The Child's Doctor articles
The Child's Doctor, Journal of Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago
The Child's Doctor is published by Children's Memorial Hospital twice a year for community-based physicians. The journal offers continuing medical education (CME) through articles authored by Children's Memorial's physicians. It also includes news articles on research at Children's Memorial. Read the latest issue of The Child's Doctor here.
Articles on topics in pediatric endocrinology:
Type 2 Diabetes in Pediatrics: A Growing Epidemic by Ellen E. Kim, MD Published Spring 2010
Concurrent with the dramatic rise of obesity, pediatricians are diagnosing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) more and more frequently in children and adolescents. Whereas T2DM occurred only in adults prior to the 1990s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 1 in 3 children born in 2000 will develop this condition. Lifestyle changes, however, can prevent T2DM in high-risk children and in patients whose elevated blood glucose levels are at pre-diabetes stage. In addition to timely intervention to prevent development of T2DM, pediatricians need to be well prepared to screen for T2DM and monitor for complications.
Study to Identify Infants at High Risk for Developing Obesity: Metabolic Programming and Effects of Maternal Obesity on Neonatal Body Composition by Jami Josefson, MD Published Spring 2010
Are newborns with increased body fat at higher risk for developing obesity? The link between high birth weight and later obesity is well recognized. However, most children who become obese had a normal birth weight. Increased proportion of body fat at birth is one parameter that may convey increased risk for childhood-onset obesity. A clinical study is evaluating body fat in full term infants of non-diabetic obese and non-obese mothers using a fast, non-invasive mechanism to measure newborn body fat. This study is also evaluating other metabolic biomarkers and factors, such as pregnancy weight gain and gestational age of the newborn, in relation to newborn body fat percentage.
Evaluation of Short Stature by Donald Zimmerman, MD Published Spring 2007
Short stature in children calls for a careful assessment of growth patterns to evaluate whether the cause is a health-threatening condition or only a variant of normal growth and development. During the evaluation, the pediatrician should determine whether short stature is producing psychosocial stress. This article reviews the conditions associated with distinct patterns of delayed growth, discusses imaging and laboratory studies used to confirm underlying pathology, and presents treatment options.
Management of Congenital Hypothyroidism byDonald Zimmerman, MD Published Spring 2004
Congenital hypothyroidism occurs in 1:4000 to 1:3000 newborns and is one of the most easily treated causes of developmental delay. In fact, developmental delay due to low thyroid function can be completely prevented with early start of therapy. The following review provides basic strategies for interpreting test results, initiating therapy, monitoring response to medication, and determining whether lifelong therapy is necessary.
Research: Searching for Genetic Causes of Congenital Hypothyroidism by Vita Lerman Published Spring 2004
Donald Zimmerman, MD, and other Children's Memorial investigators are helping to unravel the molecular genetics of congenital hypothyroidism, as part of an ongoing world-wide research collaboration led by Peter Kopp, MD, at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. Characterizing the numerous genetic factors involved in congenital hypothyroidism may help future genetic counseling and offer insights into various postnatal thyroid diseases, such as thyroid cancer.
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