For those who are regular readers, we have previously discussed the Choosing Wisely campaign from the ABIM Foundation and its goal to reduce unnecessary and potentially harmful testing. Some experts estimate 30% of health care spending is considered Continue reading
Category Archives: Prevention
Influenza immunization for children
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued this year’s policy statement recommending annual influenza immunization for all people six months of age and older.
Children under age two years are at high risk of hospitalization and complications from Continue reading
Let the teens sleep!
For those of us who have ever raised teenagers and tried to wake them in the morning, you might be interested in a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The AAP has recognized that insufficient sleep in adolescents can affect Continue reading
As RSV season looms, to prophylax or not prophylax, that is the question
As we head into fall and the eventual winter cold season, our littlest patients may once again be exposed to the RSV virus. Many practitioners, including myself, have noted a decrease in bronchiolitis admissions and even severity the last few years. However, this Continue reading
Severe childhood stress and changes in gene expression
Young children are fragile. Evidence is mounting that health in adulthood can be influenced by the environment in which a child grows up. We have offered posts on this subject previously Continue reading
Another perspective on childhood vaccines
I’m writing to follow-up on a recent blog post on the subject of childhood vaccines (http://phcprimarycare.org/?p=978). Perhaps I have a different perspective as a practicing pediatrician who works on the front lines of this immunization “controversy.” I recently Continue reading
Convincing parents to vaccinate their kids
Regular readers of this blog might feel we have an obsession about increasing vaccination rates. Guilty as charged.
Regular readers of this blog also need little or no convincing on this issue. For many Continue reading
We all need to keep moving
We all know exercise is good for us, but did you know that even if we exercise, too much sitting during the day is linked to a greater risk of disability?
A recently published study of more than 2,200 adults ages 60 years and older showed Continue reading
A whopping amount of whooping cough in California
Friday the 13th is rarely a good day. Friday, June 13, 2014, did not disappoint. On that day, California public health officials declared the state is now in the midst of a pertussis epidemic. Over 3,400 cases have been reported state-wide and the year is not even Continue reading
MR. Sam Adams, let’s shake on it. On the other hand, let’s not.
The earliest documented handshake depicts the Assyrian King Shalamaneser III (859 BC -824 BC) shaking hands with Marduk-zakir-sumi I of Babylon in a public display of friendship between the two kingdoms. The handshake is thought by some to be Continue reading