The Growing Years: Doctor's Role as Counselor, A
Cathy Parrish has developed a relationship of trust with her patients that allows them to talk to her about issues they might not feel comfortable sharing with their parents. That is the value of having the same doctor o..
The Growing Years: Hold Me; Read to Me!
Babies need to be touched and loved. In fact without stimulation, infants do very badly. Reading to a child at a young age stimulates brain development and enhances the relationship between parent and child. The idea is ..
The Growing Years: Increasing Incidence of Childhood Obesity
An estimated 25% of American children are at risk for obesity, many with elevated levels of cholesterol and blood pressure. Numerous children exhibit a high percentage of plaque and hardening of the arteries before the a..
The Growing Years: Overload--How Much Activity Is Too Much
Scheduling too much activity for children can create a stressful situation for the whole family. Time to relax, to eat slow unhurried balanced meals, to do nothing but "kick back" at home with family members is healthy f..
The Growing Years: Protecting Young Children Against Illness
Raising healthy children may not be the challenge it was a century ago, but it is far from automatic. In order to have a healthy child pediatricians recommend limiting their exposure to germs and providing a balanced die..
The Medical Marketplace: Communication Between Doctor and Patient
People sometimes encounter "potholes" in attempting to develop a productive relationship with their physician. The first critical barrier is being able to communicate effectively. It may be helpful to bring a written lis..
The Medical Marketplace: Critical Care Decisions
There are systematic errors that are often made in judging one alternative versus another, one treatment versus another. It is important to be able to interpret the kinds of words physicians use to indicate probabilities..
The Medical Marketplace: Maintaining Quality Control
How does a profession as immense as the medical community maintain quality control? "We rat on our own," says David Goldstein. "We're dealing with people's lives." The Internet provides consumers with evaluative informat..
The Medical Marketplace: Primary Care Physician
The insurance plan that is selected often influences the choice of a primary care physician who will provide periodic checkups, suggest preventive strategies, and respond when illness strikes. The primary care doctor rec..
The Medical Marketplace: Selecting an Insurance Plan That Works Best For You
The complexity of the medical system in the United States is difficult for an outsider to understand, in part because there are so many options. From a practical point of view most people choose to enroll in a private or..