Recently, as I finished up a visit with one of my patients who has migraine, she asked me the following: “My 10 year old daughter gets headaches. Is it possible that she has migraines too? I had headaches as a child and was always told it was nothing to worry about, but now I have headaches several times a month. Is there anything I can do to prevent this from …
What can be done for children with migraine headaches?
Obesity is becoming a major health issue in the United States across all age groups. It is well known that obesity is a major contributor in the occurrence of type 2 diabetes and heart conditions. Although physicians and other clinicians are often called upon to become the primary players in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions, it is not possible for them to do so alone when it comes …
What can local groups do to prevent obesity in children and youth?
I recently learned the sorry news that my childhood pediatrician has died. Not only was he my pediatrician, but he was also my father’s pediatrician. Our family became rather close to him over the years.
He came from a different generation of doctors, one that made house calls, that served in wars abroad, and that learned how to diagnose patients in the days before MRIs and CT scans. Even though I …
My pediatrician inspired me to become a physician
Some things in medicine are obvious. Despite the endless worship of ‘evidence-based’ medicine, and the constant barrage of studies on every conceivable topic, we do certain things because we know they just seem right. I take as evidence the fact that we daily try to save lives, devoting research time, untold gazillions of dollars and heroic clinical effort to our continued goal of staving off death. Why is this? Do …
When self-evident truth in medicine is systematically ignored
A child with autism is more likely to do well if his mother is white and educated.
This is the message of a study just released in the journal Pediatrics, and it’s something we need to pay attention to—now.
Researchers from Columbia University wanted to find out what happens to children with autism over time. So they looked at the records of more than 6,000 children with autism who were enrolled …
Autism is a social justice problem
I had a phenomenal day in clinic yesterday. Imperfect for sure but inspiring, connected, and busy. I felt useful and like anybody else, that feels so good to me. Productivity can be defined in various ways and yesterday I fulfilled my personal definition. I wrote an email to a friend and cardiologist this morning where I said, “But I must say, it’s a sincere fortune to be a doctor some days. Yesterday …
What does a perfect pediatrics practice look like?
Vaccines have been a hot topic among parents, pediatrician and in the media for many years. Recently, there have been many news stories about pediatricians who will not care for families who either choose not to vaccinate their children or who do not follow the recommended schedule. These policies are based on knowledge about the safety of vaccines, the effectiveness of the recommended schedule and concern about the spread of …
Why this pediatrician makes the MMR vaccine mandatory in his practice
Prior to 1794, farms across the world could only pick cotton as fast as humanly possible. In the late 18th century, Eli Whitney discovered the cotton gin and a simple process done since 500 AD was instantly improved upon. This invention took 1200 years and a lot of hard labor before it was discovered. Once this invention was created it caused efficiencies but also caused concern for a decreased …
We need to see the potential harm of social media
Yet another study is out highlighting that kids are getting fatter and they’re hardly moving any more. They get driven to school. They drink soft drinks. They don’t get much milk. They snack a lot. They text and watch video games. The number of obese kids has doubled since the 1970’s, with one in six now officially obese.
But if you really want your kids to be healthy, you have to …
How to create a health culture at home for your kids
People often wonder what causes children to bully. Why is it that some children feel the need to hurt and humiliate other children? What do they really stand to gain from this cruel behavior?
Some studies indicate that some (not all) bullies have naturally aggressive and/or hyperactive personalities from the start. Some. But that doesn’t mean that all “spirited” kids will bully while all “mellow” kids will be perfectly empathic and …
Bullies are not born, they are raised
Hello, Pandora. What do you have in that box?
Yes, I am going to talk about … autism. The last time I did so I was inundated with people trying to convince me of the dangers of immunizations and their causal link to autism. I really, really, really don’t want to go anywhere near that one.
No, I am not going to talk about the cause of autism; I am going to …
Making sense of the rise in autism diagnoses
A recent Canadian study showed that the youngest children in each grade (born in the earliest month of the Canadian grade cutoff: December) were 30% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than the oldest children (born in January). For girls, who overall have a lower incidence of ADHD, the difference was even more pronounced: 70%.
Interestingly, the overall rate of ADHD diagnosis in the sampling of children from this Canadian …
The conundrum between maturity and ADHD
In recent years, childhood overweight and obesity statistics have received a good deal of media attention, but this has done little to slow their rise. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey shows that nearly 1 in 5 children aged 2-19 are obese. Even more concerning, since 1980 obesity rates have tripled in the 6-11 and 12-19 age groups.
Our …
Bearing the burden of the uphill battle against childhood obesity
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I am a physician who was diagnosed with throat cancer and underwent laryngectomy four years ago. Prior to being diagnosed and treated for cancer I did not welcome or encourage my patients’ participation in their own care. Admittedly, there were instances when such input was helpful, but more often I regarded patients with data based on information obtained from the Web as a challenge to my expertise and authority. I …
I changed my perspective about patient participation in their care
Two articles recently caught my eye while I was spending some time on Twitter. First, an op-ed piece was published on Time.com discussing how patients and doctors perceive the use of the online health information. The article was closely followed by the results of a recent PEW research study which stated that 80% of Americans used the internet to “prepare for or recover from” their doctor visit.
The results of …
How to discuss online health information with your physician
As citizens of the 21st century, we seem to have adapted personal technology for every conceivable use — Siri, the iPhone’s newest darling, can literally remind us to call a proctologist. But as physicians, we may be missing some of the best opportunities to derive “meaningful use” from technology.
I am an emergency physician, and a few nights ago I worked a shift in the ER. It was a typical, …
Small opportunities to use mobile technology in medicine
Recently there was a lovely story in the New York Times about a young couple struggling to navigate the complexities of a romantic relationship. Both in their early 20’s, dating is a relatively new experience for them. She likes physical affection; he prefers sitting alone on the couch. She wants a pet; he is allergic. They are learning to negotiate the small things while clinging to their common affection for …
Sexuality in youth with special needs
Against the backdrop of life as it is really lived, the decision to breast-feed or bottle-feed is minuscule.
Whether or not you decide to breast-feed your baby — and for how long — is, in the scheme of things, just one decision out of a million. And ultimately, you should do what works best for you and your family.
Full disclosure here: I never wanted to breast feed. I don’t know why. …
Breast feeding and the mismatch between idealism and realism
I am sitting at home and the popular show American Idol is on. Randy Jackson has a red shirt on, which is color coordinated with a large red Coca-Cola cup. J-Lo is sitting by his side, also with a red Coca-Cola cup. Same with Steven Tyler. When one of the artists takes the stage, there is a large red moving video banner promoting Coca-Cola. It’s called product placement and it …
Is Coca-Cola on American Idol contributing to childhood obesity?
Being a child in 21st century Mexico utterly differs from any other era. The last decade has been a constant whirlpool for Mexico. Political, cultural and economical changes have shaken the country to its core. Primary care physicians, particularly pediatricians, have a burdensome challenge at hand.
Problems like obesity have quickly emerged in all age groups. Obese children, childhood type 2 diabetes and sedentary lifestyles have invaded Mexican homes. Nutrition related customs …
Mexico needs more pediatricians
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