childrens hospital of philadelphia
Rare gene variants critical for personalized drug treatment
The use of genetic tests to predict a patient’s response to drugs is increasingly important in the development of personalized medicine. But genetic tests often only look for the most common gene variants. In a pharmacogenomics …
Victims of child abuse may have hidden head injuries
Abused children may have hidden head injuries that go undetected by routine examination and screening, according to new research from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The researchers recommend that healthcare personnel perform brain scans to screen for occult (hidden) head injuries in children with suspected abuse injuries who are less than six months of age or who present with high-risk injuries, including rib fractures, multiple skeletal fractures or facial injuries.
Rapid infant weight gain linked to obesity in African American young adults
African Americans who gained weight rapidly in the first four months of life were more likely than their peers to be obese as young adults, 20 years later, according to researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Their study, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, analyzed data on 300 people in Philadelphia who were followed as part of a long-term, larger study from 1962 through 1989.