children pediatric classroom

Bristol-based children’s incontinence charity marks its 30th anniversary

The UK’s only charity dedicated to bowel and bladder health in children and teenagers in the UK – based in Bristol – today (May 1) marks its 30th anniversary. ERIC has been providing valuable support and advice to parents and children struggling with incontinence, a condition that continues to be heavily stigmatised, for more than three decades and has commemorated its big birthday by making the help it provides even more accessible.  In the UK an estimated 900,000, or 1 in 12, 5-19 year olds suffer from bowel and bladder conditions – including bedwetting, daytime wetting, constipation and soiling. Read more.

Source: BristolLive, May 1, 2019

Bacteria

Charting an Underexplored Landscape: The Genitourinary Microbiome

More sensitive cultivation methods and precise 16S rRNA gene sequencing techniques have revealed that the human bladder hosts a significant microbiome and those diverse bacteria inside the bladder impact pediatric urologic diseases.  As recently as one decade ago, the human bladder was thought to be a sterile landscape. In recent years that view has shifted radically, opening brand-new fields of research aimed at clarifying the role the microbiome plays in common urologic diseases that affect children, according to a review article published online Feb. 22, 2018, by Current Urology Reports. “There is a growing appreciation for the role of diverse bacteria in contributing to improved health as well as triggering disease processes or exacerbating illness,” says Michael H. Hsieh, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Clinic for Adolescent and Adult Pediatric Onset Urology (CAPITUL) at Children’s National Health System and study senior author. Read more.

Source: Medical Xpress, APril 5, 2018