Astin, the 17-year-old who suffered cardiac arrest when he was hit in the chest by an elbow playing baseball, is back for his 2nd follow-up. Remember, last visit he was depressed with worry over all the junk he had read on the internet and you (well I) assigned him some homework.
For the third article in the series we’ll talk about what we can do to “prevent” Commotio Cordis (CC, his final diagnosis) and help him decide about going back to play baseball in competition.
Read more →
Ok, it’s been over a week and your 17-year-old Commotio Cordis patient who suffered a cardiac arrest on the baseball field is back for his follow-up and an answer to his question: “When can I go back to playing baseball?”
You knew he was coming and you’ve had a week to prepare what to tell him… so, go ahead, I’d like to hear this too…
Read more →
Sudden Cardiac Death is, by definition, both sudden and unexpected – especially in a child whose life is supposed to revolve around “play” and “fun.” Unfortunately, it is also increasing.
Just as unfortunate, children’s “play” is often “industrialized” into major competitions with adult methods, standards and expectations leading to unintended consequences.
Read more→
What do pilgrim and pioneer children have in common with aborigines in the highlands of New Guinea, hamsters, and some children living in "progressive" homes of today?
The answer? Read more→
Oh, for the days when you were sick and you simply stayed in bed. Now, just as we seem to do with everything else, we over-think it to the point of complete distraction. Keeping sick kids home. What about school commitments, work commitments, baby sitters, getting to the doctors, the other kids – home, work, school, Aggghhhh!
(more…)
A cough is a marvelous mechanism designed to protect the lower respiratory tract from inhalation of food or foreign matter.
It is also the prime mechanism for clearing secretions out of the lungs when the natural ciliary function is compromised by acute or chronic infections.
(more…)
[I wrote this article some time ago but it’s even more true today than in those years. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics for viral illnesses is now a major health problem as more and more dangerous bacteria become resistant to even our most powerful antibiotics. Unless this trend stops we will be no better than when almost every family had at least one child die of an infection.] (more…)
