Cincinnati Children’s In The News

by Cincinnati Children's News Team on January 23, 2012

This is a recap of recent health news featuring Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of collected news, and please feel free to offer comments below – we really do listen!

Hungry Families “Formula Stretching”
MSNBC.com, Philadelphia Inquirer via HealthDay, WVXU, Health.com

Despite receiving public food assistance, one in eight low-income parents is watering down baby formula to keep their infants fed, according to a new Cincinnati Children’s study.

The dangerous practice of “formula stretching” can have serious health consequences for babies’ developing brains, leading to cognitive, behavioral and psychological issues.

The study of urban pediatric clinics also found that approximately 30 percent of families reported food insecurity – defined as the inability to afford enough food to meet basic nutritional needs.

“We were surprised to find one in three families worried about putting food on the table,” said Andrew Beck, MD, MPH, general pediatrician and one of the study’s authors. “Food insecurity tends to be an invisible problem, forcing families to make difficult choices between nutrition and other essential needs.”

Cincinnati Children’s Forms New Center For Prevention Of Preterm Birth
Yahoo News, Health News Digest, WHNS

Cincinnati Children’s recently announced the formation of the Center for Prevention of Preterm Birth and the arrival of Louis Muglia, MD, PhD, as its director.

Dr. Muglia is also the co-director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children’s and professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati. He comes to Cincinnati Children’s from Vanderbilt where he served as professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics and vice chair for Research Affairs in Pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Dr. Muglia will work with a group of more than 30 researchers at the center who are already investigating the underlying scientific causes of preterm birth.

Parents Raise Awareness Of Daughter’s Rare Condition
WSET

Doctors at Cincinnati Children’s are helping a Virginia couple coping with their daughter’s rare genetic syndrome – a condition so uncommon that it affects fewer than 60 people worldwide.

Two-year-old Emaleigh Blankenship, born with Cloves Syndrome, makes monthly trips to Cincinnati Children’s for treatment. The condition is believed to be caused by a genetic mutation and has caused overgrowth of soft-tissue tumors and bones in Emaleigh’s legs and feet.

While there is currently no cure for the condition, Emaleigh’s parents are leading the fight to learn more about it through the formation of the Cloves Syndrome Foundation.

“We want to let people know that this syndrome is out here and it could be your neighbor’s kid, it could be your kid. I had no idea,” said Adrienne Blankenship, Emaleigh’s mother.

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Helping find food security for families in need

by Cincinnati Children's News Team on January 20, 2012

New training is helping doctors in the Pediatric Primary Care Center at Cincinnati Children’s diagnose food insecurity in local families.

Cuts in the federal WIC program, which provides vouchers for families to help buy infant formula, cereal and other nutrition basics, mean many families coming into the hospital’s two primary care clinics can’t afford to buy a full month’s worth of formula for their babies.

Led by physicians Andrew Beck, Bob Kahn and Melissa Klein, staff in the clinics found that about a third of families were answering “yes” to questions like “In the last year, were you afraid your food would run out and you wouldn’t have money to buy more?”

They also learned that one in eight families were trying to “stretch” their supply of formula by adding more water or diluting it to make it go further.

But babies need fat in the formula for proper brain development, plus calories to grow. Diluting the formula means they’re not getting proper nutrition.

Now, medical residents and attending physicians who staff the clinics regularly ask families about food insecurity. It seems like a simple step, but some of the residents didn’t know about the WIC program. And some didn’t want to ask about a problem they didn’t know how to solve.

But it’s a pediatrician’s job to ask the tough questions, said Klein, a pediatrician who specializes in underserved populations.

“Hunger is invisible. You have to ask,” she said.

Teaching doctors how to ask about sensitive issues also helps them learn to discuss depression, unsafe housing conditions and other touchy subjects that impact a child’s wellbeing, Klein said.

Cincinnati Children’s Primary Care Center partnered with the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati several years ago. That success sparked a partnership with the Freestore Food Bank and now other connections are in the works.

Now residents at the primary care clinics know where to point families for the help they need. They’re also giving families information on how to earn a GED, and resources on how to get help with food and utility bills if necessary.

Dr. Klein says the hospital’s long-term goal is to continue to create more community partnerships.

Through these connections, those involved are showing they recognize the skills and gifts that each organization has to offer in jointly creating a healthy community.

 

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Cincinnati Children’s In The News

by Cincinnati Children's News Team on January 18, 2012

This is a recap of recent health news featuring Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of collected news, and please feel free to offer comments below – we really do listen!

C3N: Rewriting The Patient-Doctor Script
Medicine X

In its most recent issue, the Stanford publication Medicine X examines The Collaborative Chronic Care Network (C3N). C3N is the brainchild of Peter Margolis, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics , and Michael Seid, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics.

C3N represents a new paradigm and process for medical research with the goal of connecting chronically ill patients and clinicians using real-time data and social media to improve care. Read more here about this innovative program and how it’s changing the lives of patients.

Cincinnati Children’s Employees Give Back On MLK Day
WXIX

Employees of Cincinnati Children’s reached out to the community this week, taking part in the national day of service honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Twenty volunteers helped with painting and beautification for the VISIONS Project, which serves young parents and their children. Other employees helped at Bethany House Services, which provides housing for low-income families. The remainder of the volunteers stayed on site at Cincinnati Children’s Sabin Auditorium to help create development toys for Every Child Succeeds.

“Our folks are so amazing here at Cincinnati Children’s,” said James Page, Assistant Vice President, Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “They’re constantly giving back to our community in a medical sense, but this also allows them an opportunity to bring their families and get their families involved in the service they do every day.”

Cincinnati Children’s Impacted By Medicaid Cuts
Cincinnati Enquirer, WXIX, WTVG

Cincinnati Children’s is faced with cutting $50 million from its budget in an effort to absorb losses from Ohio Medicaid. The hospital will cut $20 million from its budget this year and $50 million by 2015.

The hospital, which employs about 12,650 workers and ranks among the top three pediatric hospitals nationally, doesn’t plan to lay off any workers.

Among the top five employers in the region, Cincinnati Children’s remains one of the area’s biggest economic engines.

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My 7 year old still wets the bed. Should I be concerned?

by Cincinnati Children's News Team on January 12, 2012

Most parents – and their kids – are too embarrassed to even discuss bedwetting with a pediatrician.

But it’s quite common, says Dr. Bradley Dixon, a physician in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and rarely a sign that anything is medically wrong with a child.

As many as 15 percent of 7-year-olds still wet the bed, Dixon says, and as many as 0.5 percent of adults have the same problem.

Just because it’s a common problem, though, it’s not easy to live with. Children who wet the bed can’t help it, and it’s an embarrassing and upsetting problem. Parents may worry that their children are too lazy to get up and go to the bathroom or that they have physiological or psychological problems.

In most cases, children wet the bed because the brain signals that tell the body the bladder is full haven’t fully matured, Dixon says. Other factors include smaller-than-average bladder capacity, higher urine production overnight or a higher level of bladder muscle activity.

Genetics are also a factor, he says. If one parent wet the bed as a child, odds are nearly 50 percent that his or her child will do the same.

And chronic constipation can lead to bedwetting. Stool in the rectum can put pressure on the bladder, causing urination. Treating the constipation aggressively over a course of months can often improve or resolve bedwetting.

Most children will quit wetting the bed on their own as they get older. An alarm can sometimes help, and a medication called ddAVP that reduces the production of urine at night can help too, though it’s not recommended for long-term use.

The main thing parents can do is to help their children understand that they’re not to blame for bedwetting, and that they shouldn’t be punished for it.

Disposable absorbent garments like PullUps can be useful for sleepovers or camping trips, and so can ddAVP.

In rare cases, bedwetting can be a sign of a more serious medical problem, including diabetes, kidney malformations, sleep apnea, or malformations or inflammation of the bladder itself.

If any of these warning signs are present, parents should make sure to discuss the problem with the child’s pediatrician:

  • Burning or pain with urination
  • Foul odor in the urine
  • Visible blood in the urine
  • Excessive thirst
  • Excessive tiredness during the day, or heavy snoring during sleep

Dr. Dixon emphasizes that most kids who wet the bed do not have anything physically wrong with them. The bedwetting will improve either with no treatment as they get older or with the treatments that we’ve discussed above.

Patience will go a long way, as well reminders for the child that they are not to blame.

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Cincinnati Children’s In The News

January 9, 2012

This is a recap of recent health news featuring Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of collected news, and please feel free to offer comments below – we really do listen! New Study Identifies Barriers To Preschool Exercise UPI, CNN, CBS News, U.S. News & World Report, USA Today, [...]

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Heavy Metal Back on Radar Screen

January 6, 2012

Lead never really goes away. The heavy metal doesn’t degrade. So, once a person is exposed and gets lead in their system, it tends to hang around and cause a lot of trouble – sort of like a gift from Hell that just keeps on giving. And that’s if someone doesn’t get a high enough [...]

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Cincinnati Children’s In The News

January 3, 2012

This is a recap of recent health news featuring Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of collected news, and please feel free to offer comments below – we really do listen! Some Girls Overestimate HPV Vaccine Protection Reuters, Fox News, MSNBC Some adolescent girls may be overestimating the protection [...]

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Holiday toy safety – the age recommendations really do mean something

December 21, 2011

New toys are soon to be the highlight of holidays for children all over the world. But our experts caution that parents need to choose toys carefully to reduce the risk of serious injury to children. First, it’s important to read toy labeling carefully to make sure the toys are appropriate for your child’s age [...]

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Cincinnati Children’s In The News

December 19, 2011

This is a recap of recent health news featuring Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. We hope you enjoy this week’s edition of collected news, and please feel free to offer comments below – we really do listen! New Study Examines Flu Vaccine Benefits Through Breast Milk WVXU With no approved flu vaccine for infants, most [...]

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You can’t see it, smell it or taste it. But you need to know if it’s in your home.

December 14, 2011

There’s one common household poison even the most cautious parent can’t keep locked away where the kids can’t reach it: Carbon monoxide. Every year in the U.S., about 500 people are fatally poisoned by the colorless, odorless, tasteless gas and another 15,000 have to go the emergency room because of exposure to carbon monoxide, which [...]

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