One of the most common reasons for a child’s doctor visit is digestive complaints. Children can experience chronic abdominal pain, intermittent abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea and general discomfort from eating. These symptoms often cause them to miss school, leave school early or refrain from social activities. Parents may try at-home elimination diets such as removing… Read more »
Pregnancy is a wondrous time. It is filled with joy and anticipation and daydreams of what is to come. But what if midway through the pregnancy that joyous daydream is interrupted with news of a problem? My son, Nicholas, had a condition called congenital hydrocephalus which was diagnosed at my baseline ultrasound when I was… Read more »
In today’s school age children, acts of bullying can begin as early as preschool years and continue to escalate throughout the elementary years and beyond. Bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating others.1 Nearly a third of children 12-18 years old report experiencing bullying by being made fun of, insulted, made to do… Read more »
One evening I was working with a group of young athletes from various sports, and one stood out because of the way her body wasn’t responding to the warm-ups. This fourteen-year-old was pale and appeared very sluggish and somewhat disoriented. I pulled her aside and asked how she was feeling. She told me that she… Read more »
It’s back to school time again and excitement is in the air for students and parents. Whether the kids are starting kindergarten, heading off to college, or somewhere in between, for many of us, this means long lists of school supplies, new clothes, new backpacks, and a drained wallet. Nevertheless, it’s a great time to… Read more »
Recent events have prompted parents, educators, and childcare providers to reevaluate how to properly teach children about personal safety which, in this context, is how to ward off tactics used by child predators to isolate and victimize a child. Any person in charge of a child’s wellbeing should review how to discuss preventing an incident… Read more »
In the United States, drowning continues to be the second leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 claiming the lives of roughly 1,100 children in 2006¹. Those at greatest risk for water accidents or drowning includes this group and teenage boys. Summer also presents greater risk for water accidents as children are… Read more »
Personal genetic testing has been available on the direct consumer markets for several years. Companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com use a simple cheek swab to collect DNA data. The data can then be instantly uploaded and analyzed by other websites for genetic mutations related to potential health issues. While this seems like the utterly… Read more »
Did you know that many well-known film and television actors of have had to overcome speech or language challenges? That list includes Bruce Willis who struggled with stuttering; Eric Roberts who also grappled with stuttering, and his sister, Julia Roberts, who had to overcome her speech impairment. Bill Withers who wrote and sang, “When a… Read more »
The holiday season, a season of giving and receiving, is an excellent time to instill the essential life value of gratitude in children and adults. It can be so easy, and fun, to buy kids an item they have been waiting months to receive and share that moment of joy when they open their long-awaited… Read more »
When family naturopathic doctor Shannon Sinsheimer started noticing the rise in autism rates and unexplained medical conditions in her own young patients, she decided to do something about it. “When I started practicing medicine, autism rates were 1 in 123. Twelve years later they are 1 in 58,” says Sinsheimer, herself a mother of two… Read more »
Twenty-two undergraduate college students from the Coachella Valley participated in the Health Career Connection Internship program this summer though OneFuture Coachella Valley. They spent ten weeks as full-time, paid interns at eighteen healthcare related sites across the valley, working on high-impact projects for valley residents. A special focus for this year’s program was exploring the… Read more »
You may find it surprising to learn that the number of children 17 and under in the Coachella Valley exceeds the number of adults 65 and over.1 While schools and services are being built to support this growing demographic, our greatest need may be in medical care–especially in the east valley where the ratio of… Read more »
Over the past 15 years, poor nutrition and obesity of our country’s youth has become a real health concern. Multiple studies estimate that 40 percent of all youth ages 6-17 skip breakfast and snack all day. Of these, 50 percent are middle school students, while 36 percent are in high school. 26 percent skip meals… Read more »
Sunburns from intense or excess sun exposure can cause immediate pain and long-term skin damage. Treating sunburn immediately can limit unnecessary discomfort and harm. Sunburn begins with excess sun exposure but can continue to worsen even after the sun exposure is over, so it is important to treat sunburn early to reduce inflammation and pain.… Read more »
Supplementing daily with a multi-nutrient for children is essential, as whole food products have decreased in nutritional content and quality. In addition, the toxic body burden acquired from the state of the environment calls for more fundamental nutrients to assist in normal functions of the body. Children of all ages need a daily nutritional supplement… Read more »
Prescriptions for acid reflux in young infants and babies have risen significantly over the past decade as physicians are choosing to treat more extreme cases of ‘spitting up’ or acid reflux-induced vomiting with medication. While it is normal for a young baby or infant to regurgitate some amount of food while he or she is… Read more »
Infants and young babies with regular colic tug on our heart strings as they cry, sometimes endlessly, leaving us with few options to relieve it. Any parent with a child that has colic can become desperate to help stop the tears. Colic is most often caused by issues with poor digestion and elimination, although it… Read more »
One of the scariest times in a person’s life is when a baby is born with the immediate need for medical care. Fortunately for families the Coachella Valley, comprehensive care for preemies and high-risk infants is available at Desert Regional Medical Center’s Women and Infants Center. But what if your baby is born in Blythe… Read more »
As a parent or teacher, you want to see kids grow as physically, mentally, and academically healthy as possible. Luckily, healthy food can help achieve these goals, and there is no better time to expose them to healthy eating routines than their tender years. Real Food vs. Junk Food Sometimes we get confused about what… Read more »
