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(2) CONTROLLED
CRYING REDUCES INFANT
SLEEP PROBLEMS
(3) GENERAL
PUBLIC FAILS TO RECOGNISE
EARLY SIGNS
OF STROKE
(4) BMJ
PUBLISHING GROUP LAUNCHES UK'S
FIRST 'VIRTUAL
JOURNAL'
(1) DEATHS BY
DROWNING FALL, BUT POOLS
ABROAD STILL "A MAJOR CONCERN"
(Preventing deaths by drowning in
children in the
United Kingdom: have we made progress
in 10 years?
Population based incidence study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7345/1070
The number of children drowning in the
United
Kingdom has declined between 1988-89 and
1998-99. However drownings in pools abroad
and in
garden ponds have risen significantly,
finds a study in
this week's BMJ.
Researchers at the University of Wales
College of
Medicine, the Royal Life Saving Society,
and the
Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents
compared
deaths by drowning in children aged 0-14
years in the
periods 1988-9 and 1998-9.
A total of 104 children drowned in 1998-9
compared
with 149 in 1988-9. The number of deaths
fell in all
sites (rivers, canals, and lakes; domestic
pools; and
the sea) apart from deaths in garden ponds,
where the
numbers rose significantly. At least 14
British children
drowned abroad, mostly while swimming
in hotel or
apartment pools.
Three times more boys than girls drowned
during both
periods, and autistic children were particularly
at risk.
Drownings in pools abroad and in garden
ponds are a
major concern, and safety organisations
and holiday
companies need to improve the safety of
children
abroad, say the authors. The rise in the
number of
drownings in garden ponds may be due to
an increase
in the number of water features in gardens,
perhaps as
a result of popular garden programmes
on television,
they add.
Detailed data on deaths by drowning should
be
collected routinely by government statistics
offices in
the United Kingdom, they conclude.
Contacts:
Jo Sibert, Professor of Community Child
Health,
University of Wales College of Medicine,
Llandough
Hospital, Penarth, Wales
Email: sibert@cardiff.ac.uk
or
Peter Cornall, Head of Water and Leisure,
Royal
Society for Prevention of Accidents, Birmingham,
UK
Email: PCornall@ROSPA.com
(2) CONTROLLED
CRYING REDUCES INFANT
SLEEP PROBLEMS
(Randomised controlled trial of behavioural
infant
sleep intervention to improve infant
sleep and maternal
mood)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7345/1062
Teaching mothers how to implement controlled
crying
techniques can reduce infant sleep problems
and
symptoms of postnatal depression, finds
a study in this
week's BMJ.
Researchers at the Royal Children's Hospital
in
Melbourne, Australia identified 156 mothers
of infants
aged 6-12 months with severe sleep problems.
Mothers in the intervention group received
advice on
the use of controlled crying methods.
They also
received a sleep management plan, information
about
normal sleep patterns in infants, and
the management
of sleep problems. Mothers in the control
group
received the information on normal sleep
patterns, but
did not receive advice on how to manage
infant sleep
problems.
The intervention significantly reduced
infant sleep
problems and symptoms of maternal depression
over
two months. It was also acceptable to
mothers,
involved minimal family disruption, and
reduced the
need for mothers to seek alternative help
for their
infant's sleep, conclude the authors.
Contact:
Harriet Hiscock, Centre for Community Child
Health,
Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne,
Australia
Email: hiscockh@cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au
(3) GENERAL PUBLIC
FAILS TO RECOGNISE
EARLY SIGNS OF STROKE
(Perceptions of stroke in the general
public and
patients with stroke: a qualitative
study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7345/1065
The general public does not find it easy
to recognise
the early symptoms of stroke because they
vary so
much, and this often results in delay
in seeking medical
attention, finds a study in this week's
BMJ.
Thirty-five people took part in discussion
groups and
answered questionnaires about stroke:
11 from the
general public, 14 people who had had
a stroke, and
10 carers or partners.
Participants reported that recognising
symptoms was
not easy. Many patients who had had a
stroke did not
initially take their symptoms seriously
because the
symptoms were not the same as those they
had read
about.
They felt that none of the available written
information
about stroke successfully conveyed the
importance of
early presentation to hospital for anyone
experiencing
warning signs or symptoms. They stressed
the need
for simple, understandable information
about stroke.
For maximum effect, treatment of acute
stroke with
anti-clotting drugs must be given within
an early limited
time, say the authors. Unless people know
they are or
might be having a stroke that opportunity
will be
missed, they conclude.
Contact:
Sung Sug Yoon, Faculty of Medicine and
Health
Sciences, University of Newcastle, New
South
Wales, Australia
Email: sungsyoon@yahoo.com
(4) BMJ PUBLISHING
GROUP LAUNCHES UK'S
FIRST 'VIRTUAL JOURNAL'
(Editorial: Paediatric Asthma±a new
virtual journal )
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7345/1052
To celebrate World Asthma Day on 7 May
2002, the
BMJ Publishing Group has joined forces
with the
American Society of Pediatrics to launch
Paediatric
Asthma - the UK's first virtual journal.
Participating journals include Archives
of Disease in
Childhood, Pediatrics, Thorax, and BMJ,
which
automatically contribute all relevant
content to
Paediatric Asthma as it is published.
More than 400
articles are now available at
www.paedatric-asthma.org
The aim of World Asthma Day is to increase
public
awareness of the seriousness of asthma
and to
highlight actions that doctors can take
to improve its
care and management. This year, the focus
is on
children, since it affects one in eight
children in Britain
and 90% of patients have developed the
disease by
the age of 6 years.
Much remains to be learnt about the causes
of asthma,
and successful treatment lies not only
in educating
parents and children, but health professionals
too, says
Harvey Marcovitch, Editor of Archives
of Disease in
Childhood. We hope that, as the web site
develops,
other journals with relevant content will
join us to
ensure a useful and comprehensive repository
of
research and commentary on childhood asthma,
he
concludes.
Contacts:
Harvey Marcovitch, Editor, Archives of
Disease in
Childhood
Email: h.markovitch@btinternet.com
Alex Williamson, Publishing Director, BMJ
Specialist
Journals, BMA House, London, UK
Email: awilliamson@bmjgroup.com
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