Half of urban teenage girls may acquire at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections (STI) within two years of becoming sexually active.

Ok, some might say. STIs can be treated. The rebuttal to that is: yes and no.

Sure, some STIs can be successfully treated. But, there’s a big “but.”

1. The STI has to be identified.
2. The girl has to be willing to have it treated.
3. The girl has to seek treatment.
4. The girl has to be sure that she completes the treatment properly.
5. The girl has to be sure that it has worked.

Oh, and one more step: She has to prevent getting another infection.

Unfortunately, not all girls know they are infected so they don’t get treated. This can, and often does, lead to health problems down the road. Also, we can’t lose sight of the fact that some STIs are *not* curable – like HIV.

According to the study that was published in the most recent issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 381 teen-age girls who were studied had repeated infections with chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis.

“Depending on the organism, within four to six months after treatment of the previous infection, a quarter of the women were re-infected with the same organism,” said Wanzhu Tu, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute investigator.

Second infections, sometimes the same one but sometimes different ones, occurred frequently (75%) within two years of the first STI. The number reaches 92% getting a second infection within four years of the first STI.

So, parents, what is happening? How can this be stopped? While the seriousness of STIs may not be obvious to the girls when they get them, we do know how serious they are. If almost all the girls who get one STI as a teen are pretty well sure to get at least a second, then there is something wrong and more has to be done to prevent this from happening again – and again – again.

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Image: PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Healthbolt

Poppycock, rubbish, and every other non-offending word from me. This is not necessary – a visit from Santa has no more of a chance of increasing illness than the video link-ups with Santa that the hospital is planning – with immunosuppressed children being the exception. The administrators said that each child will be receiving a personalized video greeting from the man himself.

It’s understandable that we want to keep our children safe. The spread of a virus like H1N1 is scary because of the severity of effects it can have on some children. But so many children look forward to Christmas and Santa that this is the one thing that could make their stay in hospital even bearable. They know, when they see Santa, that all is as well as it can be for them at that time.

Santa knows how to wash his hands. His gloves can be changed frequently. He doesn’t even have to touch the children; he can come into the room and laugh his jolly laugh.

This isn’t a Grinch-like move. As someone pointed out to me a few days ago, the Grinch really did know what the true meaning of Christmas was and it wasn’t the commercial aspect of it. But having Santa not visit the hospital isn’t feeding into the commercial aspect; it’s feeding into a child’s hopes and dream. C’mon CHEO, let your patients dream.

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Image: MorgueFile.com

Source: CBC News

Post from: Healthbolt

The bucket/bath/tub is a clear bucket-shaped container that the website calls “womb-shaped and sized.” Created in the Netherlands, the tub is supposed to be popular, providing the baby with a comfortable transition from the womb to outside.

According to the website:

• Baby feels warm, safe, and relaxed within soft boundaries
• Eases indigestion, gas, and colic while calming baby
• Stimulates cognitive and physical development

What do you think? A good idea or a waste of money?

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Post from: Healthbolt

I know that there are any avid, passionate pageant lovers. I know that probably, for the most part, the parents do want the best for their daughters, but geez, is this really the right way to do it? One mom’s comment really struck me as very questionable. She said that doing pageants gave her daughter a lot of confidence and raised her self-esteem.

Self Esteem and Confidence

Ok, the self-esteem thing is a hot button for me. But more on that later. The confidence thing is what I want to address. Confidence in what? Confidence in being prettier than the other contestants? Confidence at being able to do a supposedly sexy hip thrust at the age of 6? Confidence in that spray tanning, fake teeth and a boat load of makeup will make you a prettier 5 year old than the natural look? what happens when that win doesn’t happen? When the crown doesn’t go onto her head? Sure, it’s a lesson in you can’t always win, but you know what else it teaches in this environment? That you need to be prettier, have a prettier dress, do your hair better, and so on.

I guess I wouldn’t have minded so much if it was natural. The girls doing talent stuff (playing guitar, dancing, whatever) in “normal” garb – the clothes that 6-year-olds wear. But it was the prancing, the batting of eyelids, the kisses to the crowds – that’s what got to me. Oh, and the under 12-month olds? What the heck can a 7-month old do to win a pageant? And at 7 months, I hardly believe that the child is the one who wants it and the one who said, “yeah, let’s DO it!”

Right, the self-esteem thing. Self-esteem is such a buzz word, is such a bugaboo, that no-one wants to tackle it. To raise our children’s self-esteem, we have to tell them they do well even if they don’t. Schools have eliminated competitions for fear of hurting a child’s self esteem. So, how does a beauty pageant help a child’s self-esteem? Maybe it does for the winners who can afford all the extravagant costs associated with winning, but I find it hard to believe that the girls who don’t place, regularly, are building up their self-esteem.

Is this really a way to raise a healthy child? Really?

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Image: StockXchng.com

Post from: Healthbolt

Then check out this interesting idea – a musical diaper that triggers a ‘wetting alarm’. 

Seriously.

In a study recently published in Neurology and Urodynamics, the participants (young healthy children between 18 and 30 months) in a daycare center were observed for the effectiveness of wearing a diaper with an ‘alarm’ system. Some wore the actual diapers with the actual wetting alarm and others wore diapers with a placebo alarm.

The results – those wearing the ‘wetting alarm’ diapers achieved independent bladder control almost 60% of the time as compared to the placebo alarm group that achieved independent bladder control only 8.3% of the time.

Makes sense really. The ‘wetting alarm’ training method offers both the child and the caregiver immediate information of any leakage which allows the caretaker to take the child to the bathroom at that particular moment. This offers the child awareness of bladder behavoir and more quickly helps the child make a connection between feeling the need to urinate and the need to get to the toilet.

Will this make the musical diaper the next big thing on the supermarket shelf?

(source and image)

Post from: Healthbolt

Treadmills and other home gym equipment is great for keeping adults fit but are a definite danger to children.

In fact, the Australian Office of Fair Trading has become so concerned the increase in reports of treadmill injuries to children that they issued a public education campaign in 2008.

Called  Treadmills and Kids Don’t Mix, this campaign highlights the dangers of treadmills for children, especially how a treadmill’s moving belt can cause friction injuries and entrap fingers, hands, hair, and clothing.

The campaign made the following safety tips for treadmill owners and users… 

If you can, use your treadmill in the room away from young children.

If this is not possible:

–use safety barriers (like a playpen) to keep children away from the treadmill

–do not use your treadmill when young children are around

Always keep your treadmill unplugged when not in use.

Store your treadmill well away from children’s reach.Always supervise older children if they are using a treadmill.

When you buy a new treadmill choose one with protective covers and a safety stop switch.

Keeping children away from the treadmill altogether, however, might be the best line of defence.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt

It’s sad, sad world when people have to put signs like this up.

One might be inclined to take the message as a joke except that according to  survey conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council, “four fifths of those questioned believe that their fellow swimmers are guilty of relieving themselves without bothering to get out and find a bathroom. And one in six people polled admitted that they have indeed peed in the pool.”

This isn’t good. Swimming in unclean water can lead to recreational water illnesses (RWIs) such as  diarrhea, respiratory illness, and ear and skin infections. Those most at risk are Children, pregnant women, and  any one with a compromised immune systems.

So if you going to be swimming in pools this summer, aim to find ones that appear well maintained and clean. The water should be clear, clean, and blue. The tiles should feel smooth and clean. There should be no strong odors. And there should be the sounds of pool cleaning equipment humming in the background.

Furthermore, the CDC recommends…

• Avoid swallowing pool water.
• Shower with soap before swimming.
• Wash your hands after using the bathroom or changing diapers before getting in the pool.

And of course, if you are suffering from diarrhea, please don’t go into the pool. (you’d think that one was a given, but apparently not!)

(image from sxc.hu)

Post from: Healthbolt

Well, the researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences or NIEHS aren’t quite sure. But having recently conducted a study on this, they are convinced that there is a connection.

During this study (now  published in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)  they analysed data that had been collected on 4,000 children and young adults between the ages 2 to 19. In particular, they looked at all allergy and asthma related data on these children.

The result – they discovered that obese children and adolescents appeared to be 26 percent more likely to have some kind of allergy, be it asthma, hay fever, food or skin allergies.

What I’d like to know is what comes first – the obesity or the allergy.

So far, the researchers don’t know. As  Dr. Darryl Zeldin, one of the researchers, says ” while the results from this study are interesting, they do not prove that obesity causes allergies. More research is needed to further investigate this potential link,”

(source and image)

Post from: Healthbolt

Post from: Healthbolt

Well, turns out there’s an easier way to get your kids to eat their greens, yellows, and oranges.
Just give them a cool name like ‘X-ray Vision Carrots’, ‘Tomato Bursts’, or ‘dinosaur broccoli trees’ and the vegetables won’t stand a chance. They’ll be goobled up quick.

That’s the finding of a new study by Cornell University researchers. They presented 186 four-year old “X-ray Vision Carrots” and found that these pre-schoolers ate nearly twice as much as they did on the lunch days when they were simply labeled as ‘carrots’.

As researcher Brian Wansick says “Cool names can make for cool foods”. And the best of this is that once the kids started eating the carrots, they continued to eat them even on days when they were no longer labelled ‘X-ray Vision Carrots’.

Such a simple idea with great results. But I think that many mothers already knew this.

But the interesting thing is that doesn’t just work on kids. Adults too have an affinity for cool food names. For example, changing the name of seafood filet to ‘Succulent Italian Seafood Filet’ on a restaurant menu resulted in sales increased by 28% and taste rating increased by 12%.

Maybe it’s all in our mind.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt