Let’s play a game. When I say “organic,” you say the first words that come to mind. Ready…Organic! Okay, let’s check your answers. Did you say something like healthy, nutritious, clean, natural, expensive, and/or safe? These are common words used when we talk about organic versus non-organic foods. But is this always the case? Is all organic food healthier, cleaner, more expensive and safe? Before we fully answer this question (spoiler alert: the short answer is no), let’s breakdown what it means when food is “organic.” What is Organic Food? The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies and labels certain foods as organic if they are produced “using methods that preserve the environment and avoid most synthetic materials, such as pesticides and antibiotics.” Pesticides and antibiotics are used to extend shelf life in the grocery store, reduce plant spoilage and mutation, and prevent illness in livestock. They are GRAS, or […]

When one-year-old Piper’s body began to swell one afternoon, her parents thought she was having an allergic reaction. They had no idea that they were about to embark on a journey of rare illness, complex treatments, and advocacy for children’s health. Piper’s parents, Erin and Chris Lee, took their daughter to her pediatrician, expecting a quick diagnosis and an easy solution. But Piper wasn’t allergic to anything. Instead, they learned her kidneys were failing; Piper would have to be admitted to Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children immediately. There, pediatric nephrologists proposed genetic testing for Piper. That’s because, although it was clear that Piper’s kidney function was declining, the cause of her decline wasn’t so obvious. In order to proceed with the best treatment for Piper, her doctors needed to know just what kind of kidney disease they were dealing with. They needed the help of precision medicine, a newer […]

For many years, Dr. Stephen Dunn, Chair, Department of Surgery and Chief, Division of Solid Organ Transplant at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, has volunteered his time and expertise to assist colleagues in Bolivia with life-saving liver transplantation for their pediatric patients. In early May, Dr. Dunn and fellow Nemours team members traveled to Bolivia as volunteers to continue this important work. On this particular trip, interventional radiologist Dr. Deborah Rabinowitz performed a radiologic procedure for a child who had complications after a liver transplant at Clinica Incor in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It was the first time a pediatric invasive radiology procedure of this type had ever been performed in Bolivia. Dr. Rabinowitz joined the team of physicians for this project specifically to assist this child. In this case, an obstructed bile duct had caused a serious infection that threatened the child’s life. In the past, treatment in Bolivia would have required […]

Better health outcomes for all of us, at a lower cost and with fewer side effects. It’s no secret that each of us is different – we’re born with different genetic backgrounds, grow up in different environments, and lead different lifestyles. But until now, much of the medical care we receive has been delivered in a one-size-fits-all way. Precision medicine, a newer approach for disease treatment and prevention, takes into account all the things that make us different – and uses those factors to create more effective treatments with fewer side effects. In the same way that a doctor might take your child’s medical history (think allergies, blood type, past surgeries or illnesses) into consideration before recommending a course of treatment, precision medicine can guide health care professionals in the same way. But precision medicine is more than a fancy technique. Instead, it’s a movement for understanding, diagnosing, managing and […]

Dr. Tamar Goldberg, a second-year pediatric resident at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, reflects on volunteering with Hands Up for Haiti. In July 2017, Dr. Goldberg will start her subspecialty training in pediatric neurology and neurodevelopmental disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital. Children in orange and plaid school uniforms with hair neatly parted in matching bows shout “blanc, blanc,” and wave at our rickety van as we pass. Palm trees grow at the roadside along with banana trees and rows of cactus bushes displaying that afternoon’s clean laundry. Locals push wheelbarrows full of coconuts or steer their donkeys carrying lumber. Goats and chickens mill around in vast green fields leading up to lush mountains. In February 2017, I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with a team of pediatric residents from Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children to provide medical care for children in partnership with the organization Hands Up […]

Recently, a 16-year-old high school student collapsed at school and was pronounced dead an hour later. His parents were devastated, and the time they should have spent together as a family was now being spent on making funeral arrangements, procuring a Batesville casket, and grieving for the loss of their son. How could this have happened? Spontaneous death is a rare occurrence that few parents will have to worry about. Though sudden death is often caused by the introduction of a food or chemical into the system. During the investigation into the student’s death, no drugs or alcohol were found in his system. However, he was known to have ingested a significant amount of caffeine in the two hours before his death, including soda, coffee and energy drinks. The cause of death was determined to be cardiac arrest due to arrhythmia, caused by excess caffeine ingestion. With arrhythmia, the heart […]