Children with craniofacial defects face most difficult social pressures in elementary school
UCLA HealthDr. Justine LeeFINDINGSUCLA researchers found that elementary school children with craniofacial anomalies show the highest levels of anxiety, depression and difficulties in peer interactions when compared to youths with craniofacial defects in middle and high schools.The findings suggest that keeping a close watch for these signs and educating the child ’s peers about their condition may be necessary for this age group.BACKGROUNDChildren born with congenital craniofacial anomalies, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, may have difficulty socializing with their peers and others and may face bullying and teasi...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 28, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Tiny diamonds could become best friends to youths with cleft palates
This study showed that our method has a contained, targeted and sustained effect, so we’re very excited about it,” Hong said.Previous experiments showed nanodiamonds to be safe within the body and to be excreted normally. Similarly, earlier work demonstrated that enzymes break down hydrogel.The researchers plan to continue laboratory studies and hope to bring their treatment to clinical trials. Their approach has implications for treating other craniofacial conditions and sleep apnea, as well as healing wounds and bone injuries.Other authors of the study were Dong-Keun Lee, Lawrence Lin, Hsin Chuan Pan, Deborah Lee, Pe...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - September 22, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Cambridge Baby with 'rugby ball-shaped' head has surgery
Lucy Bowran-Pavey, now 17 months, from Cambridgeshire, was born with rare birth defect craniosynostosis. Doctors said she was at risk of brain damage if she wasn't operated on. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - August 14, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Cambridgeshire baby with alien-shaped head has surgery
Lucy Bowran-Pavey, now 17 months, from Cambridgeshire, was born with rare birth defect craniosynostosis. Doctors said she was at risk of brain damage if she wasn't operated on. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Source: the Mail online | Health - August 11, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Taking my own advice: When the professional becomes a parent
As a disability expert, my whole career has been spent giving parents advice. I’ve given advice on parenting, doctors, child development, school and resources to support them. I was confident working with families and helping them navigate the often crazy and overwhelming world of special needs. But when I was 34 weeks pregnant with my own child, I found myself on the other side of the situation.
My husband and I learned that our son, Jack, would be born with a cleft palate and micrognathia, or an undeveloped lower jaw. The extent of these facial differences wouldn’t be known until he was born. We met with doctors from...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - July 20, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jennifer Ryan Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Cleft and Craniofacial Center cleft lip and palate Dr. Carolyn Rogers Dr. Cory Resnick Pierre Robin sequence Source Type: news
Getting and giving support for cleft lip and palate
Jack Dolan came into the world with a laugh. His mother, Erin, was mid-chuckle during labor when he was born — “a really joyful entrance,” she says. Looking down at her new son, she and her husband, Jimmy, breathed sighs of relief. “We took one look at him and thought, ‘He’s beautiful,’” she remembers. “We knew then that everything was going to be okay.”
It was a happy celebration after a pregnancy sometimes marked by stress and anxiety. During ultrasonography, Erin and Jimmy had learned that Jack would be born with a bilateral cleft lip and palate. Erin, a nurse practitioner, had noticed that the techn...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - July 13, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jessica Cerretani Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Cleft and Craniofacial Center cleft lip and palate Dr. John Mulliken Olivia Oppel Source Type: news
A happy return: Catching up with Eva
It’s about 2,400 miles from Salt Lake City to Boston. But it’s a distance Jennifer and Vincent Ramirez are more than happy to travel to get care for their daughter Eva. The family first traveled to Boston Children’s Hospital in January of 2016 for surgery to remove Eva’s encephalocele — a surgery her doctors in Utah had said wasn’t possible.
This spring, the family was back in Boston for a follow-up visit with the surgeons who performed her surgery, Dr. Mark Proctor, neurosurgeon-in-chief, and Dr. John Meara, plastic-surgeon-in-chief.
For this visit, Jennifer and Vincent had decided to bring along their two old...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - June 12, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Craniofacial Program Dr. John Meara Dr. Mark Proctor encephalocele Source Type: news
What are Indications for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)?
DiscussionObstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is defined as a “disorder of breathing during sleep characterized by prolonged partial upper airway obstruction and/or intermittent complete obstruction (obstructive apnea) that disrupts normal ventilation during sleep and normal sleep patterns.” It is different than primary snoring which is snoring without apnea, sleep arousals, or problems with gas exchange.
OSAS symptoms include snoring (often with snorts, gasps or pauses), disturbed sleep (often frequent arousals) and daytime neurobehavioral problems. Sleepiness during the day can occur but is less common in...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - June 12, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: pediatriceducationmin Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news
Mice headed for space to test bone-building drug developed at UCLA
What do space travel, rodents and a bone-building protein all have in common? A team of UCLA scientists is bringing these three elements together to test an experimental drug that could one day result in a treatment for osteoporosis, which affects more than 200 million people worldwide.The drug could also potentially help those with bone damage or loss, a condition that afflicts people with traumatic bone injury, such as injured military service members, as well as astronauts who lose bone density while in space.Led by Dr. Chia Soo and Dr. Kang Ting, who met and married while working on this project, as well as Dr. Ben W...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - June 1, 2017 Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news
Paying it forward: Care for son ’s craniosynostosis spurs mom to run marathon
Will Flanigan can’t stop giggling. Whether he’s teasing his older sister, Spencer, or charming his way out of trouble with his parents, this toddler “is always cracking himself — and us — up,” says his mother, Caroline. “We call him Will the Thrill.”
On April 17, 2017, Will brought his good humor from his home in Dallas to the Boston Marathon finish line, where he joined his family in cheering on Caroline as she ran. But this wasn’t just any race. Caroline was running with Boston Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles team for a very special reason: Almost exactly a year earlier, Will was a...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - May 12, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Jessica Cerretani Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Boston Marathon Craniofacial Program craniosynostosis Dr. Mark Proctor Source Type: news
A new life for Lynkin after encephalocele surgery
When you meet Lynkin Bell, the first things you notice are her big personality and chubby cheeks. You might also see how she adores her brother Lukis and hamming it up for the camera. But you’d never guess that this playful 14-month-old from Texas wasn’t expected to survive, never mind talk, stand or play peekaboo like a pro.
And yet, thanks to her parents’ faith and persistence — and surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital — Lynkin can do all those things, and lots more, with the gusto befitting any toddler her age.
“It’s a miracle,” says Kaylen Gaston, Lynkin’s mom. “We were told so many times she wou...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - April 24, 2017 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Ellen Greenlaw Tags: Diseases & Conditions Our Patients’ Stories Craniofacial Program Dr. John Meara Dr. Mark Proctor encephalocele Source Type: news
A Day to Remember That Every Child Deserves a Chance
Emina Cerimovic is a disability rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.By Emina ĆerimovićNEW YORK, Feb 27 2017 (IPS)The day I met Julija she was playing cheerfully with her baby sister on the floor inside their room in Kragujevac, a small town in southern Serbia. When she saw me – a stranger — on the doorstep, she smiled widely and stretched out her hands, offering a hug. As I held her, I could hear how difficult it was for her to breathe. I looked at her, she smiled and touched my face with her hands and only then did I see that Julija’s fingers were webbed.Julija was born with Apert Sy...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 27, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Emina Cerimovic Tags: Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Serbia Source Type: news
Efficacy of different methods to reduce pain during debonding of orthodontic brackets.
CONCLUSIONS:The stress relief method showed no difference when compared with the other groups. Finger pressure was more effective than the elastomeric wafer in the lower jaw. Higher pain levels were recorded for the anterior regions with the elastomeric wafer. Females and pain catastrophizers gave higher VAS scores. (Source: Dental Technology Blog)
Source: Dental Technology Blog - November 16, 2016 Category: Dentistry Source Type: news
Families with Apert syndrome find similarities, not differences
Madilynn and her father Rocky
For some families in the waiting room on the day of the Apert syndrome clinic, it’s a reunion. For others, it’s a revelation. Coming to Boston Children’s Hospital from as far away as China, some have never met another child with Apert syndrome. Before long, parents and kids of all ages and ethnicities are taking group selfies as the younger children run around and play.
“These kids have the brightest smiles, they’re very resilient,” says Tambra Milot, mother of 3-year-old Madilynn.
Each year, the clinic sees about 50 children with Apert syndrome, a rare genetic disorder in which th...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - October 4, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Nancy Fliesler Tags: Our Patients’ Stories apert syndrome Cleft and Craniofacial Center craniosynostosis Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery Dr. Amir Taghinia Dr. Brian Labow Dr. John Meara Dr. Mark Proctor Dr. Richard Bruun sleep apnea Source Type: news
