Latest Health News

• Active Ingredient in Viagra Shrunk Disfiguring Growths in Kids

  But, the finding is preliminary and the treatment is expensive, researchers note

  By Randy Dotinga
  HealthDay Reporter
  WEDNESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News)—A new preliminary report suggests that the active ingredient in Viagra, sildenafil, could reduce the size of large growths that can disfigure the bodies of children.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=661064

• Smoking During Pregnancy Not Linked to Autism

  But there are many other reasons to avoid cigarettes while pregnant

  FRIDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News)—Children born to women who smoke during pregnancy are not at increased risk for autism, according to a new study.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660767

• Drinking Late in First Trimester May Be Most Hazardous

  But no alcohol use is safe during pregnancy, study finds

  By Maureen Salamon
  HealthDay Reporter
  TUESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News)—It’s known that drinking during pregnancy leaves babies vulnerable to a spectrum of abnormalities called fetal alcohol syndrome. Now, a new study pinpoints the latter half of the first trimester as a critical time in the development of some of the syndrome’s most telling physical characteristics.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660781

• Is Continued Lip-Reading an Early Sign of Autism?

  Researchers say that typically developing infants focus on a speaker’s eyes after age 1

  MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News)—Lip reading is one of the ways that infants learn to talk, a new study reports.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660681

• Pediatricians Split on Heart Tests Before Kids’ ADHD Meds

  About 15 percent order EKGs; recent studies say drugs don’t pose heart risk

  By Jenifer Goodwin
  HealthDay Reporter
  MONDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News)—Some pediatricians continue to do electrocardiograms (EKGs) on children before starting them on medication for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, new research suggests, even though many experts say the latest evidence shows it isn’t really necessary.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660668

• Normal Pregnancies May Be Misdiagnosed as Ectopic

  Better diagnostic tools needed to avoid medical errors leading to fetal loss, researchers say

  FRIDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News)—Women with normal pregnancies that were misdiagnosed as ectopic who were treated with methotrexate in the first trimester either miscarried or gave birth to a severely deformed baby, the results of a small study suggest.
  http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=660531