Posted by: drmolly in sexuality, sex on
Aug 31, 2010
Recently, the Obama administration, through health care reform, has changed the way sex ed will be taught. Based on data from a 2007 study, which showed abstinence-only sex ed programs had no effect on sexual activity and behaviors, a more comprehensive approach to sex ed is in the works.
Abstinence won't be off the agenda, of course, because it is a great method of pregnancy and STD prevention. However, given the fact that just as many girls get
Your 4-year-old tells you she saw some red stuff on the toilet paper when she wiped her bum. Your 4-week-old has blackish-red specks and mucus in her poop. Your 8-year-old wants to know why the water in the toilet looks pink after he pooped. Your 14-year-old says he's having blood in his poop but he feels fine. Your 6-year-old has had a stomach bug and now has some red stuff mixed in with his poop.
No matter how old your child is and even if you
A year or so ago I attended a conference where complementary and alternative treatments were the focus. I learned a lot and have given advice to many families about how to integrate things like butterbur for migraines and guided imagery for needle anxiety reduction, but lately I have been using a technique at home with my kids for anxiety and stress reduction: meditation.
We have a lot of stresses at home at the moment and the kids are not immune
Posted by: drmolly in cough, allergies on
Aug 31, 2010
Everyone suspects allergies are a problem when your child is sneezing a lot with a clear runny nose and itchy eyes, but not all kids with allergies have such clear cut symptoms. Here are some less common presentations of spring allergies:
- Coughing: Coughing alone in an otherwise healthy kid who isn't sick is often a symptom of allergy. The cough is usually moist sounding but can be barky at times and occurs day and night. The cough is most often
Posted by: drmolly in hearing loss, hearing on
Aug 31, 2010
"Huh?", "What?", "Did you say something?" Sound familiar? Just about every kid on the planet says these things every day to their parents, teachers and/or friends. So how is a parent to know when hearing loss is a real possibility?
As parents, we would rather believe our child has something physically wrong like an ear canal full of wax, fluid behind the ear drums or even plain old hearing loss as the reason for the lack of listening to our
Posted by: drmolly in vaccines, hpv on
Aug 31, 2010
Did you know that the FDA recently approved the Gardasil vaccine, which protects girls and women from cervical cancer, for teenage boys? Sounds crazy, but here's why it was a really good idea and why you should be encouraging your sons to get it.
Cervical cancer is caused by the human papilloma virus which has many strains. Some of the strains cause cancer and others cause warts. Boys and men who have sex, even if they use a condom, are at risk
Posted by: drmolly in vitamin d, sunscreen, sunburn on
Aug 31, 2010
We've waited patiently all winter for the first taste of spring and finally we have started to see the green buds of tulips planted last fall and this past week the weather has been warm enough to fire up the grill and take long walks, bike rides and renew our love affair with the outdoors.
In these early spring moments, our excitement to feel the sun on our skin and wear shorts again, however briefly, causes us to forget that the springtime sun
Posted by: drmolly in tics, eye blinking, allergies on
Aug 31, 2010
I have seen a bunch of kids with eye blinking. Their parents brought them in to my office with a variety of concerns including whether allergies, vision problems, sinus infection or tics were at the root of the blinking. The fact is, any of these can be the cause of frequent eye blinking. Here's how to differentiate between the possible causes:
Allergies can cause frequent eye blinking, almost as if the eyelid is trying to scratch the eyes, which
Posted by: drmolly in serious health issues on
Aug 31, 2010
Last week was a weird and difficult one for my family. One day, my 41-year-old brother Tom called me to ask what a heart attack feels like. After having him hightail it to my office we found his blood pressure was sky high, but his EKG was normal. So I sent him to the ER for evaluation.
That Thursday, we thought he would go home the next day, then his tests weren't so good. Then he was supposed to go home Saturday, but when his cardiologist
Posted by: drmolly in periods on
Aug 31, 2010
I am a member of the Real Answers team for U by Kotex and love it! The mission is to educate young women about periods and vaginal health in a way that is real, accessible and fun.
The site has videos to show how to insert a tampon and put a pad on as just a couple of strategies to demystify period care. Other videos show social experiments designed to highlight how unnaturally we handle talking about periods and emphasize how normal it is to
