WEEK IN REVIEW

NewNASETPublications and Articles of Interest in Special Education and Disabilities That Were Reported This Week

August 31, 2012 - Vol 8, Issue 33

New This Week on NASET

Older Dads May Raise Risk for Autism, Schizophrenia in Children

Men who have kids later in life may pass on more new genetic mutations to their offspring, possibly raising their child's risk of disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, new research suggests. New mutations arise in the sperm cells of men near the time of conception instead of being passed down through generations. They have been associated with relatively rare cases of non-hereditary autism. Researchers in Iceland searched the genomes of 78 families for new mutations as they first appeared and looked at how the number of these mutations in children was related to the age of their parents. In most of the families, the child had either non-hereditary autism or schizophrenia. To read more,click here

Did You Know That....

Why Muscles Go Wrong in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

University of Maryland (UM) researchers and collaborators report in the journal Science Signaling that skeletal muscle degeneration in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is worsened by stiffening of the microtubule cytoskeleton that provides structure inside muscle cells. Duchenne muscular dystrophy occurs in about 1 out of every 3,600 male infants and "worsens quickly," according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It is caused by a defective gene for a protein (dystrophin) in the muscles and there is no known cure. The unique interdisciplinary study identifies new potential therapeutic targets for intervening in this devastating disease, says Christopher Ward, PhD, associate professor at the UM School of Nursing and senior author of the study. To read more,click here

Close Contact With Young People at Risk of Suicide Has No Effect, Study Suggests

Researchers, doctors and patients tend to agree that during the high-risk period after an attempted suicide, the treatment of choice is close contact, follow-up and personal interaction in order to prevent a tragic repeat. Now, however, new research shows that this strategy does not work. These surprising results from Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen have just been published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers from Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen have just concluded a large study on the effect of an assertive outreach and intervention programme for young people after an attempted suicide. The surprising conclusion is that increased attention and support for the patient do not have a significant effect. To read more,click here

Radiation for Childhood Cancer Might Raise Diabetes Risk

Some childhood cancer survivors who underwent radiation therapy may have an increased risk of developing diabetes later in life, according to a new study that is the first to make a link between radiation and diabetes. Researchers looked at more than 2,500 people in France and the United Kingdom who had been treated for cancer in childhood between 1946 and 1985, and survived for at least 20 years after undergoing treatment. At age 45, diabetes had been diagnosed in 6.6 percent of the patients who had undergone radiation therapy and 2.3 percent of those who did not have radiation therapy, the study found. To read more,click here

Benefits to Early Intervention in Addressing Brain Abnormalities

Preemptive cognitive training -- an early intervention to address neuropsychiatric deficiencies -- can help the brain function normally later in life, a team of researchers has found through a series of experiments on laboratory rats. Their findings, which appear in the latest issue of the journal Neuron, hold promise for addressing a range of brain impairments in humans, including schizophrenia. The study was conducted by researchers at New York University's Center for Neural Science, the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center, NYU Langone Medical Center, and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research. To read more,click here

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Minority Fifth Graders Face Health Obstacles, Study Finds

Black and Latino fifth graders in the United States are more likely than white students to be obese, to get too little exercise, to witness violence and to ride without seatbelts and bike helmets, all signs of significant disparities that could put their health and safety at risk, a new study finds. Yet, despite what researchers characterize as "striking" differences in how black and Latino children are faring compared to whites, their report gives clues about what may lie at the heart of it -- and it's largely not race or ethnicity itself. Instead, the analysis showed that when household income, family education level and the schools the children attended were taken into account, some of those disparities disappeared. To read more,click here

Infants' Avoidance of Drop-Off Reflects Specific Motor Ability, Not Fear

Researchers have long studied infants' perceptions of safe and risky ground by observing their willingness to cross a visual cliff, a large drop-off covered with a solid glass surface. In crawling, infants grow more likely to avoid the apparent drop-off, leading researchers to conclude that they have a fear of heights. Now a new study has found that although infants learn to avoid the drop-off while crawling, this knowledge doesn't transfer to walking. This suggests that what infants learn is to perceive the limits of their ability to crawl or walk, not a generalized fear of heights. The findings have implications for infants' safety. To read more,click here

Study Casts Doubt on Link Between MS and Vein Trouble

Changes in blood flow due to abnormalities in veins draining from the brain are not linked to multiple sclerosis, according to a new study. Researchers in Italy found that compromised blood flow in the veins that drain blood from the brain are not associated with the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS), which can cause numbness, trouble moving, blurred vision and fatigue, as well as problems with thinking and memory. To read more,click here

What's Best for Very Low Birth Weight Babies

While the health benefits of breast feeding baby are well known, a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal BMC Pediatrics finds that, for very low birth weight (VLBW) babies, a small amount of fortification can improve growth rates without sacrificing the benefits associated with mother's milk. Human milk provides babies with exactly the right nutrients for growth and also helps protect against infections and diseases. Breast fed babies are less likely to have diarrhea or vomiting, they have fewer chest and ear infections, and long term are less likely to become obese or develop eczema. However, in hospitals human milk is also associated with slower growth in the first few months of life compared to formula-fed infants. To read more,click here

Anesthesia Before Age 3 May Raise Risk of Learning Delays: Study

Children younger than 3 who have even one surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia may be more likely to have deficits in language and abstract reasoning at age 10, a new study suggests. Australian researchers gave neuropsychological tests to more than 2,600 children; a little more than 300 were exposed to anesthesia before the age of 3 and nearly 2,300 were not. The tests measured language, cognitive function, motor skills and behavior at age 10. Previous studies have relied on parent or teacher assessments, standardized tests and school grades to assess learning delays in children exposed to anesthesia. To read more,click here

Smoking in Pregnancy Increases Asthma Risk in Preschool

Maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with wheeze and asthma in preschool children, even among children who were not exposed to maternal smoking late in pregnancy or after birth, according to a new study. "Epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to maternal smoking during fetal andearly life increases the risk of childhood wheezing and asthma, but earlier studies were not able to differentiate the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure," said lead author Åsa Neuman. MD, of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. "Our study, a large pooled analysis of eight birth cohorts with data on more than 21,000 children, included 735 children who were exposed to maternal smoking only during pregnancy." To read more,click here

Teens With ADHD May Need Help Making Transition to College

For students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, making the transition to college can be especially difficult. But by adopting certain strategies, such as sticking to a structured daily schedule and tapping into the university's disability support services, freshman with ADHD can do well, according to experts and teens with the condition. "The ones who are going to do best are those who come to college prepared, who are aware of their weaknesses and have some strategies for compensating," said Kristy Morgan, a recent Kansas State University doctoral graduate in student affairs and higher education who conducted in-depth interviews with eight college freshman with ADHD about what they learned from the experience. To read more,click here

High Potency and Synthetic Marijuana Pose Real Dangers in First Weeks of Pregnancy

Marijuana is up to 20 times more potent than it was 40 years ago and most pregnant women who use the drug are totally unaware that it could harm their unborn child before they even know they are pregnant. Writing in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis, American researcher's state the argument that marijuana is a harmless drug is no longer valid due to the emergence of 'high potency' marijuana and synthetic marijuana which pose a potential real threat for pregnant women. They also express concerns that marijuana's increased popularity among teenagers and young adults could put this group at higher risk. "The emergence of bioengineered crops and novel, medicinal marijuana strains, means that marijuana is no longer what it used to be in the 1970's and early 1980s': some new, high potency strains, including some medicinal marijuana blends such as 'Connie Chung' and many others, contain up to 20 times more THC, the psychoactive constituent of marijuana, than did 'traditional' marijuana from the 1970's and early 1980's " explains co-author Dr. Delphine Psychoyos from the Center for Genetic and Environmental Medicine at Texas A&M University. "Furthermore, with the emergence of dispensaries and Internet websites, high potency marijuana and Spice products are now readily available to the general population." To read more,click here

With Very Sick Infants, Doctors and Parents Often Miscommunicate

Misunderstanding is common between doctors and mothers of seriously ill newborns, according to a new study. This breakdown in communication could not only increase parents' stress, researchers said, but could also interfere with treatment decisions. Doctors and parents alike often are unaware of the problem, said researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. "Poor understanding of a baby's prognosis can lead to maternal frustration and dissatisfaction with the treatment plan, which ultimately undermines the goal of teamwork between families and clinicians," lead investigator Dr. Stephanie de Wit, a former neonatology fellow at Johns Hopkins, said in a center news release. To read more,click here

Children Who Spend Three-Quarters of Their Time in Sedentary Behavior Have Up to Nine Times Poorer Motor Coordination Than Active Peers

Children who spend more than three-quarters of their time engaging in sedentary behavior, such as watching TV and sitting at computers, have up to nine times poorer motor coordination than their more active peers, reveals a study published in the American Journal of Human Biology. The study, involving Portuguese children, found that physical activity alone was not enough to overcome the negative effect of sedentary behaviour on basic motor coordination skills such as walking, throwing or catching, which are considered the building blocks of more complex movements. "Childhood is a critical time for the development of motor coordination skills which are essential for health and well-being," said lead author Dr Luis Lopes, from the University of Minho. "We know that sedentary lifestyles have a negative effect on these skills and are associated with decreased fitness, lower self-esteem, decreased academic achievement and increased obesity." To read more,click here