pediatric housecalls Robert R. Jarrett M.D. M.B.A. FAAP

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Parenting About Sex, Pressure and Promiscuity Series: Intro/Index

Moral word cloud

It is becoming more clear every day that if we want to maintain even a mere semblance of a moral society, parents are going to have to step it up a bit from what we’re used to.

There’s lying, cheating and mayhem, to name but a few “habits” of more and more “gen z’s”; but, truly, if parent’s aren’t parenting their children about sex, pressure tactics and promiscuity then absolutely nobody is!

A psychology professor I had, way back in the midst’s of time, taught us that: “morality is the most economical means of living in a society.” Self-adherence to moral principles actually enable’s the literal sustainability of a society. Without it, the society eventually self-destructs.

I believe it… more and more every day.

12 Posts in "Parenting - Sex" Series

  • Parenting About Sex, Pressure and Promiscuity Series: Intro/Index – 28 May 2013
    Parenting your child about sex, pressure and promiscuity, not as hard or easy as you might think.

  • Sexting: Risky Teen Behavior – 30 May 2013
    This post is about a topic which none of us parents had to even think about while growing up but which we better now, if we know what's good for us – and our kids.

  • Sexting, What Teens Should Know – 1 Jun 2013
    A link to a blog post by Hayley Kaplan which exposes little known facts about sexting on their phones and computers to teens.

  • Sexting, What Parents Should Know – 3 Jun 2013
    A link to a follow-up blog post by Hayley Kaplan. This time giving advice for parents.

  • Adolescent Gyn or Pelvic Exams – 11 Jun 2014
    Recent advances in disease testing methods as well as research into contraception and infection issues has recently prompted a review and adjustment to guidelines for adolescent gyn or pelvic exams.

  • Talking to Your Teen About Sex – 13 Jul 2014
    Talk doesn't seem to be enough anymore. Here's a link to what the Mayo Clinic has to say about talking to your teens about sex.

  • Parenting about sex and peer pressure – 27 Aug 2015
    If you're not helping your teen to resist pressure about sex… then nobody is.

  • Link - Am I ready for sex? – 31 Aug 2015
    Your teen will probably never ask you if they're ready to have sex; but, they might read a pamphlet about it…

  • Parenting: Healthy Relationships – 2 Sep 2015
    The signs of healthy relationships and how to have one.

  • Link - Sexual attraction and orientation – 6 Sep 2015
    More than ever, every teen needs to find an adult (or near adult) confidant they can relate and talk to. This link to a printable article about sexual attraction and orientation.

  • Talking To Girls About Menstruation – 23 Apr 2016

    Aditi Gupta — Menstruation, Periods and Hygiene

    It's true: talking about menstruation makes many people uncomfortable. And that taboo has consequences: in India, three out of every 10 girls don't even know what menstruation is at the time of their first period, and restrictive customs related to periods inflict psychological damage on young girls. Growing up with this taboo herself, Aditi Gupta knew she wanted to help girls, parents and teachers talk about periods comfortably and without shame. In this TED talk video, she shares how she did it.

  • Medical Consent by Teens For Their Own Care, by state – 3 Jun 2016
    The topic of when your children can give their own consent for their own medical care has been a hot topic for a couple of decades now and is still mostly left up to state law which means that it's still a jumbled and somewhat confusing issue.


 

Diabetes, Insulin and Exercise: New Findings

boy-running

Ok, I realize that what I’m going to describe was just a small study; but, this is a big deal for children with type I diabetes (juvenile onset) we need to talk about.

The statistics show that people with type 1 diabetes who are physically active live about 10 years longer than those who are not active. The real bug-a-boo however is that because BOTH insulin and activity will drop blood sugar, balancing food, insulin dosage and activity is a real tap dance!
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Childhood Diabetes: Intro/Index

Insulin pump used in type 1 diabetes

It seems like we just “think” we’ve got something understood when a new discovery erases part of the “wording” and adds a new paragraph. Diabetes was once just “adult onset” and “juvenile onset.” Adult onset had to do with obesity in some way and juvenile onset the pancreas and too often cachexia (inordinately underweight).

Then, some adults were discovered to develop the “juvenile type” and with the sedentary lives of couch potato children they began developing the “adult type” too. So, the names were changed to “type 1” and “type 2” respectively.

Little progress was made in treatment until “Hemoglobin A1C” was discovered as a measurement of control, long-acting insulin was developed and diet was better understood. A whole new paradigm ensued, and a new plateau became not comfortable but tolerable.

Then, computer, space, miniaturization and remote sensing advances exploded progress again, and frankly it hasn’t stopped yet.

7 Posts in "Childhood Diabetes" Series

  • Childhood Diabetes Series: Intro/Index – 10 Apr 2013
    Diabetes in childhood is complicated; but, all the players in the issue have made it even more so. This series of posts displays the many issues of the disease which seems to be increasing in children.

  • Diabetes, Insulin and Exercise: New Findings – 12 Apr 2013
    Being an active person who has diabetes (especially Type 1 - formerly Juvenile Onset) is a real tap-dance to monitor and control blood glucose levels.

  • Part 1 - Diabetes history, GLP-1 – 23 Jun 2014
    Part 1 of a discussion about JODM (Juvenile Onset Diabetes Mellitus, Now known as Type 1 Diabetes), beginning with the original disease, it's impact and discovery of Insulin; and leading to the development of a "new" type of drug.

  • Part 2 - GLP-1 Meds – 27 Jun 2014
    Part 2 of a discussion about Injectable Glucagon-like Peptide-1 (GLP-1), a new drug in the treatment of diabetes

  • Graphic video about diabetes – 10 Nov 2015
    Here is a video which really gets to the basics of diabetic care – the A, B, C's if you will. Short and sweet the items stand for items which are important to maintain good health.

  • Juvenile Diabetes and ProBiotics - Yogurt, Bacteria and Children – 15 Jan 2018
    The TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young) study is explained - what do diabetes, yogurt, bacteria and children have in common?

  • 2017 State of the disease – 2 Jul 2018
    Especially to those with diabetes, it just seems like progress is sooooo slow. 2017, state of the disease.


 

Immunization – Autism Link Debunked, YET AGAIN

childhood-vaccines-baby-shot

As if the hundreds of follow-up research studies weren’t enough to debunk the fraudulent claim by Andrew Wakefield of a link between immunizations and autism, yet another has been completed which did the same thing.
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Non-Medication ADHD Treatment Results Poor Studies Show

Here’s a great new finding that is bound to draw some ire from practitioners of alternative treatment’s for children with ADHD. I say that because it’s happened before any time someone tries to actually put some scientific investigation into areas of very lucrative sacred cows. What I’m referring to are: cognitive training, neurofeedback, behavioral interventions, and exclusion of foods associated with hypersensitivity. All of these “promise” ADHD treatment.
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Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) Series: Intro/Index

ADHD runs in families

In medical school I ran across a wild article by a “doctor” claiming he could “cure” hyperactivity by having them stop using things like toothpaste and anything else containing salicylates. The results and claims seemed wildly simple and too good to pass up to me; so I convinced my pediatric honors mentor to let me do a study for my honors project. She did.

Dr. Feingold, the proponent, proved to be most unhelpful so I used the best professor sources, his literature and all their procedures to set up a double-blind study which would “prove it.” Problem was, of our 30 patients who signed up for the trial we couldn’t get even one to actually respond so we could give them the real or placebo salicylates that would prove which it was.

My mentor reported the results after I had graduated and went on to become one of the country’s authorities on ADHD. I’ve written several posts on this blog covering various aspects and they are now curated into this series.

14 Posts in "ADHD Hyperactivity" Series

  • ADHD Hyperactivity: Intro/Index – 5 Feb 2013
    A wide and varied series of posts, just like the wide and varied nature of the disorder—ADHD

  • Treatments - 'alternative' – 6 Feb 2013
    Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), placebo effects, sacred cows, mistrust, secret remedies, doctor's secrets and financial incentives—this series has 'em all!

  • Treating ADHD lowers incidence of smoking! – 15 Jun 2014
    Funny thing this: if you actually treat ADHD correctly (i.e. with medications) you find that a certain kind of self-defeating, illegal behavior (underage smoking) diminishes!

  • Labels and 'Alphabet Soup' – 7 Jan 2017
    This post explores the "alphabet soup" that is hyperactivity, learning disabilities, and all the frequent name changes.

  • First, the diagnosis – 11 Jan 2017
    Making the diagnosis of ADHK is no cakewalk. And, unfortunately, it's too often done wrong for varied reasons and leads to either wasted energy or money or distracts from finding the real issue.

  • The Patient – 15 Jan 2017
    What does the ADHK child look like? Do they fit into a mold or is there some variation? What issues do they have?

  • (Video) Sucess in 'Something' Helps – 20 Jan 2017
    As critical as it is for any child, finding something, somewhere to experience success in, is one of the KEY treatments for ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Let's break in our series about ADHD to watch the inspiring story of 12-year-old Pierson Feeney, who has ADHD, discovering his love of dance, traveling to a national dance competition in Las Vegas, and talking about how finding his talent for dance has improved his life.

  • Treatment: How can we know what works? – 29 Jan 2017
    For a child with ADHD, how do we know what the real issues are; how can we tell what really works?

  • Treatment: Five Pillars of ADHD Treatment – 4 Feb 2017
    With all the supposed rhetoric about ADHD and wild claims of treatment, how can we know that what we're doing is right. There are FIVE pillars of diagnosis and treatment that all treatment MUST demonstrate.

  • Treatment: Cognitive Training, Medication – 18 Feb 2017
    In ADHD is it: Cognitive Training (counseling, training), Medication, or Both?

  • (Link) Don't JUST take my word for it – 23 Feb 2017
    Here is another pediatric specialist's advice about ADHD from his position on a medical university faculty.

  • The Children - Followup and Outcomes – 26 Mar 2017
    Let's take the children we've been talking about and follow them through their lives. What about that? What are the outcomes like?

  • Hyperactivity & Puberty - Part 1 – 10 Jan 2019
    Ooops, we forgot to consider ADHD and puberty. What's that like? What are the considerations for "ADHD on steroids"?

  • Hyperactivity & Puberty - Part 2, Issues and Actions – 22 Jan 2019
    When puberty happens to an ADHD child, what are the issues? And, what are the "tips for parents"?


 

Childhood Immunization: Updated 2013 guidelines

What I have been trying to say for the past couple of days, and kept getting side-tracked, is that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has just released this years immunization schedule (2013) which not only takes into account all the recent scientific studies but tries to make them understandable–as understandable as Read more→

Childhood Immunization Schedule: Intro/Index

boy-immunized

Childhood immunization guidelines once considered a godsend of protection against all-to-common childhood death, these days might be considered an annoyance they’ve become so commonplace.

Polio, heart disease, Rubella, chickenpox, meningitis… all caused death in addition to misery. Almost every family had a child die in childhood.

I’ve written about immunizations many times, as this series of articles displays. The last article gives a synopsis of the CDC and other official entities who make the guidelines; so you can get them direct, skipping the middlemen, and avoid all the out of date “klinker” websites on the interned (they never erase any outdated stuff).

6 Posts in "Immunization Schedule" Series

  • Childhood Immunization Schedule Updates: Intro/Index – 1 Feb 2013
    Childhood Immunization Guidelines: Intro/Index

  • 2013 Immunization Guidelines – 2 Feb 2013
    Latest and updated childhood immunization guidelines for 2013

  • Birth to Eighteen – 25 Oct 2013
    Link to the US government website for immunization recommendations: birth to 18

  • 2014 Immunization Schedule – 14 Feb 2014
    Explanations and updated immunization schedule for 2014

  • Immunization Links in a nutshell – 16 Jul 2015
    Updates to immunization schedules based on new research has left "clinker" articles all over the internet (nothing ever gets erased) giving LOTS of outdated and mis-information. Here are direct links to the decision makers who publish updated information all the time -> go to these sites directly, avoid the middle man!

  • CDC Disease specific immunization recommendations (printable) – 20 Mar 2023
    This is a lengthy list of the CDCs immunization recommendations for most immunize-able diseases. DIRECT links to their printable handouts so you don't need to hunt for them.


Speaking of immunizations, and all the posts I’ve written, if you’re interested in immunization safety information there’s a series about that too beginning with a out-and-out fraud case and loss of medical license.

Pediatric Immunizations: Still Needed, Safe?

After writing yesterday’s article about the new 2013 immunization guidelines I started looking for images in my photo-file of a child with Mumps or Measles. I did find one with measles and even Rubella, but not for mumps. So, I looked on the internet to see if there was one in the public domain that I could use because I’m beginning to realize that these days it’s getting harder to find someone who has actually seen these diseases.
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Pediatric Immunization: A Complicated Issue

It truly cannot be any surprise to any parent that the number of immunizations invented to prevent childhood disease and morbidity has dramatically increased in the past five years. And, even though the majority of children are living a much more disease-free life, some parents are understandably beginning to wonder if this isn’t too much of a good thing.
Read more→

Immunization Safety Series: Intro/Index

doctor immunized immunization safety

My generations medical issues that kept us humble often, if not usually, had to do with death and dismemberment due to disease. The issues plaquing today’s parents and physicians seem to have to do with name-calling and sex.

Each generation has its issues, that’s understandable. The viral and bacterial illnesses we spent conquering produced a world whose impediments and trials have different rates and therefore priorities. I get it.

But, it just seems to me that a SMART generation would build upwards on what we had already done, NOT start all over and pretend our issues just didn’t exist.

The vaccine-hater cottage industry has really done a number on society… actually, the whole world. MILLIONS of man-hours have been spent, over-and-above the draconian amount already required to market a product in the US, on proving fictitious claims were wrong.

BUT, GOOD NEWS, they have; and we can now move on… right? This series on Vaccine Safety cronicles the struggle.

12 Posts in "Immunizations" Series

  • Immunization Safety Series: Intro/Index – 28 Jan 2012
    A chronicle of our struggle to get out of the mess we've been in trying to understand immunizations.

  • Wakefield Immunization Fraud – 29 Jan 2013
    Pure and Simple: It's a FRAUD. Anti-vaccine claims by ANDREW WAKEFIELD have been proven unequivocally to be deliberately fraudulent for fame and money! Not just a little, or accidental, a deliberate and deceitful act which not only cost him his money and fame but his MEDICAL LICENSE as well! (He IS INfamous.)

  • Immunization Safety Research – 30 Jan 2013
    Is immunizing our children against "those old diseases" still relevant today? Yes, it is! Modern medicine has taken from us the daily fear of our children dying for so long, it's wonderful that we can even ask that question. YES, it is!

  • Autism and Immunization Link Debunked... Again – 30 Mar 2013
    In addition to hundreds of studies in the wake of Andrew Wakefiel's deliberate fraud about immunizations and autism—yet another1000 children study reveals that the number of vaccines administered to children, either in one day OR in the total first two years of life, HAS NO BEARING ON AUTISM RISK!

  • Measles Outbreak in unvaccinated – 18 May 2014
    There is a death toll associated with the anti-vaccination philosophy! Measles again beginning to attack US children, cased reported to CDC up 200% last year.

  • Decision not to immunize nearly killed their son – 11 Jun 2015
    Parent's decision not to immunize nearly killed their son, parent's now advocates for immunizations.

  • Return of Measles Disease – 22 Jun 2015
    The mis-information about immunizations is leading to the return of Measles in the US and around the world.

  • Vaccine-preventable diseases coming back – 30 Apr 2017
    Preventable diseases are coming back. Cases of measles, mumps, polio, rubella (German Measles), whooping cough, chickenpox, cholera, diphtheria, meningitis, rotavirus and typhoid are up.

  • Immunization v. Vaccination: How we got in this mess – 27 May 2017
    A cottage industry of vaccine-haters: A Story of Gullibility, Fear, Despicable Avarice and Scams—along with death, disability and suffering.

  • Immunization v. Vaccination: Vaccine-Hater Cottage Industry – 31 May 2017
    Vaccine Haters cottage industry purported fears: the REAL facts.

  • 10 reasons parents choose not to immunize – 6 Jun 2017
    Parents' vaccine fears—analyzed and discussed rationally.

  • The vaccine strategy (video) – 20 Jun 2017
    What the vaccine-haters (anti-vaxers) don't want you to know. Although about 30 once feared diseases have been controlled by immunizations, many others still elude us like HIV, Malaria and to a large extent Influenza. We are closer now than ever to understanding how to control those diseases… here is what we know!


 

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