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Calling All Asthmatics!!!

If you haven't done so - now is the time to get your flu shot!!!

Don't feel like this if you dont have to!!

Even if your child has an egg allergy, your child may be able to receive a flu shot -please talk to your allergist about this important vaccine!

SCHEDULING REMINDER

 From the Center for Disease Control

Wash Your Hands: The Right Way

When should you wash your hands?

• Before, during, and after preparing food
• Before eating food
• Before and after caring for someone who is sick
• Before and after treating a cut or wound
• After using the toilet
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After touching an animal or animal waste
• After touching garbage

What is the right way to wash your hands?

• Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm or cold) and apply soap.
• Rub your hands together to make a lather and scrub them well; be sure to scrub the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Continue rubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end twice.
• Rinse your hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.

What if I don't have soap and clean, running water?

Washing hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the number of germs on them. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers can quickly reduce the number of germs on hands in some situations, but sanitizers do not eliminate all types of germs. Of note, hand sanitizers are the recommended cleaning regimen for health care workers if hands are not visibly dirty.
 

Hand sanitizers are not effective when hands are visibly dirty.

 

How do you use hand sanitizers?

• Apply the product to the palm of one hand.
• Rub your hands together.
• Rub the product over all surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.

 

This article has been excerpted from Mayoclinic.com

Teens are notorious for staying up late and being hard to awaken in the morning. If your teen is no exception, it's not necessarily because he or she is pushing the limits or fighting the rules. This behavior pattern actually has a physical cause - and can be modified to improve your teen's sleep schedule.

A teen's internal clock

Everyone has an internal clock that influences body temperature, sleep cycles, appetite and hormonal changes. The biological and psychological processes that follow the cycle of this 24-hour internal clock are called circadian rhythms. Before adolescence, these circadian rhythms direct most children to naturally fall asleep around 8 or 9 p.m. But puberty changes a teen's internal clock, delaying the time he or she starts feeling sleepy - often until 11 p.m. or later. Staying up late to study or socialize can disrupt a teen's internal clock even more.

Too little sleep

Most teens need about nine hours of sleep a night - and sometimes more - to maintain optimal daytime alertness. But few teens actually get that much sleep regularly, thanks to factors such as part-time jobs, early-morning classes, homework, extracurricular activities, social demands, and use of computers and other electronic gadgets. More than 90 percent of teens in a recent study published in the Journal of School Health reported sleeping less than the recommended nine hours a night. In the same study, 10 percent of teens reported sleeping less than six hours a night.

Although this might seem like no big deal, sleep deprivation can have serious consequences. Tired teens can find it difficult to concentrate and learn, or even stay awake in class. Too little sleep also might contribute to mood swings and behavioral problems. Another major concern is drowsy driving, which can lead to serious - even deadly - accidents.

Teen sleep: Why is your teen so tired?

Resetting the clock

The good news is that your teen doesn't have to be at the mercy of his or her internal clock. To help your teen develop better sleep habits:

• Adjust the lighting. As bedtime approaches, dim the lights. Then turn off the lights during sleep. In the morning, expose your teen to bright light. These simple cues can help signal when it's time to sleep and when it's time to wake up.
• Stick to a schedule. Tough as it may be, encourage your teen to go to bed and get up at the same time every day - even on weekends. Prioritize extracurricular activities and curb late-night social time as needed. If your teen has a job, limit working hours to no more than 16 to 20 hours a week.
• Nix long naps. If your teen is drowsy during the day, a 30-minute nap after school might be refreshing. Be cautious, though. Too much daytime shut-eye might only make it harder to fall asleep at night.
• Curb the caffeine. A jolt of caffeine might help your teen stay awake during class, but the effects are fleeting - and too much caffeine can interfere with a good night's sleep.
• Keep it calm. Encourage your teen to wind down at night with a warm shower, a book or other relaxing activities. Discourage stimulating activities - including vigorous exercise, loud music, video games, television, computer use and text messaging - an hour or two before bedtime.
• Know when to unplug. Take the TV out of your teen's room, or keep it off at night. The same goes for your teen's cellphone, computer and other electronic gadgets.
• Regular Exercise.  Regular exercise can be an important part of a healthy day and lead to healthy sleep habits as well.

Sleeping pills and other medications generally aren't recommended. For many teens, lifestyle changes can effectively improve sleep.

Is it something else?

In some cases, excessive daytime sleepiness can be a sign of something more than a problem with your teen's internal clock. Other problems can include:

• Medication side effects. Many medications - including over-the-counter cold and allergy medications and prescription medications to treat depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - can disrupt sleep.
• Insomnia or biological clock disturbance. If your teen has trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, he or she is likely to struggle with daytime sleepiness.
• Depression. Sleeping too much or too little is a common sign of depression.
• Obstructive sleep apnea. When throat muscles fall slack during sleep, they stop air from moving freely through the nose and windpipe. This can interfere with breathing and disrupt sleep. You might notice loud snoring or intermittent pauses in breathing, often followed by snorting and more snoring.
• Restless legs syndrome. This condition causes a "creepy" sensation in the legs and an irresistible urge to move the legs, usually shortly after going to bed. The discomfort and movement can interrupt sleep.
• Narcolepsy. Sudden daytime sleep, usually for only short periods of time, can be a sign of narcolepsy. Narcoleptic episodes can occur at any time - even in the middle of a conversation. Sudden attacks of muscle weakness in response to emotions such as laughter, anger or surprise are possible, too.

If you're concerned about your teen's daytime sleepiness or sleep habits, please contact our office. If your teen is depressed or has a sleep disorder, proper treatment can be the key to a good night's sleep.

 Reprinted from Food Allergy: An Overview from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Healthcare experts still do not have enough conclusive evidence to tell pregnant women, nursing mothers, and mothers of infants how to prevent food allergy developing in their children. Be sure to talk with your healthcare professional before changing your diet or your baby's diet.

Here is what healthcare experts know now about pregnancy, breastfeeding and introducing solid foods.

Pregnancy

• When you are pregnant, you should eat a balanced diet.
• If you are allergic to a food, you should avoid it.
• If you are not allergic to foods - such as egg, tree nuts, peanut, fish, or cow's milk (all highly allergenic), you should not avoid them because there is no conclusive evidence that avoiding these foods will prevent food allergy developing in your infant.

Breastfeeding

• Healthcare experts recommend that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for the first four months of life because of the health benefits of breastfeeding.
• Mothers who breastfeed do not need to avoid foods that are considered to be highly allergenic because there is no conclusive evidence that avoiding these foods will prevent food allergy from developing in their infants.

Introducing Solid Foods

• Healthcare experts in the United States currently suggest that you do not introduce solid food into your baby's diet until four to six months of age.
• There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that you should delay the introduction of solid foods beyond four to six months of age.
• There is no conclusive evidence to suggest that you should delay the introduction of the most common potentially allergenic foods (milk, egg, peanut) beyond four to six months of age. Delay will not prevent your child from developing an allergy.

 A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury that occurs when a traumatic force to the head causes a disturbance of brain function. This causes the brain to go into an energy crisis and to have problems transmitting information between its cells. The result is a wide range of symptoms that may be physical (headache, visual problems, nausea, dizziness, light or noise sensitivity), cognitive (fatigue, fogginess, attention or memory problems), emotional (sadness, nervousness or irritability) or sleep-related (difficulty falling asleep or sleeping less than usual). The majority of children and teens who sustain concussions will recover within a few weeks with the appropriate cognitive and physical rest and monitoring. But there remains a serious risk for young athletes who return to play too quickly and overstress an already dysfunctional system. If an athlete experiences a second impact to the head before being fully recovered from a concussion he or she has an increased risk of a prolonged recovery time or even death.

Thanks to an upsurge of community awareness and concussion education, coaches, trainers, educators, medical professionals and parents are increasingly aware that these injuries need to be taken seriously and treated conservatively.

In response to the growing demand for cutting edge concussion evaluation and management, we are very pleased at Westwood-Mansfield Pediatric Associates to now offer ImPACT testing to patients who do not yet have this service available through their athletic department. The ImPACT test is a 20 - 30 minute computerized neuropsychiatric test designed to measure memory, reaction time and other cognitive functions. A baseline test is administered to establish the athlete's "pre-injury" level of cognitive function. Then, if he or she sustains a concussion, a "post-injury" test can be administered and compared to the initial results. Used in combination with symptom assessment and physical examination, the ImPACT test can help us to determine when it is safe for your child to return to playing their sport. Testing is recommended for any child aged 10 or older who participates in a moderate to high risk sport such as football, lacrosse, soccer, basketball, hockey or gymnastics. It should be repeated every one to two years depending on age. For more information please take a look at the  ImPACT test website.

ImPACT testing is still in the early stages in our office and currently there are very limited slots available for baseline testing. At this time, insurance does not cover this test and there is a $50 fee for the test to be administered and interpreted. While we don't like to collect money, we now are not having to refer elswhere (where the fees were the same).  We encourage you to call the office to put your name on our baseline ImPACT testing waiting list and to watch your email for more information and future announcements!

The holidays are a time for family and friends to get together. Many of our seasonal

festivities revolve around food and that's why we often refer to these next few months as the "high calorie" and "low activity" months. During this time of year (Nov.-February), kids are at high risk of gaining weight. If you wish to find a real solution to healthy eating during the holiday season it is a good idea to make a plan to help you change your usual holiday behaviors.

It's important to make a plan of action for healthy eating before you go to your celebration. Ask yourself what can you control and how might you react in different situations. It is so much easier to stick with healthy eating when you are faced with a difficult social eating situation if you've already planned ahead for it.

Here are other ways of staying healthy and "on-track" during the holiday season:

• Preparation: If you are going to a big party or dinner, don't starve yourself all day in anticipation. You're in danger of arriving there feeling ravenous and eating everything in sight. Instead, have some low-fat, .healthy snacks throughout the day. By doing this, you'll be less likely to over-indulge while you are out. Also, be sure to drink lots of water. 
• Get exercise: Try to get 5 hours organized activity a week.
• Get enough sleep
• Balance your meals out: Don't be tempted to fill up your plate with purely rich, calorie-laden food. Instead, have a little of everything including fruit and vegetables. This way, you'll still get to indulge as well as receive valuable nutrients and vitamins.
• Be assertive: Don't feel as though you have to say yes to everyone that offers you food and drink. If you are not hungry, then simply say so Do not let yourself be bullied into eating something that you really don't want. When you feel full, stop eating. Simple.

A great website to visit is: http://www.foundationsnutrition.com/

 
Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics

Proactive in Your Child's Care