Reducing unintentional injuries in children through parenting programmes

Key message: parenting interventions, particularly with families from disadvantaged populations, are effective in reducing accidental injuries in children and may also improve home safety.

We need to be concerned about injuries. In industrialized countries, injuries are the leading cause of death in childhood. According to UNICEF, they account for 40% of deaths of children between one and fourteen years. In the UK, over 160 children die from injury each year. They necessitate over two million trips to emergency departments and more than 100,000 hospital admissions annually. This is one of many aspects of health where we see inequality, with children from disadvantaged families experiencing higher rates of injury.

Helping the management of bleeding disorders to spread out of the wealthy world

This guest blog has been written by Dr Alfonso Iorio and Nikki Jahnke from the Cochrane Cystic Fibrosis and Genetic Disorders Group.

Today, April 17th 2013, is World Hemophilia Day – an event which aims to increase awareness of hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. This year’s focus is to celebrate 50 years of work to close the gap in care and to achieve treatment for all people (men and women) with hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders, regardless of where they might live.

Many older people with dementia could come off antipsychotic drugs finds new review

Key message: This review suggests that many older people with dementia and neuropsychiatric symptoms who have been taking antispychotic medicines for three months or more can be taken off them without negative effects on their behaviour

Older people with dementia are surely amongst the most vulnerable in our society. For those looking after such individuals, either as health professionals or as spouses and children perhaps, how best to care for them can be the subject of uncertainty and debate. The use of antipsychotic drugs to help control difficult behaviour (which generally tends to come and go) is one of these areas of uncertainty.