Parents have an eye on kids’ media usage - study
For all the hand-wringing policymakers do over television, parents say they are gaining control over what their kids watch, according to a new survey.
A Kaiser Family Foundation’s national survey of 1,008 parents of children ages 2-17 found that 65 percent say they “closely” monitor their children’s media use, while only 18 percent say they “should do more.”
Gene Test Not Needed If Cancer Drug Given in Low Dose
Investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital have shown that when the cancer drug irinotecan is given in low doses for multiple days, it eliminates the need to delay treatment to perform costly genetic testing that determines if the patient is at risk for serious treatment side effects, such as neutropenia. Neutropenia is an abnormal reduction in the numbers of immune cells, called neutrophils; the disorder leaves individuals more vulnerable to infections.
The finding means that clinicians can begin treatment sooner and eliminate the cost of this specialized test, which determines if the child carries a variation in the gene UGT1A1 that is linked to this side effect of neutropenia. By giving the drug in small doses for two weeks instead of the standard single large dose once a month, children can begin treatment with irinotecan immediately. Irinotecan is used to treat childhood solid tumors such as neuroblastoma, sarcomas and kidney tumors.
