‘Health’ Category
The Cockroach in His Ear
“You did what??” I was having a conversation with a friend of mine about some of the most amazing medical cases I’ve seen and surgeries I’ve done—to make kids breathe better, to save their lives, to better their lives, or to ward off infections. But when I told him, as an aside, in order to […]
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Informed Dissent
Just when we thought the controversy of immunization had reached its height, there is yet a new twist being brought to the California legislature. While many parents with school-aged children have been documenting their refusal to have their children immunized with signed waivers brought to school officials, there is now a plan afoot to mandate […]
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Are we nuts over vaccines?
By Nina Shapiro, MD Author of “Take a Deep Breath: Clear the Air for the Health of Your Child” “Nut-free”, “Peanut-free”, and the latest and greatest: “Nut sensitive”. The rage in preschools and elementary schools across the country is to protect our nut-challenged children from nut exposure, even if it means not exposing them to […]
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When is a Cold More Than a Cold?
All kids get colds. In fact, it’s not uncommon for kids to get up to ten colds per year. If you have more than one child, and one child’s cold comes after the others, as is usually the case, it is very likely that you are dealing with someone’s cold for half of the year. […]
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How to Keep Your Family Healthy During Holiday Travel (Or, Somebody Sneezed on my Armrest)
By Nina Shapiro, MD Author of “Take a Deep Breath: Clear the Air for the Health of Your Child” Holiday travel with children is a bit like a game of Russian roulette. Or poker. Or even like playing the lottery. The numbers are never in your favor. Kids get up to ten colds per year, […]
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Back to School? Wash Your Hands and Get Your Shots!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… no, not that time… it’s back-to-school-time. And parents everywhere are singing a tune even more joyous than a Christmas carol! And although we live in Los Angeles, and, instead of feeling that cool crispy fall air, we feel the heavy heat of the Santa Ana winds rolling […]
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The Cost of Human Error
In September 2010, a seasoned pediatric intensive care unit nurse administered an accidental overdose to a critically ill baby, giving ten times the amount of calcium that was prescribed. Five days later, this baby, with an already tenuous heart condition, died. The nurse recognized her mistake immediately, informed her superior, and also told the family […]
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Don’t Smoke. Really.
The FDA issued a statement this week (June 20, 2011) that cigarettes packages and cigarette ads will have not only harsh warning labels, but will also have graphic photos demonstrating the nasty effects of this habit. Some of the photos include a man who’s had his voice box removed (presumably as a result of a […]
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Tonsils: Take ‘em or Leave ‘em
Tonsillectomy used to be a routine rite of passage for children worldwide. Literally millions of kids would get their tonsils out each year in the United States alone. Oftentimes, if one child in the family was having their tonsils removed, the siblings would follow suit, often without a clear medical indication to do so, but […]
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