Take Home Pediatrics

Here is what's happening in the world of kids:

• Radiation ➡️ Cancer Risk

• Handful of walnuts 🧠💪

• Walking 🚶‍♀️🚶‍♂️ = Healthy 💗

• Man’s best friend to the rescue! 🐕🐩🐕‍🦺

Radiation…Can there be harm in dong too many CT scans? These tests emit radiation and a lot more then just plain x-rays. In this large study, there was a 9x increase in cancer risk if a child had 4 or more CT scans! While these studies show great information, we must do our part and avoid overuse of tests.

Food to help focus. Walnuts take first place! The good old saying, “You are what you eat.” Teen brains are still maturing and developing. Feeding your body good omega-3 improves attention! This study is a wonderful avenue to further dive into the role of healthy diet and preventing medical issues.

Counting steps on our wearable devices may soon become part of your routine checkup! A study showed a direct correlation between step count and heart health. While its a well known fact that athletes have lower resting heart rates, this study shows resting heart rate even varies among different levels of fitness in adolescents. This can help assess cardiovascular health without intricate and time consuming tests. I am loving the use of technology to help healthcare advancement and costs!

No need for nasal swabs for COVID testing? Man’s best friend once again comes to the rescue! A pilot study showed dogs can detect COVID-19 in children who have no symptoms. Dogs were laboratory trained to scent compound emitted by COVID. In the lab, there was 95% sensitivity and specificity. In real life, there was a slight decrease in both but still above 85%! Some day we may not need those uncomfortable, almost “touch your brain” nasal swabs!

🚨RECALLS AND ALERTS🚨

• Children’s Robe

• LOL Surprise! Subscription Box

• Youth ATV

• Bunk Bed

Dear Dr. Bhumi, my 4 ½ year old still sucks his thumb and we have tried to tell him to stop. He will stop when we mention it, but we see him go right back to it even few minutes later. What else can we do?

Dear Reader, thumb sucking or even finger sucking is a common habit in infancy and into toddler age. It usually starts as a natural rooting and sucking reflex and then becomes a soothing mechanism and then a habit. As they get older, you will notice the habit increase when the child is nervous, upset (basically emotional) and also when bored and soothing to sleep. Thumb-sucking past the age of 4-5 yrs will have consequences on teeth development, speech, self esteem, and even risk of forming other bad habits like nail or pencil biting. Habits are hard to break especially if we keep reminding them of their bad habits. First step at this age is to talk to him and get him involved in wanting to stop. Then start with small accomplishments- ask him to not suck his thumb one hour before bedtime and then reward with positive reinforcement when done. The bracing device that holds that arm away from the mouth and chemical sprays that taste bad usually don’t work and may cause more discouragement then good. When your child is inadvertently sucking his thumb, you can gently remind him to stop, but sometimes it is worse to keep mentioning it. My favorite example is.. if I am going to give up chocolate and all my family and friends keep reminding me, “Remember, you are not eating chocolate.”- chocolate is going to be on my mind that whole time. That really makes it hard to give it up! So if you want your child to stop sucking his thumb, distract him by handing him something to do and saying, “let’s play with this.” This can be Legos, Playdooh, puzzles, etc. Just do not mention the thumb! Another technique would be to give him a security item at night in case he needs something. Children also love storytelling so you can make up magical stories about stopping the habit. If you don’t have the imagination, there are many children’s books that you can read with your child that encourages the breaking of the habit. Overall, be kind, gentle and reassuring while trying to engage your child in wanting to stop the habit and also using creative distractions when possible.

CHICKEN POX 😷🤒 🦠

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