A 2-year-old girl has been followed for developmental delays and slow weight gain by her pediatrician and early childhood intervention therapists. The 17-year-old, first-time mother was also a runaway and had avoided early prenatal care. More details and questions for you, here.
Knowledge of a child’s birth weight can be a valuable tool when determining whether to screen for autism spectrum disorder. Patients who weigh less than 2,000 g at birth are 5 times more likely to have autism than the general population. How much does the autism incidence increase with a history of very low birth weight (less than 1,500 g)?
Children in the 85th percentile for body mass index (BMI) are at greatly elevated risk for high blood pressure and require regular monitoring as well as possible interventions, according to a new American Heart Association study. The study of 1,111 healthy Indiana school children found that the adiposity effect on blood pressure was minimal until patients reached the overweight category, when it increased 4-fold. Find out why researchers believe the hormone leptin may play a role in the relationship between weight and blood pressure.
Instead of too little, too late, in terms of medical care, are your patients getting too much, too soon? Pediatricians and other primary care physicians overtreat patients at a cost of $6.7 billion a year. Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, attributed the costs to performing unnecessary tests or prescribing unneeded medications. Can you guess in what areas pediatricians most contributed to the problem?
What if you could accurately assess risk for alcohol-related problems with just 2 straightforward questions? Here’s a new government-sponsored tool, developed in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics, that has been shown to have the greatest accuracy in predicting current or future alcohol issues in young people.
Social phobia is not just an extreme form of shyness in most teenagers, and it often requires referral and/or intervention from a pediatrician, according to recent research. In a recent study, 12% of teens who identified themselves as shy met the criteria for social phobia, and another 5% of those who did not consider themselves shy also met the diagnostic criteria. You may be surprised to discover how rare it is for adolescents with social phobia, even those with significant impairment, to receive treatment.
Evaluations for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) should begin in children at 4 years and continue until 18 years, which significantly expands the age range for recommended screening. Released at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, the clinical practice guidelines recommend behavioral interventions as the first-line treatment in preschool children. The guidelines also have some new suggestions related to methylphenidate treatment for children younger than 6 years.
The AAP has just released updated guidelines on ADHD that include the recommendation for medication therapy for selected preschoolers (as young as 4 years old).
Most US teenagers are sleep deprived-nearly 70% do not get 8 or more hours of sleep a night. Now, new research suggests that the implications of that may be more significant than simply parents being kept awake by late-night tapping on mobile phones or even by groggy teens nodding off in class. What did a study in mice find out about how short-term sleep restriction can affect the balance between growth and depletion of brain synapses?
Pediatricians commonly get the panicked call or visit from parents who have witnessed a febrile seizure and are convinced their child’s illness has taken a turn for the worse. Here’s something that can help calm them down: Febrile seizures appear to have more to do with hyperventilation than the severity of the illness. Why do researchers believe that, and what illnesses are more and less likely to set off seizures in young children?
A potential new weapon against acute asthma is readily available and inexpensive and has few adverse effects if taken in the correct dosage. Pediatricians could soon be adding vitamin D supplementation to their asthma-fighting arsenals. Find out why researchers believe vitamin supplementation can be effective in treating severe, therapy-resistant asthma.
At a time when 18 states are seeking to eliminate Medicaid coverage for circumcision of newborn males and at least 1 city sought to ban the practice, an editorial published in a leading medical journal says that such efforts are wrongheaded and that more should be done to promote the procedure. The authors maintain that hundreds of studies in the last 5 years document the benefits of circumcision. What did those studies find, and should neutral pediatric guidelines be changed?
Addressing health issues affecting your obese patients now instead of waiting until they develop medical conditions later can help save $3 billion in US health costs a year. But you have to be careful how you discuss children’s obesity issues with their parents. What are the terms most likely to be accepted, understood, and acted on?
Now more than ever you are on the front lines in the battle to get children immunized against dangerous diseases. More than 1 in 8 parents have adopted an alternative vaccination schedule for their children, with almost twice that number saying they do not believe the government’s recommended schedule is the best one to follow. You might be shocked to find out how dramatically risk increases when even 1 scheduled vaccine is skipped.
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Deepak Kamat MD, PhDProfessor of Pediatrics Wayne State University Vice Chair of Education The Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics Children's Hospital of Michigan Detroit, Michigan
Screening adolescents for Bariatric Surgery : When diet, exercise just aren't enough Bats! 3 steps for rabies exposure prophylaxis Dermcase : Atrophic scars and poor wound healing in young boy Puzzler : Abrupt, intermittent pain and fever, but no apparent cause Updates : Infant formula, CDC on Flu vaccination, Medication poisoning, Antibiotics, AAP on Poliovirus, Varicella, Hepatitis A and Tdap
A Presidential candidate recently made the unsubstantiated comment on national television that the HPV vaccine has "very serious consequences" and that it can cause mental retardation. (Details can be read by clicking here.) We invite you to share your views with other pediatricians about whether such claims by public figures have an impact on the general public's decision to vaccinate. How would you respond to such claims? What will you tell your patients if they ask? Please share your views by clicking here.
Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann recently caught the attention of a lot of people when, during a television interview following a Presidential debate, she claimed that the HPV vaccine has “very significant consequences.”
Proponents often maintain that basketball is a safer sport for young athletes than rougher activities such as football or hockey. But that is not a slam dunk case, according to a new study, which found that playing basketball can lead to abnormal development of the head of the femur in young players, resulting in a deformed hip with impaired rotation and pain during movement. Read more to discover the longer-term implications of that injury.
The current protocol for HPV 16/18 vaccine, 3 doses over 6 months, can be expensive and inconvenient. Now, a new study suggests that fewer than 3 doses may be just as effective as the standard 3-dose regimen when it comes to preventing cervical cancer with one of the approved vaccines. Find out how this discovery came about and how it potentially could be used to increase vaccination rates.
An unidentified food allergy can be life threatening for some children, but it is not always clear when screening is appropriate. A new study has found that self-reported black race and African ancestry, determined by genetic analysis, were associated with a high number of sensitizations to food, most notably peanuts. See what researchers have to say about the possible relationships between ethnic background and food sensitization.
Treatment guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are very clear on the critical first step: Make sure that your patients are immunized against influenza, a leading cause of pneumonia in children. The guidelines from 2 major infectious disease societies offer other valuable advice to help you diagnose accurately and respond effectively without over treating.
Can providers turn to the courts to block states from making drastic cuts to Medicaid payments? That is the issue to ultimately be decided by the US Supreme Court. The case involves California?s 10% rate cut for Medi-Cal in 2008, which providers claim violates the federal Medicaid Act?s guarantee of equal access to health care. Find out why this case is important and what could happen to Medicaid payments in your state if the court rules in favor of California.
Some 5% of US children will lose a parent during their childhood or adolescence. It often can be difficult for pediatricians to detect when typical grief turns into something more pathologic. A new study offers some information on what is normal and what factors can lead to longer-term depression and dysfunction.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has corrected false campaign statements made this week by Republican presidential candidates that the vaccine for human papillomavirus, administered to girls and young women to protect against cervical cancer, is dangerous and can cause mental retardation.