overweight by accepted standards, "only 41 percent of parents and 35 percent of adolescents considered the adolescent to be 'very overweight'," the team reports. Among parents who felt their child's weight was "about right," 40 percent had children whose body mass index (BMI) was at or above the 95th percentile. More than half (55 percent) of the adolescents who said their weight was "about right" had a BMI at this level.
Adolescents were more apt to underestimate their weight when their parents also underestimated weight than when their parents accurately perceived the child's weight. For parents and adolescents, underestimating the adolescents' weight was associated with poorer diet and exercise habits.
"Addressing misperceptions of weight by adolescents and their parents may be an important first step to improving weight in these patients," conclude the researchers.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care, February 2008.
19 February 2008
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Breathing dirty air may lower kids' IQ
Kids who live in neighborhoods with heavy traffic pollution have lower IQs and score worse on other tests of intelligence and memory than children who breathe cleaner air, a new study shows. The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead, Dr. Shakira Franco Suglia of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.
While the effect of pollution on cardiovascular and respiratory health has been studied extensively, less is known about how breathing dirty air might affect the brain, Suglia and her team write in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
To investigate, she and her colleagues looked at 202 Boston children 8 to 11 years old who were participating in a study of maternal smoking. The researchers related several measures of cognitive function to the children's estimated exposure to black carbon, a component of the particulate matter emitted in automobile and truck exhaust, particularly by diesel vehicles. The more heavily exposed children were to black carbon, the lower were their scores on several intelligence tests.
When the researchers adjusted for the effects of parents' education, language spoken at home, birth weight, and exposure to tobacco smoke, the association remained. For example, heavy exposure to black carbon was linked to a 3.4-point drop in IQ, on average. Heavily exposed children also scored lower on tests of vocabulary, memory and learning.
"It's within the range for in utero tobacco exposure and lead exposure," Suglia said in an interview. She pointed out that exposure to traffic pollution has been associated with a number of other harmful effects and that, short of moving away from heavy traffic areas, there's not much people can do to limit it.
She and her colleagues suggest that traffic pollution may exert harmful effects by causing inflammation and oxidative damage to the brain. They call for further research on the effects of pollution on the development of intelligence in children and on cognitive decline for people of all ages, including whether traffic exposure might cause or accelerate brain degeneration in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, February 1, 2008.
Anne Harding
15 February 2008
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Suicide rates: Lowest in 30 years, not affected by reducing antidepressant prescriptions
Two studies related to suicide performed by researchers from the University of Bristol report that:
1) suicide rates in young men are at their
lowest levels in 30 years and
2) the reduction in prescribing of antidepressants to people under the
age of 18 does not seem to be associated with change in suicidal
behavior in young people.
Both papers are published online at www.bmj.com
Authors of the first paper analyzed men and women aged 15-34 years in England and Wales between 1968 and 2005. The time trend analysis included data on mortality, population statistics and surveys, prescription information, and data on unemployment and divorce. The main finding was that fewer young men in England and Wales are dying by suicide than at any time in the last 30 years.
Specifically, the researchers report that:
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For 15-24 year-old men, the overall suicide rate dropped from 16.6 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2005.
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For 25-34 year old men, overall suicide rates declined from 22.2 per 100,000 in 1990 to 15.7 per 100,000 in 2005.
A reduction in unemployment and laws that have reduced the risks from car exhaust fumes are cited as contributory factors. The increased number of cars with catalytic converters - due to emissions legislation from 1993 - has led to a sharp reduction in exhaust gas poisoning; this has contributed to the falling suicide rates. However, there are several factors, including the suicide prevention policy initiatives in England and Wales, which have played a role in the decline.
The results for women are slightly different. Female suicide rates in the 21st century are at their lowest levels since 1968, but there has been a dramatic increase in the proportion of women aged 15-34 who commit suicide by hanging - 5.7% of all suicides in 1968 to 47.3% in 2005.
Co-author David Gunnell reports, "Favorable changes in several different factors - levels of employment, substance misuse and antidepressant prescribing as well as policy focus on suicide and vehicle exhaust gas legislation - may have contributed to the recent reductions."
In the second study, researchers analyzed three separate sets of data between 1993 and 2006: 1) Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) antidepressant prescriptions to 12-19 year olds in the UK, 2) annual deaths from suicide in 12-17 year olds in England and Wales, and 3) hospital admissions for self-harm in 12-17 year olds in England.
The main finding is that the recent restrictions prescribing antidepressants to children and adolescents in the UK has had no effect on suicide rates.
Although the regulatory restrictions led to a halving of antidepressant prescriptions, the study authors found no evidence of a temporal association between trends in antidepressant prescribing and deaths from suicide or hospital admissions for self harm. "These findings are important because they suggest that reduced access to antidepressants in young people appears not to have had an adverse impact on suicide deaths," conclude the authors.
In an editorial accompanying both articles, Gregory Simon argues that that sustained use of antidepressants is probably too infrequent to have much of an overall effect on the risk of suicide in people living with depression. "Clinical trials cannot determine whether antidepressants increase or decrease the risk of genuine suicide attempts or death from suicide because these outcomes are, fortunately, too rare. No deaths from suicide and few attempts at suicide have occurred to date in trials of antidepressants in adolescents."
Peter M Crosta
16 February 2008
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/97531.php
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Let's talk about sex
What exactly should students be taught about sex in public schools? And what are they being taught?
These questions have sparked contentious debate among parents, educators and political leaders. The debate has been stoked by the millions of dollars the federal government has pumped into abstinence-only programs that are given prominence at many schools around the country.
A University of Chicago Medical Center study published in the February issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, reveals that 30 percent of Illinois's sex education teachers have had no formal training and only 34 percent teach students how to use condoms. Teachers also reported being dependent on available curriculum materials, which tend to be of the abstinence-only variety.
A senior author of the study, Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, a physician and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago, spoke with Medill Reports about why the study is important, the role physicians can play in educating young people, and what can be done to improve the state of sex education in schools.
Q. What was the most important thing the study revealed?
A. First of all, most teachers say they have had some training, but some [30 percent] say they have no training at all. This is very concerning from the perspective of physicians. Although schools say they teach sex education, the teachers are not being trained. The teachers who are not trained say they are not comfortable teaching sex ed, and if the teachers aren't comfortable, it's unlikely students are comfortable with the knowledge they are getting in school.
Another important finding is that students are getting a strong message around abstinence. This is part of the message we need to give them, because [abstinence] is the only sure way to prevent STIs [sexually transmitted infections] and pregnancy. But it's not the whole story. They aren't getting info about how to talk to their partners about sex, about contraceptives and how to use condoms. Large proportions of kids are sexually active and need to learn to be responsible.
Q. Why do you think condom use is among the least frequently taught subjects, with only 34 percent of teachers showing students how to use them properly?
A. The single most important influence is the availability of curriculum materials to guide teaching, and those are sticking closely to the abstinence-only message. They aren't giving a comprehensive view of sexuality. Abstinence-only [curricula] were used by 75 percent of teachers in the study and they are not giving information about condom use. Availability is an important factor–but another factor is comfort with demonstrating condoms [in a classroom].
Q. Why is it important for sex education to be comprehensive and not just stress abstinence?
A. Literature shows that young people who have an open dialogue with their parents and are comfortable talking about issues are less likely to engage in risky behaviors. … Knowledge is power, and keeping secrets from young people about how their bodies work makes them more likely to engage in risky behaviors, not less likely.
Most physicians caring for young people also interact with their parents – and as a gynecologist I take care of women who are young parents. Doctors need to educate parents so they know how to talk to their kids about these issues – doctors can do better to prepare parents.
Q. Thirty percent of the teachers surveyed had no training in sex education. What needs to happen for sex education teachers to be better trained?
A. We need sex education to be one with health education, which kids get in schools. We need to have a broader approach on how to be healthy and how to be responsible for your health, and sex is a component.
Rachel Irwin
14 February 2008
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=78321
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Why children brought up by both parents feel the benefit for decades
Children behave better, learn more and are better adjusted if their father is involved in their lives, a major study shows. Researchers found that a good relationship between youngsters and fathers had a positive effect that could last for two decades. In low-income homes, regular contact was also seen to lead to less juvenile crime.
Anna Sarkadi, of Sweden's Uppsala University, where the research was carried out, said: "Our detailed 20-year review shows that overall, children reap positive benefits if they have active and regular engagement with a father figure.
"We found various studies that showed that children who had positively involved father figures were less likely to smoke and get into trouble with the police, achieved better levels of education and developed good friendships with children of both sexes. Long-term benefits included women who had better relationships with partners and a greater sense of mental and physical well-being at the age of 33 if they had a good relationship with their father at 16.
"It may seem obvious that what's worked for centuries is good for individuals and society, but that's what we found." She said the studies showed the value of the father's input as a role model from babyhood to the teenage years.
The review, published in the latest issue of the journal Acta Paediatrica, looked at 24 papers published between 1987 and 2007. The smallest study focused on 17 infants and the largest covered 8,441 people ranging from premature babies to 33-year-olds. As well as examining research from Sweden and Israel, the Uppsala team looked at large-scale studies in the U.S. and the UK.
They found that children who lived with both a mother and father figure had fewer behavioural problems than those who lived with their mother only. Behavioural problems in boys, and psychological problems in girls, were also less frequent. Intelligence, reasoning and language were more advanced in children who had good contact with both parents.
The researchers said it was not clear whether living with a biological father confers an advantage over living with a father figure alone. "Our review backs up the intuitive assumption that engaged biological fathers or father figures are good for children, especially when the children are socially or economically disadvantaged," added Dr Sarkadi. "Children who lived with both a mother and father figure had less behavioural problems than those who lived with just their mother. "However, it is not possible to tell whether this is because the father figure is more involved or whether the mother is able to be a better parent if she has more support."
Norman Wells, of Family and Youth Concern, an independent charity, said the study showed that fathers were not an optional extra. "Fathers and mothers complement each other and together provide a richness of care within the family that you can't replicate in any other setting," he added.
Jenny Hope
12 February 2008
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CANADA
Youth, especially females, vulnerable to deliberate self-harm - study
A new study suggests a significant number of young people deliberately hurt themselves, not as an attempt at suicide but as a way of coping with mental stress. Study co-author Dr. Mary K. Nixon said the survey of youth in Victoria is fairly limited but the results underscore the need for a wider national look at what she says is a little understood problem. "This is the first sort of true population-based survey we're aware of in North America, actually,'' Nixon, a Victoria psychiatrist whose clinical practice includes children who "self-harm,'' said in an interview.
"Obviously it's only local so the need for a broader look at this problem, I think, is important.''
The survey of Victoria youth aged 14 to 21 found 16.9 per cent of those interviewed - about one in six - reported self-harming behaviours, from cutting, scratching, hitting and burning to taking excessive amounts of medication or illegal drugs. The study published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal said 77 per cent of those who reported non-suicidal self-harm were female and 40 per cent admitted doing it more than three times.
The survey of 568 young people done in 2005 found most who admitted self-harm also reported depressive mood symptoms and other problems, and many had families with money problems. "The results of our study suggest that non-suicidal self-harm is common,'' the report concluded. "If non-suicidal self-harm is identified, the type and frequency should be further evaluated and youth should be assessed for associated risk factors.''
The report's authors say their results jibe with similar surveys in North America and Europe, including two Canadian studies of students in big-city schools that found rates of 13.9 and 15 per cent. They suggested, however, that the problem may be under-reported, either because surveyed teens had not yet tried it or were unwilling to admit doing it.
Nixon said the mental-health community has been aware of the problem for many years but the study warns that those dealing with kids should be vigilant for signs of self-harm.
While the research, carried out in conjunction with the University of Victoria and the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, so far does not suggest it's increasing, this study hints at its scope. "I think what we're finally doing is a study that's saying this is a prevalent problem,'' she said.
It's important to recognize that self-harm is not simply a way for kids to get attention, Nixon said. "It's not necessarily either an acting-out behaviour of a misbehaving teenager,'' she said. "A lot of these kids clearly are having difficulties.''
Steve Mert
9 February 2008
http://www.saultstar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=896251
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Teen dads' babies at risk for problems at birth
The babies of teenage fathers are at higher risk for problems such as premature birth, low birth weight and neonatal death, Canadian researchers said on Wednesday. The researchers looked at records relating to 2.6 million babies born in the United States between 1995 and 2000, and found a relationship between the age of the father and the health of the infant.
The babies of fathers age 19 and under were more likely to experience problems, according to the study. "This group is at high risk," epidemiologist Shi Wu Wen of the Ottawa Health Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, who led the study, said in a telephone interview. Compared to babies of fathers ages 20 to 29 -- the group with the best record for healthy offspring -- those with teenage dads were 15 percent more likely to be born prematurely and 13 percent more likely to have a low birth weight.
In addition, babies with teenage fathers had a 22 percent higher risk to die in the first four weeks after birth, a 41 percent increased risk to die in the period from four weeks to a year after birth, and a 13 percent higher risk to have a low Apgar score assessing physical condition after delivery.
Wen noted that previous research had found that babies of teenage mothers were at heightened risk for these types of problems, regardless of the age of the father. The new study focused on the father by looking at children whose mothers were ages 20 to 29 but whose fathers were of varying ages, ranging from teenagers to men over 50.
Wen said his team previously found that babies whose fathers were over age 50 were at higher risk for problems such as heart defects and Down syndrome. The new study did not look specifically at birth defects. But for babies whose fathers were in their 40s or older, the study detected no elevated risk for premature birth, neonatal death or the other adverse outcomes the researchers tracked.
The study did not say why babies of teenage
fathers were at higher risk. Wen said social factors were a more likely
explanation than possible biological reasons such as differences in the
sperm of teenagers compared to older men. The researchers said no
information was available on the socioeconomic status or lifestyle of
the fathers in the study. But they said teenage fathers are more likely
to come from poor families and have less education. Wen said the poor
may be less likely to use prenatal health services. He said other
factors that may be more likely with teenage fathers that could harm a
mother's health during pregnancy include domestic violence, smoking and
substance abuse.
The study was published in the journal Human Reproduction
Will Dunham
6 February 2008
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Bullying harms kids' mental health: study
A new study provides strong evidence that being bullied can cause children to develop depression and anxiety.
Among identical twin pairs in which one experienced bullying between the ages of 7 and 9 and the other did not, the bullied twin was significantly more likely to have symptoms of internalizing problems at age 10, Dr. Louise Arsenault of King's College, London, and her colleagues found. Internalizing problems are psychological problems in which negativity is directed inward toward the self, such as depression, as opposed to outwardly, such as conduct disorder.
This research "really supports the assumption or the belief that being bullied is bad for children's health," Arsenault told Reuters Health. And the fact that children were having these symptoms, which include frequent crying, fear of being alone, and stomach aches - at such a young age strongly suggests that they need help, she added.
Bullied children are known to be more likely to have anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide, as well as to experience social isolation, Arsenault and her team note in their report. But the question of whether bullying itself is the cause of these mental health problems remains open. It's possible, the researchers explain, that bullying and mental health problems stem from the same risk factors, such as living in a poor neighborhood or parental neglect, or even that a child with mental health problems is more likely to draw bullies' attention.
To investigate, Arsenault and her team looked at 1,116 twin pairs from a nationally representative sample of twins born in England and Wales between 1994 and1995. By looking at twins, Arsenault explained, they were able to account for the effect of family situation and environment, which could contribute to both bullying risk and the likelihood of having internalizing problems, because the twins share the same family background and the same environment.
Among the 114 twin pairs in which one child was bullied and the other wasn't, according to reports from mothers and teachers, the bullied twin showed significantly more symptoms of internalizing problems, such as worrying, being withdrawn, and feeling overly guilty. Having such problems early in life increases a person's future risk of depression and anxiety disorders, Arsenault and her team point out. The findings show, she added, that efforts designed to fight bullying should not only address the bullies, but should also offer support to their victims.
"They need support," she said. "Their symptoms are to be taken seriously."
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, February 2008.
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Study finds popular music awash in booze, drugs
They have lyrics such as "Tequila makes her clothes fall off" and "Breakin down the good weed, rollin' the blunt/Ghetto pimp tight girls say I'm the man."
U.S. popular music is awash with lyrics about drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Medical researchers have reviewed the words of the 279 top songs of 2005 to estimate just how common they are. Their report on Monday showed a third of the songs had explicit references to substance abuse. And two-thirds of these references placed drugs, alcohol and tobacco in a positive light by associating them with sex, partying and humor, according to the team led by Dr. Brian Primack of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. They calculated that with Americans aged 15 to 18 listening to 2.4 hours of music daily, they hear 84 musical references to substance use a day and more than 30,000 a year.
Certain genres contained more references than others -- for example, rap and country music far more so than pop. The study did not quantify references to sex, violence or expletives.
Primack noted that music and popular culture in general long have been infused with substance use references. "It's not going to be feasible or even desirable to censor these messages," Primack said in a telephone interview. "Probably a more empowering approach is to teach kids to analyze and evaluate the messages for themselves."
The study, published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, did not draw conclusions about the music's effect on young listeners. But the researchers said there is evidence that exposure to certain media messages can increase substance use among adolescents.
Primack's team used charts in Billboard magazine, a trade publication covering the music business, to identify the most popular songs of 2005 based on sales and airplay. They selected the 279 most popular songs from genres like country, pop, R&B, rap and rock, then sifted through their lyrics, counting references to drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Of those songs, 33 percent contained explicit references and 42 percent had some kind of substance abuse reference.
Rap first, country second
Seventy-seven percent of rap songs tracked in the study
contained such references, along with 36 percent of country songs, 20
percent of songs classified as "R&B/hip-hop," 14 percent of rock songs
and 9 percent of pop songs. Alcohol and marijuana were the most common
references found, with tobacco more rarely mentioned.
In "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off", country singer Joe Nichols sings: "She can handle any champagne brunch/A bridal shower with Bacardi punch/Jello shooters full of Smirnoff/But tequila makes her clothes fall off." In "Stay Fly," rappers Three 6 Mafia say: "Breakin down the good weed, rollin' the blunt/Ghetto pimp tight girls say I'm the man ... Let's get high ... smoke us one."
"While we have not had the opportunity to thoroughly assess the study, it's important to note that music is generally a reflection of society," said Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, the trade group for the U.S. recording business. Lamy said recording companies place parental advisory logos on albums stating an album contains explicit content.
"Parents play an essential role as well -- the music that children listen to is an importance choice, and parents are the first and most important teacher," Lamy said by e-mail.
Will Dunham
5 February 2008
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U.S. warns of suicidal actions with epilepsy drugs
U.S. health officials alerted doctors on Thursday that medicines used to treat epilepsy and psychiatric disorders may raise the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior.
The Food and Drug Administration said it analyzed studies of 11 epilepsy drugs including Pfizer Inc's Neurontin, Abbott Laboratories Inc's Depakote and Johnson & Johnson's Topamax. The studies included nearly 44,000 patients.The analysis found patients treated with the drugs faced about twice the risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior compared to others who got a placebo.
The FDA estimated there were two more cases per every 1,000 patients given the drugs instead of a placebo. About 0.4 percent of patients given the drugs reported suicidal thoughts or actions, compared with 0.2 percent of placebo patients, the FDA said.
Four people who were taking one of the epilepsy drugs committed suicide, while none of the placebo patients did.
The agency said it expected the risk was shared by all anti-epileptic drugs and that changes to the drugs' prescribing instructions would be applied broadly throughout the class.
Officials at Pfizer, J&J and Abbott could not immediately be reached for comment.
Lisa Richwine
31 January 2008
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