So should you pack the sanitary supplies in her camp trunk? If your daughter has experienced breast development for at least two years, then yes, packing pads or tampons is a good idea. It’s also another great opportunity for sex education — letting your daughter know just what to expect when her period begins. Read the rest of this entry »
The first recognizable signs of puberty for most girls are changes in the breast, beginning with a little swelling or enlargement of the nipple. Often one breast (usually the left) will begin to develop before the other breast. The girl may notice a small lump or “breast bud” in the skin under the nipple, which may be somewhat tender or sore. Breast budding generally begins at age 9 or 10, or anywhere from age 8 to age 14, depending on family growth patterns and other factors. Read the rest of this entry »
So what’s to be made of this? On the surface, it can be said that 24 Hour Fitness may be fit but it’s also smug, and the protesters were not only fat but also rude. But this is only the surface of a deep reality that the fitness services industry as a whole has not dealt with successfully. Our marketing keeps reaching out to the small number of already-reached, and frightening the larger number of folks we need to reach. Read the rest of this entry »
Fat is a big issue and grows more powerful every time the average American lets out another notch in their belt. Since most people are overfat or are worried about being or becoming too fat, the issue is full of marketing possibilities and pitfalls. This was made clear, again, when 24 Hour Fitness launched its new advertising campaign last month. Read the rest of this entry »
A study presented to the National Cancer Institute shows that taking vitamins C and E may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin looked at prostate cancer cells and their response to male hormones. Read the rest of this entry »
So it seems to me that the decision to circumcise or not comes down to a religious, cultural or personal decision. I tell parents that whatever decision they make, it will be the correct decision for their family. Whatever decision parents make, it’s likely that they will have to explain their decision to their son someday. In my practice, about 60 percent of boys are circumcised, and about 40 percent aren’t. Your son will meet boys who were circumcised, and those who weren’t. He is likely to ask you “Why didn’t you?” or “Why did you?” Your answer can be, “We learned as much as we could, and we made the best decision we could, based on our love and concern for you.” Read the rest of this entry »
You planned your pregnancy carefully. You made all the right decisions about your pregnancy and your baby — but when your baby boy was born, you found yourself unprepared to make one more decision: to circumcise, or not?
Than 25 years of pediatric practice, and the advice I’ve provided to thousands of parents.Widespread infant circumcision is a relatively recent phenomenon in our country. Prior to the 1930s, babies were often born at home, and infant boys were rarely circumcised except for religious reasons. The vast majority of young American solders in both World Wars were not circumcised.
After World War II, however, nearly all babies were born in hospitals, and for a number of societal and cultural reasons, it became almost a “standard” that baby boys were circumcised, often immediately after birth, even before the baby was placed in his mother’s arms. Two other important cultural changes occurred in our country in the 1940s: Mothers giving birth in hospitals often received anesthetics and were not awake as their babies were born; and bottle-feeding, rather than breast-feeding, became the way most babies were fed.
Since the 1960s and ’70s, there have been major cultural changes in the way we give birth and feed our infants: the movement for “natural childbirth” and improvements in pain control so that mothers are awake during childbirth, and a return to breast-feeding. It seems very appropriate to reconsider our country’s cultural attitudes toward infant circumcision, which until recent years was the most frequently performed surgery in the United States. Even today, infant circumcision in the United States costs about $200 million a year.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and other experts have stated that there are no medical reasons to recommend routine and universal newborn circumcision — and in fact, there are very few reasons to recommend circumcision for older children and adults. The old arguments in favor of circumcision have been disproved:
Yes, there is a mildly increased chance that an uncircumcised boy will have a urinary tract infection in the first six months of life, but it is hard to justify universal circumcision on this basis alone — only 1 percent of uncircumcised baby boys develop a urinary tract infection. There is no justification, either, for removing the foreskin at birth in an effort to promote “cleanliness” — one could argue, in a ridiculous way, that removal of the toenails at birth would also result in improved cleanliness in children.
Anaphylactic shock is a severe, often immediate and sometimes fatal allergic reaction to certain foods or drugs.
What to Look for:
itching or hives
flushed face or warm skin
dizziness Read the rest of this entry »
Living smart with arthritis means protecting your joints during everyday activities. The following are a few tips from the American Medical Association for putting less stress on your joints and avoiding injury:
Avoid squatting and kneeling. Read the rest of this entry »
While your members may be aware that exposure to sunlight increases their risk of skin cancer, experts warn that exposure to ultraviolet light A (UVA), which is used in sun-tanning beds, increases the risk for melanoma – the most malignant type of skin cancer. Read the rest of this entry »