Daily Dose of DrGreene

Halloween Tricks!

And the award for the best costume goes to… Halloween candy! When you look at familiar wrappers that remind you of the days when you were emptying out your own trick-or-treat bag and dividing up your loot with glee, those wrappers may mask some big changes that have happened to the candy inside.  Chances are that when you were a kid, your favorites weren’t made with genetically modified, partially hydrogenated (trans) fats or with high fructose corn syrup. In fact, many of the foods our kids eat today may look like the foods we ate as kids, but contain cheaper, chemical ingredients. Thankfully, there are lots of bars and other candies that are made without these cheap substitutes and with real food ingredients that your kids will love – including a few from the major manufactures. If we choose to let our kids enjoy the great annual candy binge, let’s let the treats they love and remember include high quality real candy. Because childhood is also different today than when we were kids…. Middle aged conditions such as high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, abnormal blood glucose, and waist size over 40 inches were very uncommon in kids just twenty years ago. Today, one large study found that two thirds of American high school students already have at least one of these conditions! And, what we used to call adult onset diabetes is now the most common form of diabetes as early as elementary school. I’m a high quality chocolate fan. When we hit the intersection of treats loved by kids, without the cheap substitution tricks, we all win.

What your take on trick or treating?

Alan Greene MD FAAP

Superbugs at School (and Preschool)

MRSA infections now kill more Americans than does HIV/AIDS, according to a CDC report in the October 17, 2007 Journal of the American Medical Association. Most of these infections are in adults over age 65, but infections with resistant bacteria are on the rise, even among healthy children. The important bacteria for parents to know about are called Staph. Aureus, often called just “staph”. These bacteria are very common on the skin and in the noses of healthy kids. Sometimes they slip through a break in the skin and cause infections. In fact, they are among the most common causes of skin infections – usually just little pimples or boils. In hospitals, though, the infections were sometimes lethal, because the bacteria became resistant to major antibiotics. Now resistant staph is showing up in schools. When the bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, they can spread rapidly through communities. In some places in the US, MRSA infections (methicillin-resistant Staph. aureus) now account for 75 percent of staph infections in otherwise totally normal children. These infections are more common where kids are in close skin contact, such as in daycare centers and in contact sports (perhaps daycare is a contact sport!). On average, they are more common in kids under 2 than they are in teens.

Most of these infections can be successfully treated, especially if caught early, but occasionally they progress to serious or even fatal infections. This week, another ... more

Alan Greene MD FAAP

When Teens Are Depressed

About 5 percent of children become clinically depressed at some point during the transition to adulthood. Depression is a burden both for the adolescents and their families and carries a number of risks, including teen suicide. Results of a major clinical study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), appear in the October 2007 Archives of General Psychiatry. The study concludes that combining antidepressant medication and cognitive behavioral therapy is the fastest and safest way to treat depression. Medication alone can be quick and easy, but may elevate the risk of suicide even as it is improving depression. Cognitive behavioral therapy alone can be very effective, but on average the teens stay depressed longer before improvement. Combining the two delivers the ...(more)

Alan Greene MD FAAP

Cough and Cold Medicines

None of us want to see children feel miserable – for their sakes or for ours. We want remedies when they feel sick. In light of this, I am pleased with the decision of major pharmaceutical companies to withdraw their cough and cold medicines for children under 2 – it’s a good start. Even though these medicines have been given to millions of children, carefully controlled studies have not been able to show any benefit in typical children under age 6 – and in a small number of children they can have serious side effects. Yes, many children do get better when they take decongestants, antihistamines, and chemical cough suppressants for coughs and colds, but on average they get the...(more)

Alan Greene MD FAAP