Harvard Health Content API

Far more U.S. children are visiting dentists now than 50 years ago, surveys show. And a racial gap in dental care has disappeared, a new study finds. The study looked data from 5 health surveys. The first survey was taken in 1964. Then, 48% of children had visited a dentist in the last 12 months. That included 20% of African-American children and 52% of white children. By 2010, the last survey, 78% of children had a recent dental visit. The percentage was the same for both races. The journal Pediatrics published the study July 2.

In a landmark ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld nearly all of the 2010 health care reform law. The court approved even the law’s most disputed part — a requirement that nearly all Americans have health insurance. Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, joined four liberal justices in the 5-4 ruling. They found that the mandate to buy insurance is allowed under the government’s taxing powers. The Obama administration also sought approval based on the power to regulate interstate commerce. But the court rejected that argument. The majority did reject one provision of the Affordable Care Act. That section dealt with the expansion of the Medicaid program. This is one major way that the law expands insurance coverage. The court said that the expansion can proceed.

Drinking coffee does not appear to increase the risk of developing heart failure, a review of recent research finds. The study put together results from 5 large previous studies. All were done in Sweden or Finland. They included a total of 140,220 people. In all, 6,522 developed heart failure. People who said they drank coffee had no higher risk of heart failure than others. Those who drank 4 to 5 cups actually had about an 11% lower risk than those who drank none. Risk was slightly high – about 3% — for people who drank at least 10 cups a day. The studies did not say whether people drank regular or decaffeinated coffee. The journal Circulation Heart Failure published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it June 26.

Even when parents know a child has a food allergy and what foods to avoid, allergic reactions often occur, a new study finds. The study included 512 preschool children. All of them had been diagnosed with or were at risk for a food allergy. They were allergic to milk, eggs or peanuts. Parents were counseled often about avoiding the problem foods. Yet in the 3 years of the study, 72% of the children had an allergic reaction. Just over half had 2 or more reactions. In about half of the reactions, the parent gave the child a problem food by accident. In other cases, the food came from a caregiver, a grandparent, another child or a teacher. Only 30% were treated with the medicine epinephrine when that was appropriate, the study found. Many caregivers were afraid of side effects or not sure that the medicine was needed. The journal Pediatrics published the study.

Statin drugs might not benefit women as much as they do men, a new research analysis suggests. But experts writing a related editorial found fault with the conclusions. The new study pooled the results of 11 prior studies. They included a total of 43,191 people. Only one-fifth of those were women. Among women and men, taking statins reduced the risk of a heart attack 27%. Men taking statins also had a lower risk of repeat stroke than those taking placebo pills. Their risk of death from all causes also was lower. But for women, the difference in risk for stroke and all-cause death was smaller. Researchers said it was small enough that it could have been the result of chance. The journal Archives of Internal Medicine published the study. Writers of an editorial in the same journal said the analysis left out too many relevant studies.

New research suggests that light to moderate drinking during early pregnancy might not harm the baby’s brain development. In the United States, pregnant women are advised to drink no alcohol. But there’s little research on the effects of light to moderate drinking on a fetus. The new research consisted of 5 related studies. They included 1,600 Danish women. Researchers compared groups who drank different amounts of alcohol during pregnancy. Light drinking was defined as 1 to 4 drinks per week. Moderate drinking was 5 to 8 drinks. High consumption was 9 or more. In Denmark, a drink is defined as 0.4 ounces of pure alcohol. That’s two-thirds of the U.S. definition, 0.6 ounces. At age 5, the women’s children were given tests of IQ and attention span. Tests also measured executive function. This governs self-control and the ability to plan.