Half of children with cancer being treated with cisplatin suffer irreversible hearing loss
A University of Alberta research lab has helped identify a genetic variant that increases the risk of hearing loss in children with cancer who are treated with the widely used drug cisplatin. Amit Bhavsar, assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology and Canada Research Chair in Functional Genomic Medicine, led the U…
Could potentially identify children at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders
Infant boys with a higher composition of a particular gut microbiota show enhanced neurodevelopment, according to a new study. The University of Alberta-led research followed more than 400 infants from the CHILD Cohort Study (CHILD) at its Edmonton site. Boys with a gut bacterial composition that was high in the bacteria Bacteroidetes at one year of age…
It’s time for Canada to regulate marketing food to kids. But regulating marketing is no cakewalk
Most people would agree that protecting children should be our country’s utmost priority. Protecting children from unhealthy food products and fast-food chains has been the subject of many conversations. Ads for sugary food products geared towards children have been contested for years and some countries have opted to ban them, one way or another. The…
Thanks to increase in virtual health care during pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic should make it easier for children with obesity and their families to connect with the specialized care they need, according to the authors of a new study in the academic journal Family Practice. The researchers examined referral records of 3,468 family physicians and 395 pediatricians in Alberta between January 2014 and December 2017.…
Research may eliminate the toxic side-effect of cispaltin in childhood cancer survivors
University of Alberta scientists have identified a receptor in cells that could be key to preventing permanent hearing loss in childhood cancer survivors being treated with the drug cisplatin. The researchers believe that, by inhibiting the receptor, they may be able to eliminate toxic side-effects from the drug that cause the hearing loss. Cisplatin is…
There’s a new entry to Canada’s list of bad ideas promoted during the COVID-19 outbreak: a literal nanny state. Aspirant recipients and allies are seizing on panic to invoke a policy monstrosity that would be a blow to children and families. In September’s throne speech, the former governor general said: “We have long understood that…
Sticking future generations with the tab isn’t a winning solution
By Franco Terrazzano and Renaud Brossard Canadian Taxpayers Federation There’s a big difference between making something affordable and playing a shell game with the costs. Unfortunately, the feds are choosing the latter with their new child-care program. The federal 2021 budget allocated $30 billion over the next five years towards a national child care program…
Researchers have found a causal link between caesarean section birth, low intestinal microbiota and peanut sensitivity in infants. They report the effect is more pronounced in children of Asian descent than others in a recently published paper in the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. “It’s important to know what predicts or increases (the) risk of…
Cardiologists, computing scientists team up to build video game-based MedBIKE fitness program for pediatric heart patients
Zacharie Biollo, 16, was born with a ventricle missing in his heart and had three life-saving surgeries by the time he was three years old. As he grew up, his parents encouraged him to get involved in sports such as soccer and karate, but he found he ran out of breath faster than some other…
Blood-type-incompatible heart transplant surgery for infants under the age of two pioneered in Canada, now used worldwide
A pediatric heart transplant procedure pioneered by Canadian doctors – once deemed impossible – has been shown to be at least as effective as the traditional approach, according to newly published research in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. ABO-incompatible heart transplantation was developed in the mid-1990s, after a Canadian transplant team led by Lori West realized that infants…
A University of Alberta research lab has helped identify a genetic variant that increases the risk of hearing loss in children with cancer who are treated with the widely used drug cisplatin. Amit Bhavsar, assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology and Canada Research Chair in Functional Genomic Medicine, led the U…
