Blog | Page 51 of 158 | Boston Children's Answers

Out of balance: How hormones can affect your child’s period

Posted on August 3, 2022 by Emily Rizzitano | Health and Parenting

Tags: adolescent medicine, endocrinology, primary care

If your tween or teen is experiencing irregular periods, they aren’t alone. In the first two years after getting a period, you should expect fluctuation in cycle length and the number of days their period lasts. However, there are period symptoms that go beyond what makes a “normal” irregular period. If your child’s period hasn’t ... Read More

Tagged: adolescent medicine, endocrinology, primary care

A new lens on cardiac surgery could help prevent arrhythmia

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Albert McKeon | Clinical, Research

Tags: atrial septal defect, av canal, cardiac research, cardiac surgery, congenital heart defect, heart, heart center, tetralogy of fallot, ventricular septal defect

Sometimes, a change in perspective can lead to a medical breakthrough. A type of microscopy typically used to detect cancer and other diseases has been adapted to reveal the location of unseen conduction tissue around the heart. The Boston Children’s clinician behind this innovation now aims to prove the safety and effectiveness of fiber-optic confocal ... Read More

Tagged: atrial septal defect, av canal, cardiac research, cardiac surgery, congenital heart defect, heart, heart center, tetralogy of fallot, ventricular septal defect

A new vaccine formulation could finally protect babies against RSV

Posted on August 2, 2022 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: immunology, infectious diseases, vaccines

Though often mild, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause babies to be hospitalized with bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Globally, it is the leading cause of death in children under 5. Several vaccines against RSV are being tested in adults. But there has been no progress on an RSV vaccine for children since 1966 — the ... Read More

Tagged: immunology, infectious diseases, vaccines

Kids and gum disease: Top six things parents should know

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Albert McKeon | Health and Parenting

Tags: dentistry

Every kid needs a healthy smile — and strong teeth are just part of the equation. While a cavity affects only the tooth, gum disease can inflame the gums and damage the bones and surrounding tissues of the mouth. Although you might associate gum disease with older people, it can be a problem for children ... Read More

Tagged: dentistry

There’s no stopping Jack: His journey with craniosynostosis

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Veronica Giarla | Patient Stories, Specialty Care

Tags: craniofacial, surgery

Jack is almost 2 years old and loves to swim, chase his older sister around the house, and just bring lots of laughs to everyone he meets. For such a happy kid, he’s had an uphill battle to get to this point — starting when he was born. “Something wasn’t right with the shape of ... Read More

Tagged: craniofacial, surgery

Advocating for herself: Drew takes lymphedema in stride

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Jessica Cerretani | Patient Stories

Tags: advocacy, vascular anomalies

Five-year-old Drew Rossi has no problem explaining why she wears a daily compression garment. “I have lymphedema,” she tells anyone who asks about the compression sock on her left leg. “She took this diagnosis and ran with it,” says her father, Don. “She’s already a great advocate.” Don and his wife, Kerri, knew that something ... Read More

Tagged: advocacy, vascular anomalies

Chasing Rett syndrome biomarkers: Could overnight EEG studies improve care?

Posted on July 19, 2022 by Nancy Fliesler | Research

Tags: epilepsy, neuroscience, seizures

In Rett syndrome, a genetic condition affecting girls almost exclusively, mutations in the MECP2 gene cause a regression of language and motor skills starting at 12 to 18 months of age. Children then usually stabilize, but how Rett will ultimately affect them is hard to predict. Some girls develop epilepsy; others have no seizures at ... Read More

Tagged: epilepsy, neuroscience, seizures

Why families need routines (even in the summer)

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Katie Paradis | Health and Parenting

Tags: mental health, psychiatry, sleep, summer safety, well child care

They say you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Maybe no one has realized this more over the last few years than children and young people who lost all semblance of normalcy with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if the benefits of their day-to-day routines were more subliminal in the “before ... Read More

Tagged: mental health, psychiatry, sleep, summer safety, well child care

A potential danger of CRISPR gene editing — and why base editing may be safer

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: gene editing, gene therapy, safety

Gene therapy using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing is currently in clinical trials around the world for a variety of diseases, including various cancers, blood disorders, and metabolic disorders. It works by making cuts in DNA — both strands of the double helix — to insert or remove genes. But CRISPR carries a potential, previously undiscovered danger, ... Read More

Tagged: gene editing, gene therapy, safety

New work transforms our knowledge of how blood is formed

Posted on July 13, 2022 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: blood, blood disorder, cancer, hematology, stem cell transplant, stem cells

The origins of our blood may not be quite what we thought. In groundbreaking research, scientists in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children’s Hospital used cellular “barcoding” techniques in mice to track the development of blood in real time — and found that blood cells originate not from one type of mother cell, but ... Read More

Tagged: blood, blood disorder, cancer, hematology, stem cell transplant, stem cells