Families

Alzheimer's with psychosis runs in families

According to a study, siblings of people with Alzheimer's and psychosis are prone to suffer this form of dementia.// More than half of patients with Alzheimer's disease suffer from psychotic symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. This is an especially serious form of the condition, linked with more aggressive behaviour, more swift decline and earlier need for institutional care....

Early rising from sleep can run in families

Scientists have found out that the pattern of rising early from bed in the mornings have a genetic component// and thus may run in families. The behavior is called familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS) and involves sleeping early and rising early. This is said to be the phenotype of the gene PER2. The pattern is exhibited when there is a mutation in the phosphorylation site i...

Alcohol based sanitizer found to reduce illness in families

Using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer gel significantly reduces the spread of gastrointestinal infections in the home. // Out of the 292 families studied, half of the families, which used the hand sanitizer in gel form, had a 59 % reduction in the spread of illness related to the gastrointestinal tract. Families already using hand sanitizer were excluded from the study. Half the familie...

Kidney failure shows a tendency to run in families

With our improved understanding of the concepts of genetics, more importance is being given to the tendency of common diseases to run in families and the identification of the same. // A recent study has now shown that approximately one-fourth of all dialysis patients have a close relative on dialysis. What is even more alarming is that many relatives in these families have silent kidne...

Tendency To Smoke and Get Addicted Could Run In Families!

Researchers from Canada point out to two genes, both variant forms of a gene called CYP2A6, which are believed to play in a significant role in the smoking addiction.// The protein product of these genes is believed to help regulate the elimination of nicotine from the body. The two identified gene forms are found to decrease the level of enzymes involved in the metabolism of nicotine,...

Dysfunctional Families Affect The Mental Health Of The Child

A study conducted by the University of Alberta has revealed that a child undergoes the maximum damage with regard to its mental health before its parents divorce. //The study does not advocate remaining together for the sake of the child either. More attention should be paid to the child while the divorce proceedings are going on rather than helping them when the event has already occurred, accor...

Snappy Mobiles Known To Cause Snappish Behavior in Families

There is a flip side to cell phones as well! The Cell Boom, a boon to communication has turned a bane to family relationships, according to a recent study.// As part of the study, more than a thousand steady mobile phone users were tracked for over 2 years. The study revealed a definite decline in satisfied family relationships, attributed to constant mobile communication that invad...

SIDS On The Rise Among Poor Families

It has been recommended that infant be put to sleep in separate beds to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The number of infant deaths as a consequence of parents sleeping together// with their infant on a sofa has considerably increased over the recent years according to a report, published in the Lancet. Premature babies, low birth weight infants, male infants...

BPL Families To Receive Health Insurance: Andhra CM

The Andhra Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy announced the launch of the new health insurance plan that would benefit the common man//. The insurance, which has a highly subsidized premium rates is believed to attract farmers, agricultural labourers and artisans. The Chief Minister would launch it on the 19th of April. It is believed to provide insurance coverage to a minimum of 10...

Health Insurance Numbers Declining In American Families

With health insurance becoming almost a byword in recent times, a new survey has tracked the number of uninsured people in low income and moderate-income American families.// The report from The Commonwealth Fund, Gaps in Health Insurance: An All-American Problem found that 41 percent of Americans with annual incomes of $20,000 and $40,000 were not insured. These numbers have shown a massive jump...

Government’s Welfare Plan For Deprived Families Affect Other

A paper presented this week says the government’s program (1999) to help health and development of socially and financially deprived families// and their children benefits some people at the same time hurts some others. The program targets individual families with children under four in designated deprived areas. It provides outreach or home visiting, advice about family health and deve...

Only Half of Addicts in American Families Seek Help

A survey of American families has revealed that only half of drug- or alcohol-addicted family members seek help for their problem// but doing so often gives positive results to 82% of them. On interviewing about 902 U.S. adults in a recent Gallup poll, the USA Today/HBO Family Drug Addiction poll revealed that a member of their immediate family is or was addicted to drugs or alcohol....

AAP Urges Families To Create Emergency Disaster Plans

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is encouraging families, pediatricians and communities to prepare// for potential natural and other disasters to minimize the physical and emotional toll on children. Children are especially vulnerable during and after disasters. The AAP recommends that parents discuss possible disaster plans wi...

Aging Families Continue Struggle in Katrina Aftermath

Aging families affected by Hurricane Katrina have experienced both physical and emotional problems in the aftermath of the disaster, //and many yearn to 'go back home,' according to preliminary findings from a team of researchers. Karen Roberto, director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Gerontology, has teamed with Tammy Henderson, formerly of Virginia Tech and the newly appointed directo...

Families of the Dead no Longer Have the Last Say

Families of the dead who carried donor cards no longer have the last say concerning the removal of organs from their loved ones.// Tomorrow new laws will come into force that will make the deceased person’s wishes paramount. Currently, even if people carry a donor card, their relatives can prevent doctors from harvesting their organs. About one in ten families have been reported to do s...

Dana-Farber Offers Online Resources for Breast Cancer Patients and Families

The rapid pace of advances in medical research today has made it more challenging for patients to stay current on the latest developments// in breast cancer care and research. While the Internet has made it possible for people to access hundreds of Web sites in search of answers to their questions, the information available online may be hard to understand, incomplete, out of date, or wrong. <...

Tackling Violence in Families

General practitioners need better resources and support to care for patients who experience violence in the home, say Melbourne researchers. // In an editorial for the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia, general practice and family health specialists have outlined new international guidelines for GPs and other doctors managing families in which partner violence is occur...

Dementia Care Intervention Eases Burden for Families

Intervention sessions, individually tailored to help people caring for family members with dementia//, show promise in reducing rates of clinical depression, according to a multi-site study co-authored by a University of Alabama researcher. Study results, publishing in the Nov. 21 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, indicate the intervention strategies can also significantly ease the...

Families Need More Than Quality Education from Pre-K Programs

When selecting a pre-kindergarten, families often have to forego considerations of quality education for more practical needs, such as location, school-home collaboration and provisions such as meals. // The findings are from a new national study by the FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which examined how parents of children in publicly...

Do Children Of Low Income Families Eat Fresh Fruits?

Fresh fruits and vegetables besides providing various nutrients help prevent obesity.//Various surveys report that 33 percent of all children are obese. Researchers at the University of Alabama – Birmingham, undertook a study in 2004 to zero down on obstacles that prevent children from consuming fresh fruits and vegetables. They have concluded that high cost is not a barrier for...

Head Start Kids in ESL Families More Prone to Obesity

Researchers studying obesity among rural children in Head Start programs have discovered that those from families// in which English is the second language are at higher risk for being overweight. The study of 788 children in two Minnesota counties also found that Mexican children “were almost twice as likely to be overweight as Caucasian children and the rest of ethnic groups, includ...

'Families' - Doesn’t Cause Anorexia Nervos

Researchers from an international group of eating disorders say that the misstatements and ignorance claiming that families "cause" eating disorders is like blaming// parents for diabetes or asthma or cancer. Recent damaging statements by fashion model Gisele Bundchen stating that unsupportive families cause anorexia nervosa only perpetuate misconceptions and further stigmatize eatin...

Families Need Help to Deal With Aftermath of Suicide Attempts

When a child attempts suicide, these emotions hit families like a Mack truck. Some family members bury their feelings deep inside and refuse to accept the stark reality. //Others spring into action and vow never again to let the child who attempted suicide of their sight. But no matter how a family deals with the aftermath of a suicide, they are forever changed by it. “The repercussion...

Children from Low-income Families may Face Sleep Problems

A new study says children from low-income families may face more sleep problems than those from middle-class families although the exact reasons for those differences aren't clear . The study, presented Monday in Minneapolis at Sleep 2007, the 21st annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS), compared the sleep pattern of 32 boys and 32 girls from low-income...

Honoring of Organ Donor Families at Raj Bhavan in Chennai

MOHAN (Multi Organ Harvesting Aid Network) Foundation has organized a function for honoring of Organ Donor Families at Raj Bhavan on 7th of June 2007. Organ donation is the most selfless gift that one human being can give to another. Since 1994 in India almost twelve hundred transplants of kidneys, heart, liver have taken place in various parts of the country. These donations take p...

Storage of Firearms Unsafe in Most Families

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Pediatric researcher Robert H. DuRant, Ph.D., and his colleagues' at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have carried out a research study on the safety of firearms stored in houses. Their finding is published in the June issue of Pediatrics. 'Over 70 percent of the families surveyed reported not storing their fire...

Stress of Deployment Increases Risk of Child Abuse, Neglect in Military Families, UNC Study Shows

Rates of abuse and neglect of young children in military families in Texas has doubled since October 2002, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows, raising concerns about the impact of deployment on military personnel and their families across the country. The study, published in the May 15, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, was designed by UNC Sch...

Talking With Families may Help Prevent Childhood Obesity

Physicians and registered dietitians who are trained in a new communication method called motivational interviewing may be able to help families change lifestyle behaviors, according to a study. Robert Schwartz, M.D., and colleagues conducted a nonrandomized clinical trial in which they asked 91 families about their dietary habits and lifestyle choices. Results from his study are...