Simplified diagnostic criteria and more awareness are helping both parents and doctors identify autism at an earlier age By Mark Moncino, M.D. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), previously termed autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, and PDD-NOS, is a common, heterogeneous, treatable – and potentially curable – cause of developmental disability. ASD is a spectrum of ... Continue Reading
Pediatric Hospice: Working Aggressively for the Best Quality of Life for a Child
By Laura Waddle, M.D.
“We found a mass in her liver... it looks like metastatic cancer.†As a pediatric resident, I received this call one night from a radiologist regarding a two-year-old patient our team had admitted earlier that day with a limp and refusal to bear weight. It was her second trip to the emergency department in a few days. The first time the plain films of her hips and ... Continue Reading
Educating Parents About Childhood Obesity is the Key to Healthier Families
The facts regarding childhood obesity are stunning. According to the CDC: • Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years. • The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7 percent in 1980 to nearly 18 percent in 2010. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged ... Continue Reading
Physicians Help Make Children Functional in Spite of Disability
by Maurice G. Sholas, M.D., Ph.D. From ATLANTA Medicine Vol. 84, No. 4 Many of us fell in love with our profession while watching famous TV Doctors. Serious portrayals, like those on “Grey’s Anatomy†or “ERâ€, bring to life the real drama of helping patients cope with life altering health issues. Comedic portrayals, like those on “Scrubsâ€, shine light on the ... Continue Reading
Healthcare Without Walls Provides Medical Services for Underserved Children
From ATLANTA Medicine, 2013, Care for the Underserved, Vol. 84, No. 2 By Debra Hughes, MS and Yasmin Tyler-Hill, M.D., FAAP Imagine you have no home. Your daughter is sick. Where do you take her? For most homeless women, the local emergency room is the healthcare provider of choice for one simple reason: they have no other choice. For women at the Mary Hall Freedom ... Continue Reading
How “High Tech Dummies†Are Revolutionizing Pediatric Healthcare Training
Medical education has traditionally relied on the concept of â€see one, do one, teach one†to educate learners. However, with increasing numbers of trainees and reduced training hours, there are fewer real patient opportunities for learners to be exposed to less common medical conditions. Following release of the Institute of Medicine’s report, To Err is Human: Building ... Continue Reading
Emory Study Shows Benefits of Therapeutic Intervention for Adolescents
A new study shows that a therapeutic intervention called Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT) appears to improve the mental and physical health of adolescents in foster care. CBCT is a tool that provides strategies for people to develop more compassionate attitudes toward themselves and others. It is well documented that children in foster care have a high prevalence ... Continue Reading
Lisa Kobrynski, M.D., Discusses Newborn Screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
From ATLANTA Medicine, 2012, Pediatrics, Vol. 83, No. 2 “Newborn Screening Saves Lives.â€(1) This is a headline that is music to the ears of clinicians and public health laboratories. Since the advent of newborn screening using heel-stick blood spotted on filter cards in 1981, more than 40 different conditions can be detected using tandem mass spectrometry to diagnose ... Continue Reading
