Back to school means colds, pain and stress... or does it?

Most parents know that when it's back-to-school time, they start seeing more colds and viruses coming home from school. Other parents see their children developing back pain (heavy backpacks may be the culprit), headaches, stress, and other ailments that they didn't see throughout the summer holidays. Much of this is preventable, with a bit of time and know how.

1- Colds and viruses: Wash your hands, wash your hands, and wash your hands some more. It's not easy to ensure your children wash their hands at school, but you can be sure they do so as they walk in the door. Make it part of the routine: come home, dump the school bag and wash your hands.

Another tip that I used at home when my children were small is we all had our own toothpaste. It was amazing how much that one new rule decreased the number of illnesses that were shared. Most of us don't share toothbrushes, right? But if one child has a cold, uses that brush on the family toothpaste, the virus is easily spread. So, every child gets their own toothpaste. This may also solve the problem that some families have: not all children agreeing on the type or flavor of toothpaste.

2- Headaches: if your child is coming home with headaches, there are a few things you can do to see if you can track down the culprit:

• Is your child eating breakfast and lunch?
• Is your child getting enough to drink and not getting dehydrated?
• Is the bus ride home long and noisy?
• Are your child's eyes ok or might he or she need glasses?

Of course, these are only a few reasons why children may get headaches, but they are common reasons. If  you can find the cause, you're one step closer to finding the solution.

3- Back pain: if your child has a heavy backpack and doesn't wear it properly, this could lead to back pain. If you're child isn't the only one with a heavy load to carry, it may be worth speaking to the school about strategies to literally lighten the loads.

4- Stress: Stress is a tough one to pin down. Some kids rarely experience it, others are stressed all the time. The important thing is to be sure that you acknowledge that your child may be stressed. It used to be that parents and teachers denied that this was even a possibility, but stress is real, no matter how old you are. If you think your child may be stressed, it may take quite a while to figure it out - sometimes they aren't entirely sure of it themselves.

To lower stress levels in the family overall, here are some tips:

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• Develop a routine for before and after school. While it may be tough to begin one, routines do help children feel secure if they are feeling out of sorts.
• Ensure the children get enough sleep. 
• Ensure good eating habits. Proper meals, sitting down and taking the time to eat them is not only a healthy thing to do, it's a good time to interact with one another.
• Allow for non-scheduled activities. Allow your kids to be kids and enjoy having nothing to do. While it may seem counter-productive in this "must hurry, must be busy" society, there's a lot to be said about day dreaming and just doing nothing once in a while.

WebQuit, a free, online smoking-cessation study

Are you trying to quit smoking and interested in participating in an online smoking-cessation study? If so, you're in luck. Until August 31, 2011  you can see if you are eligible to enroll in WebQuit, a free, online smoking-cessation study being conducted by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.


The study began in June 2010 and was designed to look at to improve effectiveness of online smoking-cessation programs. Many people who would like some help to quit smoking but don't want to or can't attend personal group meetings or help groups may choose to use an online program. However, they aren't always effective and can stand some improving, study directors say.

 Considering their easy availability and accessibility (24 hours a day), it may be surprising to learn that online smoking cessation programs aren't very successful overall.




According to a recent press release:

Study participants will learn new tools for dealing more effectively with urges to smoke. They also will receive step-by-step quit guides and create personalized plans for staying smoke-free.
Participants will be randomly assigned by computer (like the tossing of a coin) to one of two online smoking-cessation programs. The success rates of participants will then be compared. 

To participate, you will have to complete online questionnaires, including one 15-minute follow-up survey. Eligible participants must be at least 18 and not currently participating in other smoking-cessation programs, among other requirements.The study is funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute.

To enroll in the WebQuit study or for more information, please visit www.webquit.org

Good luck!

Medical Comic Strip, Hits Close to Home!

Despite the stress and drama of working in health care, nurses and doctors (and other healthcare professionals) can often find something to laugh about. You'll notice that when a group get together and start trading war stories about things that happened during a particularly trying shift.

While some "outsiders" may think it's cruel that we laugh at these things, people need a way to cool off, to laugh at some things, or else the stress just gets to be too much. For instance, not too long ago, I was working in an office setting (not a medical office) where we had doctors come for occasional clinics. I answered the phone and someone said "I'd like to make an appointment with the doctor please." I responded by telling him that there would be no doctor available that whole week and that we were not yet sure if one would be coming in next week. His response? "Ok, I'd like to make an appointment with the doctor for tomorrow then." Um, no... you can't... there is no doctor here this week. "Oh, ok," he said. "I'll make an appointment for next week then."

Did he even listen to what I said at the beginning of the conversation?

This, of course, is just a small snippet of the types of conversations we can have, but when you get a day when most of your conversations like that, you either pull out your hair or you laugh. Luckily, most of us choose to laugh, or there would be an awful lot of bald people in health care.

All this is a run up to a neat comic strip I came across today. So far it is only in French, but there are plans to have it translated in the (near?) future. Even if you don't understand French, some of the comedy is universal, regardless of the language.

The comic strip creators are an ER doctor and nurse who are working together on this project. They are from the Quebec City region and they are drawing on experiences and stories from others. They even invite ideas. So, have a look. I believe that most people will be able to understand. But, I am very eager for them to get this translated because, as much as I enjoy their comics, I'd love for so many more people to as well.

You will find the STAT comic strip at statcomics.com and the weekly strip on the BD de la semaine.

Gastric Surgery – A miracle cure for obestity or false hope?

There’s been quite a bit in the news lately about gastric bypass surgery and lap banding. It’s now being introduced for morbidly obese children who have no hope of losing weight in the “traditional” ways, but some people are questioning if this is really the way to go.

First, what exactly is gastric bypass surgery?

Gastric bypass surgery is surgery that is done to restrict your stomach from being able to receive more than a small amount of food. The idea is that if your stomach cannot take the food, you will not take in as many calories, thus losing weight and then maintaining a healthier weight in the future. If part of the intestine is bypassed, then not as many calories are absorbed from the food you do eat.

 One type of surgery, the roux-en-y, makes the stomach smaller when the surgeon uses surgical staples to make a pouch in the stomach that will receive the food. This smaller “stomach” is then connected to the intestines. Gastric banding involves having a band placed around the upper part of your stomach. This creates a small pouch to hold food. Because your stomach is made smaller, you are limited as to how much food you can consume in one sitting. The advantage that banding has over bypass surgery is the band can be adjusted to regulate how quickly or slowly the food passes through. This is done through a port that is under the skin. The doctor uses a needle to infect or remove water that fills the band.

Why do the surgery?

Gastric surgery for weight loss is supposed to be the last ditch attempt for people who are obese, not merely overweight. Many of those who undergo weight loss surgery have tried every diet or weight loss program they could, with little or no success. The surgery gives them a feeling that they can get control of this, lose weight, and keep it off.

Why not just lose the weight?

 It does seem fairly simple, right? Don’t eat as much, do a bit of exercise, and lose the weight. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work for everyone for a variety of reasons. Many people who are overweight do manage to lose some weight while dieting, but many also gain it right back because they haven’t addressed the problems that caused the weight gain to begin with.

 Complications

Gastric surgery for weight loss is surgery and comes with all the risks of surgery. While surgery is a risk for all people, it is even more so for people who are overweight or obese. Some common complications with surgery of any type are:

• Blood loss
• Blood clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis)
• Infection at the surgery site
• Pneumonia

 
Complications specific to gastric bypass surgery include:

• Narrowing of the opening between the smaller stomach and the intestine
• Ulcers
• Iron and vitamin deficiences
• Loosening of the staples
• Stomach pouch may stretch after time.
• Injury to stomach during surgery
• Nausea and vomiting

Complications for gastric banding are:

• Band may cause irritation to the stomach or slip out of place
• Irritation and inflammation of the stomach lining, ulcers
• Reduced absorption of nutrients
• Nausea and vomiting
• Port may become infected

The success of surgery?

 Is the surgery successful? For some people, it is very successful. They learn new ways of eating and they change their lifestyle, in addition to having the surgery. For others, it isn’t a success, many times because they don’t make the necessary changes. Yet others experience the complications listed above and, unfortunately, some do die.

Future

A concern that many people have is we don’t know the long-term outlook for people who have had these weight reduction surgeries. While this may not be an issue for adults, it could be very much an issue for children who have the surgery. The decrease in nutrients could have a long-term effect on adult health; doctors just don’t know.

 If you are considering gastric surgery for weight loss, this is something that must be thought through and discussed with your doctor. It’s not a magic cure, but it may be the only one for some people.