The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) estimates that 19.3% of U.S. children ages 2 to 19 have obesity, including 6.1% with severe obesity, and another 16.1% are overweight. The current prevalence of high blood pressure (BP) in children is 11% and is expected to rise. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) is the gold…
Pride Month offers an opportunity to reevaluate our health care standards to ensure we are practicing in a safe, supportive way for all patients. And, as we celebrate this month, it’s important we take this time to reflect, understand and learn in order to better provide more inclusive care. Affirming a patient’s identity We cannot…
Maybe the most important part of the job for Hannah R. Fischer, M.D., is sending babies home from the hospital after a stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Dr. Fischer, neonatologist with Norton Children’s Neonatology, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, specializes in managing infants who are premature or have life-threatening conditions….
Since October 2020, Norton Children’s Infectious Diseases, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, has offered a clinic for children who continue to feel unwell long after they recover from acute COVID-19. As the pandemic persists, we are learning more about children with long-term post-COVID-19 symptoms. These may be specific and localized, such as headaches,…
There are some simple steps that providers can take in their practices that may make transgender and gender-diverse adolescents feel included, socially affirmed and more comfortable talking about their specific needs. One of the most important things a provider can do is ask patients their chosen name and the pronouns they use to refer to…
Children and teens experiencing severe cases of asthma face unique challenges living in the Louisville area. Louisville is routinely among the most challenging cities to live with asthma and among the top cities with emergency room visits for asthma, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. If a child you are treating has…
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at high risk for a broad range of acute and chronic conditions affecting many of the body’s systems and carrying a high association with morbidity. Given the broad range of potential manifestations of the disease, coordinating care among primary care providers, specialists, emergency departments, laboratories and hospitals can…
For patients who think the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us and think there’s no need to get one of the vaccines, you may try talking to them about forest fires. If they think of the pandemic as a fire raging through the world’s population, we don’t want them to be the tinder…
New providers with Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, are seeing patients in Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Owensboro and Paducah, Kentucky, bringing sophisticated care closer to kids. Norton Children’s Neuroscience Institute operates a network of outpatient care centers in the Louisville area, in Western Kentucky and in Corbin in Southeastern Kentucky….
Individuals with mild-to-moderate adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) had poorer neurocognitive performance, most significantly in tests of alphanumeric trail-making, in a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Deficits in alphanumeric trail-making may translate to issues with multitasking, prioritizing, maintaining information in working memory, planning and organizing. “That may be why…
Addressing the emotional effects of cancer and its treatment on children and young adults can improve outcomes and help manage adverse effects of treatment. Norton Children’s is presenting a three-part series drawing from a recent continuing medical education opportunity with specialists from Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine. The presenters…
Children in Western Kentucky with spasticity related to cerebral palsy; brain or spinal cord injuries; or stroke or other ongoing functional mobility deficits can now have their rehabilitation needs addressed closer to home. On the fourth Friday every other month, Katy M. Breeden, APRN, is in Paducah, Kentucky, to manage patients’ bracing, therapies and medication…