Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) both have multifactorial pathogenesis with an increasing number of studies demonstrating gut-brain associations. We aim to examine the association between ASD and IBD using strict classification criteria for IBD. We conducted a retrospective case-cohort study using records from…

Background: We assessed the effectiveness of a handwashing program using hand sanitizer to prevent school absenteeism due to upper respiratory infections (URIs). Methods: This was a randomized, controlled, and open study on a sample of 1341 children 4-12 years old, attending 5 state schools in Almería (Spain), with an 8-month follow-up. The…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with poorly understood etiology. Many maternal exposures during pregnancy and breastfeeding potentially interfere with neurodevelopment. Using data from two age- and sex-matched case-control studies in Jamaica (n = 298 pairs), results of conditional logistic regression…

Purpose: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder that increases the risk for recurrent painful episodes. Parents' knowledge regarding SCD management is poor, leading to poor symptom management and lower Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) in children with SCD. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a parent…

Background: Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a slowly progressive multi-systemic disease with an autosomal-dominant inheritance caused by a mutation on chromosome 19 (19q13.3). Aims: To explore speech characteristics in a group of individuals with the congenital and childhood-onset forms of DM1 in terms of intelligibility, speech-sound…

It has been recently shown that dysregulation of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1), IL-23 and IL-17 has been identified as a major factor involved in autoimmune disorders. Based on the increasing evidence of immune dysfunction in autism the aim of this study was to measure serum levels of TGF-beta1, IL-23 and IL-17 in relation to the…

The present study evaluated long-term effects of a home-based smoking prevention program targeting smoking-specific parenting in families with children with and without asthma. A total of 1398 non-smoking children ("mean age" 10.1) participated, of which 197 (14.1%) were diagnosed with asthma. Families were blinded to group assignment.…

Rationale: Asthma is a variable condition with an apparent tendency for a natural decline in asthma symptoms and health care use occurring as children age. As a result, asthma interventions using a pre-post design may overestimate the intervention effect when no proper control group is available. Objectives: Investigate patterns of natural decline…

Urine is the most commonly utilized biomarker for fluoride excretion in public health and epidemiological studies. Approximately 30-50% of fluoride is excreted from urine in children. Urinary fluoride excretion reflects the total fluoride intake from multiple sources. After administering fluoride tablets to children with disabilities, urinary…

Purpose: Identifying and addressing poor nutritional status in school-aged children is often not prioritized relative to HIV/AIDS treatment. The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the benefits of integrating nutrition (assessment and culturally acceptable food supplement intervention) in the treatment strategy for this target group.…

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most frequent neuropsychiatric disorders in childhood. Transcranial magnetic stimulation studies based on muscle responses (motor-evoked potentials) suggested that reduced motor inhibition contributes to hyperactivity, a core symptom of the disease. Here we employed the N100 component of the…

Objective: The "T"eaching, "R"aising, "A"nd "C"ommunicating with "K"ids (TRACK) program was a longitudinal pilot-trial intervention designed to assist mothers living with HIV (MLHs) to disclose their serostatus to their young children (age 6-12 years). Method: MLH and child dyads (N = 80 dyads) were recruited and randomized to intervention or…

The new diagnostic criteria for pediatric ME/CFS are structurally based on the Canadian Clinical Adult case definition, and have more required specific symptoms than the (Fukuda et al. Ann Intern Med 121:953-959, 1994) adult case definition. Physicians specializing in pediatric ME/CFS referred thirty-three pediatric patients with ME/CFS and 21…

Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and normal controls were tested in three category learning experiments to determine if previously observed rule-based category learning impairments in PD patients were due to deficits in selective attention or working memory. In Experiment 1, optimal categorization required participants to base their decision on a…

This study examined the relation of middle ear effusion (MEE) in the first 3 years of life to language outcomes at age seven. It was hypothesized, on the basis of a literature review, that (1) a low, but positive relation between early MEE and language measures in general will be observed at age seven, and (2) major effects will be demonstrated…