Here are some health tips to get your family off to a good start this school year. Vaccinations According to Jill S. Howell-Berg, M.D., pediatrician with Norton Children’s Medical Group – Clarksville, students are required to be up to date on vaccinations. “Vaccines are an important step to the immunity development of any child,” Dr. Howell-Berg…
The Norton Children’s Research Institute will participate in a phase 2/3 clinical trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 investigational vaccine for healthy children ages 6 months to 4 years. The study will evaluate safety, tolerability and immune response in this age group. It is the only site in Louisville offering the trial and among 100 participating…
Staying at the forefront of new developments that can help children with epilepsy, headaches and other conditions affecting the brain, nervous system, spinal cord, nerves, and muscles comes naturally to Amanda Rogers, M.D., a child neurologist and director of pediatric neuromuscular disorders with Norton Children’s Neurology. Dr. Rogers’ love of taking care of children and…
Alex and Aaron Haas had heard of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) — a former neighbor of Aaron’s had a grandchild who died from it — but didn’t know much about it when 3-month-old Riley seemed less active than a family friend’s baby of the same age. A small knot in the back of Riley’s neck…
Louisville, Kentucky, is no stranger to allergies or asthma, so knowing what to look for in your child is important. Louisville routinely is ranked among the most challenging cities to live with asthma by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Asthma can be controlled with medications and treatments, but many cases go undiagnosed. The…
Tessa Nielsen, 21, was in so much pain from her menstrual periods and cramps, she couldn’t do much at all. “I would lie in bed, curled up in ball with a heating pad,” she said. For months, her menstrual periods and cramps caused a stabbing pain she describes as being like a knife twisting around….
The 5-year-old who arrived at the Norton Children’s Hospital emergency department in December was far different than the happy, healthy girl her parents had come to know. A month earlier, it started with emotional outbursts. One day she repeated the word “puppy” over and over and then laughed hysterically. The next, she seemed afraid of…
For the past 25 years, Gregory N. Barnes, M.D., PhD. has worked with thousands of families to help diagnose, adapt to and overcome autism. Autism is personal to Dr. Barnes, whose son, Joshua, was diagnosed with the condition as a young child. It was clear to Dr. Barnes, a pediatric neurologist with the Norton Children’s…
The day before Thanksgiving 2018, the Howell family was traveling from Louisville to Frankfort to visit relatives. During the drive, 4-week-old Brooks started crying. It was the beginning of the family’s journey with the rare disease spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress, Type 1 (SMARD1). “It was a very different cry,” said Jessica Howell, Brooks’…
Rolando M. Puno, M.D., spine specialist with the Norton Children’s Spina Bifida Clinic and Norton Leatherman Spine, likes solving difficult challenges. Patients from around the world have come to Dr. Puno for surgery and treatment of their complex spinal conditions. “It’s kind of my nature, I guess,” Dr. Puno said. “If I see an issue,…
Erica Kelley was living in Arizona in 2007 when her son, Samuel, was born. Sam received his newborn screening before leaving the hospital, as is required in most states in the U.S. The screening indicated that Sam needed further testing, which showed that Sam has cystic fibrosis (CF). He was 15 days old when he…
Victoria A. Statler, M.D., works hard to educate children undergoing transplants on ways to avoid potentially dangerous infections. She also treats them when they do get sick. Children receiving transplanted organs or bone marrow take medicines to help their bodies accept the transplant. The drugs work by suppressing the immune system, so transplant recipients are…