Children's bodies are fragile and need special care. A number of conditions, including developmental and behavioral disorders, affect children in particular.
When the swine flu burst onto the scene in April, the bug arrived with a few particularly ominous signs: The flu was resistant to a class of drugs often used to fight flu in the past, and experts were surprised that a nonhuman virus could have such rapid human-to-human transmission. Why was swine flu resistant to current medicines, and was this strain a new supergerm?
If you're feeling down, it can be hard to tell if you're experiencing a temporary case of the blues or a serious depression. Now a group of researchers say there's a relatively easy way to figure out whether some young adults are at greater risk of psychiatric problems or drug abuse -- just ask about their family.
Alternative treatments are as varied as the regions of the world they come from. And while they attract skepticism from some Western medical practitioners, they are an undeniable part of global health.
"Quick, I-V." "Is he breathing?" "Flip him over." "Heart rate? Pulse?" The nurses' commands and questions filled the recovery room at an Egyptian hospital.
No one expected them to live long.
Two federal agencies warned consumers Friday not to eat raw Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough.
When she was 2 years old, Sonali Mavinkurve caught a cold. But this time there was nothing common about it.
Despite spending more money than any other country on health care, the United States does not lead the world in life expectancy, a long-known fact that some experts say could raise more questions in the health-care reform debate.
Blockbuster movies are less likely to portray smokers than they have in the past, according to a new study. What's more, this decline in on-screen smoking may have occurred in tandem with a drop in the number of adolescents who have lit up in real life.
It's shortly after 5 a.m. when the phone rings, and on the line is a clearly anxious and worried parent.
Although it may have been Jon and Kate Gosselin's unusual family that landed them a reality show, it is their marital problems-- to which much of their audience can likely relate-- that have made them a household name in recent weeks.
Perhaps no one is watching the Daniel Hauser case in Minnesota more closely than Theresa and Greg Maxin in Ohio. Seven years ago, the Maxins found themselves fighting to keep their own son from having chemotherapy. But the two families' stories ended quite differently.
The death of boxing champion Mike Tyson's 4-year-old daughter after a treadmill accident highlights the issue of hidden dangers in the home.
The case of Daniel Hauser, a Minnesota teenager whose family rejected chemotherapy based on religious beliefs, raised questions about the rights of parents in determining medical treatments for their children. On Tuesday, the family consented to chemotherapy for the 13-year-old to treat his Hodgkin's lymphoma after the boy's tumor grew.
Jack Schwartz, 8, has had seasonal allergy symptoms in the past, but his parents never needed to give him medication.
As the summer swim season starts Memorial Day weekend, water quality and health experts have a message for swimmers: Please don't pee in the pool.
Lindsay Straub says it was her "dream job." Straub graduates from college Saturday, and just a few weeks ago, she was offered an entry-level position with an entertainment company.
Adults who were exposed to large amounts of secondhand smoke during childhood have lungs that look different on CT scans from those of people who grew up in a smoke-free environment, a new study suggests.
Public health officials are seeing a number of outbreaks of swine flu at schools nationwide, but closing those schools may not always be the best public health measure, a federal scientist said Tuesday.
Mothers often get blamed for the way their children turn out, and a new study gives additional weight to that accusation.
The average potency of marijuana, which has risen steadily for three decades, has exceeded 10 percent for the first time, the U.S. government will report on Thursday.
The size of a specific part of the brain may help experts pinpoint when autism could first develop, University of North Carolina researchers report.
The swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus, is all over the news. A string of cases have been reported across the United States, as well as across the globe, with Mexico the hardest hit country, so far.
The intrusive voices popped into William "Bill" Garrett's head. "They're coming for you," the voices told the 18-year-old. "Find somewhere to hide; they're going to get you."
Ahmed Hamdi wants to be a superhero when he grows up. A lot of people at his school will tell you he already is one.
For most Americans, mosquitoes are pests whose bites leave behind itchy bumps. But in other parts of the world, mosquitoes carry a disease called malaria that kills more than a million people each year.
If you're looking to curb your appetite and improve your memory, you're probably exercising, eating healthier foods and trying to get some sleep.
When Lana Phillip, now 45, decided to breast-feed her baby, she never imagined she would continue for three whole years.
Every week, Jackie Kaminer of Roswell, Georgia, buys fish for dinner at the local market. Although she knows it's full of nutrients -- including good-for-your-heart omega-3 fatty acids -- she's careful of the types of fish she brings home.
Naomi Zikmund-Fisher says her son's life was saved by her maternal instincts -- and her son's flat ears.
A five-eyed monster under the bed isn't what worries most kids. Experts say young people fear a lot of what's in the news -- from kidnappings to murders to salmonella.
Public health officials in Chicago said Monday that they have tested at least 10 family members of the medical intern linked to a tuberculosis scare in the city.
Nearly one-fifth of American 4-year-olds are obese, and children of color are at higher risk, according to new research.
A new study from Harvard Medical School found that babies who gained weight quickly had a sharply higher risk of obesity. The study followed close to 600 babies and found those in the top quarter of weight for their length at 6 months had a 40 percent higher risk of obesity by age 3 than smaller babies.
75 percent of U.S. adults are projected to be overweight or obese by 2015, according to researchers. Americans consume anywhere from 150 to 300 more calories than they did three decades ago and half of those calories come from liquid. A new study out of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that reducing liquid calories, especially from sugar-sweetened drinks such as punches, fruit juices and sodas, helps people lose weight and keep it off.
Heather Moores and her 4-year-old son, Julian, sat in a waiting room at a pediatrician's office.
William Searing is an Eagle Scout who loves hiking, adventure, art and sports. At age 19, he's in an education program that bridges the gap from high school to getting a job. Wil has autism.
For 8-year-old Ryan Mohar, an elevator isn't just an elevator. He spends hours pressing the buttons and riding up and down, preferring this to the slew of alternatives that his teachers offer -- even candy.
Twins? Triplets? Octuplets? Sounds like a lot of stress to handle more than one baby at once.
I saw it -- I'm not blind: The hair peeking from under those arms and the little sprinkle of it Down There, too. The curvy hips and shapely legs and the bubble booty that would make the über-curvy Beyoncé do a double take.
If you have a stash of pistachios in your house, pistachio ice cream in your freezer or trail mix in your backpack, don't eat any of it.
A group of seven preschoolers gathered at a small table in the center of a brightly lit classroom and started playing with plastic blocks.
Men who are circumcised are less likely to get sexually transmitted infections such as genital herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV), but not syphilis, according to a study of adult African men published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The average cost of medical care for a premature or low birth-weight baby for its first year of life is about $49,000, according to a new report from the March of Dimes Foundation.
The first swipe of the electric razor exposed a six-inch patch of bare skin on Dr. Craig Castellino's scalp. Within minutes, the pediatric oncologist with the Aflac Cancer Center in Atlanta, Georgia, was bald.
After his sister nagged him for eight years to go to the doctor, Kurt Berger finally had a physical late last year. Then in January, he received a phone call from his doctor: Tests showed he had prostate cancer.
Seven-year-old Heather McNamara was heading home Tuesday, a month after surgery that temporarily removed organs from her digestive tract to allow removal of a tennis ball-size tumor.
Ask third-graders what cholesterol means and they will probably just shrug their shoulders, but not Maddie Zacks.
CNN correspondent Sean Callebs has just finished a long assignment: living on food stamps during all of February. He tracked his experiences on the American Morning blog.
Is your kindergartner easily distracted? Maybe a little hyper? This might seem like typical child behavior but a new study published in the March 2009 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests it could be a red flag for a potential gambling addiction as he or she ages.
Watching television does not make babies smarter, according to a study released this week in the journal Pediatrics, adding to existing research that challenges the usefulness of baby educational videos and DVDs.
Your saliva is doing all kinds of useful things for you all the time -- for instance, helping you chew and taste food. It's also home to more than 600 species of bacteria, which are harmlessly enjoying the moisture of your mouth.
Children and teens who have a parent with bipolar disorder are 14 times more likely than their peers to have bipolar-like symptoms themselves, and are two to three times more likely to be found to have an anxiety or mood disorder, such as depression, according to a report in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
For most, the flu is a winter inconvenience -- stuffy nose, fever, body aches and a few days of bed rest. But what seems fairly routine also can become life-threatening.
It was 10 a.m. on a recent weekday and the emergency room at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, was quiet, except for a little boy crying in room 45.
Jake Austin, 10 months old, loves playing on the ground. On a typical February morning, Jake and his 4-year-old brother, Hank, are rolling around on the family's shiny hardwood floor, the same floor where they and their parents track in dirt from outside every day.
An enormous Asian elephant stepped out from behind a big red curtain at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Atlanta, Georgia.
Children with eczema are more likely to also have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than those without the skin problem, according to a study.
While tucking our sons into bed the other night, I was struck by how many of their physical attributes they've inherited from my husband and me. Eleven-year-old Nate has my heart-shaped face, large eyes, and cowlicky hair, along with my husband's mouth and freckles. Six-year-old Nicky, on the other hand, has the same green eyes and dirty-blond hair that I do, but my husband's nose and chin.
Dr. John Di Saia was playing baseball with his son a few weeks ago, and just as he rounded second base, he tumbled to the ground, breaking his fall with his elbow.
Years ago, a frustrated boy with a violent temper attacked his own mother with a hammer (his older brother restrained him). He stabbed a schoolmate over a dispute about which radio station to listen to; the knife blade luckily hit a belt buckle.
Christina McMenemy's husband called her on a Monday afternoon last June to say he was coming home early. She was overjoyed -- some extra, unexpected time with her husband on a lovely summer day.
On February 2, 7-year-old Cameron Dunmore crossed a street to get to his elementary school in Lithonia, Georgia. This scenario takes place thousands of times uneventfully each school day in our country. But this time Cameron did not make it to school. A crossing guard was halting traffic at the time, but the busy intersection did not have a traffic light and one vehicle did not see the boy. Cameron was struck by an SUV and died that same day in the hospital.
Until recently, the Bilson household was under siege. Thirteen-year-old daughter Marissa, who has autism, ruled the roost, screaming shrilly until she got her way and enjoying special privileges that didn't extend to her siblings, Brittany, 15, and Brendan, 6.
New research reveals a seeming contradiction when it comes to kids who do and don't need vitamins to supplement their diets.
The Bilson family is like many other families: three kids, a cat, and a small, lovely home with lots of family photos and carved wooden wall signs with sayings like "Live, Laugh, Love."
As more details of the mother who gave birth to octuplets come to light, ethicists are debating the moral quandaries involved.
Children who are born more than three months premature have double the expected rate of autism at age two as full-term children, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of Pediatrics.
After the birth of octuplets this week, some doctors are questioning the ethics and medical practice that contribute to extreme multiple births.
Concerns about alcohol abuse have been making headlines this week.
A childhood illness that has mostly been curbed through vaccinations has killed one child and sickened four others in Minnesota, health officials said Friday.
Americans are living longer because the air they breathe is getting cleaner, a new study suggests. The average drop in pollution seen across 51 metropolitan areas between 1980 and 2000 appears to have added nearly five more months to people's lives, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
"Sometimes you can forget about the preciousness of life," hospital spokesman Allen Poston thumbed onto his Blackberry after peering into an operating room where a team of 15 doctors and medical staff separated conjoined twins in six hours in surgery.
Seven states and two organizations have sued the Bush administration in an attempt to block a federal regulation that would further protect health care workers who refuse to perform abortions or other medical procedures because of religious or moral reasons.
In the midst of a frantic week in September filled with auditions and deadlines, New York casting director Michael Cassara had zero down time. So one day, when he felt a sore throat coming on, Cassara had his doctor beamed into his office.
Almost half of all adults make New Year's resolutions, but January is the perfect time for people of nearly any age to reflect upon the last year and to start good habits or break bad ones.
Smoking is bad for you, and by now, most of us know it.
People who displayed behavioral problems as teenagers were likely to develop mental or personal problems in adulthood, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.
A new study finds that 54 percent of teens talk about behaviors such as sex, alcohol use, and violence on the social networking giant MySpace -- presenting potential risks even if all they're doing is talking, researchers said Monday.
As many as one in eight teens in the United States may take a virginity pledge at some point, vowing to wait until they're married before having sex. But do such pledges work? Are pledge takers more likely than other teens to delay sexual activity?
Tuesday morning, Silvia Saldana was driving to work on a two-lane road in Cabin John, Maryland, when a wall of water came rushing toward her. Her first instinct was to make a U-turn to get out of the water's path, but it was too late. The water was gushing too quickly.
Jeff Walker says from as far back as he can remember, he always wanted to be a father.
Singing "Frosty the Snowman" and "Jingle Bells" may not seem like a big deal to most third-graders, but for Joey Finley, 8, doctors say it's a miracle.
Sada Jacobson may be a world champion fencer with three Olympic medals, but dressed in a T-shirt and sweats, she looked like any other student getting a lesson at the gym.
It started around 1 a.m. My son, Liam, was 14 months old, and the noises coming from his room didn't seem completely human: There was a sort of honking bark followed by a whistle-y kind of breathing.
The children in the cafeteria drink low-fat milk, shovel corn kernels on their sporks and munch on tuna sandwiches on wheat.
Jo-Lynne Shane is furiously looking for ways to spend $500 in the next three weeks. If she doesn't, that money will disappear at the stroke of midnight December 31.
The summer that her family bought a soft-sided pool, Charisse Nurnberg of Assaria, Kansas, tried to keep her children safe from water-related injuries. She kept all the doors locked and would even have her young son Matt wear a life jacket while he played inside.
A National Institutes of Health study from November 2007 found that in youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the brain matures in a normal pattern. However, it is delayed three years in some regions, on average, compared with youth without the disorder. The researchers used a new image analysis technique that allowed them to pinpoint the thinning and thickening of sites in the cortex of the brains of hundreds of children and teens with and without the disorder. The findings bolster the idea that ADHD results from a delay in the maturation of the cortex.
After last year's massive toy recall, Stacy Duran isn't taking any chances when shopping for toys this holiday season.
On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Barb Lighthall was walking into church when her feet slipped out from under her and she hit her head on the parking lot's black ice.
Daily television viewing for two or more hours during early childhood can lead to behavioral problems and poor social skills. The study, which is published in the October 2007 issue of Pediatrics, was conducted by Johns Hopkins researchers on children aged 2 to 5.
Naptime at our house used to be a recurring mystery: When would Lucy go down today? I'd be on the lookout for clues and remain suspicious through dim lights, books, and droopy eyelids.
Many kids love interactive video games that involve movement, such as Dance Dance Revolution and Nintendo Wii sporting games. Kids who don't already have them really want them. But can these games help kids lose weight and get fit? How do they compare with real sports? New generations of active computer games stimulate greater energy expenditure than sedentary games, but they are no substitute for playing real sports, according to a study in the British Medical Journal in December 2007.
Love 'em or hate 'em, every mom clashes with her in-laws. Scroll down any message board and you're bound to read hair-raising tales like the ones on Parenting.com's in-law board.
Children who eat less salt consume fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks and may significantly lower their risks for obesity, elevated blood pressure and later-in-life heart attack and stroke, according to a study in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association from February 2008.
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