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Welcome
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Happy spring! As the school year enters the home stretch, we remind you that summer is a busy time for yearly physicals. This is especially true for adolescents and those needing Pop Warner evaluations. Please remember to make your appointment in a timely manner! |
| New Practice Administrator: Carol O'Neill
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We are pleased to announce Carol O'Neill as our new practice administrator. Carol comes to Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics with 25 years of experience in practice management in various specialties. She will be instrumental in implementing our Quality Improvement initiatives, as well as improving and overseeing our office systems (including scheduling and phone services).
We are excited to work with Carol and to continue to improve our service to you. All complaints and critiques (as well as compliments) should be directed to Carol at: coneill@conversent.net.
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| Patient Safety: Getting X-Rays at Childrens (Waltham)
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Historically, Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics has made a practice of obtaining routine x-rays at either Norwood Hospital or Radiology Associates (in the Guild Building). Recently, Children's Hospital has begun offering outpatient radiology services at its Waltham Clinic. We are excited to have this option as we feel it offers our patients three advantages:
- All x-rays done at Children's Hospital locations are read by pediatric-specific radiologists who will likely be more experienced interpreting findings in kids (especially, younger ones). We anticipate fewer false positive findings ("over-reads") and fewer missed findings.
- All x-ray reports are e-mailed to the ordering physician (thus improving follow-up).
- All x-ray reports will be automatically entered into the electronic medical record (coming soon - stay tuned!).
While there may still be times when a community facility is recommended (especially in older children or those with acute issues), we hope you will appreciate the benefits of using Children's Hospital. |
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Book Recommendation: Mindless Eating
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Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, by Brian Wansink, Ph.D., is an entertaining and informative review of the psychology of food consumption. Written by a social psychologist who is the head of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, Mindless Eating synthesizes the data from hundreds of experiments into 10 simple strategies for healthier, mindful eating. A must read for anyone with an interest in making simple changes towards healthier eating habits. |
| Regional Lyme Disease Forum
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Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics is excited to host and co-sponsor (in conjunction with the Medfield Board of Health) Preventing Lyme Disease in Ourselves and Our Children, a region-wide talk and roundtable discussion about Lyme disease and its prevention. The forum will be moderated by Dr. Hartman and includes speakers from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Children's Hospital, and the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. The presentation will take place on Thursday, April 26th from 6:30-8:00 at Medfield High School. |
| 0-1 Year Olds: Probiotics For Colic?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recently, an article published in the journal Pediatrics suggested that treatment with probiotics ("healthy bacteria") may be benefecial in the management of infantile colic. In the study, 83 breastfed babies were randomized to receive either probiotics or simethicone drops (Mylicon). Within seven days of starting, babies receiving probiotics had approximately 18 minutes of decreased crying each day. Four weeks after starting, the babies receiving probiotics cried for an average of 94 minutes less each day!
Colic is felt to be related to intestinal discomfort. By modulating the gut bacteria, probiotics may alleviate some of these symptoms. While this is only one study, if you have a colicky baby, it may be worth trying.
The probiotics used in the study were Lactobacillus reuteri drops (5 drops once daily).
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| 4-8 Year Olds: Common Sense Media
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Improve your family's media diet!
Common Sense Media is a non-profit website which provides reviews and commentary about media of all types, including movies, television, music, books, videos, and computer games. The reviews discuss violence, portrayal of women, commercialism and language. Visitors to the website can also sign up for the Common Sense Media e-newsletter, which delivers the latest reviews as well as general articles about healthy media choices for children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that media use be kept to less than two hours a day: we encourage parents to be proactive in making healthy choices about media use.
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9-14 Year Olds: Pitching Safety (Part 1)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Overuse injuries are becoming increasingly common in young athletes. Pitchers are at particular risk for this type of injury given the excessive stress that is repeatedly placed in the elbow and shoulder.
Pediatric Sports Medicine specialists stress that the initial development of pitchers (up until high school) should emphasize skills and control - NOT SPEED! NO BREAKING BALLS SHOULD NE THROWN PRIOR TO PUBERTY (around age 14)!!
The chart below lists the appropriate age for learning different pitches.
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PITCH TYPE |
AGE (in years) |
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Fastball |
8 |
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Change-up |
10 |
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Curveball |
14 |
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Knuckleball |
15 |
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Slider |
16 |
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Forkball/Split-finger Fastball |
16 |
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Screwball |
17 |
Want to learn how to throw a change-up?
(coming next month. . . the importance of pitch counts!) |
15-21 Years: Plan B
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Many adolesce prepared t |
| Reaching Beyond Ourselves
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Recently, a group of physicians from Medical Missions for Children went to Ecuador and provided operations to over 60 children with cleft lips and palates. Westwood-Mansfield Pedaitrics will be donating urgently needed laboratory equipment to support the surgical team.
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