Ages & Stages - May 2011

Vitamin D and Kids' Allergies/Wound Care/Stroke Warning Signs

Kids

Vitamin D and Kids' Allergies: Researchers find a connection

by Kathy Sena

A study of more than 3,000 children shows that low vitamin-D levels are associated with a higher likelihood that kids will develop allergies, according to a paper published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in Bronx, New York conducted the study. They looked at the vitamin-D levels in blood collected in 2005 and 2006 from more than 3,100 children and adolescents and 3,400 adults. One of the blood tests assessed was sensitivity to 17 different allergens. They measured levels of Immunoglobulin E (IgE), a protein made when the immune system responds to allergens.

When the resulting data was analyzed, no association between vitamin-D levels and allergies was observed in adults. But for children and adolescents, low vitamin-D levels correlated with sensitivity to 11 of the 17 allergens tested, including both environmental allergens (e.g., ragweed, oak, dog, cockroach) and food allergens (e.g., peanuts). For example, children who had vitamin-D deficiency were 2.4 times as likely to have a peanut allergy than were children with sufficient levels of vitamin D.

The research shows only an association and does not prove that vitamin-D deficiency causes allergies in children, cautions Michal Melamed, M.D., M.H.S., assistant professor of medicine at Einstein and senior author of the study. Nevertheless, she says, children should certainly consume adequate amounts of the vitamin. "The latest dietary recommendations calling for children to take in 600 IU of vitamin D daily should keep them from becoming vitamin-D deficient," she says.

 

---

Wash that WOUND!

by Kathy Sena

When it comes to curing skin infected with the antibiotic-resistant bacterium MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), timely and proper wound cleaning and draining may be more important than the choice of antibiotic, according to a new Johns Hopkins Children's Center study. The work was published recently in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Researchers originally set out to compare the efficacy of two antibiotics commonly used to treat staph skin infections, randomly giving 191 children either cephalexin, a classic anti-staph antibiotic known to work against the most common strains of the bacterium (but not MRSA), or clindamycin, known to work better against the resistant strains. Much to the researchers' surprise, drug choice didn't matter: 95 percent of the children in the study recovered completely within a week, regardless of which antibiotic they got.

The finding led the research team to conclude that proper wound care, not antibiotics, may have been the key to healing.

"The good news is that no matter which antibiotic we gave, nearly all skin infections cleared up fully within a week," says study lead investigator Aaron Chen, M.D., an emergency physician at Hopkins Children's. "The better news might be that good, low-tech wound care — cleaning, draining and keeping the infected area clean — is what truly makes the difference between rapid healing and persistent infection."

Chen says proper wound care has always been the cornerstone of skin-infection treatment but in recent years more physicians have started prescribing antibiotics preemptively.

Although the Johns Hopkins investigators stop short of advocating against prescribing antibiotics for uncomplicated MRSA skin infections, they call for studies that directly measure the benefit — if any — of drug therapy versus proper wound care. The best study, they say, would compare patients receiving placebo with those on antibiotics, along with proper wound cleaning, draining and dressing.
Antibiotics can have serious side effects, fuel drug resistance and raise the cost of care significantly, the researchers note.

"Many physicians understandably assume that antibiotics are always necessary for bacterial infections, but there is evidence to suggest this may not be the case," says senior investigator George Siberry, M.D., M.P.H., a Hopkins Children's pediatrician. "We need studies that precisely measure the benefit of antibiotics to help us determine which cases warrant them and which ones would fare well without them."

Kathy Sena is a freelance journalist specializing in health and parenting issues and is the mother of a 15-year-old son. Visit her blog at www.parenttalktoday.com.

---

Family

STROKE! Know the Warning Signs

by Katherine Moore, RN, BSN

Are you or your family members at risk of suffering a stroke? May is National Stroke Awareness month, and stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a major cause of severe, life-long disability. In fact, each year there are about 795,000 strokes with 15-30 percent causing permanent disability. On average, someone has a stroke every 40 seconds and someone dies from a stroke every 4 minutes.

In 2002, Oklahoma was ranked the eighth worst state for stroke death rates. Why? Because we are a state of risk factors. In an article published in 2010 entitled, F as in Fat, Oklahoma ranked as the sixth fattest state in the nation, sixth for diabetes, sixth for hypertension and second in physical inactivity. More than 29 percent of Oklahoman adults have 2 or more risk factors for stroke. Oklahoma's high rate of stroke mortality is strongly associated with our affinity for unhealthy living and the large percentage of our population with multiple risk factors for stroke.

So, what can you do to help prevent a stroke?

Know Your Risk Factors
There are many risk factors for stroke, and unfortunately, many we can't change. People who are at a greater risk include older adults, men, African Americans, and those having a family or personal history of stroke. These factors put you at increased risk for stroke, and they are not modifiable. However, on a positive note, there are some risk factors for stroke that you can control, like monitoring hypertension, monitoring diabetes, and lowering your cholesterol levels. Also, it's important to stop smoking and stop consuming excessive alcohol. It's important to become physically active.

Address Your Risk Factors
Living a healthy, active lifestyle is important. If you or your loved ones are at risk for stroke, now is the time to take action. Seeing your primary care provider regularly and taking medications as prescribed can make the difference between living a long healthy life and long-term disability.

Know the Warning Signs of Stroke
The warning signs of stroke include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden trouble in seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and sudden severe headache with no known cause.
It's important to realize that not everyone experiences all of these warning signs of a stroke, so if one or more of these symptoms are present, it is important to call 9-1-1- immediately and have emergency services take you or your loved one to the nearest hospital certified to treat stroke.

Time is critical, when it comes to caring for a stroke. Do not wait! Seek medical care immediately. The sooner you seek medical care, the better your chances are for a more positive outcome.

Katherine Moore, RN, BSN, is the Neuroscience Services Coordinator at Southwestern Medical Center's Acute Stroke Treatment Program, the only Joint Commission certified Primary Stroke Center in southwest Oklahoma.

Online Resources for Families:
www.swmconline.com
www.stroke.org
www.strokeisnotOK.com
www.strokeassociation.org

FREE Stroke Risk Screenings

Southwestern Medical Center is hosting free stroke risk screenings on Tuesday, May 17, from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., followed by a free lunch and presentation, Risk Factor Management and Stroke, by Mayank N. Dave, M.D., which will begin at noon in the Centennial Room.