Pregnant women are four times more likely to require a C-section if they have a deficiency in vitamin D.
A study at Boston University links vitamin D deficiency to muscle weakness and high blood pressure. Study author Dr. Michael Holick says both those problems may increase the risk of having a Caesarian section.
He suggests that pregnant women begin talking a vitamin D supplement. "There is no downside to doing this," he says.
read more digg story
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
You Need 'D' to Avoid a 'C'
Monday, December 15, 2008
Autism in the UK is now 1 in 88
Autism Rate in the UK is now 1 in 88... and 1 in 54 boys.
Autism catastrophe
Published Date: 28 November 2008.
The most recent government study confirmed that the rate of autism in the UK now stands at one child in 88, with the rate for boys, who are most likely to be affected, around one in 58. Make no mistake, this is a public health catastrophe.
As a result of parental demand, Autism Treatment Trust opened a clinic in Edinburgh in 2006 and to date has arranged comprehensive testing and commenced treatments for more than 300 autistic children. The results of the tests have been striking and a remarkable pattern is emerging: gastrointestinal issues are common, particularly inflammation; food intolerances and allergies feature regularly, as do immune abnormalities and heavy metal toxicity. Many of these children are very ill. All are treatable.
The belief that autism is solely genetic in origin is unsustainable; environmental factors must be at play. You do not get genetic epidemics.
BILL WELSH
President, Autism Treatment Trust
Stafford Street
Edinburgh
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Thursday, December 11, 2008
Extreme Makeover: Autism foreclosure?
Millions tuned in four years ago as the ABC hit show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" outfitted the Oak Park, Michigan home according to the family's needs for their teenage son, Lance, who is autistic and blind, and his parents are deaf. And as the family now fends off foreclosure, supporters are rallying to their side again.
read more digg story
My Comment:
It looks like getting an Extreme Makeover is like winning the lottery. I remember driving by the house during the summer months and seeing Lance using the cool swingset that they built.
Watch the Channel 7 New's story on the pending foreclosure:
YouTube video of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86TN0bA2QnI
Channel 7 news story:
http://www.wxyz.com/content/news/seenon7priority/story/Extreme-Outpouring-of-Support-for-Vardons/rmDc6vh40UOtwBO1XcT6dg.cspx
Detroit News story:
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/METRO/812110392/1409/METRO
Google News stories:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=Vardon+extreme+makeover
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Fever Gets a Bad Rap
As freaked out as you might get, fever is not dangerous! Fever is a good thing because it helps fight the infection that is causing it. You have to get to a temperature above 108 degrees before you need to worry about brain damage.
read more digg story
My Comment:
Great article by a new pediatrician blogger on the Detroit News website. Click on read more to see the entire article or just read the summary below:
"If fever is the only worry sign and the child is over 3 months old, I won't be sending him in. I don't really care what the measured temperature is. It could be 100.4 or 104. If the child is acting OK, I won't be worried. On the other hand, regardless of the degree of fever, if a child is lethargic or so irritable you can't calm him down, you should make that trip into the ER for sure."
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Cleveland Clinic to Reveal Docs Financial Ties
Hospitals around the country are pushing for full disclosure of their doctors' financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry to help patients determine whether their doctors are making money from drug and device companies.
The Cleveland Clinic, one of the nation's leading medical centers, will announce this week its decision to fully disclose all of its doctors' and scientists' financial ties with pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers on its Web site, www.clevelandclinic.org
read more | digg story
My Comment:
This is a great step in the right direction. An individual's health is so important, that we should hold doctors to a higher standard that any other "industry". However, he drug industry has already infiltrated the nation's medical schools, so doctors are already behind the eight ball, in terms of being influenced by drugs.
Some highlights of the article:
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"I don't care at all. I really, truly don't," said Judith Ursitti of Dover, Mass., whose son, Jack, 8, has autism. "When I take Jack to a specialist, I research their level of knowledge and how they treat other patients. If I see that they have financial ties to other companies, it doesn't bother me, as long as they are knowledgeable about my son's condition."
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"I actually think that the push to disclose is rather a reproach to the ethical compass of my profession," said Dr. Nortin Hadler, a professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The fact that we think that disclosing somehow means that there is no further conflict of interest seems a rather flimsy argument."
Hadler said that the push for full disclosure among many medical centers accomplishes very little in terms of eliminating doctors' conflicts of interest, and instead highlights how widespread the problem of pharmaceutical and industry ties are among our nation's physicians and researchers.
---------------------Tuesday, December 2, 2008
McDonald's Report Card
One of my favorite organizations that fights against fast food marketing to kids is looking for financial support. They sent the letter below...
Are you distressed when Batman, McDonalds, and Lego partner to sell kids on fast food and video games? When Nickelodeon features the Bratz in a made-for-TV movie? When Elmo and Barbie morph into a "Barbie loves Elmo" toy?
Are you appalled when marketers spend billions of dollars advertising toxic brands and products directly to children - and then lay all of the blame on parents for the rise of marketing-related problems like childhood obesity, youth violence, and precocious, irresponsible sexuality?
Why not do something about it? Support the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the only national organization devoted solely to countering the harmful effects of commercialization on children. With your help, we're making a difference. We rely on you because we will not compromise our commitment to children and families by accepting corporate funding.
We act on your marketing concerns. When a Boston father contacted us because Webkinz World, the leading social network site for young children, was accepting outside ads, we alerted the media and launched a letter-writing campaign. As a result, Webkinz now gives parents the option for kids to use an ad-free version of their site.
When a mom in Seminole County, Florida, alerted us to McDonald's report card advertising at her daughter's school, we made the ads a national embarrassment for the fast food giant. Our campaign for commercial-free report cards was featured on Good Morning America, The Colbert Report, and hundreds of newspapers around the country. As a result, McDonald's agreed to end the program.
We're reclaiming schools from corporate marketers. Schools around the country are are promoting reading and not consumerism with CCFC's Guide to Commercial-Free Book Fairs. With our help, legislators and educators have made South Carolina the first state to ban all marketing on school buses. Working with local activists and parents, we've successfully stopped BusRadio - a company that plans on "taking student targeted marketing to the next level" - in school districts from Connecticut to California.
We're countering the sexualization of children. After more than 5,000 emails from CCFC members, Scholastic, Inc. decided not to bring the highly sexualized Bratz brand back to school this year. When we caught BusRadio advertising 90210 - a television show chock full of teen sex and drinking - on its website for children as young as six, they began pulling the ads within hours. Our campaign to stop Children's Hospital in Columbus from selling naming rights to the infamous Abercrombie & Fitch for $10 million launched a national conversation about the ethics of public health institutions partnering with corporations that undermine children's wellbeing.
Help us stop the commercialization of childhood, advocate for policies that protect children from unscrupulous marketers, and take on the worst corporate offenders. Your tax-deductible contribution will allow us to continue to build a coalition of organizations and individuals who value children more than the bottom line.
Thanks to an anonymous donor, every contribution of $125 or more will be doubled from now until January 1st. Any amount you are able to give would be greatly appreciated. Please visit http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/donate/ to support CCFC today.
Susan Linn, EdD Alvin F. Poussaint, MD
Director, CCFC CCFC Steering Committee
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