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How and Why Kids Get Ear Infections

Ear infections are a common ailment for many children. Jasmin Makar, MD, a pediatrician at Town and Country Pediatrics – San Francisco, explains why kids are more prone to ear infections and discusses practical ways to ease their discomfort and prevent future bouts.

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What Parents Need to Know About Managing Teen Acne

Stanford Medicine Children’s Health pediatrician Nivedita More, MD, of Bayside Medical Group – Fremont, shares some tips for parents to help their children cope with acne. Pediatrician Nora Fahden, MD, of Bayside Medical Group – San Ramon also explores this topic in a HealthTalks podcast.

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Cold or Allergy: How to Tell the Difference

Pediatrician Soniya Mehra, MD, MPH, of Bayside Medical Group – Fremont, part of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health is here to explain some key differences that can help you determine whether your child is suffering from a cold or allergies.

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How to Encourage Your Children to Have Healthy Eating Habits

As a parent and caregiver, you play an important role in making healthy choices for your children and in teaching them to make healthy choices on their own. Here are some tips from clinical pediatric dietitian and nutritionist, Venus Kalami on some simple things you can do to help your family establish healthy eating habits.

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Healthy Skin Habits for Your Family

Pediatrician Nora Fahden, MD, with Stanford Medicine Children’s Health’s Bayside Medical Group in San Ramon, offers some tips for keeping skin healthy and what to do when there’s a problem.

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A Neurologist Explains Pediatric Headaches

Chronic headaches are common in childhood, which has a lot of parents wondering how to manage them and when to see a doctor. Susy Jeng, MD, a child neurologist, discusses commonly asked questions about managing headaches.

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Halloween in the Time of COVID-19

Guidance from the CDC, local county officials and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health experts on ways to safely celebrate Halloween and Día de Los Muertos during the pandemic.

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Eating Well with Celiac Disease

Stanford clinical pediatric dietitian differentiates between celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, which is of particular importance when dining out.

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Healthy New Year’s Resolutions for Kids

Ring in 2017 with healthy New Years Resolutions that the whole family can do together. Tips about healthy eating habits and how to keep them all year long from our Pediatric Weight Control program which is now enrolling patients for January.

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Health Care Issues Facing Families Today

How much screen time is OK? How can I help my child build healthy habits? There’s no manual for raising a child, but Jasmin Makar, MD shares tips with Sue Hall of 96.5 KOIT to keep your child healthy.

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How to feed the smallest preemies

A new toolkit from the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative, co-authored by a panel that included three Stanford experts, will help spread the latest research on preemie nutrition to doctors around the world.

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Which flu vaccine should children get this year?

Influenza (flu) season runs from October through May – and, as with any other type of illness, prevention is the best protection. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that all children over the age of 6 months get vaccinated.

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Sleeping isn’t just for babies

Is your teen getting enough sleep? Joelle McConologue, MD, a Stanford pediatrician at Bayside Medical Group in Pleasanton offers advice on helping teens get the zzz’s they need.

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Living a full life on a VAD

The youngest of five kids in the Bingham family, 8-year-old Gage is the third of his siblings to suffer from a life-threatening heart failure condition known as dilated cardiomyopathy.

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The diagnosis behind the diagnosis

In July 2013, 14-year-old Milan Gambhir – who had been a healthy child – was diagnosed with one of the most aggressive and incurable brain tumors: glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

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Healthy, Happy Halloween!

October is here and with it comes the excitement of costumes and candy. Halloween is a fun-filled time for kids and parents alike but can also present some dangers to your superhero, princess or ghost.

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Stanford’s Bass Center Shines a Light on Pediatric Cancer in Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

The Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Bass Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases has organized activities to observe Childhood Cancer Awareness month. The Bass Center is a leading pediatric cancer center dedicated to helping children of all ages who have cancer and blood diseases to manage or overcome their conditions.

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“We’re all in this together”: Supporting adolescent mental wellness

The message was clear: “No one can do this alone.” Laura Roberts, MD, MA, chair of Stanford University School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences kicked off the first annual Adolescent Mental Wellness Conference by addressing a diverse crowd of advocates who are passionate about improving access to care and resources for mental health. “We’re all in this together,” she emphasized.

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“Fun Helps Us Heal” – Time for Transplant Camp

Fifty Stanford Medicine Children’s Health transplant patients are spending the week at camp having fun while still getting the medcial care they need. Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford is a national leader in pediatric organ transplantation. We sponsor this camp to give kids who have received a transplant a chance to enjoy being children and to connect with other kids like them.

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World-first treatment for rare heart defect saves baby born at Packard Children’s

Linda Luna was five months pregnant with her first child when she got the bad news: Ultrasound scans showed a deadly defect in her baby boy’s heart. He had a 90 percent chance of dying before or just after birth. But thanks to a groundbreaking treatment at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, two-month-old baby Liam, who just went home to San Jose last week, is beating those odds.

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What’s wrong with baby Wyatt?

What should have been one of their family’s happiest moments quickly turned somber as they feared the seriousness of Wyatt’s condition. The dermatology team suspected it could be a skin disease, but they couldn’t know for sure. Wyatt needed to be transferred to Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.

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Keeping kids safe at Halloween

We know Halloween is a special time for kids to dress up as their favorite super hero, princess or scary zombie while getting their hands on those coveted goodies. But with all of the excitement that comes with this festive time of year, it’s important to be aware of how to keep kids safe.

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Why Babies Don’t Have Freckles

Freckles are a phenomenon that occurs when genetically predisposed people (often those with fair skin, red hair, and light eyes) are exposed to UV light over time, according to Joyce Teng, MD, director of pediatric dermatology for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.

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Mom of Multiples #2: The Whys of Multiples

Multiples attract attention, there’s no getting around it. People approach you in public, sometimes just to look at your babies and say “Aw,” sometimes to tell you about twins they know, sometimes to tell you they are a twin! Amy Letter shares more in part two of her series on having multiples.

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Phoenix baby saved by heart surgery pioneer

Baby Jackson Lane’s heart problems were “about as dramatic as you can get.” Famed surgeon Dr. Frank Hanley and his team stepped in to save Jackson’s life. “We are just so lucky that we found Dr. Hanley and that our son fought for his life,” said mom Elyse.

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Early Support Program for Autism, a collaboration between Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and Children’s Health Council, connects families to autism resources

Finding autism caregivers and treatments is a daunting challenge for families facing a new autism diagnosis. But now there’s help. The Early Support Program for Autism, a free service with no waiting list, gives parents someone to call for up-to-date information about doctors, therapists, treatment programs and other community resources.

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Screen time for the school year: Expert offers tips

Keeping kids off of tablets and phones can be a problem during vacation, but with teachers instructing students to use screen technology to complete assignments, it may seem like your kids are glued to devices. Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, has some helpful tips for parents looking to set boundaries around family screen time.

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New Baby at Home? When to Call the Doctor

A newborn baby sparks loads of happy feelings and smartphone pictures. But when should a parent call the doctor? Luckily, most newborns are perfectly healthy, but there are a few red flags that every parent should watch out for.

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Q & A about Enterovirus-D68 with infectious disease expert Yvonne Maldonado, MD and Keith Van Haren, MD, pediatric neurologist

Yvonne Maldonado, MD, service chief of pediatric infectious disease at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, answers questions about the respiratory symptoms caused by this virus. In addition, Keith Van Haren, MD, a pediatric neurologist who has been assisting closely with the California Department of Public Health’s investigation, comments on neurologic symptoms that might be associated with the virus.

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Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos Extend a $2.25 Million Challenge Grant to Fund Innovative Clinical Food Allergy Research at Stanford

Groundbreaking food allergy research at Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has received a major boost through the creation of a challenge grant by Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos. Severe food allergies are a growing epidemic, with rates having doubled in the last decade. One out of every 13 children is affected, and over 30 percent are thought to have allergies to more than one food.

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Make this year a healthy school year

With the days of summer vacation soon coming to an end, parents are getting in gear to send their kids back to school. Along with stocking up on school supplies and buying new clothes, it’s also a good time to think about their health needs.

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Get Shots! The Time to Vaccinate is Now

Vaccination is not just a personal decision. It impacts families, communities and the larger health care system. Keeping a child’s vaccinations up-to-date can provide protection to vulnerable individuals, including babies, seniors and those with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women can impart protection to their unborn child.

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A chance discovery, and a decision to wait

In 2005 13-year-old Monica Datta joined several other young people in undergoing MRIs as part of a research study at Stanford University. Unlike everyone else, Datta’s unexpectedly revealed a spot in her brain that nobody had known about.

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Health care hero for at-risk young people

Seth Ammerman, MD, medical director of Mobile Adolescent Health Services at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, has received a prestigious public service award for his role in providing free, comprehensive health-care services to uninsured and homeless youth through the hospital’s Teen Health Van.

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New research shows how to keep diabetics safer during sleep

Life with type 1 diabetes requires an astonishing number of health-related decisions – about 180 per day. But patients’ vigilant monitoring of their daytime blood sugar, food intake, insulin and activity levels is perhaps less exhausting than the worries they face about getting a safe night’s sleep.

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A Boost for Breastfeeding

During World Breastfeeding Week, August 1 to 7—and every week—Packard Children’s partners with moms who want to breastfeed to help ensure they and their babies have all the support they need.