Brain Anatomy Could Point to Autism

(HealthDay News) -- Autistic toddlers seem more likely to have an enlarged amygdala, a brain area linked with facial recognition and emotions, University of North Carolina researchers report. Read more

Health Tip: Your Children Need Iron

(HealthDay News) -- Young children are at great risk for iron deficiency because of rapid growth and increased iron requirements, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iron deficiency can occur because of a lack of iron in the diet. Anemia is the result of a relatively severe deficiency.

Although an inadequate dietary intake of several nutrients may reduce the production of red blood cells and hemoglobin, the most common cause of anemia throughout the world is iron deficiency.

Poverty, abuse and living in a home with poor household conditions also place children at risk for iron-deficiency anemia. Iron-deficiency anemia is seen most commonly in children aged 6 months to 3 years old. Those at highest risk are low birth-weight infants after 2 months of age, breast-fed term infants who receive no iron-fortified foods or supplemental iron after 4 months of age, and formula-fed term infants who are not consuming iron-fortified formula.

As babies move to solid foods, foods with high amounts of iron should be selected. These include most meats, egg yolks and certain vegetables, such as spinach.

Iron-deficiency anemia significantly impairs mental and psychomotor development in infants and children. Although iron deficiency can be reversed with treatment, the reversibility of the mental and psychomotor impairment is not yet clearly understood. Thus, prevention and treatment need to be emphasized.

Children's Bath Products Contain Contaminants

(HealthDay News) -- Many baby and child-care products contain the chemicals formaldehyde and 1,4-dioxane, both of which have been linked to cancer and various skin conditions, a new report contends.

But the chemicals aren't listed on the labels of bubble bath, shampoo and other common products, according to the report from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetic Use.

"Companies can obviously do better, and we need to demand that they do better," said Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetic Use and co-author of the report, released Thursday. "Many companies are already making great products that don't have any of these chemicals [and] many companies in the natural products industry have reformulated to get rid of that problem. We also know many companies are using preservatives that don't use formaldehyde."

According to the authors, the report, called No More Toxic Tub, is the first to document contamination of children's products with these chemicals. The Environmental Working Group was involved in the analyses.

Both formaldehyde and dioxane are considered "contaminants," Malkan said.

A contaminant "is a chemical that is not intentionally added to the product but is a byproduct," she said. "Those are all exempt from labeling laws ... Companies don't even have to know themselves."

Dioxane is a byproduct of chemical processing and formaldehyde is released from some of the chemicals that are used as preservatives, Malkan said.

John Bailey is chief scientist for the Personal Care Products Council, a national trade association for the cosmetic and personal care products industry. Responding to the report, he said, "These are issues that have been around for many, many years, so it's not new news. The thing that impressed me was the low levels of dioxane that were found in these products, which indicates to me that the industry is doing its job in keeping this potential contaminant down to a low level."

Bailey also said there were wasn't enough information in the report to gauge how accurate the determinations of formaldehyde levels were.

Malkan and her co-authors tested 48 bubble baths, shampoos and other baby and children's products for dioxane and 28 of those products for formaldehyde. The testing was done by an independent laboratory, Analytical Sciences in Petulama, Calif.

Among their findings:

Almost two-thirds of the 28 products contained both chemicals, including Johnson's Baby Shampoo and Huggies Naturally Refreshing Cucumber & Green Tea Baby Wash.
Eighty-two percent of products tested contained formaldehyde; the highest levels were found in Baby Magic Baby Lotion.
American Girl shower products had the highest levels of dioxane among products tested.
"The good news is that there are great products without any of these chemicals," Malkan said. "The challenge is you have to do some research to find them. It's not a simple matter of looking at the label."

According to Malkan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture "organic seal" indicates that none of these chemicals are present.

"The best advice for consumers is that simple is better, products with fewer ingredients overall," she said. "There are things consumers can do to make better choices at the store but we also need to change regulations and require companies to list all ingredients in the products and to make the safest products they can, especially products for babies."

Harmful chemicals and contaminants in children's products is a subject of continuing controversy. Earlier this week, it was announced that baby bottles made with the controversial chemical bisphenol A (BPA) will no longer be sold in the United States by the six largest manufacturers of the products.

BPA, which is found in a wide range of products, mimics the hormone estrogen and may disrupt the body's endocrine system. The chemical poses a particular threat to fetuses, infants and children because it can interfere with cell function when their bodies are still developing, public health experts say. The chemical has been linked with diabetes, heart disease, cancer and developmental delays in children.

More information
Get more information on what's in a product, or information on products containing no chemicals at all, at the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Database.

Octuplet Mom: Where Do We Draw the Line on IVF?

By Erica Kain

At first, I didn’t believe Nadya Suleman, the infamous mother of octuplets. No doctor would have the gall to transfer more than two embryos into a 33-year-old woman, right?
My initial guess was that she had pulled a Bobbi McCaughey. While trying to conceive, McCaughey took Pergonal and became the mother of septuplets, born in 1997. She did not have an ultrasound to determine how many eggs were waiting for the sperm.

As a result, McCaughey had seven premature babies, one with hypotonic quadriplegia and one with spastic diplegia. The situation seemed avoidable if she’d been under the care of a responsible reproductive endocrinologist who could have warned her against trying to conceive that particular month.

I’ve since learned that Pergonal was not to blame for Suleman’s conception. She did indeed have six embryos implanted by in vitro fertilization (IVF), two of which split, creating eight premature babies who may suffer a host of problems (including heart and brain defects).

If you purposely create more than one child in utero, there’s a good chance they’re going to have to come out early. Who in the world would wish prematurity upon their children? And what physician would consent to a massive embryo transfer?

The parents in my community have been discussing this situation almost nonstop since the story broke. While everyone agrees that Suleman made a terrible decision and her complicit doctor should be punished, no one can agree what the guidelines should be. Here are some of the suggestions:
“How about no IVF after three kids?”

Sounds responsible. But then I think of the well-to-do mother whose fourth child (an IVF baby) takes swim lessons with my daughter. Would I deny her the right to a fourth child just because she is over 35 and her reproductive system stopped cooperating?

“You have to show you can financially support your embryos before you create them.”
But if this were the case for natural conception, so many kids wouldn’t be here today. And the bills related to assisted reproductive technology (ART) tend to drain the savings accounts of even the most fiscally responsible parents. Most insurance companies don’t cover ART, acting as an artificial barrier to prevent low-income women from conceiving through IVF.

Toxic Poinsettias? Hangover Cures? It May Be All Fiction

(HealthDay News) -- It's that magical time of year when people are willing to suspend disbelief just a little bit and hope that holiday miracles, like Santa delivering presents across the globe in a single evening, can actually happen.

It also appears to be a time of year when people might be willing to suspend critical thinking and buy into some common holiday and wintertime health myths, according to researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine.

In the Christmas issue of BMJ published online Dec. 18, the researchers pointed out six commonly believed myths that even some health professionals believe are true. But, when the researchers looked for evidence to back up the myths, they couldn't find it. The debunked myths include:

• Suicide rates are higher during the holidays.
• Poinsettias are toxic if eaten.
• Hangovers are curable.
• Sugar makes children hyperactive.
• You lose most of your body heat through your head. Eating at night makes you fat.

"We really don't know why some myths become so embedded," said one of the article's co-authors, Dr. Rachel Vreeman, an assistant professor of pediatrics.

"Sometimes you hear these myths from people you consider to be experts," suggested Vreeman's co-author, Dr. Aaron Carroll, director of the Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research. "And, often, there's a kernel of truth in some of these myths. For example, sugar gives us energy, so some people might leap to the conclusion that too much sugar gives you too much energy."

But, he added, that's not the case. At least 12 double-blind, randomized, controlled trials have looked at the effect of sugar on children, and none found evidence for the sugar-equals-hyperactivity myth. In one study, children weren't even given sugar, but their parents were told they had been -- and parents who thought their children had eaten sugar rated their behavior as more hyperactive.

Another pervasive myth is that more people try to commit suicide over the holidays, but numerous studies have failed to find a peak of suicides during the holidays, according to Vreeman and Carroll.

Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, said he wasn't surprised that there was not an increase in suicides during the holidays, because people tend to be surrounded by other people in December. He wondered, however, what happens after the holidays.

"There are such high expectations around the holidays," he said. "Holiday anxiety and depression are very common, so a better question might be whether or not people are more unhappy during the holidays."

Another common holiday myth surrounds hangover cures. Although most everyone has a favorite that they swear works for them, the only real cure for a hangover is not to drink excessively in the first place. Also, Siegel pointed out that some hangover cures, such as aspirin or acetaminophen, can actually create troubles, such as liver problems or stomach irritation, in people who've been drinking.

As for the other myths? Vreeman and Carroll said that poinsettias, even in large doses, appear to be safe, though they certainly don't recommend consuming them. Your head, like the rest of your body, releases heat, but it's no more important to shield your head than to protect other parts of your body against the cold.

And, finally, they said that eating at night won't make you fat as long as what you're eating doesn't put you over your normal daily calorie total. Generally, they said, people who eat at night tend to gain weight, because those calories consumed nocturnally are in addition to three regular meals and snacks.

So, Santa, if you've already had breakfast, lunch and dinner, maybe you'd better put down the milk and cookies.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information on other important health myths.

With Children Sick, China Pulls Tainted Milk

Milk powder tainted with a banned chemical is coming off store shelves in China. So far, one child has died and another 432 children are sick. The milk is linked to kidney stones in infants.

About Autism & Aspergers, Child Psychology Information

About Autism & Apergers, Child Psychology Information Dr. John Breeding, Ph.D. Child Psychologist and professor of Psychology discusses autism spectrum disorder and Aspergers syndrome.



Visit Dr. Breeding's Website at
http://www.wildestcolts.com/