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  • E-cigarettes are becoming more popular with teens.

    Over the past year, the use of electronic cigarettes among middle and high school students has more than doubled, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). One in fifteen students in grades six through twelve report having smoked an e-cigarette sometime in their lives.

  • Is your teen depressed?

    In the years that I’ve been working with Teen Xpress as a counselor, I’ve seen many different issues with the students: child abuse, trauma, family struggles, stress management, anger problems, to name a few. However, this year, there is one issue that has trumped all the others by far: depression.

  • Music lessons provide benefits beyond the piano keys (or instrument strings)

    Growing up, a requirement in our home was that my brother and I choose one instrument to learn to play, and we were required to take lessons. For us, this happened to be piano lessons, starting at a young age. I began taking lessons when I was six years old, and continued to play for eight years. That was eight years too long, in my childhood mind. I hated piano lessons – the time required to practice, my teacher’s gnarly fingernails, and worst of all – piano recitals and competitions. Talk about having major stage fright! I was so convinced that my parents were being unjust in requiring piano lessons that I proceeded to write them essays on why I should be allowed to quit.  My wish was finally granted when I took up the clarinet in our high school band. It’s a musical instrument too, right? Well, guess what. Fast forward ten-something years later, and I wish I hadn’t quit. And the worst part of it all - my mom “told me so.”

  • January: National Birth Defects Prevention Month

    January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. One in every 33 babies is born with a birth defect. If you are thinking about becoming pregnant in the near future, there are a few things that you can do to improve your health and reduce the chance of your baby being born with a birth defect.

    Start taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid.

    Folic acid is a B vitamin that our body uses to make new cells. This vitamin is important because when you have enough folic acid in your body, that helps reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord in your baby (also known as neural tube defects such as anencephaly and spina bifida). Folic acid works best in preventing neural tube defects if taken before pregnancy and during the first few weeks of pregnancy, before most women even know that they are pregnant.

  • Planning “the talk”: The importance of establishing open communication with your teen

    This post was written by the Clinical Social Work Team at Arnold Palmer Hospital and Winnie Palmer Hospital. 

  • Eye screenings recommended for young children

    An eye patch is commonly used for one of two reasons in young kids. One, your child is impersonating Johnny Depp and playing “pirate for the day”. Or two, the patch is being used to treat a condition known as “amblyopia”, also known as “lazy-eye”. Amblyopia is a condition that is easily preventable, which is why pediatricians are now urging eye screening for children as young as 1 year of age.

    What is amblyopia?

    Amblyopia occurs when the brain is not using one eye because it doesn’t see as well as the other eye. This condition only occurs in children and if left untreated, can result in permanent loss of vision. Amblyopia is the most common cause of vision problems in children, affecting 2 – 4% of the US population and is preventable.

    If it's easily preventable, then why is it so common?

    Good question. Currently, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) only recommends testing children for amblyopia between the ages of 3 and 5, stating there is insufficient evidence to recommend testing for younger children. However, a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics shows otherwise.

    The Study

    The goal of this study was to help provide the USPSTF with the evidence needed to include toddlers in their recommendations. Data was collected from a photoscreening program called “Iowa KidSight”, a program that has been offering photoscreening to children as young as 6 months of age since 2000. Over 200,000 screenings of children’s eyes were conducted from May 2000 to April 2011. Of the children screened, the youngest were 6 months old and the oldest were between 7 and 8 years old. Researchers used the data collected by this program (over 11 years worth of data) to compare screening results of young children with that of preschool-aged children.

  • Redefining "spina bifida" through the lens of a camera, one photo at a time

    Written by Amanda Kern

  • Caden's journey through autism

    Bonnie remembers that day five years ago like it was yesterday. Her son Caden was 18 months old. And it was the day his doctor first said that fateful word: autism.

  • Savoring the little (and oftentimes unglamorous) moments with my kids

    It’s been a rough couple of weeks at our house. First, it was a round of colds for everyone. The snotty noses and coughs still haven’t ended. Then, it was the stomach virus. I’ll spare you the details, but I’ll just say that it wasn’t pretty. And anyone with kids knows that sleepless nights come with the territory when they’re sick.

  • When Mother’s Day brings sadness along with joy

    My mom died seven years ago. We were very close. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her about a hundred times. To be honest, I miss her more than words can even express. As a result of this, Mother’s Day is always a strange day for me. I am a mom, but I don’t have a Mom anymore. Year after year, my Mother’s Days are filled with sentimental joy when I read my son’s homemade cards and aches of sorrow when all I want to do is be able to call my own Mom and tell her I love her.