Living Near Highway = Increased Autism Risk?

An article in Time Magazine reports on a study indicating that the closer a child lives near a major highway, the higher their chance of being diagnosed with Autism. What are the confounding variables in this study? What other factors are discussed as contributing to Autism? How might this research impact Autism treatment for the future?

Early Alzheimer's Detection

NY Times article entitled "Early Alzheimer's Detection: Should Patients Be Told?" As diagnostic tests for Alzheimer's identify the disease earlier and earlier, this article discusses a moral dilemma of telling patients about a diagnosis that has no cure. Should patients be told only that they have increased risk factors? What could the medical field do to prepare these patients for their diagnosis and future?

Paying for Eating Disorders Treatment

NY Times article entitled "Treating Eating Disorders and Paying For it." This article discusses the managed care system and how difficult it is to receive reimbursement for the treatment of eating disorders due to the length and complexity of treatment. Yet children at younger and younger ages are developing eating disorders (see this article via CNN.com about a 10 year-old boy who developed anorexia). How could this issue be resolved? What efforts at prevention might be useful in reducing the rates of eating disorders? What treatments do seem efficacious at managing eating disordered behaviors?

Short-Term Poverty and Kids

CNN Health article entitled "Even Short-Term Poverty Can Hurt Kids' Health." Researchers looked at health, housing, food security and maltreatment and found that even brief exposure to malnutrition or lack of housing can contribute to poor health. The researchers also did find that more children are now covered by health insurance. How can we reduce the number of children who do not have access to appropriate housing or food? As nurses, educators or psychologists, what can we do to directly impact children's healthcare?

Family History IS Important!

AP News article entitled "Family Health History a Powerful, Underutilized Tool." The article discusses a new study that finds that taking a detailed family health history is almost as powerful a prediction tool for certain diseases as taking bloodwork or other medical tests. Why do you think physicians have moved away from using detailed family health histories? How could this be re-incorporated into our healthcare system? To create a Family Health History, go to the "My Family Health History" website.

New Moms' Brains Grow

From US News, New Moms' Brains May Grow After Childbirth. Neurologists have discovered that after childbirth, new mother's brains literally grow! The growth mostly occurs in areas of maternal motivation, rewards and emotional processing. How could this research be used to encourage new mothers and help them understand the changes in themselves after birth? Could this research be used in other ways? What are the flaws in this type of research study?

Paradox of Meds

NY Times article reports on two types of medications that contribute to health problems in addition to helping the problems they are supposed to treat. How does our healthcare system contribute to the challenge of medications harming patients while helping them? What kinds of changes in our medication approval system should there be to accommodate for this? Should it be ok that some medications have harmful side effects?

Babbling and Development

NY Times article about the importance of babbling to language development. How would a parent know if their child is babbling "appropriately"? What kinds of interactions could a parent have with a baby to encourage babbling and language development?

Doctors and Suicide

NY Times article entitled "Medical Student Distress and the Risk of Doctor Suicide." The article discusses how physicians have a much higher rate of suicide than the general population -- "40 percent higher for male doctors and a staggering 130 percent higher for female doctors." The article discusses why this might be, what do you think are some of the triggers? What could the medical community do to prevent these kinds of tragedies?

America VS. The Vegetable

NY Times article reporting on the number of vegetables that Americans eat daily. Despite more press and a recent push from First Lady Michelle Obama, Americans are eating fewer vegetables than a decade ago (and no, french fries do not count as a vegetable, despite your textbook stating that it is!). Why do you think people have a difficult time consuming an adequate number of vegetables? What would be the best way to increase vegetable consumption in the U.S.?

IVF Babies Score Well on Academic Tests

Chicago Tribune article entitled "In Vitro: Children Conceived by IVF Score Well, Often Better, than Peers." The researchers looked at academic scores by children conceived by IVF versus traditional methods, and found that those children often scored higher. They controlled for age, gender, SES and environmental factors. However, what other factors might influence the outcome of this study? How might the outcome of this study impact reproductive medicine and the attitudes of future parents who are considering IVF?

The New Addiction: Pills at Home

NY Times article entitled "A wave of addiction and crime, with the medicine cabinet to blame." Common prescription medications used for pain management, anxiety or other medical problems are being stolen and sold on the streets of the U.S. Police departments are trying to curb the problem by asking people to bring in old medication for disposal, and to lock up medication so that it cannot be stolen. What are other solutions to the problem? How can addition to prescription medications be curbed, while at the same time, providing these medications to people who truly need them?

State of Our Schools

This NY Times article is a review of the new documentary "Waiting for Superman." The public school system in the United States is falling behind other countries in all areas of academic success, and "No Child Left Behind" seems to not be an effective program for all children or schools. What are your ideas about what might be effective ways to get students to learn, or teachers to be more effective? How can the school system in the US get back on track?

Veteran Suicide

NY Times article entitled "Taking Calls from Veterans on the Brink." How effective do you think hotlines at preventing suicide? What are other ways suicide can be prevented in veterans? How might volunteers at suicide-prevention hotlines be trained to help them deal with the stress of hearing the veterans' stories?

Monitoring Elderly Parents

From the NY Times, "Technologies Help Adult Children Monitor Aging Parents." What do you think of these new technologies? Is it a positive thing to monitor elderly parents so closely, or an invasion of their privacy? Would you want something like this for your parent? Would you want your own children to have this much insight into your life?

US Newborns Weigh Less

Chicago Tribune story entitled "U.S. Newborns are Weighing Less." Despite the growing obesity problem in the US (which is linked to larger babies), the average newborn in the US weighs 2.8 ounces less now than he/she did a decade ago. Why do you think this might be, given the information in the article? What other factors might be influencing newborn weight? What could be done to change this outcome?

Too Much Sitting Shortens Life

NY Times article entitled "Too Much Sitting Shortens Lives, Study Suggests." Recent research suggests the more hours an individual sits, the shorter their lifespan will be. What do you think? Is sitting in front of the TV dangerous to your health? Would exercising when you are not sitting combat this effect?

Food During Labor?

NY Times Article entitled "Ban on Food and Fluids in Labor." The article discusses the long-standing ban on letting laboring women have food or drink, and the recent research indicating that it typically is not an issue. Would you want food or water during your labor? Is the possible risk worth it? What would you recommend to a laboring patient?

Training the Aging Brain

From the NY Times, "How to Train the Aging Brain." This opinion article discusses recent research on how to keep the aging brain sharp and functioning at maximum capacity. How well do you think "brain training" programs work? Could this help prevent dementia for older adults? How early should braining training begin?

Personal Update

For my students who were following my pregnancy, little Emma Marie came into the world on 12/21 at 3:01pm. She will now be teaching me the real-life pieces of development that research can't really explain! I'm sure she will be used as great examples to demonstrate the things I teach in the future also.