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I came across an interesting article describing a paper that came out about the brain disorder ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in kids and how it might be related to prenatal smoking and exposure to lead. ADHD has been estimated to affect 4-12% of kids, quite a large percentage of children going to school. Though genetics and environmental issues definitely play a role in contributing to ADHD, this study seemed to confirm an earlier report by the National Academy of Sciences that said that there are a lot of problems that can occur when childrren are exposed to toxic chemicals and other factors. Tellingly, kids whose mothers smoked while pregnant were 2 1/2 times more likely to have ADHD.

Source: CNN / AP

The rare disease known as Progeria (approximately one case in four million) is a truly sad one that affects children and causes them to age prematurely and at an extremely accelerated rate. Many do not last into their teens. They take on the appearance of older people, with white hair and wrinkles and thinner bones.

There was a study I read about that showed the possibility of certain cancer drugs helping to reverse the cellular damage in the body caused by Progeria. The medicine in question is a family of drugs called FTIs (farnesyltransferase inhibitors). In addition to the team at UCLA that held the study, several other teams of people have noted similar results including researchers at HGSI and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In addition to the FTIs, other newer therapies have showed promise in treating Progeria including RNA interference as well as a drug meant to be used by sufferers of osteoporosis.

Source: The Reuters / CNN

Thankfully, I don’t have sleep apnea myself… but I know several people who are afflicted by this debilitating sleep disorder. Basically, you stop breathing completely during normal sleep and this happens over and over again. You also tend to snore quite loudly. This is actually a quite common condition, affecting millions of people.

Now, according to researchers at the University of Louisville there appears to be some promising results for treating obstructive sleep apnea for kids using a drug called montelukast which is actually used to treat asthma. They found that children who were administered showed improvements in sleep disturbances. The anti-inflammatory drug could become an alternative to the current treatment whereby the children’s tonsils and/or adenoids need to be removed.

Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution

The benefits of the flouridation of salt are talked about in book by PAHO (Pan Am. Health Org), which is where I found this article. They talk about how salt flouridation can help prevent Dental Caries. I was wondering what dental caries actually was so I looked it up online. Apparently it basically means tooth decay… rotting of teeth. This is the dental condition in which the surface of teeth becomes demineralized and decays because of bacteria. It is very common in children in many countries in Latin America.

Although water flouridation has been used to some extent, the new book explains how flouridation of salt has proven to be very effective costwise and provides a means for reaching many people, particularly in extremely remote locations.

Source: PAHO