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New Urine Test Could Diagnose Autism in Children: Study
A new autism diagnostic tool could enable earlier detection — and it’s as simple as going to the bathroom. The breakthrough screening developed by researchers at Arizona State University evaluates urine for certain compounds that may identify children with autism. And with autism diagnoses skyrocketing 175% between 2011 and 2022, spotting the developmental disorder sooner, rather than later, could mean better treatment options.
Autism affects how people learn, behave, communicate and interact with others, with one-third of the population also having an intellectual disability. The study, published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, used urine samples from children ages 2 to 11 to screen for 17 microbial metabolites, or molecules produced by microorganisms in the gut. A classification tool called the Microbially-Derived Metabolite (MDM) System assigned a score for the number of metabolites in a child’s urine that exceeded the typical range.
Fifty-two of the children had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, while 47 didn’t have it. Nearly all the kids with autism had at least one metabolite level that exceeded the highest observed in the group without the disorder. Those with autism had about three elevated metabolites, with some levels measuring up to 1,000 times higher.
Supreme Court Rejects Meta’s Appeal in Vermont Social Media Addiction Case
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a push to avoid a lawsuit alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed young users, a decision that comes as social media companies increasingly face legal scrutiny. Parent company Meta Platforms Inc. appealed after Vermont’s highest court allowed a suit filed by its attorney general in 2023 to move forward. The company is facing similar lawsuits from states across the country, accusing it of knowingly designing addictive features.
Meta had argued that it can’t be sued in Vermont court because neither the company nor the app design has specific ties to the state. Vermont countered that the sites’ large number of teen users gives its courts jurisdiction. The Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal in a brief, unexplained order, as is typical. The procedural decision comes after court losses for Meta and YouTube in social media addiction lawsuits in California and New Mexico.
Michigan Health Officials Sunset Early Vaccination Recommendation After Measles Outbreak Ends
Michigan health officials are no longer recommending infants receive an early dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, announcing Tuesday they had phased out their previous guidance aimed at reducing the spread of measles in several Michigan counties.
At the beginning of April, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services began recommending early vaccination for infants 6 to 11 months old residing in Washtenaw, Monroe, Wayne, Oakland, Jackson, Livingston or Lenawee counties, after eight cases of measles were identified in Washtenaw and Monroe counties. While the vaccine is routinely given to children between 12 and 15 months old, the department recommended early vaccination to provide additional protection to infants in the midst of the measles outbreak.
As no additional cases were identified as a result of the outbreak in Washtenaw County, the early vaccination recommendation ended on Saturday, May 16. Between April 8, when the guidance was issued, and when it ended, 2,371 doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine were administered to infants 6 through 11 months within the counties facing risk of transmission.
Are Silicone Baby Bottles Safer Than Plastic? What Parents Need to Know About Microplastics
Raleigh News & Observer reported:
Parents aren’t just asking whether plastic baby bottles are convenient anymore. They’re asking what happens after months of heating, sterilizing and daily use — and whether tiny plastic particles end up in the milk or formula babies consume. That concern has fueled growing interest in silicone baby bottles, glass bottles and other non-plastic baby bottles. But once parents decide they want to move away from plastic, the next question becomes harder: Which alternative actually makes the most sense?
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles ranging from 5 millimeters down to 1 nanometer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Researchers have found them throughout the environment and inside the human body, including the brain, placenta, heart and stomach, according to Stanford Medicine.
A 2020 study from Trinity College Dublin found that plastic bottles account for roughly 83% of the global baby bottle market and can release between 1.3 million and 16.2 million microplastic particles per liter during formula preparation. The study also found that infants may consume around 1.6 million microplastic particles every day. That doesn’t prove every plastic bottle is dangerous, but it has raised concerns about repeated heat exposure during feeding.
‘Social Media Should Be Treated Like Tobacco’: Health Experts Say the Internet Is Just as Bad as Smoking for Under-16s as UK Government Edges Closer to Introducing Ban
Health experts have likened the health risks of social media use by young people to the dangers of smoking, as the UK government moves closer to introducing a social media ban for under-16s. The UK’s Academy of Medical Royal Colleges says in a report that social media use poses significant damage to children who are “continuously exposed to hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content”.
The report, submitted as part of the government’s consultation process, also says social media use by young people now sits alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts “as a unifying force for the medical profession”. The report also highlights the responsibility of medical professionals in protecting children, saying doctors should now be asking children about their screen time and social media use when they first assess them. Half of the 454 medical professionals surveyed by the academy said they treated a child with social media-linked mental ill health at least once a week.
The guidance would make it easier for doctors to quickly assess if a child’s social media use is excessive and unhealthy, encouraging medical professionals to record any long-term health issues that could arise in their younger patients. “The difference now is that the harm being done to children online is not hypothetical … It is immediate, it is documented, and it is happening at scale,” the report adds.
