Diseases & Conditions
BPA: Clearing Through the Clutter
There is an intense ongoing debate about the safety of bisphenol ?A, or BPA, an ingredient found in many plastic products including many baby bottles and reusable water bottles. It acts like a hormone…
Fever Meds
Dr. Greene's take on which fever meds to use for your child... If you want to bring down a fever in a child, is it better to use acetaminophen, ibuprofen, a combination of both, or neither? Acetaminop…
Epsom Salts and Cerebral Palsy
Dr. Greene's thoughts on cerebral palsy... Before we talk about Epsom salt baths, here's the news: giving pregnant women an IV infusion of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) cut the risk of their preterm…
Exercising for Two
Exercise is a green approach to health care. Yes, a green pregnancy means making the most of what you take into your body, through what you eat, drink, and breathe, and also absorb through your skin, …
New Guidance on Febrile Seizures
Up to 5 percent of children will have a febrile seizure by the 5th birthday, something parents often describe as one of the most frightening moments of their lives (febrile seizures, not the 5th birth…
ADHD Drugs and Heart Monitoring
The American Heart Association (AHA) has released April 2008 recommendations for monitoring the hearts of all children taking stimulant drugs, such as those used to treat ADHD. Parents may also want t…
BPA, Baby Bottles… Just the Beginning
One of the reasons I wrote Raising Baby Green was to help parents easily sort through and prioritize which baby products area healthiest and safest for their children. In the book I suggest alternativ…
Slash Your Child’s Cancer Risk!
Choices we make with our children can strongly influence their odds of getting cancer for the rest of their lives. Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspectiv…
Autism Detection: Look and See
All children should be screened for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) at the 18-month and 24-month well child visit, according to November 2007 guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which re…
Cows, Cats, Siblings, and Immune Health
Regular contact with farm animals is associated with a dramatically lower risk of a young child's later developing an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis …
The Asthma-Antibiotics Link
Why should you care about this if asthma does not run in your family? For the last quarter century, asthma has been increasing rapidly in the industrialized world and has become one of the most import…
New Pieces to the Autism Puzzle
Thanks to the largest and most ambitious scientific study to ever look into what makes someone susceptible to autism, we now have a new layer of understanding about this important condition. First, a …
The Ponseti Method for Club Foot Treatment
I recently received a wonderful letter from the mother of a 10-month-old boy who had been born with a left clubfoot. She wanted to be sure I would let parents everywhere know about a gentle, effective…
Mumps and Airplanes
The CDC issued a notice on April 11, 2006 about 9 different commercial air flights in the US occurring in late March and early April where infected passengers may have been contagious, passing mumps t…
Fathers for Organic – Part 3 of 7: A Father’s Insight
My wife's name is Cheryl. When my youngest was a baby, she was radiant and full of life. We were enjoying parenting together, and enjoying being partners on DrGreene.com. She was responsible for the d…
Acetaminophen and Liver Failure
Acetaminophen is one of the most commonly used medicines in children. One brand name, Tylenol, is known by most parents in the U.S. Often used by itself to relieve pain or to reduce fevers, it is also…
Dark Chocolate Treats Diarrhea?
Dr. Greene's take on the wonders of dark chocolate... The medicinal use of cocoa to treat childhood diarrhea and other intestinal problems was common among the Mayans and Aztecs. Europeans began writi…
Post Disaster Cholera
Watching broadcast images of the devastation caused by the rushing floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina was heartbreaking. But after the fury of the storm had passed, my concern continues to rise. When sa…
Family Mealtime: All for One and One for All
When I was a child and my family was gathered together for a meal, my father would sometimes look each of us in the eye and say, "All for one, and one for all." We eagerly repeated this to each other,…
Protection from MS: A Gift from Younger Siblings?
Spending time with siblings under two years old (or maybe even lots of time with other infants and young toddlers) appears to be powerfully protective against multiple sclerosis later in life, accordi…