Blog

Delving into the causes of attention deficits: Childhood adversity, lost sleep, and dopamine

Posted on by | Basic/Translational, Research
Tags: , , ,
New research on the effects of adversity in childhood ties together stress, sleep loss, and attention deficits later in life. It also uncovers some of the underlying brain biology and potential treatment approaches — while revealing a puzzling sex-specific effect. The lab of Takao Hensch, PhD, has long studied time windows during development — commonly ... Read More
Tagged: , , ,

Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy: How the Cooksons dodged a devastating disease

Posted on by | Clinical Care, Patient Stories
Tags: , ,
Heather Cookson believes that if she hadn’t insisted her son Ricky get a brain MRI to investigate his frequent headaches, neither he nor his younger brother Jerry would be walking or living full lives today. “I just wanted peace of mind,” she says. “Ricky got the MRI, and that’s when the lesion was found.” The ... Read More
Tagged: , ,

Gene therapy for adrenoleukodystrophy: Studies find both risks and benefits

Posted on by | Clinical, Research
Tags: , ,
Cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), portrayed in the film Lorenzo’s Oil, is a devastating disorder caused by a mutation on the X chromosome. Boys with CALD progressively lose their neurologic function and, if untreated, eventually become non-responsive. Most pass away within 10 years of diagnosis. Until recently, the only treatment for CALD was a blood (hematopoietic) stem ... Read More
Tagged: , ,

Catching up with Lucas eight years after his multivisceral transplant

Posted on by | Patient Stories
Tags: ,
Lucas and his mom, Heather, aren’t shy talking about his health journey and his multivisceral transplant. “If other families can learn something from Lucas’ story, it would be to keep advocating for your child and to trust that gut feeling,” Heather says. “Without organ donors, Lucas would not be here today.” Lucas was born with ... Read More
Tagged: ,

Emergency department or urgent clinic? Understanding your options if your child is injured

Posted on by | Health and Parenting
Tags: , , ,
Having an active or adventurous child often means comforting them when they come home with bumps or bruises. But when an injury is more serious, parents don’t always know where to seek the right level of care. The injury may look serious, but a trip to the emergency department may seem over the top — ... Read More
Tagged: , , ,

Helping manage ‘sensitive issues’: How our psychosocial team helps kids with urologic concerns

Posted on by | Our Community
Tags:
In Boston Children’s Department of Urology, urologists, pediatricians, and nurses aren’t the only ones who care for kids and their families. Psychologists, social workers, and child life specialists all work together to help children manage urologic conditions. We sat down with members of the department’s psychosocial team to learn more. Why did you choose to ... Read More
Tagged:

‘A lot better now’: Andrew’s recovery from Rocky Mountain spotted fever and a stroke

Posted on by | Patient Stories
Tags: , ,
When Andrew was bitten by a tick in 2021, he and his parents could hardly have imagined that just a month later, he would be coping with a series of health problems that would culminate in a stroke. Andrew, then 7, didn’t even realize he’d been bitten until he began to feel sick with a ... Read More
Tagged: , ,

Shoring up heart muscle’s mini ‘managers’ to treat heart failure

Posted on by | Basic/Translational, Research
Tags: , , , , , ,
Our heart muscle is studded with tiny dyads, intricately designed structures that manage incoming electrical signals and calcium release to coordinate our heartbeats. Could gene therapy help maintain dyads’ structure and boost the function of failing hearts? A new study suggests it can. “We know that in heart failure from many causes, dyads become disorganized,” says ... Read More
Tagged: , , , , , ,

EarlyBird: Addressing dyslexia through game play

Posted on by | Primary Care, Therapeutics/Diagnostics/Devices
Tags: , ,
Up to 10 percent of the population has dyslexia, yet many children are diagnosed only after struggling with reading for years. The stigma can cause low self-esteem, depression, and antisocial behavior. But imagine we could identify children at risk for dyslexia before they start formal reading instruction, then help them build the skills they need ... Read More
Tagged: , ,

Will early intervention prevent asthma in school-age children?

Posted on by | Clinical, Research
Tags: , , ,
Asthma affects about 1 in 10 children, often sending them to the emergency room or causing them to miss school. Allergic conditions in young children — like food allergies or eczema — are often a precursor. Susceptible children begin producing IgE antibodies, which trigger allergic reactions and spur the “allergic march” toward asthma. IgE antibodies ... Read More
Tagged: , , ,