Diseases & Conditions
SARS Update
SARS has now been identified in Spain, and 11 cases are under investigation in the U.S. All of these people recently traveled from Asia. Our jet-linked world creates the possibility for contagious dis…
SARS – A Worldwide Threat
The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have begun issuing alerts about the outbreak of a contagious, virulent pneumonia now named SARS (Severe Acute Resp…
Sleep and Immunity
Evidence continues to mount that your mother was right all along ? not enough sleep leads to more colds and flus. Here's one piece of that puzzle: not having enough sleep measurably blunts how well th…
Flu Vaccine Recommendations for Children Under Four
Each year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) makes recommendations about who should get the influenza vaccine. The focus of the flu shot campaign among healthy people has been on people aged 6…
Diabetes Options for Children
On Tuesday, August 27, 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had approved the Glucowatch for use in children and teens with diabetes. (It had been approved for adults in 20…
Cardiovascular Health in Children
Heart disease remains the #1 cause of death in the United States, killing about half a million people each year. Coronary heart disease used to be thought of as a disease of the middle aged and the el…
“Novocaine” for Asthma?
Several years ago, a man's severe wheezing stopped within 20 minutes of starting epidural anesthesia. The wheezing remained absent during the 155 minutes that the lidocaine dripped in, and came back w…
Day Care and Colds — Good News!
On average, kidsin day care during the first three years of their lives get about twice as many colds as their peers during those years. But each time a child fights off a cold, she develops immunity…
21st Century Surgery
The FDA has approved a surgical robot, part of the da Vinci Surgical System, for use in thoracic surgery, general laparoscopic surgery, and for surgical assistance. The robot has 3 arms that can be mo…
Contagious Heart Disease
Group A strep is a common cause of illness in children. Usually the disease is as mild as strep throat, but strep can also cause serious illnesses, including toxic shock, "flesh-eating disease", and r…
A Test to Predict Diabetes
Most children with type 1 diabetes are not diagnosed until the situation has become desperate. The diabetes symptoms that most people are familiar with (increased thirst and increased urination) are v…
Ulcers: A Pediatric Disease?
When do people "catch" ulcers? Many ulcers are caused by a type of bacteria called Helicobacter pylori. When does this infection occur? A study published in the March 16, 2002 issue of the Lancet foll…
Treatment of Amblyopia
Eye patches have long been a standard treatment for amblyopia, or lazy eye. But children and parents alike have a tough time following through. Even if the child is initially enthusiastic about lookin…
Tic, Tic, Tic… Ritalin for Kids with ADHD and Tourette’s?
About half the children with tics (involuntary repetitive movements) also have significant ADHD. By and large, this group of children has not been treated with methylphenidate (Ritalin) because of con…
Yes, Asthma – But What Type?
If your child has asthma or recurrent wheezing, ask your doctor what category of asthma it is. Children with mild intermittent asthma can be managed with occasional albuterol use. Those with mild pers…
Pyloric Stenosis — Avoiding Inevitable Surgery?
Many babies spit up. A few, though, gradually eject larger quantities of breastmilk or formula until they are barely keeping anything down. This can be caused by a condition called pyloric stenosis, w…
Antibiotics for Anthrax?
I've been asked by many parents, "What is the best antibiotic to have at home to treat children with anthrax?" Many have heard that the drug on everyone's lips, Cipro, can have serious side effects in…
A History of Smallpox
Smallpox long reigned as the king of dreaded contagious diseases. It killed more people than any other virus in recorded history -- about 500 million people in the 20th century alone. For about 20 yea…
Diagnosis in the 21st Century
The Lancet chronicles a story of deductive reasoning, genetic medicine, and international cooperation. A physician relative of the deceased kept wondering if the death might have been not due to alcoh…
College and Meningitis
When your child first packs up and heads off for college, it is a bittersweet moment. How horrible if meningitis were to make the separation permanent. The first year is the critical time. Freshmen li…