Paediatrics

Omega-3 supplements can improve ADHD symptoms in some young people

Omega-3 fish oil supplements improve attention and vigilance in young people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, who have low levels of omega-3, a study in Translational Psychiatry suggests.…

NICE guidance linked with rising antidepressant use in children

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines from 2005 may have inadvertently led to increased antidepressant prescribing in children aged under 18 years.…

Guide to prescribing children’s medicine

Prescribing medicines for children: from drug development to practical administration, by Barker B, Turner M and Sharland M (eds).…

Low vitamin D status in early life linked to future high blood pressure

Children with persistently low plasma vitamin D levels at birth and in early childhood have an increased risk of elevated systolic blood pressure later in childhood, research has suggested.…

Boys aged 12 and 13 years to be offered HPV vaccine from September 2019, PHE announces

From September 2019, boys aged 12 and 13 years will be offered the free human papillomavirus vaccine, Public Health England has announced.…

Electronic prescribing does not prevent most harmful paediatric prescribing errors, study finds

Electronic prescribing systems in England do not prevent the majority of harmful prescribing errors from occurring in the hospital paediatric setting, study results published in The BMJ show.…

Measles vaccinations should be compulsory for pre-school children, study concludes

Measles vaccinations should be compulsory for children before they start school to help prevent the disease becoming endemic in the UK within 30 years, researchers have suggested.…

Purified CBD reduces seizures in rare form of childhood epilepsy by almost 50%, study finds

Highly purified cannabidiol at a dose of 10mg/kg/day can reduce convulsive seizures in children with Dravet syndrome by almost 50%.…

Dasotraline shows potential for improving ADHD symptom severity

A novel treatment has been found to be effective in improving symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, such as attention and hyperactivity.…

Cannabis use in adolescence linked to depression in young adulthood

Adolescent cannabis users are over three times more likely to attempt suicide in young adulthood, according to the authors of a review published in JAMA Psychiatry.…