News

Bone health in adulthood depends on bone density acquired during adolescence. Identifying risk factors associated with poor bone health early in adolescence can help your teenaged patients take action to maximize bone mass.

Tics commonly manifest themselves in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Stimulant medications are now a primary option for treating ADHD in children with or predisposed to tic disorders.

The Case:You are called to the emergency room to evaluate a toddler with a diffuse, itchy skin rash that erupted a week ago, the day after he received his mumps/measles/rubella vaccination.

Many pediatricians find point-of-care (POC) office lab tests advantageous because these avoid callbacks and allow pediatricians to direct care at the time of the office visit. It has been my experience that when parents are called with a lab result, there is an opportunity for ineffective or even failed communication.

The adolescent diet of fat, salt, and sugar is leading US teenagers on the path to early cardiovascular disease, according to new research from the American Heart Association.

Evidence from a new study points to norovirus as the leading cause of severe gastroenteritis in preschool-aged children.

When it comes to doing what the doctor orders, parents don’t always go along with the advice. A new poll finds that only 31% of parents follow guidance from their child’s health care provider all the time.

Pediatricians and other pediatric health care providers should first determine whether bruising or bleeding in a child is associated with a bleeding disorder before suspecting child abuse, advises the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends the adoption of electronic prescribing systems as a means to improving quality and safety in pediatric care.

Prescribing drugs solely to boost thinking and memory functions in children and adolescents who do not have neurologic disorders is not justified, says the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in a new position paper on the use of neuroenhancing drugs in children.

Three-quarters of teenaged girls are not up-to-date on the vaccination series for human papillomavirus (HPV) because their parents have concerns about vaccine safety, according to a national survey on immunization.

Health care providers may not see a positive return on investment (ROI) after adopting electronic health record (EHR) systems, suggests a study that examined how physicians would fare financially after incorporating EHRs into their practices.

A newly identified neuropathic disease appears to cause disabling, widespread body pain in children, according to researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) appears to show a preference for summer months, putting children at greater risk for soft-tissue infection especially during July and August.

Introducing peanuts, eggs, and cow’s milk into babies’ diets when they are aged as young as 4 months might actually prevent allergies to these foods from developing.

Nearly 90% of pediatricians approve of over-the-counter (OTC) medications as first-line treatment for minor illnesses in children and 80% will recommend OTC medications before writing a prescription for pediatric patients, says a new survey.

The beta-blocker propranolol has been shown to clear or mostly clear infant hemangiomas after 6 months of treatment, according to preliminary findings from a clinical trial presented at the meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Miami Beach, Florida.

Ketorolac is a good option for relieving pain in patients with sickle cell disease, but there can be a problem with how this agent is prescribed for children.

A new poll shows that most US parents underestimate their child’s risk for being overweight or obese in contrast to data that confirm a national epidemic of obesity.

A child born infected with the HIV virus appears to have been cured of the disease, a development that could affect how newborns with the virus are treated.

Adolescents who impress their friends with feats of double-jointedness might be setting themselves up for pain or arthritis by the time they are young adults, according to a new study from the United Kingdom.

Children with allergies who are treated with food elimination diets are at risk for impaired nutrition and growth compared with their peers, says new research presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology meeting last week in San Antonio, Texas.

Babies born by cesarean delivery are at higher risk for developing allergies than infants born vaginally, according to preliminary findings from a study funded by the Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Automated external defibrillators used in the critical first minutes after cardiac arrest can ensure a victim’s best chance for survival. However, emergency medical responders often are delayed past the window when early defibrillation is most effective. Training programs for physicians and laypersons on how to use public access defibrillators in public venues can save precious minutes.

The mother of a 9-year-old boy brings him to the office for urgent evaluation of undiagnosed widespread blistering of the skin and mouth. The eruption has occurred 2 to 3 times a year for the last 3 years, and the oral lesions have been severe enough on several occasions to prompt hospitalization for dehydration. She wants an answer to the mystery now. What are you going to tell her?

You are called to see a 17-year-old Hispanic girl in the pediatric emergency department (ED) complaining of abdominal pain for 1 week. She describes a “stabbing” pain in the epigastrium and flanks that radiates to the lower back. She says that the pain comes intermittently in attacks that occur throughout the day and may last up to several hours. She feels pain most of the day, but it is worse at night and frequently causes her to awaken from sleep.

There’s always room for improvement when it comes to office workflow. Here we discuss ways to simplify processes and tasks that will move your practice toward optimum efficiency while still taking time to address the needs of your patients.

Seventeen years ago I was given the great honor and responsibility of succeeding Frank Oski, the founding editor-in-chief of Contemporary Pediatrics. The original Editorial Board and contributors of Contemporary Pediatrics included some of the most dedicated educators and clinicians in the country, and many of them, through their work on the magazine as well as in their roles as educators generally, continued to inform, provoke, challenge, and befriend pediatricians right up until their deaths-deaths that came much too early for Joseph St. Geme Jr, Frank Oski, Walter Tunnessen, and Caroline Hall.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has released the first-ever “Action Plan on Children in Adversity,” saying that the plan provides overall policy and guidance for US international assistance “to ensure that children not only survive, but thrive.”