Blog | Page 20 of 159 | Boston Children's Answers

Going for gold starts with breakfast: Nutrition advice for athletes

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Joanne Barker | Health and Parenting

Tags: female athletes, nutrition, sports medicine

As they speed-climb 49-foot walls or spring across narrow balance beams, athletes rely on nutrition to provide the energy they need to achieve their dreams. Sports dietitian Laura Moretti Reece offers all athletes this simple nutrition advice: 1. Eat enough. Food is fuel, says Reece of Boston Children’s Female Athlete Program. Athletes need fuel for ... Read More

Tagged: female athletes, nutrition, sports medicine

Tracking influenza in its first battleground: The nose

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: cellular and molecular medicine, flu, infectious diseases

The answer to curbing influenza could be right under our noses — or, more accurately, inside them. New research maps happenings in the nose during the course of influenza in exquisite detail, and could potentially lead to new targets and more effective nasal flu vaccines. The nose is often the gateway to respiratory infections, where ... Read More

Tagged: cellular and molecular medicine, flu, infectious diseases

No labels or limits with Apert syndrome: A letter to parents

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Catherine and Justin Arpey | Patient Stories

Tags: apert syndrome, craniofacial, plastic surgery

Dear parents, If you’re reading this, your child might have been recently diagnosed with Apert syndrome and you don’t know what comes next with this rare genetic disorder that causes fusion of your child’s skull, hands, and foot bones. Or maybe you’ve been in the Apert world for a while and are looking for people ... Read More

Tagged: apert syndrome, craniofacial, plastic surgery

From injury to backflips: A path to recovery for gymnasts

Posted on July 11, 2024 by Joanne Barker | Clinical, Research

Tags: hand and upper extremity, injury prevention, orthopedics, sports injury, sports medicine

Gymnasts can create the illusion that gravity doesn’t exist. As they spring from one acrobatic skill into the next, they leave spectators little time to consider the strain they’re putting on their wrists, elbows, and shoulders. Nonetheless, a single back handspring exerts force equal to two to four times an athlete’s weight on their upper ... Read More

Tagged: hand and upper extremity, injury prevention, orthopedics, sports injury, sports medicine

From ‘hit to vial’: Discovery and optimization of a promising vaccine adjuvant

Posted on July 9, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: drug development, vaccines

Many vaccines are only partially effective, have waning efficacy, or do not work well in the very young or the very old. For more than a decade, Ofer Levy, MD, PhD, and David Dowling, PhD, in the Precision Vaccines Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, have tried improving vaccines by adding compounds known as adjuvants to ... Read More

Tagged: drug development, vaccines

The power of a second opinion for Merritt’s spina bifida care

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Katie Paradis | Patient Stories

Tags: hydrocephalus, second opinion, spina bifida, urinary tract infection, urology

In March 2020 — at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown — Jenna, Brian, and their 2-year-old daughter Merritt were practically the only passengers on their flight from Charlotte to Boston. Waiting for them in Massachusetts were Dr. Benjamin Warf, Dr. Carlos Estrada, and other experts from the Spina Bifida and Spinal Cord Conditions Center ... Read More

Tagged: hydrocephalus, second opinion, spina bifida, urinary tract infection, urology

Firearm suicides in children and youth: A state-by-state look

Posted on July 2, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Data Science, Research

Tags: mental health, policy, public health, research, suicide

At a time when mental health problems are skyrocketing, a new study provides one of the most comprehensive state-by-state accountings to date of firearm suicides in children and youth. The findings, published in JAMA Pediatrics, are eye-opening — but could also help in crafting interventions. Lois Lee, MD, MPH, in the Division of Emergency Medicine ... Read More

Tagged: mental health, policy, public health, research, suicide

Making genome sequencing a first-line test in rare disease

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Clinical, Research

Tags: exome sequencing, genetics and genomics, rare disease

Children with rare diseases often undergo years of medical visits and genetic testing before they get a diagnosis. Over the past few years, clinics have started to embrace exome sequencing as a first genetic test, skipping time-consuming testing of individual genes and gene panels and getting to a diagnosis faster. But exome sequencing doesn’t always ... Read More

Tagged: exome sequencing, genetics and genomics, rare disease

Boosting vaccines for the elderly with ‘hyperactivators’

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: aging, cancer, immunology, vaccines

As we age our immune systems start to flag, leaving us more susceptible to cancer and infections — and less responsive to vaccines and cancer immunotherapies. Going to the heart of the problem, Jonathan Kagan, PhD, a researcher in immunology at Boston Children’s Hospital, has identified a way to rejuvenate the elderly immune system. His ... Read More

Tagged: aging, cancer, immunology, vaccines

The gut-brain connection: A new approach to OCD and tic disorders?

Posted on June 25, 2024 by Nancy Fliesler | Clinical, Research

Tags: diet, microbiome, neuroscience, research

It’s natural for young children to use routines to help them navigate the world and for older children and teens to zero in on interests and hobbies. But if they veer into disruptive, unwanted obsessions or thoughts or the need to perform compulsive rituals, they may have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We know that OCD is ... Read More

Tagged: diet, microbiome, neuroscience, research