Should you send for a mail order DNA kit to test your adopted child’s DNA? Will this test help you know if your adopted child is predisposed to a genetic condition? If your child came to you through international adoption or another method without a medical history, you may be tempted. The mail order prices even seem affordable and you can order them on the Internet making DNA testing more tempting. Each time you visit a new doctor, dentist, optometrist, or specialist you have to fill out a medical history for your child. If your child has asthma symptoms, symptoms... more

Do you have a child that suffers from psoriasis? It is a chronic skin condition that can have a negative impact on a person's quality of life. It can negatively affect self-esteem and relationships. Your child may be embarrassed by the presence of psoriasis and feel insecure about friends seeing it or finding out about it. This could cause your child to avoid close friendships or staying overnight with friends. The characteristics of psoriasis include red, thick, scaly plaques that itch and bleed. Dermatologists have found a correlation between psoriasis,... more

Which infants have the highest risk of developing diabetes as they mature? Asians, Native Hawaiians, blacks, Hispanics, and other Pacific Islanders, have significantly higher risks of developing diabetes than whites do. Non-Hispanic whites have nearly an 8.7 percent chance of developing diabetes, while non-Hispanic blacks have a 13.3 percent chance. When you group all of the Hispanic/Latino population together they have... more

Living here in rural America I was a bit surprised to learn that currently, about 18,000 U.S. schools have health centers inside their walls. These health centers provide confidential physical and mental health services to students who want them in junior high and high schools. Most of these clinics are operated by either a local hospital, health department, or other community health center. A study was recently conducted on the centers that currently... more

Parents of children with autism earn 14% less than parents of children without autism says an article in this month’s Pediatrics magazine. This statistic is based on surveying the parents of 11, 000 children with autism whose ages are between kindergarten and 8th grade.

Comparing the parents with other parents of comparable careers, the survey found that on average a household with a child with autism makes $6200 per year less. Remember these are averaged... more

Tomorrow, Wednesday, April 2 is the first World Autism Awareness Day. Falling in what has become Autism Awareness Month, this day was declared by the United Nations last November as an annual day to “encourage Member States to take measures to raise awareness about children with autism throughout society.”

It’s estimated that 35 million people worldwide have autism and face discrimination and an extreme lack of resources. CNN will devote unprecedented coverage to autism tomorrow throughout the entire day on CNN/U.S., CNN International, CNN en Español and Headline... more

Are you considering adopting a premature infant? Women having a normal pregnancy can delivery prematurely; but some types of drug abuse commonly cause premature birth. A new study indicates that the side effects of premature birth last long after a baby leaves the neonatal intensive care unit. Other studies have focused on the immediate risks of premature birth where this study focused on adult life of premature children. Premature birth is defined as delivery that occurs before 38 weeks of gestation. In... more

Would you be surprised to learn that one out of every 278 children have Cerebral Palsy (CP)? CP is the most common cause of childhood motor disabilities. CP rates are higher among boys, black Americans, and low to middle-income families. The study looked at eight-year-old children in 2002 in three different states in the U.S. A problem in the brain causes CP. This problem affects children’s ability to control their muscles. The part of the body affected depends on where the problems are in the brain. While genetic conditions may cause cerebral palsy it can also... more

Please offer your honest opinion as adoptive parents and as birthparents. Is it mean to deny an adopted child sugar? Would your answer be different if the child had plenty of sugar before entering your family as an older adopted child? Then would it be mean to deny the child sugar until adulthood? Would your answer be different if the child was a birth child? Honestly, I struggle with this issue. My teenage daughter entered our family as a four-year-old foster child and we adopted her at the age of six. Several years ago, we realized that sugar has a profound effect on her... more

As your child reaches puberty, your doctor (especially if your child is seeing an endocrinologist, gynecologist or has been on psychiatric medications for a long period of time), may wish to have blood tests done to show various hormone levels One of these, especially in girls, will be the prolactin levels Prolactin levels can be elevated in both males and females.. The two basic questions to be asked are “what is causing this?” and “what does an elevated prolactin level mean?”

Well, several things can cause prolactin levels to elevate. The most common is in... more