¿Es contagiosa la hiedra venenosa? ¿Cómo se propaga? Poison ivy isn’t contagious and the oil that causes the rash and blisters can be washed off the skin quickly while the reaction lasts for a few weeks. Pets can carry the oil from the plant’s sap in on their fur, but the oil typically doesn’t transfer…
Anytime a child or teenager faints, “passes out” or loses consciousness, family members — as well as the child or teen — often worry there might be something terribly wrong. The good news is that fainting or syncope (pronounced sin-koh-pee) in most older children and teenagers who are otherwise healthy does not automatically mean that…
If you were a second-grader in Jefferson County after 1993, chances are you took a field trip to Safety City. For 25 years, nearly 150,000 second-grade students from private, public, parochial and home school programs in Metro Louisville have visited Safety City, a model city located behind Bates Elementary School on Bardstown Road in Fern…
How does your heart beat? Your heart beats because of the actions of a highly specialized electrical system. It listens in to what’s going on with you at the time and triggers the muscular walls of the heart to contract in an organized fashion and at the right heart rate, either slow or fast, and…
Bahaaldin Alsoufi, M.D., says that the road to becoming a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon is a long one. He started his journey at 16, when he first vowed to become a heart surgeon. After earning his medical degree in Syria, he spent 24 years training and building his career at universities and hospitals in the United…
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, backover crashes cause approximately 210 deaths and 15,000 injuries each year. Driveway accidents, including backover and frontover incidents, are more common in warm weather, when children begin playing outside. Children under 5 are at the greatest risk, due to their small size, of likely being in a…
Enuresis refers to urine leaking in kids old enough to have developed bladder control. Enuresis can happen during the day (daytime wetting) or at night (nighttime wetting). Biofeedback training uses video games to help teach kids how to control the muscles used for holding urine and going to the bathroom. What is biofeedback? Biofeedback is…
Normal heartbeats can be slow when an individual is resting or asleep, fast when running, excited or upset, and somewhere in between at other times. Even at rest, young children have faster heartbeats than older children, who have faster heartbeats than teenagers or adults. The variability in heart beats is due to the heart’s electrical…
Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) isn’t life-threatening for otherwise healthy children if they receive proper care. Infants and children with various types of other heart disease are most at risk of fast heartbeats due to SVT. SVT treatment includes short-term methods to stop the episode, and long-term treatment to prevent future spells. “Home remedies” for SVT There…
In Louisville and Southern Indiana, seasonal allergies are a way of life for many. If you’re reluctant to use over-the-counter medication for children’s allergy relief or want to try natural remedies first, here are some ideas from Rachel Alexander, APRN, nurse practitioner and program coordinator with Norton eCare. Children’s allergy relief without leaving home Norton…
As a parent, you can look for several signs of a kid’s broken arm or broken leg. The different types of fractures can have many of the same signs or symptoms, including: Bruising: Your child may have a bruise or bruises near the break. Your child may say that it feels tender, or that it…
These days children often are exposed to adult language, images and behaviors before they are developmentally prepared to handle them. As children see and hear these at a younger age, parents need to start thinking about talking to their children about sexuality earlier than previous generations. Nikki Boyd, coordinator of health and wellness for Norton…