With over 500,000 tonsillectomies occurring per year in the United States (1), researchers regularly search for opportunities to save the tonsils. Two of the more common reasons that surgeons remove tonsils are recurrent throat infections and sleep-disordered breathing patterns. Like any surgery, multiple complications may occur and thus avoiding the surgery is a better option…
As we determine the best course of treatment for a patient’s condition, we must weigh the pros against the cons and make a balanced decision. While a surgeon may be forced to choose cutting off a leg to save a life, there are usually other options to avoid unwanted adverse effects. With the pandemic beginning…
We see it everywhere these days, eyes glued to smartphones and tablets. This includes children of parents who hand over these digital devices to their young children to get them to calm down so mom or dad can take care of some pressing interaction like a doctor visit or simple car ride without behavior issues. …
Adolescence challenges one’s parenting skills: your child moves from depending on you to possessing a much greater degree of autonomy as they develop their own identity. So many factors influence the path your child takes and the new self-identity they attain, especially hormones. Their own hormones offer enough turbulence and drive towards young adulthood, but…
COVID 19 has clearly left its marks on both individuals and society as a whole, and researchers have found another example of the profound immunological impact of this viral infection in reviewing the medical records of numerous children: COVID increases the rates of type I diabetes in infected children. This should not shock those who…
This common herbicide in your food and in your yard increases the risk of lower birthweight in high-risk pregnancies and appears to increase the risk of a neonatal intensive care unit admission. With 8% of U.S. births falling into a high-risk category due to some other health factor in the mom, many babies enter the…
So many parents face the challenge of raising small children with unexplained chronic illness and hear the encouragement that the child will grow out of it sooner or later. This may cheer parents in the first week or two, but when symptoms continue for weeks or progress in severity and variety, eventually parents want more…
Settled science sometimes unsettles. Due to the universally recognized critical sensitivity of infants in the womb to toxins and stress, a wide body of evidence and resulting recommendations address what medications are safe or not safe during pregnancy. Health care providers and expecting mothers depend on these recommendations and guidelines to protect their little ones…
The awareness of environmental chemical effects on human health has grown over recent years as more and more studies point towards measurable effects. Simultaneously, medical understanding of the hormonal receptors and these chemicals’ structures allow more direct connections to be made at a mechanistic level. Regardless, much of the work begins with studies like this…
Most kids shrug off the call to bed as long as they can. With TV’s, smartphones, computers, and headphones among other bedroom electronics to keep them busy, young children want to keep going. Life is too much fun and there are too many things to do to justify turning out the lights and turning off…