Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Dr. O'Hara to Lecture at Autism Education Conference in Groton, CT on March 31st

On March 31st, Dr. O'Hara will be speaking at The Light House's Autism Education Conference at the Mystic Marriott in Groton, CT.

For more information about the conference and The Light House organization, click on the links below.

Conference info: http://ihealthnow.org/images/2014AECflyerwithSpeakers-1.jpg

Conference History: http://ihealthnow.org/documents/InsideMysticStory.pdf

Johnson & Johnson removes 2 chemicals from baby products

From The New York Times (1/21):

J&J removes 2 chemicals from baby products

Fulfilling a promise it made in 2011, Johnson & Johnson has reformulated its infant products to remove the formaldehyde-releasing preservative quaternium-15 and 1,4-dioxane. The company next plans to remove another preservative, parabens, from their baby products and to work on removing the chemicals from their adult products.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/18/business/johnson-johnson-takes-first-step-in-removal-of-questionable-chemicals-from-products.html?hpw&rref=business&_r=1

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

CBT program improves well-being of ASD students

From Medical News Today (1/9):

CBT program improves well-being of ASD students

Students with autism spectrum disorder and those with behavioral and emotional needs who used cognitive behavioral therapy to imagine tiny characters in their heads helping them in their decision-making showed significant improvement in well-being, according to a recent study presented at the British Psychological Society meeting. The program was tested in single-case studies, group studies, and in whole-class and school-year groups.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/270849.php

If you are interested in learning more about CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), please contact Lori Coda at loricoda@gmail.com or 203-414-0834.

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations raised risk for fever when given at the same time

From dailyRx (1/6/14):

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccinations raised risk for fever when given at the same time

Among children who were simultaneously given the trivalent inactivated vaccine for influenza and pneumococcal vaccine, 37.6% had a fever the day of or the day after administration, according to a study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. Fever rates were lower when the vaccines were taken separately, with 9.5% with the pneumococcal vaccine alone and 7.5% with influenza vaccine alone the day of or the day after vaccination. Researchers found no differences in fever incidence for days two through seven in all vaccination groups.


http://www.dailyrx.com/influenza-and-pneumococcal-vaccinations-raised-risk-fever-when-given-same-time

Oxytocin Receptor Gene Influences Face Recognition, Study Shows

From Sci News (12/28):

Oxytocin Receptor Gene Influences Face Recognition, Study Shows


OXTR (oxytocin receptor) – a gene that influences a range of social interactions including mother-infant bonding – also plays a key role in our ability to recognize faces, according to a new study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....

The scientists studied 198 families with a single autistic child because these families were known to show a wide range of variability in facial recognition skills; two-thirds of the families were from the United Kingdom, and the remainder from Finland.

They previously found OXTR is essential for olfactory-based social recognition in rodents, like mice and voles, and wondered whether the same gene could also be involved in human face recognition....

http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-oxytocin-receptor-gene-face-recognition-01647.html

Prolonged breast-feeding linked to improved child development

From Reuters (12/25):

Prolonged breast-feeding linked to improved child development

Breast-feeding for more than six months was associated with higher scores in cognitive, language and motor development at 18 months of age, according to a Greek study involving 540 mothers and their children. Children who were breast-fed for longer than six months had an average cognitive score of 104, compared with 97 among children who were never breast-fed. The findings appear in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/25/us-breast-feeding-idUSBRE9BO08920131225

Silencing vaccine concerns does public a disservice

21 Dec 2013

The Boston Globe
Silencing vaccine concerns does public a disservice

A RECENT Katie Couric talk show featured mothers who had good reason to believe that their daughters were seriously damaged or killed by adverse effects of vaccines intended to block HPV infection as well as an immunologist who highlighted the shortcomings of the vaccines. Despite the importance of this information to the public, the Globe chose to castigate Couric for exposing potential harm from vaccination (“Couric: Fanning fears of HPV vaccine,” Editorial, Dec. 12).

RICHARD C. DETH writes: With the population-wide administration of vaccines, it is absolutely critical to appreciate their limitations and their potential for harm in vulnerable individuals. Suppressing awareness of these limitations is a disservice to the public and serves to undermine confidence in vaccine benefits.

The writer is a professor of pharmacology at Northeastern University.


http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2013/12/21/silencing-vaccine-concerns-does-public-disservice/jIkZxn9bnERaE2gcHjxLAM/story.html