Posted by: drmolly in illness, allergies on
Sep 01, 2010
The last couple of weeks, I saw a big uptick in questions about sneezing, runny noses and coughing. Parents weren't sure if their kids were experiencing allergy symptoms or had a summer cold. Here are some clues to help figure this out:
Fever. If your child has a fever over 100.5 degrees this is most likely an illness. Allergies shouldn't cause fever; illness can.
Sneezing. If sneezing occurs once or twice it could be due to either allergies or a
I get lots of questions about food allergies. Here's one from a reader about a more unusual type:
Q: What about eosinophilic esophagitis (EE), an allergic inflammatory disease often driven by a food allergy or intolerance? How do you recommend testing for this type of food allergy (eliminating every single type of food and/or with tests) and how do you confirm allergy vs. intolerance if there's no other typical external symptoms?
A: What a great
Posted by: drmolly in food allergies, food, allergies on
Sep 01, 2010
If you strongly suspect a food allergy - reaction with hives within three-four hours of ingesting a highly allergenic food and the hives resolve within a few hours after erupting - your doctor has a couple of choices for testing: skin or blood testing. Each has its pros and cons.
First, let's dispel a myth: Food intolerances that cause stomach problems, including chronic stomach aches, diarrhea and the like, are not food allergies and cannot be
Posted by: drmolly in food allergies, food, allergies on
Sep 01, 2010
You're at a family barbecue and your 5-year-old comes over with hives on his face and chest. He got a bug bite on his face an hour or so ago, used a new sunscreen about two hours ago and had a peanut butter cookie about 20 minutes ago. How do you figure out what caused the hives?
This is tricky. Any of the three recent exposures could be to blame, but only peanut allergy would be a serious and potentially life threatening issue when exposed
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 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 allergies on
Aug 31, 2010
I knew spring was really here when I asked my daughter if she'd been crying and found out it was just her itchy, red and puffy allergy eyes I was looking at.
As the trees bud and the grass starts to green up, pollen and mold spores are in the air and for many kids this means itchy eyes. Babies younger than 9 months can't really experience airborne allergies because their immune systems aren't mature enough yet, but older kids, from toddlers on
Posted by: drmolly in starting solid food, picky eater, peanut, overweight, obesity, infant, formula, food, feeding, diet, dairy, allergies on
Jan 17, 2010
I remember when I first offered solid food to each of my three kids. It was exciting! It signaled in many ways that they were growing up. For me, an exclusive breastfeeding mom, it meant my babies had more options than just me for food. My kids are now 13, 11, and 9 and although the need to feed kids hasn't changed of course, some of the guidelines for infant feeding have evolved.
Most babies, whether breast fed or formula fed, are ready to add
Posted by: drmolly in technology, prevention, infant, formula, feeding, diet, complementary or alternative treatment, birth control, attention, allergies on
Jan 17, 2010
I recently got back from a five-day meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which hosted its annual National Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Boy, did I learn a lot! I will have fodder for blogs galore!
I love this meeting. More than 7,000 pediatricians from all over the world attend and there are hundreds of lectures, workshops, plenary talks and meet the expert sessions on topics ranging from genetics to orthopedics to
It's 2 a.m. and your 4-year-old climbs into bed with you, squirming and irritated. He doesn't feel like he has a fever and hasn't had a bad dream and yet he can't seem to stop moving around. Exhausted yourself, you get frustrated with his constant movement and walk him back to his own bed for the night. As you pass by the bathroom with the nightlight on you notice something odd: your child has spots - everywhere! Quickly you turn on the big
