Dr. Greene’s Blog
Dr. Greene is a practicing physician, author, national and international TEDx speaker, and global health advocate. He is a graduate of Princeton University and University of California San Francisco.
Rotavirus Vaccine and Intussusception
In September 1999, the FDA announced that 99 cases of intussusception (including two deaths) had been reported in possible association with RotaShield. This is a sharp increase from the 15 that had be…
Emergency Medical Test for Appendicitis
Your child is doubled over in pain. Concern has brought you both to the Emergency Room, but after initial evaluation, the situation still isn’t clear. Is this appendicitis or not? An exciting re…
SIDS Cause Uncovered: Dr. Greene Reports
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome leads all other kinds of death in wrenching infants from their parents. What constitutes a SIDS cause is still not very well understood. One study uncovered the cause in …
Fasting Before Surgery
One of the unpleasant aspects of my son’s operation was not allowing him to eat or drink after midnight the night before surgery. He was too young to understand – especially when the start…
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
You can’t see it. You can’t smell it. You can’t taste it. You can’t feel it. But it is responsible for more poisoning deaths in the United States each year than anything but he…
Cow’s Milk and Diabetes
Dr. Greene reports on a study looking at cow’s milk and type 1 diabetes… Pediatric News (33(8):2, 1999), has reported on a significant new study coming out of Finland. Up until now, the re…
TV and Sleep!
The average child in the United States watches about 2 hours of television each weekday. We know that those who watch much more than this are at increased risk to eat poorly, be obese, perform poorly …
Alzheimer’s? Another Pediatric Disease
The events that result in adult diseases often occur during childhood. The risk of osteoporosis later in life, for instance, is related to the amount of calcium someone receives in childhood. What abo…
Do Bike Helmets Work?
When children topple off a bike, helmets can save their brains — cutting the risk of head injury by 80%. But some helmeted children still get brain damage. Why? One study has found that those wh…
Treating Animal Bites
Dr. Greene’s take on treating animal bites… Pets can be fun and therapeutic – we have an adorable new puppy in our home – but they can also be a source of injury. Pediatric New…
Southern tick-associated erythema migrans-like illness
A new infectious disease has been described, having caused documented illnesses in Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia (Pediatric News. 33(7):12, 1999). This disease, transmitted vi…
Is It Empty Nest Time At Your House?
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. College students get meningitis 2.6 times more o…
Measles completely eliminated in USA
When the measles vaccine was first introduced, the number of cases of the disease plummeted. But a few years ago, new outbreaks prompted a reevaluation of the vaccine. In some people the immunity had …
Diabetes Linked to Birth Month
Does astrology affect diabetes? A study in Sweden found that the month of a child’s birth affects the risk of whether that child will one day develop diabetes (Arch Dis Child 1999;81:143-146).…
Misshapen Heads Due To Back Sleeping
The successful campaign to encourage babies to sleep on their backs has saved many lives by often preventing the tragedy of SIDS. But when babies sleep in the same position each night their heads can …
No Parents Want Their Children to Need Surgery…
…and there are certainly ways to prevent it! Children go under general anesthesia more often for ear tubes than any other reason. A study in the August 1999 Pediatric News ( 33(6):15, 1999) foun…
Ritalin now, drug abuse later?
As parents, we want our children to navigate through the teen years without abusing alcohol or drugs. Many are concerned that children with ADHD who take stimulant medications such as Ritalin might be…
Peanut Ban In Schools
I received a note this week from parents who were upset about a peanut ban at their North Carolina school — all because someone’s child has an allergy. But peanut bans in schools make sens…
Prenatal HIV Testing: Is It Worth It?
Dr. Greene’s take on prenatal HIV testing… The number of babies born in the United States who are infected with HIV has dropped dramatically since 1992, according the August 17th, 1999 edi…
When a Smashed Finger Requires a Doctor’s Attention
Dr. Greene’s take on when a doctor needs to look at a smashed finger… In the great flurry of childhood activity (don’t you wish you had some of their energy?), smashed fingers and to…