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3
October 2007
New
Australian Government Funding for Children with Autism
New
autism policy to provide support for families with ASD children. See:
http://www.pm.gov.au/media/Release/2007/Media_Release24599.cfm
17 June 2007
Dangerous
Allergies Soaring in Pre-Schoolers
THE
number of pre-schoolers with potentially life-threatening food allergies
has soared five-fold in the past decade but experts are at a loss to
explain it. A new report has found a dramatic increase in national
hospital admissions for anaphylaxis, particularly among children under
the age of five. Peanut allergies are the most common, followed by egg,
cows' milk and cashews.
Between 1994 and 2005, the number of admissions for allergy attacks rose
from 39 in every million youngsters to 194. Allergy specialist Professor
Raymond Mullins, the author of the report published in the Medical
Journal of Australia, said the huge increase had been reflected in
private allergy practices nationwide and was probably just the 'tip of
the iceberg'.
He described food allergies as the 'new kid on the block', a relatively
recent phenomenon unfamiliar to older generations, and it is poorly
understood. "We know it's specific to the Western world and that
it's more and more common but we don't know why," Prof Mullins
said.
Source:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21920044-1702,00.html
03 May 2007
ADHD
review head, adviser to drug makers
THE
head of the Federal Government's ADHD review insists he has no conflict
of interest, despite working with the two major manufacturers of ADHD
drugs Ritalin and Strattera.
Paediatrician
Dr Daryl Efron said he also supported the use of medication to treat
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for children under the current
cut-off age of six - in the right circumstances.
Dr
Efron sits on advisory boards to Novartis, which makes Ritalin, and Eli
Lilly, maker of Strattera - which goes on the PBS next month.
He
is chairman of the government-funded committee established by the Royal
College of Physicians to review the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD for
the first time in 10 years.
Dr
Efron denied his opinions meant the outcome of the long-awaited review
into the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD was prejudged. He said the
committee worked under strict NHMRC guidelines.
Australian
Childhood Foundation CEO Joe Tucci said he was concerned about the
committee's independence.
"This is the
first chance we have had to influence how the community deals with ADHD
and its treatment," Mr Tucci said. "Dr Efron is a consultant
to both of these drug companies and he is the chair of the committee and
I think that is a conflict of interest."
Source:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21640965-2,00.html#
12 March 2007
More
FDA Warnings Re: ADHD Drugs
On
February 21, the FDA announced that it is directing the manufacturers of
Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera and all other ADHD drugs to develop guides
to alert patients and parents that the drugs carry the risks of mental
and heart problems, including sudden death.
Draft
versions of the guides posted on the FDA Web site include discussion of
reports of increased blood pressure and heart rate in ADHD patients, as
well as cases of sudden death in some who have heart problems and heart
defects. In adult patients, the reported problems also include stroke
and heart attack.
The
alerts also cover psychiatric problems, such as hearing voices,
unfounded suspicions and manic behaviour, of which there is a slightly
increased risk in patients who take the drugs, the FDA said. The guides
also tell patients and their parents of precautions they can take to
guard against the risks.
Source:
Alternative Mental Health News #65
8 March 2007
This is all we need,
Scientists playing around with our children's immune systems. Another
disaster in the making.
Vaccines
at birth come a step closer
A
single injection at birth may be all it will take to protect newborn
babies from a variety of dangerous infections. Babies are particularly
vulnerable during their first few weeks of life because their immature
immune system cannot generate a strong response to invading bacteria and
viruses. Now it seems that a gentle nudge to their immune system may be
enough to make it fight off disease.
Most
vaccines do not produce lasting immunity in newborn babies. Instead,
infants have to wait for vaccination until several months after birth
and need several doses in order to encourage their sluggish immune
memory. According to the latest thinking, newborns are capable of
mounting adult-like inflammatory responses, but their ability to do so
is "muted" by their immune systems. This muting could be
necessary in the womb to prevent the immune systems of mother and fetus
from clashing, leading to miscarriage or premature birth. In newborns it
might be possible to "unmute" the immune system to make
vaccinations more effective or provide a more vigorous defense against
pathogens.
Ofer
Levy, an infectious disease specialist at Children's Hospital Boston,
thinks that they may have found a way of doing just that. His group has
been studying a group of molecules called Toll-like receptors (TLRs),
which are found on the surface of certain white blood cells. They act as
sentinels against invading bacteria or viruses, detecting foreign
particles and triggering the rest of the body's immune response.
Molecules that stimulate TLRs are already being added to vaccines in
clinical trials with older children and adults to try to stimulate their
immune systems and thereby increase the effectiveness of the vaccines.
In
newborn babies, however, most TLR-stimulating molecules trigger one hundredth
to one thousandth the response that they do in adults. There is one
exception: Levy's team has found that molecules that stimulate a
receptor called TLR8 provoke a much stronger immune reaction (Blood, DOI:
10/1182/blood-2005-12-4821). "We have found a stimulus that is able
to fully activate immune responses in a newborn baby," says Levy.
Some would consider this to be the holy grail of immunisation in the
newborn."
The
discovery might open the door to developing many more vaccines that work
in newborns. By adding TLR8 activators to vaccine formulations, vaccine
developers may be able to boost newborns' immune systems to the point
that vaccines can be given in a single dose at birth, rather than in
multiple doses several months later.
Levy
and others also caution that there may be unforeseen dangers in boosting
the immune systems of infants, since there may be good reasons for
keeping it turned down.
Source:
New Scientist 29 April 2006
For
advice or to book a consultation for your child call (03) 8802 7687 or email
me.
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