October 20th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews
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EverythingHealth strongly recommends a wonderful new book called “The Water Giver” and I predict you will not be able to put it down. Author Joan Ryan is a remarkable writer who takes the reader on a journey she lived when her son, Ryan, sustained a near -fatal severe head and brain injury on a skateboard. It is both a medical drama and a meditation on motherhood.
The book begins with Joan’s description of her son’s learning difficulties and years of psychological and developmental testing. Her style as a mother was to intellectualize, do research and try to fix what was “wrong” with her son. The years went by with family stress and teachers conferences and medical consultations but it wasn’t until the day he fell, that Joan realized some things are too big to be studied and fixed.
The nightmare began when he was 16 and went skateboarding without a helmet. The fall on a hill near their home caused a huge brain bleed that obliterated much of his brain tissue. He remained in a coma for weeks and underwent multiple surgeries to relieve pressure. The book chronicles months of near death events in the Intensive Care Unit that nearly drove his parents insane with worry. I will let you read it to find out how it turns out. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 15th, 2009 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, News
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Two recent studies concerning the prevalence of autism in the US have been getting a lot of attention, because they indicate that autism prevalence may be higher than previously estimated. This, of course, fuels the debate over whether or not there are environmental triggers of autism.
One study was conducted by the CDC but has yet to be published. The results were announced ahead of publication by the US Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the autism community. She reports that the new prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is now estimated at 1% or 100 in 10,000 children. This is an increase over the last few years. In 2002 the prevalence was estimated to be 66 per 10,000.
The second study was published in the journal Pediatrics and is a phone survey of 78,037 parents. They asked if they had any children who had ever been diagnosed with an ASD. Here are the results: Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
October 14th, 2009 by Shadowfax in Better Health Network, True Stories
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Saw a nine-year old with a headache today. His dad brought him in, and explained that all the men in his family get migraines; he figured this was his son’s first one. The kid seemed perfectly well, with a positive Cheetos sign and my gut instinct was that I would discharge him with no work-up. But when I flexed his neck fully, he winced. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Movin' Meat*
October 13th, 2009 by John Briley in Health Policy
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If you still think we don’t need healthcare reform in the U.S., consider this: A 4-month-old baby is being denied health coverage by an insurer in Grand Junction, Colo., because the baby is too fat, the Denver Post reports. Details: The 4-month-old boy is in the 99th percentile for his age in height and weight. He is being exclusively breast fed by his mother and has grown from around 8 pounds 4 ounces at birth to nearly 17 pounds. Four. Months. Old. Pediatrician deemed him healthy. Parents are healthy and relatively fit, and also have a healthy 2-year-old boy.
And people say the government is going to destroy our healthcare system?
OK, let’s be reasonable: Chances are, once the wildfire of press around this spreads sufficiently the company will rescind its decision and offer this lad coverage. (And, for the record, he could be covered by the family’s prior insurer but the parents decided to shop around because that firm raised the family’s rates by 40 percent after the boy was born.) And, no, I don’t know of other cases where someone was denied coverage for the “pre-existing condition” of having been born hungry. So in the interest of fostering adult-level debate let’s acknowledge that this is probably a VERY isolated case and does not reflect the ethos of all insurers everywhere.
But still: A fat baby getting denied coverage is beyond ridiculous. Read more »
October 11th, 2009 by Nancy Brown, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
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I wish every teenager in America would wear a t-shirt that says “Talk to Me.” In fact, I wish the t-shirts would say “talk to me, touch me, connect with me, help me change our world!”
After three recent teens suicides, two teens at a local high school have started selling t-shirts that say “talk to me,” and I am just thrilled because these teens found a way to tell the adults around them that they need more communication! They need adults to talk with them, touch them, connect with them, and spend time with them! Every teen needs that connection, but when stressed, vulnerable and traumatized, they need it even more!
My heart is with this community and I hope these t-shirts become the school uniform!
Photo from lumaxart
This post, Teens Respond To Suicide Crisis: Talk To Me! T-shirts, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Nancy Brown, Ph.D..
EverythingHealth strongly recommends a wonderful new book called “The Water Giver” and I predict you will not be able to put it down. Author Joan Ryan is a remarkable writer who takes the reader on a journey she lived when her son, Ryan, sustained a near -fatal severe head and brain injury on a skateboard. It is both a medical drama and a meditation on motherhood.
