Phthalates not only plasticize countless everyday products but also the brains of babies born to moms using these products. Phthalates are added to so many different cosmetics and personal care products from daily life. These included detergents, shampoos, soaps, besides various plastic wrappings. This study looked at whether such phthalates exposures could affect a baby’s…
Our children carry the effects of our stress into their bodies as we prepare them for the world. A Yale study suggests that better stress management can lower our children’s risk of obesity and its poor health outcomes. As parents, we strive for our children to have a better life than we have lived, whether…
With many studies showing up to 1 in 5 teenagers suffer from a mental health disorder, Bournemouth University researchers looked for potential dietary explanations—and high sugar drinks topped the list. No one is surprised by other research showing dietary connections with obesity and metabolic diseases, but this research raises further questions about both mechanisms and…
Many skeptics challenge functional MD’s like myself when we diagnose mold toxicity as the explanation for a chronic illness, whether in adults or in children. The refrain goes like this: “Mold is everywhere! How could that explain the symptoms?” We understand that patients or their parents want proof and certainty before they embark on a…
Some would say the world is a rat-race, but today we focus on a food race between old-fashioned whole foods delivered by nature and new-fangled ultra-processed foods delivered by Big Food and its technology. In a sense, striving for excellence, especially in producing food for growing populations, is not inherently a bad thing. Understanding food,…
We are learning more and more about the connection between our gut microbiome and our health, and so this study about the intake of emulsifiers by mouse moms and its influence on their baby mice’s future health should be no surprise. These additives to processed foods are seemingly everywhere. They can be found in baked…
The well-worn cliché that children are not little adults reminds us in medicine that we must think rather differently about our little patients. At the very least, this means adjusting the dosing of both medications and supplements to decrease the chance of overdosing. Besides this obvious difference, we must also consider different illnesses in some…
While we may not turn back the overall wave of AI (Artificial Intelligence) impact on our lives, awareness of its dark side of its use by teens can save lives. Teens have easy access to AI interfaces and are subject to an increasing mental health crisis. The result has already taken the lives of a…
The art and the science of medicine converge in interpreting lab results with the hope of giving patients answers to their health questions. For some, the question is simply, “Am I well?”. For others, the questions may include, “Why do I hurt?” or “Why am I tired?” and a million other sought after answers for…
Pesticides are everywhere; surely someone must have tested them and shown them to be safe for human exposure? Surely, they aren’t linked to brain damage in children? If you’re convinced by that reasoning, read no further—and miss how a study linked an organophosphate pesticide, chlorpyrifos, to “measurable differences in brain structure, along with reduced motor…