Entries for February 2009

Pediatricians and cardiologist are still arguing over the American Academy of Pediatrics's recommendation last summer that children over age 2 should have a cholesterol test and that children as young as age 8 be given statins to control high cholesterol. The groups also disagree on whether all children should have an electrocardiogram before being given Ritalin to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, with the cardiologists saying yes and the pediatricians saying no. I understand why reasonable doctors can agree on these cutting-edge treatment issues, but those disagreements don't make it easier for parents to decide what's best for their child.

Mental health problems often can be prevented if children get the help they need early on from parents and schools, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine. "This was news to me," says Kenneth Warner, chairman of the group that wrote the report and dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. "There are many options for literally preventing episodes of mental illness and others for substantially reducing the adverse consequences."

With 14 to 20 percent of children suffering a mental illness, that's very good news. The IOM estimates that mental disorders, which include depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and substance abuse, cost the United States about $247 billion annually. "We have consistent scientific evidence that parents, along with the other important people in their children's lives, can use to help shape the positive behaviors of children," says David Shern, president and CEO of Mental Health America, an advocacy group.

Vaccines are not to blame for autism in three children, according to long-awaited rulings from a special federal court this morning. The families had filed claims arguing that the measles-mumps-rubella shot, which contained the mercury-based preservative thimerosal, was responsible for their children's autism and other neurological problems.

The cases have been intensely watched in the hugely contentious battle over whether vaccines cause autism. Both sides hoped that a win in "vaccine court" would end the controversy, which was sparked by a 1998 paper in the British journal Lancet, linking developmental delays with MMR vaccinations. That paper is also controversial; 10 of the 13 authors retracted it in 2004, but the lead author, Andrew Wakefield, has not. A report in last Sunday's Times of London says Wakefield altered clinical findings on 8 of 12 children in the study, a charge Wakefield denies.

The salmonella-in-peanut-butter recall keeps on rolling: More than 1,000 peanut products have been recalled because they might be tainted, and more join the list every day. To keep up, you can now track the giant outbreak on Twitter. Yes, there's now a salmonella-outbreak Twitter feed, which delivers updates from the Food and Drug Administration on recalled products via the superpopular microblogging and social-networking service. There's also a widget (at right) that directs people to a searchable database.

That's a step in the right direction, since until now people had to rely on the FDA getting word out on dangerous products through the media, which is a haphazard method at best. Gabrielle Meunier of South Burlington, Vt., told a congressional committee yesterday that her 7-year-old son, Christopher, was hospitalized in November after becoming ill with salmonella. Meunier didn't find out until hearing a news report in January that the bacteria were in peanut butter crackers the boy ate on November 25. More of the crackers, and potentially the salmonella, were still in her house.

Federal health agencies have been experimenting with new Internet tools, dubbed Web 2.0, that make it easier to deliver information directly to the public. The "Health 2.0" movement got a big boost with the arrival of President Barack Obama, who is pushing federal agencies to use the tools to make the federal government more transparent and participatory.

Hidden in the new children's health insurance plan signed by President Obama is a gift to millions of low-income parents: increased insurance coverage for children with mental-health problems. Before, 60 percent of the states had more limited coverage for mental health. The new law for the State Children's Health Insurance Program not only expands health coverage to 4 million more children beyond the 6 million already covered but also brings mental-health parity to the state programs that provide insurance for children in low-income families, requiring that they get the same access to treatment for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and other serious disorders as they do for physical ailments.

"Mental-health needs are nowhere near being met," says Jay E. Berkelhamer, past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and chief academic officer at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. "At least 20 percent of all visits to pediatricians' offices are related to mental-health problems."

Store loyalty and bonus cards can be a lifesaver, and I'm not talking about the great deals. Costco, Wegmans, and Price Chopper are calling and warning millions of customers who bought peanut products that may be contaminated with the deadly salmonella strain, telling them to destroy the suspect food.

This effort underscores the big problem in what may be the world's largest food recall ever—finding people who may have bought hundreds of potentially dangerous foods, from Keebler cookies to Walgreens candy. The Food and Drug Administration has added dozens more foods to the hundreds on its "potentially deadly" list in just the past two days. No way any mortal human can keep up with that, particularly since the list could include foods made as long ago as Jan. 1, 2007.

The news that watching television increases teenagers' risk of depression isn't reason enough to chuck the TV. Nor is the fact that video games don't raise the risk a reason to spend the weekend playing Halo. Parents who don't want their children to turn into morose screen addicts may be wise to take a look at how their children use media, not just how much.

Scientists have long been puzzled over whether video gaming, watching TV, and Web surfing are healthy or harmful. The question gained urgency after a 2005 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that children average 6.5 to 8.5 hours of media exposure a day. It's as if kids are putting in a full workweek in front of the screen. The problem is, no one knows the risks or benefits of that full-time job.