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Nigeria, UNICEF Launch First National Child Health Week
UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, who visited Nigeria to launch the country"s first ever National Child Health Week, said an unacceptably high number of children in the country are dying from preventable diseases, and she called on Nigerian government officials to provide integrated healthcare, Xinhua reports (8/3).

Newborn Brain Cells Show The Way
Although the fact that we generate new brain cells throughout life is no longer disputed, their purpose has been the topic of much debate. Now, an international collaboration of researchers made a big leap forward in understanding what all these newborn neurons might actually do. Their study, published in the July 10, 2009, issue of the journal Science, illustrates how these young cells improve our ability to navigate our environment.
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Washington Times Examines Proposed Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative In Obama Budget Plan
The Washington Times recently included a two-part series examining President Obama"s proposed reallocation of abstinence-only sex education funding in his 2010 budget plan. The proposal would redirect funding toward a new Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative that uses comprehensive sex education curriculums. Summaries of the series appear below.~ Part 1: Obama"s budget proposal states that funds for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative should go to programs that are proven to help delay first sex, increase contraceptive use or reduce teen pregnancy, though a few advocates of comprehensive sex education say such goals are laudable but too narrow, the Times reports. William Smith -- vice president for public policy for the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States -- and James Wagoner -- president of Advocates for Youth -- wrote in a June 17 blog entry that preventing unintended pregnancy among teens is "incredibly important" but that it is "not the only sexual and reproductive health issue facing our nation"s youth." They continued that it would be more beneficial to "expand the scope" of the initiative so it can serve "all young people in all communities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth, whose needs fall wholly outside of the narrow teen-pregnancy-prevention framework." According to the Times, Smith said in an interview that money allotted for the initiative would be best used if it went to programs focused on "good outcomes" for youth, "not these disaster-aversion silos that don"t serve us well." Wagoner said that advocates have been "very clear in giving the president credit for shifting tracks here in a big way" by ending funding for abstinence-only sex education. However, he added that it is "our job to press for the right destination" and to see the changes implemented into law (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 6/28).~ Part 2: Some supporters of Obama"s proposal argue that it is "exactly the right idea, at the right time," as the U.S. teen birth rate has increased in the last two years after 14 years of decline, the Times reports. Sarah Brown, CEO of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said that Obama"s proposal is the "first really focused expenditure on effective teen pregnancy prevention programs." Brown noted that the U.S. has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth in the industrialized world. She said that the best programs will address one or more of the three goals of the initiative -- delaying first sex, increasing contraceptive use or reducing teen pregnancy. Last month, about 175 organizations sent a letter to Obama and members of Congress calling for an expanded initiative that would include subjects such as sexually transmitted infections and abusive relationships. However, Brown said that many teen pregnancy prevention programs include discussion of STIs and other areas, "[s]o we really don"t see much tension here" (Wetzstein, Washington Times, 7/5).
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Doctors Diagnosing Bipolar Disorder In Children Should Consider Irritability A Symptom, Study

New research from the US adds to mounting evidence that when diagnosing bipolar disorder in children doctors and clinicians should consider irritability as a possible symptom. The study, by researchers at the Bradley Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, both in Rhode Island, and colleagues from other centers, is published online in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Lead author Dr Jeffrey Hunt, a child psychiatrist and training director at Bradley Hospital, and colleagues, write that a small proportion of children with bipolar disorder have manic episodes without extreme elation, which is normally a distinguishing characteristic of bipolar disorder, and these are diagnosed on the basis of irritable mood only. Bipolar disorder manifests as dramatic changes in mood that swings from the manic phase where euphoria, elation and irritability are present, to severe depression. The disorder usually starts in the late teens to early adult, although it can also appear during preschool years. Recent research suggests that the number of children diagnosed and being treated for bipolar disorder has shot up in the last ten years, and while it is not clear what is behind this sudden increase, many scientists believe it could be due to greater awareness of this condition among pediatricians and more aggressive diagnoses. Hunt explained in a separate statement that diagnosing children with bipolar disorder was "challenging", and that: "One of the chief controversies is whether irritability should be included among the criteria for this diagnosis because it can also overlap with a number of other psychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder." But he and his colleagues found that while irritable-only mania is not common, it does exist, "particularly in younger children and should be considered in a bipolar diagnosis". For their research they studied 361 children aged from 7 to 17 diagnosed with bipolar disorder who were taking part in a study called Course and Outcome of Bipolar Illness in Youth (COBY) that was based at Bradley Hospital and Alpert Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of California-Los Angeles. COBY is said to be the largest and most comprehensive study of children and teenagers with bipolar disorder. Hunt and colleagues worked out how often and how severe the manic symptoms were for each participant, including whether irritability and elation were among them. They then put the participants into three groups: elation-only, irritable-only and both elated and irritable. The results showed that: *About 10 per cent of the children were in the irritable-only group, while elated-only was about 15 percent. *Nearly 75 per cent were in the both elated and irritable group. *The only sociodemographically significant difference between the irritable-only group was that the participants were significantly younger than those in the other two groups. *There were also no differences in bipolar subtype, rate of other psychiatric conditions, severity and duration of the illness, family history, history of mania, and history of other psychiatric conditions. *However, the children in the irritable-only group were more likely to have second degree relatives with depression and alcohol abuse. The researchers concluded that the study supports established criteria for mania in young peolple, and that: " Irritable-only mania exists, particularly in younger children, but similar to elated-only mania, it occurs infrequently." "The fact that the irritable-only subgroup has similar clinical characteristics and family histories of BP [bipolar disorder], as compared with subgroups with predominant elation, provides support for continuing to consider episodic irritability in the diagnosis of pediatric BP," they added. They said that following these participants continually for a longer period will help to show whether elation or irritability present or dominant at the start of the study will predict future outcomes. "Irritability Without Elation in a Large Bipolar Youth Sample: Frequency and Clinical Description." HUNT, JEFFREY; BIRMAHER, BORIS; LEONARD, HENRIETTA; STROBER, MICHAEL; AXELSON, DAVID; RYAN, NEAL; YANG, MEI; GILL, MARYKAY; DYL, JENNIFER; ESPOSITO-SMYTHERS, CHRISTIANNE; SWENSON, LANCE; GOLDSTEIN, BENJAMIN; GOLDSTEIN, TINA; STOUT, ROBERT; KELLER, MARTIN Journal of Amer Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 48(7):730-739, July 2009. doi: 10.1097/CHI.0b013e3181a565db Lifespan News. Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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