Jill taylor

We knew obesity was a growing problem here in the U.S., and we knew that more children were being diagnosed with attention deficits. However, these chronic conditions don't appear to be the only ones on the rise; according to a study published today in JAMA, a number of diseases, including physical ailments such as allergies and other behavioral/learning disorders, are becoming more and prevalent, and in a big way.

HCPLive blogger Jill Taylor revisits the Lancet's retraction of the controversial 1998 autism study, and points to some new research in this field.

Is it just me, or is everyone else out there dying to get their hands on an iPad?

USA Today has published an interesting opinion piece by Kevin Pho, MD, encouraging physicians to embrace social networking tools as a way to interact with patients. For me, the comments on the article were as interesting as the article itself.

HCPLive blogger Jill Taylor takes a look at some of the stories developing in Haiti and how healthcare providers are responding to the earthquake and subsequent aftershock.

Researchers at Georgia State University recently conducted a study focusing on why young people engage in high-risk behaviors even when the behavior is detrimental or dangerous.

Biomedical treatments for autism took another hit recently. A consensus report published in the January issue of Pediatrics takes Andrew Wakefield's ever popular "austistic enterocolitis" syndrome to task by reporting a lack of evidence that children with ASD have a higher incidence of digestive problems or that diet regimens (such as the highly publicized gluten-free and casein-free diet, or GFCF) are effective.

It looks like 2010 is starting off with some changes in healthcare on the horizon – from a number of angles.

A press release by the folks at the British Medical Journal reports research that calls Santa on the carpet as a role model for children by promoting an unhealthy lifestyle, which negatively affects public health.

I watched a student reading her text from a hand-held device not too long ago in class, and wondered how she could read print that it fit such a small screen. Soon I'll find out for myself I've just been informed by a family member that a Nook is coming my way after the holidays.

I overhead two women chatting about symptoms the other day while they were surfing WebMD on their respective iPhones for diagnoses - their discussion was as public and non-chalant as if they were shopping. I mused over this for a minute, unsure if I should be disturbed or not, and then found myself wondering which URLs really are the "go-to" sites for health information. An answer was only a click away via Google search at eBizMBA.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has expanded its online presence. Healthcare IT News is reporting that the FDA is collaborating with EverydayHealth.com to bring news to consumers. A co-branded newsletter will also address children's health topics.

Jeffrey Borenstein wrote an interesting article published this month in IEEE Spectrum musing on our attempts to trump the pill as a drug delivery system. He introduces an implantable drug delivery device designed to hold up to a year's worth of medication, after which the patient could go through minor surgery to refill the reservoir.

This week’s research news regarding how children are faring in our current economic state underlines the urgent need for our government to take remedial action.

I finally broke down and made an appointment to have my daughter vaccinated against H1N1 at our pediatrician’s office. I’d straddled the fence for a while – not because of safety concerns, but because I wasn’t convinced it was necessary. You see, I’ve never had a flu vaccination and my spouse gets one every year. We both typically get the flu during the winter months and, for better or for worse, this only functions to make me more secure in my choice.

In the midst of the news regarding swine flu vaccinations (or not) and healthcare reform (or not), I actually ran across snippets with regard to technology that might be of interest.

As the media continues to ruminate on the tragic results of violence among youth in Chicago’s south side, I think it might be worth looking at violence in our society as a whole. A new study from the University of New Hampshire suggests that we have yet to really appreciate the amount of violence many children are exposed to.

The swine flu seems to be a dominant issue in the news as the vaccine is being distributed around the world and the flu season looms near.

Swine flu vaccination availability; FDA approves BLA for Cervarix; rethinkautism.com delivers customizable ABA-based treatment plans to parents.

Verizon has a new commercial out that shows a couple of kids upset with their parents’ online shenanigans via Facebook and Twitter, and while it is funny to think about, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the situation is not as far from reality – or as benign – as you might think. In the article, several parents are interviewed about their use of online networking sites to keep tabs on their kids.

In the regulatory corner of our world, warnings have been added to leukotriene-modifier drugs (montelukast sodium, zafirlukast, and zileuton) about neuropsychiatric effects, such as behavior and mood changes (including suicidal thinking and behavior).

Georgia Tech has been working on an interactive surgical planner that analyzes MRI scans to simulate potential surgical options in pediatric cardiac patients.

My impression is that the reaction of physicians to electronic decision support has been mixed.

In case you haven’t heard, the FDA has found that TNF blockers are associated with an increased risk of lymphoma and other cancers when used in children and adolescents.

The 2009 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation became available this week, with statistics that reflect data collected up to 2006 and 2007.

If you look at the American Lung Association’s online map of cities with bad air quality due to year-round particulates, it’s easy to see that many of them are industrial areas.

Our childhood—especially the tween and teen years—is famously fraught with social anxiety, filled with whispers, crushes, and high drama as we learn how to navigate through increasingly adult issues.

There's a new website launched that has some serious potential to benefit the general public, called CelebrityDiagnosis.com.

I've never considered using a different pediatrician than the one my daughter has seen since birth. It's not that I always agree with him—I don't—but he treats me as an integral part of her healthcare.