Around this time of year, there’s coughing practically around every corner. Kids are hacking away at the table next to you in restaurants. Fellow shoppers are barking down the grocery aisles. Most coughs are short-lived and more of a nuisance than anything. Others linger much longer and can be downright exhausting. One type of cough that can be especially concerning for parents is caused by pertussis (also called “whooping cough”). You probably already know that pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection of the airways. It spreads like other upper respiratory infections when an infected person coughs or sneezes. But here are 10 important pertussis tidbits you may not know that just might help you and your loved ones be better protected this season. 1. Whooping cough has been making a dangerous comeback in the past decade. In the United States, pertussis used to kill about 9,000 people each year, […]

Did you know that every three seconds, someone in the United States needs a blood donation? Even though nine out of 10 people will need blood products in their lifetime, less than 10 percent of the eligible population opts to donate blood. The thing is, regular blood donations by healthy people ensure that safe blood will be available whenever and wherever it’s needed — for children and adults alike. And there’s a constant need for blood supply because blood can only be stored for a limited time before use. How Does It Help? A decision to donate your blood can save a life — or even several lives — if blood is separated into its components (red blood cells, platelets, and plasma), which can be used individually for patients with specific conditions. Red Blood Cells Red blood cells, made in bone marrow, contain hemoglobin and carry oxygen to the body. So who […]

A recent survey by Nemours Children’s Health System, the Delaware Survey of Children’s Health (DSCH), showed that 36 percent of children in Delaware are overweight or obese. From the survey, we also learned that there’s a gap between how parents perceive their children’s weight and the reality of their actual weight. According to the DSCH findings, 80 percent of all overweight children and 53 percent of all obese children are considered by their parents to be “normal weight.” A key first step in helping children achieve and maintain a healthy weight is to understand exactly what that means and why it’s so important to their overall health. How Do I Know if My Child’s at a Healthy Weight? Calculate your child’s body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of your weight compared to your height. Calculating BMI on your own can be complicated, so the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created an easy […]

This fall, young athletes will line up on soccer fields with new cleats, uniforms, teammates, and coaches. But for many, fall isn’t the beginning of a season — it’s merely the continuation of playing youth soccer year-round. The sports epidemic of specializing in one sport too early (under the age of 12), has been widely publicized. However, these days it’s more than likely that you and your young athlete spent most of your summer at travel soccer tournaments, team camps, and soccer preseason. I know, I’ve been there with you. I’m a mother of four boys and a travel youth soccer coach for my 10-year-old. And I very often grapple with my reality of raising a soccer family and my professional responsibility as a pediatric sports medicine physical therapist. When I integrate my current daily life with my former life, as a collegiate soccer player, I totally understand the perspective of the […]

For over 100 years, allergists have used a method called “immunotherapy” to safely and successfully treat environmental allergies. Unlike medications, which only treat the symptoms of allergic reactions, immunotherapy actually teaches the immune system to become more tolerant of allergens. For allergic nasal and eye symptoms, asthma, and atopic dermatitis (eczema), immunotherapy is very helpful in the form of allergy shots. An oral form of immunotherapy (“oral immunotherapy,” or “OIT”) is available for certain types of allergies, and has been shown to be effective as well. How Does Oral Immunotherapy Work? The goal of oral immunotherapy is to make the immune system less reactive to a food allergen by eating small, gradually increasing amounts of the food over time. Researchers have been working for decades on a way to apply immunotherapy to the treatment of food allergies, with mixed results. However, a recent study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical […]

As the seasons change, we all look forward to an exciting change of pace. With fall comes the bombarding of pumpkin spice, red and yellow hues, and, of course, — football. Remember when we could associate all seasons with specific sports? Fall — football and soccer. Winter — basketball and swimming. Spring — baseball and lacrosse. But more and more athletes are pursuing the opportunities that year-round sports specialization training provides. Long gone are the days of children playing a favorite sport for only a couple months a year. As parents invest more time and money into sports, the pressure to maximize their children’s opportunities for success is higher than ever. This often means dropping secondary sports at a younger age so that children can focus more on the sports at which they excel.  Parents and children may feel they’re expected to dedicate nine to 12 months out of the year […]