Although children have previously been given nicotine patches as part of trials, this is the first time it has been made part of official English policy.

The anti-smoking pressure group, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), were pleased with the implementation of the new policy as they felt that giving up smoking was ‘one of the most cost-effective forms of health intervention’.

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The chemical in question is called ‘bisphenol A’, known to be used by some companies in the lining of baby formula cans and bottles they produce.

Although bisphenol A has long been used in food packaging, consumer activists last year voiced concerns that trace amounts of the chemical that leak into the formula could pose a danger to babies.

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) is in the process of reviewing how safe bisphenol A is, but have however said that they see no reason why the chemical should be banned or restricted in the meantime.

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And now a study, recently published in the US, has shown that folic acid plays an added useful role. It has discovered that women who take folic acid supplements for a minimum of a year before they conceive are, as a result, less likely to give birth prematurely.

The study which followed approximately 35,000 pregnant women between 1999 and 2002 found that those women who took folic acid for at least a year before pregnancy reduced the risk of having their babies prematurely by about 70%, compared with women who hadn’t taken the supplement.

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This comes after a huge debate that was sparked off back in 1987 after a doctor suggested that the MMR vaccine caused autism. As a consequence, a lot of parents paid heed and didn’t vaccinate their children; this lead to an outbreak of all 3 diseases.

The recent study, which screened the blood samples of a group of children (all who’d previously received an MMR shot), didn’t find any abnormal responses to the vaccine in their immune system.

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They recorded 971 cases of measles in 2007, compared with 740 cases in 2006 – that’s a 30% jump.

The HPA’s report went on to say that most of the outbreaks were amongst communities where ‘vaccine uptake has been historically low’.

There has also been a smattering of smaller outbreaks in schools and nurseries; most of those infected were under 15 years old.

Over 70% of all measles cases were reported in the South East England; and of those, over half were in London.

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The lead researcher, Dr Dwight Rouse, said that although they weren’t entirely clear on how magnesium sulphate works, they believed the mineral compound was responsible for opening up the blood vessels in the baby’s brain.

2,241 women took part in the study, all between 24-31 weeks pregnant and going into premature labour. Cerebral palsy was lower in babies whose mothers had been given Epsom salts (2%), compared to those who hadn’t been (4%).

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The study was carried out in the UK on approximately 1600 boys and girls aged between 4 and 18 years old. The researchers calculated that if a child had a 1g reduction in their daily salt intake, it would reduce their soft drink consumption by as much as 27g a day.

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In some cases, although rare, the use of over-the-counter cough and cold drugs has resulted in rapid heart rates, convulsions and, unfortunately, death.

The FDA is yet to come to a decision on whether certain widely-sold drugs are safe for kids older than 2. They are currently looking into the age 2-11 age bracket and a decision on that will be made by spring at the latest.

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However, if they haven’t had any bowel movement in a good few days, what you should do really depends on how old they are.

Call your doctor for counsel if he/she is under 2 months. If over 2 months, give him/her 2-4 oz of water two times a day, mixing it with 2-4 oz of fruit juice if the constipation persists. Prune, apple, pear, grape or cherry juice will suffice.

And if your child is over 4 months and has transitioned to eating solids, feed them food high in fibre twice a day until his/her bowel movement improves.

You could, alternatively, apply lubricant to their anus; however, do ensure this is a small amount and that the lubricant is water-based.

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