Posted by: drmolly in play on
Aug 31, 2009
I remember well the last days before school would let out for the summer. They were filled with final tests, classroom clean up, the last half smushed peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and the thrill of no more homework. The excitement was almost uncontainable. The final bell would ring, we would all cheer and then leave school to start the wide openness of summer.
Summers when I was a kid weren't filled with day camps, tutors or arts
I get a lot of questions about shingles and whether or not exposure to a person with them is problematic. Here are the common questions and answers:
Q: What is shingles?
A: Shingles is a painful, stinging and itchy, red blister-like rash in a specific area that corresponds to a nerve in the body.
Q: What causes it?
A: Once you have been exposed to the chicken pox virus (either though having the illness or getting the vaccine) the virus
Most children and teenagers have a more relaxed schedule in the summer. They stay up a bit later, get up a bit later but in general still get the 9-10 hours of sleep every school aged child and adolescent needs. Admittedly, some teens are staying up routinely until 1 am, but try to get those same kids out of bed by 10 and you are in trouble! How then do you help kids get ready for the very early mornings to come just after Labor Day?
Step
Last week my newly minted high school freshman daughter began marching band camp. This camp is rigorous and starts at 8 in the morning and goes until 4 in the afternoon. The kids carry instruments, march and play, all while holding a precise posture and wearing summer clothes. So I talked to my daughter about the signs of heat exhaustion before the week began. I can't imagine how the football players, all layered in their gear while working out
In the late summer and early fall mosquitoes are abundant and so are those pesky, itchy bug bites. But sometimes the bug bites can cause severe illness, too.
Even in a dry summer like the one we have had, millions of mosquitoes emerge each evening around dusk and each morning near dawn to feast on the animals and people out and about. Mosquitoes are indiscriminate feeders and will bite anything with blood flowing. Sometimes, these bitten
Posted by: drmolly in skin, rash, poison ivy, outdoors, nature on
Aug 28, 2009
With summer hiking, exploring grasslands near the beach or digging in a neighborhood park comes the possibility of running across poison ivy, oak or sumac. These summertime scourges look like unassuming ground cover but can cause up to three weeks of itchy, blistery discomfort.
Michigan is chock full of these unassuming plants that are chock full of urushiol, the oil that when it comes in contact with skin, causes a significant allergic
Posted by: drmolly in nutrition, infant, feeding, diet on
Aug 28, 2009
A patient asks:
Q: How am I supposed to make baby formula from powder? I have seen people scoop the powder and put in a bottle and add water, spoon the powder into the scoop and then put it in the bottle and add water, and still others adding the water first and then the powdered formula. Which is right? Does it even matter?
A: All powdered infant formulas are made of carbohydrates, proteins and fats that have been dehydrated for easy
