WEEK IN REVIEW

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

September 5, 2014 - Vol 10, Issue 36

New This Week on NASET

Do Antidepressants in Pregnancy Raise Risks for Mental Health Issues in Children?

There's been controversy for years over whether the use of common antidepressants by women during their pregnancies might raise the odds of mental health issues in their children. Now, a study involving more than 13,000 children finds no rise in the risk of autism in children whose mothers used an antidepressant while pregnant, but some data suggesting a heightened risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in these youngsters. The findings challenge prior research pointing to a link between exposure to antidepressants in the womb and a greater risk of autism. Instead, severe maternal depression may be the risk factor boosting a child's odds for autism -- not any antidepressant a woman took during her pregnancy, the new study's authors said. To read more,click here

ADA Suit Against Disney May Expand

The number of families looking to sue Disney over changes to its theme park access policy for people with disabilities is growing substantially. An additional 30 families including 36 individuals with disabilities are seeking to join a lawsuit originally filed this spring that accuses Walt Disney Parks and Resorts of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to accommodate their special needs. Initially, 14 families including 16 people with disabilities were part of the lawsuit. To read more,click here

Scientists Spot Genetic Clues to Crohn's Disease

A new genetic discovery about Crohn's disease could lead to different ways to fight the bowel disorder, researchers report. The scientists pinpointed chemical changes in Crohn's patients' DNA that affect how their genes work, and said these changes can be detected in blood samples. Along with raising the possibility of a simple diagnostic test for Crohn's, the findings provide new insight into how the disease develops and suggest possible gene targets for new treatments, said the authors of the study. It was published Aug. 26 in the journalInflammatory Bowel Diseases. To read more,click here

Advances in Understanding of Preterm Birth

The Aug. 15 edition of the journal Science features a major article about the most important problem in obstetrics: preterm labor. The article, "Preterm labor: one syndrome, many causes," delivers a powerful message: preterm birth is not one condition, but many, and provides a framework for meeting this challenge."There are 15 million preterm babies born annually, and the condition affects 5 percent to 15 percent of all pregnancies, with the highest rates in North America and Africa. Prematurity is the leading cause of infant death up to age 1and the second-leading cause of childhood death before the age of 5," said Roberto Romero, M.D., D.Med.Sci., chief of the Perinatology Research Branch of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development located at Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center. "We have made progress by identifying the causes of premature labor, and now we propose that it is possible to reframe the problem and make it tractable." To read more,click here

Even Normal-Weight Teens Can Have Dangerous Eating Disorders, Study Finds

Teenagers do not need to be rail thin to be practicing the dangerous eating behaviors associated with anorexia, a new study suggests. Rather, the true measure of trouble may be significant weight loss, and the Australian researchers noted that a drastic drop in weight carries the same risk for life-threatening medical problems even if the patient is a normal weight. Even more concerning, the scientists saw a nearly sixfold increase in this type of patient during the six-year study period. To read more,click here

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Head Size Not A Predictor Of Autism, Researchers Say

There's long been talk of a connection between autism risk and infant head size, but a large new study suggests that no such link exists. In looking at data on nearly 700 children collected at a dozen sites across the United States and Canada, researchers said they found no evidence that large head size serves as a predictor of autism. For the study, data was collected on 442 children considered to be high risk because they had an older sibling with autism as well as 253 kids with no family history of the developmental disorder. Researchers tracked the children's growth between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, at which point the kids in the high-risk group were evaluated for an autism diagnosis. To read more,click here

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

When It Comes to a Growing Child, the Brain Comes First

Young children grow much more slowly than other mammals because their developing brains require so much energy to prepare for the challenges of later life, a new study contends. Researchers analyzed data from PET and MRI brain scans and found that enormous amounts of energy are used by the human brain in the first few years of life, which means physical growth has to take a back seat during that time. For example, a 5-year-old's brain uses twice as much glucose (the energy that fuels the brain) as the brain of an adult. This "brain drain" of energy peaks at about age 4 and body growth slows to a minimum. At this age, the brain burns energy at a rate equal to two-thirds of what the entire body uses at rest, the study authors said. To read more,click here

Children's Drawings Indicate Later Intelligence, Study Shows

At the age of 4, children were asked by their parents to complete a 'Draw-a-Child' test, i.e. draw a picture of a child. Each figure was scored between 0 and 12 depending on the presence and correct quantity of features such as head, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, body, arms etc. For example, a drawing with two legs, two arms, a body and head, but no facial features, would score 4. The children were also given verbal and non-verbal intelligence tests at ages 4 and 14. The researchers found that higher scores on the Draw-a-Child test were moderately associated with higher scores of intelligence at ages 4 and 14. The correlation between drawing and intelligence was moderate at ages 4 (0.33) and 14 (0.20). To read more,click here

Start School Later for Older Kids, Pediatricians Urge

U.S. high schools and middle schools should start classes later in the morning to allow kids some much-needed sleep, a leading group of pediatricians is urging. Ideally, the American Academy of Pediatrics says, the first bell should ring at 8:30 a.m. or later -- which is the case at only 15 percent of U.S. high schools right now. At the very least, classes should start no earlier than 8 a.m., said Dr. Judith Owens, the lead author of a new academy policy statement on school start times. To read more,click here

Report Finds Fewer Federal Workers With Disabilities

Despite a push to increase hiring of people with what are known as "targeted disabilities," the participation of such individuals in the federal workforce has actually declined. Back in 2002, 1.07 percent of federal employees had targeted disabilities. By 2011, that figure fell to 0.90 percent, according to a new report from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Targeted disabilities include intellectual disabilities, mental illness, deafness, blindness and other conditions considered by the government to be the "most severe impairments." To read more,click here

Hospital Admission Day Tied to Outcomes for Children With Leukemia

Children with newly diagnosed leukemia who are admitted to the hospital on weekends have a longer hospital stay, wait longer to start chemotherapy and are more likely to suffer respiratory failure than those admitted on weekdays, a new study finds. However, children admitted on weekends did not have a higher risk of death, the researchers added. A team led by Elizabeth Goodman. of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. tracked more than 10,700 first hospitalizations of children with newly diagnosed leukemia. Of those patients, nearly 17 percent were admitted on a weekend. To read more,click here

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Space Station Inspired Robot to Help Heal Sick Children

The same companies which developed the robotic arms that helped astronauts build the International Space Station have now created a new research platform. Called KidsArm, this robot allows surgeons to quickly navigate to surgical sites in the body. It has an advanced imaging and control system that makes it extremely precise, and it is designed to explore the potential for automating certain demanding tasks in minimally invasive pediatric surgery.To read more,click here

Bullying Starts Before School Years Begin, Study Finds

In a finding that illustrates the complexity of bullying, Dutch researchers report that obese boys are more likely to bully and be bullied than their thinner peers and the vicious cycle begins before these children ever step foot inside a school. Past research has shown an association between bullying and weight, but most of those studies focused on older children or teens. The average age of the children in this new study was 6. "I was very surprised by how young these kids are," said Rachel Annuziato, an assistant professor for clinical psychology at Fordham University in New York City. "I think our understanding of bullying is that it's something that starts a little later cognitively and developmentally, but this suggests that isn't the case. From the day kids walk into school, this is a concern." To read more,click here

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Children with Autism have Extra Synapses in Brain: May be Possible to Prune Synapses with Drug after Diagnosis

Children and adolescents with autism have a surplus of synapses in the brain, and this excess is due to a slowdown in a normal brain "pruning" process during development, according to a study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC). Because synapses are the points where neurons connect and communicate with each other, the excessive synapses may have profound effects on how the brain functions. The study was published in the August 21 online issue of the journal Neuron.A drug that restores normal synaptic pruning can improve autistic-like behaviors in mice, the researchers found, even when the drug is given after the behaviors have appeared. To read more,click here

Many With Autism Lack Knowledge On Sex, Study Finds

Adults with autism face a greater risk of sexual victimization than their typically-developing peers, researchers say, and a lack of education could be part of the reason why. In a survey of adults with and without autism, 78 percent of those on the spectrum reported at least one instance of sexual victimization compared to less than half of their typically-developing peers. People with autism were more than twice as likely to say that had been raped and over three times as likely to report unwanted sexual contact, according to findings published in the September issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. To read more,click here

Concussion Recovery Can Reverse After Return to Activity, Study Shows

Athletes who seem to have recovered from a concussion may actually show a subtle worsening in a particular mental ability after they return to exercise, a small study suggests. The findings come from a study of 19 high school athletes who suffered a concussion and then got medical clearance to return to physical activity -- most often football, although a few were on soccer, wrestling or volleyball teams. Researchers found that for 12 of those athletes, a particular mental ability that had been improving post-concussion reversed course once they were up and moving again. To read more,click here

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Rule On Overtime Pay For Caregivers Prompts Pushback

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is seeking to enlist people with disabilities and their families to campaign against new federal labor rules that would require some care workers to get overtime pay and others to be paid by the hour instead of a nightly lump sum. The change, according to the governor and his Department for Aging and Disability Services, would cost the state millions of dollars that could be better spent. "I'm not sure the federal government knew the unintended consequences of this," Brownback said. "We think the cost numbers are pretty significant for us as a state and it's going to reduce our ability to get people off of waiting lists and further services in the state of Kansas to the tune of about $30 million additional cost in the system for no additional services." To read more,click here

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Most U.S. Babies Get Their Vaccines: CDC

The vast majority of American babies are getting the vaccines they need to protect them from serious illnesses, federal health officials said Thursday. More than 90 percent of children are getting the vaccines that prevent measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR); polio; hepatitis B and chickenpox (varicella), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Nationally, vaccination among children 19 to 35 months of age remains stable or has increased for all of the recommended vaccines, and that's really good news," said Dr. Melinda Wharton, acting director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. To read more,click here

Could Too Much Salt Harm MS Patients?

Too much salt in the diet may worsen symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), a new study from Argentina suggests. "Many environmental factors affect MS, such as vitamin D, smoking and Epstein Barr virus infection. Our study shows that high salt intake may be another environmental factor affecting MS patients," said lead researcher Dr. Mauricio Farez, of the Raul Carrea Institute for Neurological Research in Buenos Aires. Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the nervous system that causes weakness, visual disturbances, trouble with balance, numbness and thinking and memory problems. The most common form is called relapsing-remitting MS, meaning symptoms subside and then become worsen. To read more,click here

Food Allergies More Common Among Inner City Kids, Study Finds

Inner city children have a higher-than-normal risk of developing food allergies, a new study finds. Researchers followed 516 inner city children in four U.S. cities -- Baltimore, Boston, New York and St. Louis -- from birth until age 5 and found that at least 10 percent of them developed an allergy to milk, eggs or peanuts. Because only the three most common types of food allergies were included in the study, the actual number of inner city youngsters with food allergies may be even higher, the researchers said. Overall, 6 percent of young children and nearly 3 percent of adults in the United States have at least one food allergy, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. To read more,click here

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