Month: September 2021

A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ties the COVID-19 pandemic to an "alarming" increase in obesity in U.S. children and teenagers. Patrick Sison/AP hide caption toggle caption Patrick Sison/AP A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ties the COVID-19 pandemic to an "alarming" increase in obesity in U.S. children and teenagers. Patrick Sison/AP ...

"They are writhing, holding their stomach, complaining of really bad abdominal pain and nausea," said Dr. Sam Wang, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist and toxicologist at Children's Hospital Colorado, who treats adolescents with the condition. "They vomit and then just continue to vomit whatever they have in their stomach, which can go on for hours," said Wang. "They often say they took a scalding hot shower before they came to the ER but it didn't help. "That's when we know we may have a case of cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS." Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome burst upon the medical scene in 2004, when a group of Australian researchers wrote about 19 chronic marijuana users who had repeated episodes of abdominal pain and retching. The researchers followed nine of the patien...

Last fall, as coronavirus cases climbed and the world hoped for vaccines, health experts feared influenza and Covid-19 would combine for a devastating “twindemic.” While pandemic measures appeared to keep the flu at bay, this year experts are again concerned, especially as some countries and state authorities roll back lockdown rules. Many officials and experts are urging the public: Do not dismiss the danger of the flu, and seek a flu vaccine. “This year we are guaranteed to have the flu, and we are going to have some version of a twindemic,” said Dr. William Schaffner, the medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. “It could really further strain an already extraordinarily stretched, strained, tired-to-the-bone health care system.” The United States is grappl...

I have degrees in health policy and bioethics. I have worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. My husband is a physician in the U.S. Navy. Our two children are up-to-date on all of their vaccines per the American Academy of Pediatrics schedule. While we tend to be somewhat “crunchy” with our dietary and household product choices, we have by-and-large embraced modern medicine as a good thing. As a physician, my husband was part of the “first tier” eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine and got his shots in February. By the time the powers-that-be in California (where we are stationed) deemed vaccines available to my “tier,” I had found out that I was newly pregnant. With an eight-week miscarriage in my past, there was no way I was going to get vaccinated that early on with a shot s...