Blog | Page 28 of 157 | Boston Children's Answers

Homecoming: Jack’s complex care brings a family back to Massachusetts

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Katie Paradis | Patient Stories

Tags: autism, brain health, complex care, epilepsy, neurology, seizures

Georgia and her husband, Keith, moved to North Carolina from Massachusetts in 2015 with a dream of building a house and starting a family. Their plans changed, however, when their son Jack was born in 2017 with severe health complications, including a rare and severe form of childhood epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and a rare ... Read More

Tagged: autism, brain health, complex care, epilepsy, neurology, seizures

November 2023 coloring pages

Posted on November 1, 2023 by Staff Writer | Health and Parenting

Tags: coloring pages

Motivate your young athlete with month’s coloring pages, brought to you by Boston Children’s. MAC_29327_ColoringPages_November_Sports_HorizDownload MAC_29327_ColoringPages_November_Sportst_Vert-1Download MAC_29327_ColoringPages_November_Sportst_Vert-2Download MAC_29327_ColoringPages_November_Sportst_Vert-3Download Share this:

Tagged: coloring pages

Gold particles and light could melt venous malformations away

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Nancy Fliesler | Research

Tags: drug development, nanotechnology, surgery, vascular anomalies

Venous malformations — tissues made up largely of abnormally shaped veins — are often difficult to treat, especially when located in sensitive areas like the eyes, face, and genitourinary organs. In the worst cases, the lesions are disfiguring and can crush or obstruct surrounding tissues, cause bleeding and clotting, interfere with breathing or vision, or ... Read More

Tagged: drug development, nanotechnology, surgery, vascular anomalies

Broken signals: Things you may not know about nerve injury

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Joanne Barker | Clinical Care, Specialty Care

Tags: brachial plexus, hand and upper extremity, nerve injury, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, pain, plastic surgery

When Dr. Andrea Bauer talks about nerve injuries, she talks about phone cords. A damaged phone cord transmits staticky or broken sounds, or no sound at all. Similarly, peripheral nerve injuries (injuries that affect the arms, hands, legs, and feet) disrupt signals to and from the brain, causing numbness, loss of sensation, and lost function. ... Read More

Tagged: brachial plexus, hand and upper extremity, nerve injury, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, pain, plastic surgery

Getting a little help from a game show host: How Steve Harvey became Panos’ personal tooth fairy

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Veronica Giarla | Patient Stories

Tags: autism, child life, dentistry

11-year-old Panos loves to smile and sing — but getting him to show his teeth to a dentist hasn’t always been easy. When he visited a dentist near his home for his first cleaning, the experience was a tough one. “He was overwhelmed by the new environment and refused to open his mouth,” explains his ... Read More

Tagged: autism, child life, dentistry

A new approach to C. diff? Targeting the inflammation, not the bacteria

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: gastroenterology, infectious diseases, toxins, urology

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) intestinal infections can cause severe, debilitating diarrhea in patients who are hospitalized or on immunosuppressive therapies. The infections can be very hard to eradicate, roaring back when patients try to taper their antibiotics. Many people wind up on antibiotics for months and can become resistant to three or more of them. ... Read More

Tagged: gastroenterology, infectious diseases, toxins, urology

Keeping pace: ‘Superhero’ Zachary hasn’t let a brain tumor break his stride

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Jessica Cerretani | Patient Stories

Tags: brain health, brain tumor, epilepsy

Zachary Sonnek, 11, loves being active, whether that means running or playing baseball, golf, or hockey. “He’s always been ‘go, go, go,’” says his mother, Nicole. So two years ago, when he told his parents he occasionally had trouble breathing, they initially thought he just needed to pace himself. Although he had a clean bill ... Read More

Tagged: brain health, brain tumor, epilepsy

What your family should know about orthodontic care

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Albert McKeon | Primary Care

Tags: cleft lip, cleft palate, dentistry

By now, your family might know what to expect at a dentist’s office. It’s a familiar routine that includes an examination, a cleaning, and (just maybe) treatment for a cavity. An orthodontic appointment is much like a trip to the dentist, according to Dr. Megan McDougall, a Boston Children’s orthodontist. If your child’s first orthodontist appointment is ... Read More

Tagged: cleft lip, cleft palate, dentistry

Pushing the envelope for Eoin: Our family’s experience with esophageal atresia

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Molly Hester | Patient Stories

Tags: esophageal atresia, Fetal Care and Surgery Center, surgery

When I recently brought my son, Eoin, to Boston Children’s for an appointment, we ran into Dr. Farokh Demehri on the bridge from the parking garage. We smiled, laughed, and talked about how nice it was to see each other. It was a simple meeting, but one I had dreamed about for so long: I ... Read More

Tagged: esophageal atresia, Fetal Care and Surgery Center, surgery

Could we intervene in Huntington’s disease before symptoms appear?

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: alzheimers disease, biomarkers, immunology, neurology, neuroscience, schizophrenia

Huntington’s disease is the most common single-gene neurodegenerative disorder and is characterized by motor and cognitive deficits and psychiatric symptoms. Work led by Beth Stevens, PhD, and Dan Wilton, PhD, in the Department of Neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital, now shows that the disease process begins well before symptoms appear. That raises the possibility of ... Read More

Tagged: alzheimers disease, biomarkers, immunology, neurology, neuroscience, schizophrenia