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Fast Fact
Contrary to popular opinion, bed-wetting is a very common problem. It affects somewhere between five and six million children.
Bed-wetting, or nocturnal enuresis, can be divided into two types: primary nocturnal enuresis and secondary nocturnal enuresis. These two types are very different in their causes and treatments.
In primary nocturnal enuresis, children have never achieved complete nighttime control - always wetting at least two times a month.
Secondary nocturnal enuretics are completely dry at night for a period of at least six months and then begin wetting again.
The great majority of bed-wetting children are primary enuretics. For primary enuretics, the cause is decidedly NOT stress or behavioral concerns.
In a survey of 9,000 parents of kids ages 6 - 17, 22% stated that they thought the reason their child wet the bed was laziness (survey conducted by ICR Survey Group from July 10 1996, through August 6, 1996). I am happy to tell you that this could not be further from the truth!
Research has shown that primary nocturnal enuresis is often inherited. If both parents were bed-wetters, 77% of their children will be. If only one parent was, 44% of their offspring will. If neither parent wet the bed, only about 15% of their children will wet the bed.
With primary nocturnal enuresis one almost always finds another relative who was a bed wetter. This corresponds to what is called an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern.
In recent years, researchers have identified an association with bedwetting and two genes named ENUR1 and ENUR2. In studying certain families with primary nocturnal enuresis, researchers discovered that members who wet the bed were more likely to have the ENUR1 or ENUR2 gene than those who did not. More recently, the possibility of a third primary nocturnal enuresis-related gene (ENUR3) on chromosome 22 has also been uncovered. Presumably these genes affect either whether children will need to urinate at night or how easily they can wake up when their bladders are full.
The safety of CT Scans was a hot topic at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in October 2002. What was the issue all about?
A few months earlier, the National Cancer Institute had sent out a letter to physicians in an effort to decrease unnecessary CT scans in children. In the previous decade, the number of CT scans in children each year had skyrocketed 700 percent -- into the millions in the US alone. These CT scans had resulted in improved diagnosis, allowed for more effective treatments, and reduced unnecessary surgeries. But we’ve learned that some of these same benefits might now be achieved with fewer CT scans. And CT scans carry their own risk.
Since then, the AAP has continued to look closely at this issue. In September 2007, the AAP published a clinical report on the radiation risk to children from CT scans (PEDIATRICS Volume 120, Number 3, September 2007). Overall, they noted that CT scans use low-level radiation, which may have a small risk of causing cancer. They strongly recommend that pediatric health care professionals, radiologists, and families work together to determine (1) when a CT is indicated and necessary, (2) if there are protocols available to minimize radiation exposure, and (3) that the risks and benefits of the study be discussed with patients and their families.
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