Strollerderby : treatment

Anorexia May Be Caused by Brain Chemistry

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 22:00:00 GMT

A study of 200 people—mostly females aged twelve to twenty-five—has radically changed the way doctors think about anorexia. While previous research on the disease has stressed cultural and familial causes of the disease, researchers have now determined that anorexia may be closely related to brain chemistry:

“They found that about 70% of the patients had suffered damage to their neurotransmitters, which help brain cells communicate with each other, had undergone subtle changes in the structure of their brains, or both.”

This finding helps to clarify a long confusion about the risk factors involved in developing anorexia, since all women are exposed to pop culture’s thin obsession, but only about four women in every thousand develop anorexia.

Researchers hope that it may be possible to treat the disease with drugs that work like antidepressants by altering brain chemistry—and to offer parents some peace of mind that their children’s eating disorders are not their fault. According to Susan Ringwood, who runs a leading charity for people suffering from eating disorders, “Parents always blame themselves when their child develops an eating disorder. But what we are learning more and more from research in this area is that some people are very vulnerable to anorexia and that is down to genetic factors and brain chemistry, and not them trying to look like celebrity models or suffering a major traumatic event early in their lives.”

Jezebel writer Hortense is certainly not the only anorexia sufferer who welcomes the news that anorexia can affect anyone, and does not necessarily say anything about one’s childhood or obsession with appearance.

Nevertheless, just as people who are prone to depression are more likely to actually become depressed when certain stress factors are present in their lives, parents and society still have a responsibility to encourage all children to have positive relationships with their bodies—a responsibility that society clearly continues to shirk.

Eventually, it may be possible to test children as young as eight to determine whether they have the anorexia-prone brain abnormality. Would you get your kids screened?

Photo: Jezebel

A Cure for Peanut Allergies?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 18:29:00 GMT

Researchers are cautiously optimistic that they may have found a way for children with nut allergies to reintroduce the popular legume into their regular diets. Two new American studies, which mirror earlier British findings, offer hope that kids who are born with allergies to peanuts need not be denied the tasty goodness of a PB&J sandwich for their whole lives.

In one study of 33 children, participants were given gradually increasing daily doses of nuts, beginning with just one-thousandth of a peanut and eventually increasing to 15 nuts. The majority of the kids have had no allergic reactions to the treatment, with five children being able to consume nuts at their leisure. However, four kids had to drop out of the study due to allergic reactions.

Another study of 18 children used a placebo to test the effectiveness of this treatment. All of the children who had been given a placebo over the course of 10 months developed allergic reactions to a real dose of nuts, while all of the kids who had been given the actual therapy were able to eat 15 peanuts without incident.

Clearly, these are small numbers of children in only two studies, so researchers plan to test out the treatment on a much grander scale before making any official assessments. In other words, do not try this at home.

Photo: New York Times

Mom Accused of Feeding Meth-Tainted Breastmilk to Daughter

Cole Gamble — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:00:00 GMT

According to her family and friends, Michelle Megan Hastings deserves credit because she hasn’t used meth for several months. Except, of course, that one day when she breast fed her child.

Hastings was arrested and charged with criminal mistreatment after police say her daughter tested positive for methamphetamine. She faces 17 months in jail if convicted.

“She has been doing wonderful," said neighbor Lisa Lyche. "For months and months she has been going to treatment programs daily, like several times and different treatment programs every day."

Unfortunately, that effort wasn’t enough to protect Hastings’s daughter.

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Elizabeth Hasselbeck Thinks Everything (Including Aerial Wolf Killing) is About Abortions (PLUS VIDEO)

Should Cookie Magazine Get Killed?

10 (Dumb) Ways to Get Pregnant

6 Reasons My Toddler is a Total Buttwipe

New Zealand Girl Treated Successfully With Cord Blood

Brett Singer — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:30:00 GMT

While I've considered the medicial possibilities of umbilical cord blood, I never thought much about it. We banked our kids' cord blood and of course hope that we'll never have to use it.

This story about a little girl from New Zealand illustrates a possible treatment. It sounds like cord blood may have given her a chance at life.

Maia Friedlander is 4 years old. Her twin sister Ariel, "hit all her developmental milestones about six months early." But Maia "did not learn to crawl till she was three." Maia "struggled to talk, walk properly or even chew her food without choking," and was in therapy for six hours each day.

But after a "two-hour infusion of her own cord blood", Maia is now in kindergarten and appears to be on the mend. Her parents say, "she's like a different child" after the treatment, which took place at Duke University in North Carolina.

Obviously, as parents, we hope that we never have to use a procedure such as this. But it's encouraging to hear about successful treatments like this one. As far as I'm concerned, anything that helps a little girl to have a better life is a good thing.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

Babysitter Made Pornographic Film With 2 Year Old

Should Autistic Children Be Separated From Other Kids?

Brain Wave Study Sheds Light On Autism

Denis Leary Puts Autism Comments In Context

Autistic Girl Kicked Out Of Girl Scouts

Conjoined Twin Surgery: One Lives, One Dies

Rare Condition Makes Boy Look Like Werewolf

Brain Wave Study Sheds Light On Autism

Brett Singer — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:30:00 GMT

Interesting news item from The Discovery Channel (via AP) -- "unique brain wave patterns" have been found in children with autism.

Using an imaging helmet that resembles a big salon hair dryer, researchers discovered what they believe are "signatures of autism" that show a delay in processing individual sounds.
That delay is only a fraction of a second...[but] Imagine if it took a tiny bit longer than normal to understand each syllable. By the end of a whole sentence, you'd be pretty confused.

I find this fascinating. More importantly (yes, I acknowledge that there are things in this world more important than what I personally find intriguing), these findings could help parents of autistic immensely. Doctors could potentially discover and diagnose the disorder "in children as young as age 1", according to the article. That would enable parents to begin a treatment program much earlier than usual.

It's all very sci-fi looking – check out the photo. The article says that the device looks like a "salon hair dryer", but I think it looks more like something out of the X-Men. Anyway, I love trumpeting technological advances that are used to help parents and children. It's a reminder that tech isn't all about video games and cellphones that make pancakes. (Apologies to the late George Carlin, from whom I borrowed that line about pancakes. Mmmm... pancakes...)

I'd be curious to hear from anyone with more knowledge of autism than I (doctors, parents) if this treatment sounds promising, and/or if this is something that you have heard about, and whether or not you feel it will be helpful. It certainly sounds to me like it could.

Source: AP via Discovery.com

Autistic Girl Kicked Out Of Girl Scouts

Conjoined Twin Surgery: One Lives, One Dies

High School Student in Hospital After Scavenger Hunt

Rare Condition Makes Boy Look Like Werewolf

Post-Election, Women Hate Sexism Almost as Much as Feminism

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:34:00 GMT

A recent survey on post-election attitudes to sexism reveals that a majority of Americans live in La La Land. For starters: While most men don’t believe there is gender bias in the media or at home, almost half (4 in 10) “freely admit to having sexist attitudes towards a female president.”

Espousing similarly mind-boggling contradictions, the vast majority of women believe that Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton were treated unfairly by the media—but would be mortified to call themselves “feminists.” Only 20 percent of women identify as feminist, and even fewer (17 percent) would be supportive of their daughters’ using the label.

Merriam Webster defines feminism as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In other words, most women are embarrassed to label themselves as people who believe in gender equality, but are outraged over the media’s coverage of Palin’s hair. Only 48 percent of women believe that the media treated Clinton fairly, and far fewer female respondents (29 percent) believe that Palin got fair treatment. (Perhaps Palin seemed to get harsher gender-based media coverage because Clinton wasn’t, say, buying $150,000 worth of clothes on the GOP’s dime?)

Sure, some high-profile activists may have given the term “feminist” a more extremist connotation than many women would like it to have, but that doesn’t necessitate rejecting the whole theory. I don’t agree with many of PETA’s over-the-top tactics, but that doesn’t mean I stop calling myself a vegetarian.

Ready for more oblivious sexism? 39 percent of men feel that the role of president is more “naturally suited” to a man than to a woman. I guess that explains why so many more men than women (two-thirds to less than half) believe there is gender equality in the home—the wife just does all the housework because she is more “naturally suited” to it.

On the upside, the poll was relatively small, with 1,000 respondents.

Photo: Jezebel

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Bipolar Disorder: A Family Secret

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 20:55:00 GMT

What would you do if your 10-year-old daughter said to you, “I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want to be me. I don’t want to feel anymore. Why aren’t you doing anything about this?” Or if your normally loving son threatened to slit you open with a knife? Naturally, you would want to do anything in your power to make your children better, but what if that meant giving your six-year-old lithium? Or sending your 10-year-old away to a therapeutic residential school?

In deference to the many parents who face these challenges day after day, I highly recommend Jennifer Egan’s piece on bipolar disorder in children. She traces several families’ struggles to cope with children who rage against the world from the time that they can talk, and offers a comprehensive portrait of the uncertainties surrounding bipolar diagnoses in kids.

Until relatively recently, it was believed that bipolar disorder only affected adults. Now nearly all leading child psychiatry experts agree that children can suffer from the disease—but they mostly all disagree about how to diagnose childhood bipolar disorder. Most experts believe that it is over-diagnosed, in part because managed care usually only pays for one brief psychiatric evaluation a year and because of the highly questionable yet widely popular book The Bipolar Child.

Diagnosing mental health problems in children is further complicated by the fact that many of the symptoms of bipolar disorder overlap with the symptoms of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). And mania is not as clear-cut in children as in it adults--it's often normal for children to act grandiose or have terrible temper tantrums.

James, one of the kids Egan writes about, was diagnosed with ADHD, OHD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), and bipolar disorder by the time he was eight. With so much uncertainty about the disease, even parents whose children have seemingly clear-cut episodes of mania—stealing strangers’ cell phones or wearing outlandish clothing—followed by clear episodes of depression remain uncertain about their children’s treatment.

Once a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he and she is prescribed strong medication with harsh side effects. Making the decision to give such drugs to kids is a huge weight of responsibility on a parent’s shoulder—and this decision requires trusting a doctor whose personal biases will inevitably influence her diagnosis and prescribed treatment.

At the very least, I hope that Egan's article will bring greater awareness to this issue. As one of the mothers interviewed said of her son's horrible temper tantrums, "It's like a dirty little secret. It's like having a husband who beats you, only it's a kid. It's your own."

Image: New York Times

How Much Would You Pay to Clear Up Your Teen’s Skin?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:00:00 GMT

A dermatologists' study seeks to put a price on age-old teenage angst. 266 teens and their parents were asked how much they would pay to get rid of zits. On average, teens would pay $275 to have never had acne, $100 to be acne-free, and $10 to have 50 percent of their acne cleared up. They wouldn’t pay anything to have completely clear skin with scars. Parents responses were almost equivalent to those of their children, except that they would be willing to pay $100 for 50 percent clearance.

Is it disturbing that dermatologists are figuring out how much teens would be willing to pay for acne treatments before developing these treatments? Yes, although it does make some sense. For instance, this data suggests that there is no reason to work on developing a treatment for acne that leads to scarring.

I wonder how much teens would pay to have acne be considered a normal part of adolescence, not a cause for horror and depression. No point in putting a price on the impossible, I suppose.

How much would you pay to treat your children’s acne?

Photo: Kaboose

Lots of People Are Abused As Kids--So Why Do Only Some Develop Depression?

Kelly Mills — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:02:00 GMT

Sadly, having a hard-knock life and being abused as a kid is not entirely uncommon. But only some people develop serious depression out of this, while others seem reasonably unscathed. How come? Researchers looked at genetic variations to see how regulation of the stress response could make a difference. If your nurture fails, can nature help you out?

Some adults had a genetic variation that seemed to protect them from developing moderate to severe depression, and it all comes back to stress hormones. Abuse can trigger a sort of tsunami of certain hormones, which makes folks more likely to be truly blue as grownups. However, some people had a variation that protected against the hormone rush, and that appeared to be a saving grace when it came to depression. Ideally this research will lead to individualized treatments for folks, but for now, there's always the hope that where family fails, genes will take over.

Mix Your Own Cancer Cocktails, Save Your Child's Life

Madeline Holler — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:39:00 GMT

Of course I don’t want to be too melodramatic here. But, I’m not alone, right? You’d do absolutely anything – whatever it takes – to save your child’s life.

A father in San Diego, whose seven-year-old son, Sam, has been fighting a rare and deadly form of nerve cancer, was understandably devastated when the last available standard treatments didn’t help the boy and doctors told them there was nothing else they could do.

The father, who has a degree in chemical engineering, decided there was something he could do – or at least would try. So he turned his son into a lab rat.

Sam’s father read about the boy’s cancer, learned how cancer patients have been treating themselves with their own cancer cocktails – and surviving. Using the Internet, he researched their treatments, compared cancers, etc., and order medications that showed some promise for his son. He contacted the studies’ authors, read the small print and references, and ordered what he need online when he couldn’t get a prescription from a doctor or pick up what he needed in nearby Tijuana. And he’s mixed up his kid’s cancer cocktails – always, always taking the experimental meds himself first to test for side effects. He gets recommendations for doses but often winds up just guessing. It’s risky, but, again, what else can he do?

Researchers have long known the trick to treating cancers is with a variety of targeted therapies. But drug and drug cocktail trials are slow. And when your kid has cancer, there isn’t time to wait.

"Everyone knows the future of cancer treatment lies in cancer cocktails," says David Kessler, dean of the school of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Kessler says the Food and Drug Administration needs to undertake an effort similar to one it did when he was commissioner in the 1990s, when it amended the drug-approval process to speed approval of AIDS-drug combinations. "What's missing today is leadership."

The story features others who have successfully treated their cancers. On publication, Sam’s lesions have faded and no new ones have appeared.
Are they just lucky? Would you do it? Would you trust yourself to get it right? Now that you know this is out there, could you imagine not even trying?

Fevers Offer Break From Autism

Kelly Mills — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:33:00 GMT

This is one fascinating study: Researchers have found that fevers temporarily restore some nerve cell communication in the brains of autistic kids. The study of 30 kids with fevers of over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit observed improvements in communication and social interactions. In fact, "More than 80 percent of those with fever showed some improvements in behavior during [the fever] and 30 percent had dramatic improvements, the researchers said. The change involved things like longer concentration spans, more talking, improved eye contact and better overall relations with adults and other children."

This phenomenon has been observed anecdotally by parents of autistic kids before. The results only seem to hold true for children, whose brains are more "plastic" than those of adults, but there is hope that this fever factor could help lead to further understanding of autism and possibly help researchers develop future treatments.

Tragic Death of Manhattan Mother Preventable

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:29:00 GMT

New Yorker Carol Gotbaum was a 45-year old mother of three young children on her way to alcohol treatment in Arizona when she died in airport police custody. Her death, apparently a suicide (though it's under investigation) was entirely tragic and completely preventable. A woman suffering from depression and alcoholism simultaneously, whose husband called airport security (too late) to warn them of her precarious state of mind...

Ms. Gotbaum had stopped on her journey to call her children (off to public school for the day) and was arrested by airport police after breaking down in the terminal (she'd reached the end of her rope and cried out at one point: "I'm not a terrorist. Just a pathetic depressed mother.") Judith Warner asks us to consider this woman's plight not in terms of our possible freedom from addiction and disease but in terms of human kindness and understanding: "Have you never ...almost lost it?"

Whether you have or haven't (and I'd make a good bet that most of us have lost it a good time or too, without the help of alcohol, depression, or drugs), the level of ignorance about illness in our culture, makes the suffering of women like Carol Gotbaum so much worse than it needs to be. She didn't have to die.

And all I can think about is her three children (all 7 and under) and husband who've lost their beloved wife and mother --just because some ill-trained security officers didn't know from despair.