cold-related stories

The pharmacy in my local grocery store is currently offering free antibiotics as part of a health and wellness initiative. To promote the freebies, signs reading "You didn't pay for the germs. Why pay for the antibiotics?" are on display throughout the store. In fact, pharmacies across the country are offering similar promotions, and this has health experts concerned.

On the surface, giving away free antibiotics during a time when many families are struggling to pay for the basics seems like a good idea. But experts worry that this type of promotion sends customers the wrong message about the proper use of antibiotics and may ultimately result our bodies becoming even more resistant to certain drugs.

Antibiotics are prescribed to fight bacterial infections and have no impact whatsoever on cold and flu viruses. And while those signs in my store don't directly connect the free drugs to fighting viruses, they are ambiguous enough that they might be misunderstood by some. And in other pharmacies across the country, free antibiotic promotions have been linked to cold and flu season as if there were a connection.

Source

OK, this is kind of creepy. I am part of a parent exchange group that regularly emails ideas, etc. on the web. A recent conversation thread has centered on Vicks VapoRub, which we all decided was harmful to use on our children. Now, a new report is saying exactly the same thing -- misuse of the product could be harmful to infants. Why? Well, in my online group the thread started with some sort of urban legend forward. We checked in out on Snopes.com (thank goodness for Snopes!) and it looks like it is fake, sort of, except that people really do use Vicks VapoRub to treat various ailments. The recommendation we read was to rub it on the kid's feet, where it gets absorbed into the body and then cures the child's cough.

Doctors have warned parents against using products containing menthol -- an ingredient in the VapoRub -- on their children. A new case study has linked using such products to breathing problems in young children. Now, truth be told, the effects are generally seen when the product is misused. That said, I think we all know, in a world where children are purposefully being overmedicated with cough medicine in order to calm them down, that it would be foolish to assume folks are going to use the products the proper way and not cause harm to their children.

The report, which appeared in the journal Chest, centers around a case study of an eighteen-month-old girl with a respiratory illness who was recovering favorably until she suddenly developed severe difficulty breathing. she was rushed to the emergency room where her grandparents were questioned and it was determined the only out of the ordinary thing was their use of Vicks VapoRub under her nose that day. The VapoRub caused an increase in mucous which blocked the child's airway. In defense of Vicks, the product specifically and clearly says not to use it on children under the age of two and to not put it under the nose. Jeez.

Although it is widely believed that Vicks clears airways, the product never made the claim that it was intended to do so. Doctors interviewed for the article commented they do not recommend Vicks to their patients even though it is widely-used by the general public for a variety of reasons. Dr. Diane Pappas of the University of Virginia's Pediatric Division agrees the product should not be used on children under the age of two and feels it might even get lumped in with the other cold and cough medications under similar scrutiny that will probably end up with a warning label to not use them on children at all.

Pediatrician Dr. Ira Rubin of the Naperville Pediatric Associates in Illinois gives some advice I couldn't agree with more: "Infants should not be exposed to chemicals and drugs unless absolutely necessary." Look, folks, you have a pediatrician for a reason. If your child isn't feeling well and you want to give him or her something, give the doctors a call first and get their recommendation. I'm sure Vicks is fine for the general public to use -- when used properly -- just not for babies.

Source

Yesterday, Sandy Maple wrote about teaching her daughter to blow her nose and the Kleenex website that could help. Today, I offer another alternative -- a school that is teaching kids how to blow their noses properly. Unfortunately, it's in England, in Manchester, but maybe the idea will catch on with schools here.

The nose-blowing lesson is part of a larger curriculum covering proper behaviour when one has a cold, of course. Not everyone is happy about this, however. One parent called the lessons "a complete waste of time" and went on to say "I send my kids to school to learn, not for someone to show them how to blow their nose." The school also recommends that students visit the Kleenex website Sandy mentioned when they go home.

Actually, it makes sense to me. Sure, your kid may know how to properly sneeze or cough and that they should wash their hands afterwards, but not all kids do and teaching the other ones means your kid will get sick less.

Source

My father once said that one of his greatest accomplishments as a parent was teaching his children how to blow their noses. Seeing us all stopped up and miserable, wiping our dripping noses on whatever was handy, made him crazy. But it took many, many lessons and lots of frustration on his part before any of us were able to successfully get the snot from our noses onto a tissue.

I don't know if it is just the Maple family or what, but I have had only limited success in teaching my own eight-year-old how to blow her nose. She gets the idea -- shut your mouth, hold one nostril closed and blow -- but she can't seem to build up enough force to really get the mucus moving.

It has come to my attention that there is a website, sponsored by Kleenex, dedicated to teaching children how to stop the spread of cold germs. One segment is called Tissues to the Rescue and features a cartoon kid with a cold properly blowing his nose on a tissue. "Nathan breathes in, then closes his mouth and blows his nose."

Okay, this Nathan kid may have mastered the art of nose blowing, but we are still struggling over here. How did you teach your kid to blow his nose? Is there some trick to this? Or is my family truly nose-blowing impaired?

Source

This Winter, keep an extra chapstick in your coat pocket so you don't ever to leave home without it.

Last winter, the FDA put out an advisory warning parents and caretakers that children under the age of two shouldn't be given over-the-counter cough and cold medications. A leading physicians group, Public Citizen's Health Research Group, thinks that the ban didn't go far enough. They'd like to see the FDA ban all OTC cough and cold medications for children under 12.

According to the group, there is little evidence that these medications work in children. Not only that, there have been 123 deaths associated with these meds between 1969 and 2006, and 7,000 kids a year are treated in emergency rooms due to problems with OTC cough and cold medications. "In the absence of direct evidence that a product is effective," said Dr. Alejandro Necochea, a research associate with the group, "No amount of toxicity is acceptable."

The FDA isn't in a rush to ban the medications, however. Calling for more data, they fear that if children's cough and cold medications are pulled from the shelves, the problem will be made worse by parents who will give kids adult medications instead. We cleaned these kinds of meds out of our medicine cabinet a long time ago, treating colds with fluids, a vaporizer, and lots of TLC, though I do keep Benadryl around in case of an allergic reaction.

What about you?

Source

I grew up in San Francisco, so a lot of the lore and customs of colder climes is foreign to me. I've never experienced a "snow day" -- the one time it snowed here, we were able to scrape up enough slush to make what we called snowballs as we awaited the school bus, but that was it. Sure, I knew, intellectually, about building a snowman and making snow angels and digging a snow cave, but I'd never experienced it. I was purt near an adult before I ever saw real snow.

Even so, I knew better than to try and lick something metal on a below-freezing day, the way the kid did in the classic film The Christmas Story. Apparently, however, even in places where snow is common and cold weather is the norm this time of year, that's not as well understood as it should be. Places like Chesterton, Indiana.

That's where two boys on flag duty -- charged with raising and lowering the flag -- decided to see if what happened in the movie was accurate. Sadly for them, the movie was indeed factual; fourth-graders Gavin Dempsey and James Alexander got stuck. "I decided to try it because I thought all of the TV shows were lies, but turns out I was wrong," said Gavin.

According to Gavin's mom, the nurse who treated him alluded to the film, when she "asked them, 'OK, who double-dog dared who?'" I wish I could say that my kids would never do something as ill-advised as this, but, unfortunately, it just wouldn't be true. It's a good thing that we live in a warm climate.

Source

And, will your kids? I got a flu shot for the first time in my life last fall when I was pregnant. My OBGYNs strongly urged me to do so, and with all the contact I have in a given day just in New York on the subways with passengers both sick and well I thought it best to heed their advice.

I didn't end up getting the flu while pregnant, an illness that can apparently have fatal results for a fetus. I was nervous the entire time though that my child would be autistic or something of that nature, what with all the rumors and paranoia and unsubstantiated research floating around out there linking vaccines and autism.

That time passed, however, and I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. I was healthy too, and flu free. Now flu season is upon us again, and New Yorkers are being asked to get their flu shots. My husband took our son to get his latest round of vaccinations and when the nurse offered to give the baby a flu shot at the same time my husband didn't think twice about it.

Well, he did when he realized our six month old son then got five shots! Poor thing! He handled it pretty well though. I was actually sort of annoyed when my husband told me this though--I hadn't even been consulted. Truthfully, and especially because Mr. Pickles is in daycare, I probably would have opted to get the flu shot anyway. I just wanted to be asked for my opinion, I guess.

Next up is me. Should I get a flu shot? While I am generally opposed to putting anything into my body, especially while breastfeeding, I may go the shot route this year. Why? I've already been majorly sick twice. And I'm pretty sure that since the baby was sick at the same time he picked something up from daycare and brought it home to me.

A cold is one thing, but the flu is another. I can and did tolerate the cold but the flu is a most unwelcome guest. Now I just have to get myself to a doctor to get one before we run out! That does happen around here--only so many flu shots to go around for a population of around eight million people!

Source

On the back of last week's news that infant cold medicines have been pulled from store shelves, today experts have revealed that are seemingly ineffective on children younger than 12.

As such, pediatricians are recommending that the FDA immediately implement new regulations barring over-the-counter medicines for kids under 6, and are asking for a review of how the drugs work in children of all ages.

Of course, because these medicines are used billions of times a year by parents who think they're helping to fight off infections, there is a serious financial incentive for the drug companies to disprove the experts' position. They counter that the drugs do work, and are safe, as long as parents understand how they're supposed to be administered.

From personal experience, I'd have to say this makes sense. On the few occasions I've given my daughter any over the counter medication, I haven't noticed a difference in her symptoms.

Source

When Ellie gets a cold, I am hesitant to give her any medicine because I have yet to find one that doesn't cause her to wake up a few hours later totally wired and unable to sleep. Over the years, I've tried all kinds of over-the-counter cold remedies to ease her symptoms, but by this point I don't even bother. Instead, I give her a cup full of warm water with a generous squeeze of honey. I don't know how or why, but this almost always stops the coughing and helps her relax and fall asleep. Which is really all I am after in the first place - a good, restorative night's sleep.

Now, there is another reason not to reach for over-the-counter cold medicines. A new review has found little evidence that these medicines do any good and they might even be dangerous for young children. I didn't know this and chances are you didn't either, but from 1969 to 2006, at least 54 kids have died after taking over the counter decongestants. And 69 more have died after taking antihistamines.

Obviously, the Food and Drug Administration is aware of this, but until now has done nothing about it. But last week, they issued warnings about several different over-the-counter, multi-symptom cough and cold remedies - like Toddler's Dimetapp, Triaminic Infant and Little Colds - for children under 6. We have tried all of those.

So, what should parents do now? Pharmacist Catherine Tom-Revzon says, "They should talk to a health care provider about whether a product is necessary for their child's cold or flu. And they should only be given cough, cold, allergy and pain reliever products as a last resort and with caution."

She suggests trying non-medicine remedies first, like a humidifier and saline drops. We have had success with the honey water and humidifier combination. What are your non-medicine tricks for helping your child through a bad cold?

Source

Although there are mixed reviews out there as to whether or not caffeine is good or bad for the developing baby and pregnant mother, I find caffeine makes me a bit wiggy, so I've been avoiding it. But I still like to use the coffee excuse to sneak out of the office for a walk with coworkers.

I've tried decafs and let's face it -- none of them are really that good. With a soaring body temperature and the July heat, a hot drink is the last thing I'm craving anyway. But oh, something cold and sweet... well now you're talking my language! I swear, nothing can cure this thirst for cold beverages and juicy things like watermelon and cucumber!

The Starbucks menu can be overwhelming at the best of times, but skipping over the hot drinks really narrows things down. The ice teas are good, but again, they have caffeine. So how happy was I to find the Frappuccino Blended Crèmes? I am especially obsessed with the Strawberries and Crème one: strawberries and milk blended with ice and topped with whipped cream. Yummers!

Starbucks has great nutritional info on their site and a quick calculation shows that saying no to the whipped cream will take the fat content from 15 grams of fat with, to 2.5 without. Because nothing is worse than over-indulging due to being pregnant and then realizing that the birth only shaved off 8 pounds of the 40 you gained.

Are you pregnant and craving cold drinks? What's your addiction?

I like crafts. Crafts are fun. They help kids learn, help them be creative and can help with the humdrum of an average day when there seems as if there's nothing to do.

But...when it comes to doing crafts with a toddler, I feel as if I am at a loss most of the time. I found a cool craft that seems appropriate for the younger (and older) kids in a family.

All you'll need is a box, a piece of paper, some powdered tempera paint and an ice cube. Put them together and make an ice cube painting.

Put the paper in a the box and sprinkle some of the powdered paint on it. (This type of paint is good to keep on hand-- you can use it to turn ANYTHING into paint!) Drop an ice cube in the box and have the child to swirl it around to make the painting.

Or, if you don't have the powdered paint, you can use Jell-O or Kool Aid powdered mix.

It's cold in Georgia! Even the kudzu is looking for a warmer place to winter. It's been dipping into the thirties, and unlock their sturdy brethren in the north, the delicate flowers in the De Kalb County public schools aren't used to that kind of frigidity. Students at Briar Vista Elementary say it was even colder inside their school that it was outside for th last few days. When students and teachers and parents complained about the frigid temperatures to the administrators, asking for the heat to be turned on, the school system told them no matter how cold it gets, it's their practice to wait to turn the heat on in all schools until October 30.

Students complained that they couldn't take their tests because of the cold. Oh well, it's just elementary school. Let the kids wear their coats for a few days, right?

Source