Tag Archives: Children

The 3 R’s

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To open or not to open.  That really is the question.

Because if we don’t open our schools, we will never find a way to get most of our employees able to return to work.  They will have to stay home to monitor their kids and provide secondary instruction (or is that primary?) for when their kids don’t quite get the subject matter of the day.  Not to mention that many of our kids lack the resources for schooling at home.  (No computer, no internet.)  Maybe even more kids manifest food deficits (normally receiving free lunch and free breakfast at school)- and hungry kids just don’t learn well.

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Genetics. Microbiome. Guess which trumps?

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You already know that I am not a fan of this genetic testing craze.

Sure, folks are desperate to know where they came from.  (And, it’s clear they don’t trust their grandparents to share!)  Or, they are worried they may have some disease.  (Like knowing what you have without a treatment is going to make you feel much better.)  Some firms even promise to screen your embryo for diseases.

Continue reading Genetics. Microbiome. Guess which trumps?

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It all stems from STEM

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I remember when I was a little tyke, I would play in my basement. No, not with conventional toys. Oh, sure, one of my distant cousins (who was deeply involved with Sperry Gyroscope and its military inventions) had given me his son’s wonderful Lionel train set (which remained in my possession until I was 12 years old). But, it was my Lionel-Porter Chemistry set that held my attention.

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Animal. Human. Not so different after all.

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I’ve written about the practice of feeding antibiotics to our animals.   And, why that puts our overall health at risk.  After all, if we feed the same antibiotics to animals that we use for disease control, microbial resistance is bound to accelerate.   First,  because the animals will harbor microbes that get a chance to mutate and those resistant microbes can be transferred to humans via our food.  Moreover, the antibiotics we feed our animals often end up in our waterways, which provides yet another process where the microbes can develop resistance to our critical drugs.

Continue reading Animal. Human. Not so different after all.

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Children’s Asthma- Redux

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Remember when I wrote about how Children’s Hospital in Boston was dealing with the asthma problem?  (What?  You don’t?  Shame on you.  Here is the link ☺ )   As I said then, that’s the sort of practice that needs to be everywhere to manage our overall healthcare costs.  And, now, Children’s National Medical Center (DC) is employing a similar practice.  Which is a very good thing- since DC has among the highest rates of pediatric asthma in the US.  And, one where the area emergency rooms (ER) are the modality of choice far too frequently (in my humble – or not– opinion).

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Consistency is the key…

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True Confessions?  My oldest daughter still holds it against me that I would not impress a bedtime for my children, once they reached four years old.  My  policy was you could stay up as late as you want- but you had to get up the next morning when required.  If it were a school day, that meant 7:15; Saturday meant 8:30, and Sunday- whenever.

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Children with autism have more connections between the hemispheres and within the frontal lobe

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We talked about the brain scan that was developed to detect autism in adults. Brain scans in children that carry an autism gene (CNTNAP2) are now providing very interesting results.  [PLEASE NOTE: Many people (about 1/3 the population) have this gene variant- without demonstrating the characteristics of autism.  The presence of this gene indicates the subject is at risk for autism.] There seems to be more connections among neurons in the frontal lobe.

Continue reading Children with autism have more connections between the hemispheres and within the frontal lobe

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