News

Autism spectrum disorder consists of qualitative impairments in social interactions and communication and the presence of restrictive or repetitive behaviors, interests or activities as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition.

Investigators in Scotland set out to determine whether that country's ban on smoking in public places, initiated in March 2006, influenced the rate of hospital admissions for childhood asthma.

It's been 50 years since the publication of the first study demonstrating that chest compressions can be a life-saving measure for victims of cardiac arrest and 5 years since the American Heart Association published their 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care.

Girls and athletics

The Title IX provision of the Education Amendments passed in 1972 prohibits discrimination regarding access to educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Athletes, especially the more than 1 million young males who play high school football each year, may develop long-term, serious neurologic problems if they suffer undetected head trauma and continue to play the sport.

The massive National Children's Study, which has survived a change in leadership and a gauntlet of criticism about its methods and its costs, has the full support of the National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, according to recent discussions.

The mother of a healthy 21-month-old girl says that her daughter's unruly hair never lies flat on the scalp and cannot be tamed by combing or brushing.

Ill-appearing 4-year-old girl with high-grade fever, without chills or rigors, and cough of 3 days’ duration. She also had a sore throat and was unable to move her neck because of pain. No history of rhinorrhea, difficulty in breathing, vomiting, or diarrhea. She had had tonsillitis 2 weeks earlier that was treated with a 1-week course of amoxicillin. Medical history otherwise unremarkable. Immunizations up-to-date.

I've just committed my family to a 5-day July vacation to Orlando so we can visit a new amusement park dedicated to Harry Potter. The famous series of books about the teenage wizard has really sparked the love of reading in many children, including mine.

An exclusive survey administered to more than 4,000 office-based MDs and Dos in more than 17 specialties found that median earnings for pediatricians dropped by about 13% last year from $187,500 in 2008 to $163,000 in 2009.

The prevalence of congenital cytomegalovirus determined by testing dried blood spots for the presence of CMV DNA is similar to the prevalence reported on the basis of standard viral cultures, according to a recent report.

A new study examining the risk factors for eczema in children finds that early sensitization to the family dog significantly reduces the risk of eczema in 4-year-olds, but in contrast, early exposure to the family cat increases the risk of eczema in cat-sensitized children.