|
HOW RELIABLE ARE DRUG TESTS?
(October 2002) A review of this site, www.drugtesthelp.com, might
make a person wonder just how reliable the current popularity of drug testing is.
STUDENT CHARGED IN STUDENT DEATH
(October 5, 11, 2002) The Journal News
reported a death at Summit School, a school for troubled youths in Upper Nyack, New York, by a student who fell out a
second-story window. The 17 year old student accused of pushing the boy to his death pleaded not guilty yesterday to murder charges
in County Court. [more...]
ADVANCES IN CHILDHOOD TESTING
(October 6, 2002) Jonathan Martin, Spokesman-Review,
reports that Laurie Flynn, past president of the
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill for 16
years, and professor of child psychiatry at Columbia
University, with her staff, screened all students in
the New York public schools for several years,
finding “at least one student out of every 100 tested
who needs immediate hospitalization.” The article also
reports on “about a dozen lawsuits nationwide demanding
improved children’s mental health care…most of the suits
use a requirement in the federal Medicaid rules
that mandate preventative screening and treatment to
avoid more costly measures.” Websites listed include:
The
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill;
The Child
and Adolescent Biopolar Foundation;
The
National Mental Health Association; The National
Institute of Mental Health’s children’s page;
The National Institute of Mental Health’s children’s
page.
TEEN URINE TESTS TO DETECT TOBACCO
(October 8, 2002) The
SunSpot.net, identified as Maryland's
Online Community, in the Health section, reported
schools that are starting to test urine to detect
student tobacco use. Advocates say, "smoking is a ticket
to more serious drug use."
TRACKING KIDS, CALMING PARENTS
(October 23, 2002) Arik Hesseldahl, writes for Forbes News Alert about a New York-based startup called POMALS
("peace of mind at light speed") that is readying products designed to harness the GPS system for tracking everyday objects
that kids and grownups tend to carry with them, keeping track of their location on a specially designed Web site. The system also would
allow parents to create a geographical box in which their child must stay; should they exceed that box the POMALS system can e-mail
a PC, mobile phone or pager, or even make a phone call. The device is small enough to fit inside a backpack or in the pocket of a jacket.
POMALS Chief Executive Coppy Holzman, a former Webvan executive, says the company is developing a logo that might appear
on a backpack indicating the person wearing it is being tracked. The device will also have a "panic button" that kids can
press if they run into trouble.” [more...]
SYLVAN LEARNING POSTS QUARTERLY LOSS
(October 24, 2002) Reuters reports that educational services company, Sylvan Learning Systems Inc, reported a quarterly
loss, reversing a year-earlier profit, hurt by steep losses at its Sylvan Ventures research and investment arm. The company said it
lost $5.7 million, or 14 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a profit of $8.4 million, or 20 cents a share, a year
ago. [more...]
PARENTS IN
THE DARK ON TEEN ECSTASY USE, STUDY FINDS
(October 23, 2002) According to the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America,
the Partnership for a Drug-Free America's (PDFA) annual study,
finds only one percent of parents think their child has taken Ecstasy, even though nearly three million of America's teens have
tried the drug. Also, while 92 percent of parents were aware of the drug, nearly half would not recognize its effects on their kids.
In a different study, researchers from Johns Hopkins say those who use ecstasy could develop parkinsonism in later years,
since ecstasy damages brain dopamine neurons, and brain dopamine declines in advancing age. [Registered readers of Science Online can
access the article online]
EXPERTS TESTING EFFECTIVENESS OF DATE-RAPE DRUG COASTERS
(October 23, 2002) The
Community
Anti-Drug Coalition of America reports a
coaster manufacturers claim can show whether a drink has
been spiked with a date-rape drug, is being tested for
the accuracy of its results. The Michigan State
Police Crime Lab found that the coasters failed to
react clearly to drinks spiked with GHB, a major
date-rape drug. Scientists tested red wine, cola,
whiskey and orange juice, and could hardly decipher a
color change. More than 50 million of the coasters have
been sold since March, primarily to colleges and
convenience stores. Francisco Guerra, president
of the company that manufactures the product, believes
that “while it is not 100 percent accurate, it is a good
prevention tool.” [www.drinksafecoaster.com]
STUDY
SHOWS NEW D.A.R.E. PROGRAM HELPS YOUTHS DECIDE AGAINST
USING DRUGS
(October 31, 2002) A recent University of Akron,
Akron, Ohio, evaluation of the new D.A.R.E. (Drug
Abuse Resistance Education) 7th grade curriculum
shows improvements in students’ decision-making skills,
drug refusal skills, and beliefs that drug use is
socially inappropriate. The new curriculum, delivered
through D.A.R.E., which operates in 80 percent of
U.S. school districts, involves a five-year study of
over 15,000 students from 83 high schools and their 122
middle schools. The new D.A.R.E. science-based
curriculum, being tested in Detroit, Houston, Los
Angeles, Newark, New Orleans, and St. Louis,
“comes at a critical time in light of the most recent
National Household Survey report showing an increase
in substance abuse among our nation's youth," according
to J. Michael McGinnis, Sr. Vice-President of the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which funded the
study.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY META-ANALYSIS QUESTIONS CORPORAL
PUNISHMENT
(November 2002) The
Harvard Medical School’s Mental Health Letter,
reports a meta-analysis of 88 studies including more
than 36,000 participants, authored by Elizabeth
Thompson Gershoff of Columbia University, and
published this year in the journal Psychological
Bulletin. It defines corporal punishment as physical
force used with the intention of causing pain, but not
injury, in order to correct or control a child’s
behavior, as distinguished from physical abuse, defined
by the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and
Neglect, as the infliction of physical injury,
intentionally or not, by punching, beating, kicking,
biting, burning, or shaking. To that list she adds
yanking hair, twisting ears, and making a child stand in
the same place for a long time, even if no injury
results. While most studies found corporal punishment
will get a child to comply immediately with a parent’s
legitimate demands, however, children who are spanked
have a less trusting and affectionate relationship with
their parents and feel less guilt about misbehavior, as
opposed to concern about being caught. In both childhood
and adulthood, they’re more aggressive and have poorer
mental health and a higher rate of criminal and other
antisocial behavior. “Also, the more often and the
longer and harder they are spanked, the worse the
outcome.”
ROCHE
ACNE DRUG'S U.S. LABEL TO CITE VIOLENCE RISK
(November 4, 2002) Reuters reports Roche
Holding AG, at the request of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, has changed the U.S. label on
Roaccutane to cite a risk that this drug, which
treats severe acne, could be linked to violent behaviour.
“We believe the physician's perception of Roaccutane
already assumes violent behavior as a side effect and
this news should not materially impact the drug's
outlook," ABN AMRO said in a research note. They
attributed a market decline from “bad publicity on the
product and extensive tracking programs required by the
FDA due to possible psychotic side effects, although
people (mainly young adults) suffering from acne are
more likely to commit suicide." [Copyright 2002, Reuters
News Service]
YALE,
STANDFORD DROP ‘EARLY DECISIONS’
(November 7, 2002)
USA Today:
“Two of the nation’s top private universities, Yale
and Stanford…no longer will require who apply
under early deadlines to commit to enrolling if they are
admitted.” The controversial practice critics argue,
forces students “to make high-stakes choices even before
their senior years.” Affecting students entering college
in the fall of 2004, high school seniors will still be
able to apply in fall semester, yet even if admitted,
they will be free to apply to and consider other schools
during the regular application cycle in the spring. Also
adopted by Harvard, though questioning the
effectiveness of the new policy; Princeton and
Brown universities and the University of
Pennsylvania continue to require binding policies
for early decisions.
MOTHERHOOD MAY MAKE WOMEN SMARTER
(November 7, 2002) Maggie Fox, for Reuters,
reports: “Motherhood may make women smarter - and may
help prevent dementia in old age by bathing the brain in
protective hormones, according to U.S. researchers.
University of Richmond psychology professor Craig
Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual
meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando,
Florida, believes his findings will translate into
humans. "Our research shows that the hormones of
pregnancy are protecting the brain, including estrogen,
which we know has many neuroprotective effects," Kinsley
said. "It's rat data but humans are mammals just like
these animals are mammals," he added in a telephone
interview. "They go through pregnancy and hormonal
changes." The rats that had several pregnancies had
lower levels of a protein called amyloid precursor
protein -- which, in humans, is associated with the
development of Alzheimer's. He needs to do more tests
but believes the effect may be even stronger in human
females, who invest much more time and effort in raising
offspring. Humans also have the "grandmother effect" --
older women in most societies play a role in raising
their grandchildren and thus the children benefit from
having grandmothers who engage their faculties.
UP TO
75% OF YOUTHS ARRESTED SUFFER FROM MENTAL HEALTH
PROBLEMS
(November 11, 2002) The
U.S.
News & World Report, Nov. 11, 2002, “The
Demons of Childhood” article by M. Szegedy-Maszek,
states, an “estimated 20% of all U.S. children
and adolescents have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder
and 13% of all adolescents” are “experiencing serious
emotional disturbance”. Pediatricians and family
practitioners, according to the surgeon general’s
National Action Agenda in 2000, prescribe 85% of
the psychiatric drugs today, and two third of mental
health visits are to primary-care physicians. A
“reviewer” or “gatekeeper” working for the insurance
company determines what care will be reimbursed, “in
effect determining both the quality and the nature of
the care.” A few communities are experimenting with ways
to better coordinate all the services needed to help
“mentally ill” youth, through a “continuum of care” or
“wraparound” services. However “in most places corollary
services remain badly fragmented.” Meanwhile, “according
to a report submitted to Congress by the
Coalition for Juvenile Justice, an estimated 50
percent to 75 percent of the 2.5 million youths under
age 18 who are arrested suffer from mental health
problems.”
STUDY
PROVOKES CONTROVERSY ABOUT EFFECTS OF DAY CARE
(December, 2002) the
Harvard Mental Health Letter, December 2002,
reports on a research study sponsored by the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD),
part of the National Institutes of Health, which
observed 1,300 children from birth. “So far, the
findings indicate that preschool children placed in day
care, compared to those who stay with their mothers,
have slightly weaker bond with their mothers at the
earliest ages are slightly more likely to be aggressive
and disobedient, regardless of their gender of social
class. Their cognitive development is equal. At any age,
child care of high quality is associated with few
behavior problems and better cognitive development. But
the study couldn’t prove a cause-and-effect
relationship, so the implications for individual
decision-making and public policy remain uncertain.”
|
