posted 07-21-2002 08:50 PM            

Friendship Helps Girl Handle Disease

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla.- When 6-year-old Kelly Williamson looks at Lauren Beeson, in many ways, she sees her future.

Both girls are blond, though 13-year-old Lauren's hair is longer. Each is chatty and quick with a smile. When Lauren tells of her dream to be an actress on Broadway, Kelly shouts "Me too!" running and jumping on Lauren's bed for a cuddle.

As they lie side by side, a closer look reveals more similarities. They include indentations that make the blue veins running down each of their foreheads visible - and the way one of Kelly's cheeks is becoming more prominent than the other, as Lauren's already is.

Both girls have scleroderma, a chronic, sometimes fatal autoimmune disease related to rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Symptoms can range from a thickening of the skin to deteriorating function in such organs as the esophagus, lungs and heart.

About 300,000 Americans have various forms of the disease, all of them causing mostly irreversible damage and disability.

Most who develop the systemic, fatal form are adults, and the large majority of those are women, according to the nonprofit Scleroderma Foundation.

While Lauren and Kelly are expected to survive, even experts admit that predictions about the complicated, highly individualized disease can be wrong. Such a prognosis can make for a lonely, sometimes scary path. So when Kelly and Lauren first saw one another, "there was an instant connection," says Kelly's mom, Betsy Williamson.

The two girls, who live in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Fla., met last fall at a southeast Florida chapter meeting of the Scleroderma Foundation. That day they wound up playing hide-and-seek - and it was apparent, even to Lauren, that Kelly had found a role model. "I guess she kind of looks up to me," says Lauren, who was Kelly's age when she was first diagnosed.

While the symptoms are rarely the same for any two people, Lauren provides a basic road map for Kelly and her parents about what to expect.

Both girls have what is known as the "linear" form of scleroderma, which means many things - most noticeably stunted growth on one side of their bodies. As Lauren describes it, "I am basically years younger on my left side and a normal 13-year-old on the right."

A small mirror image of Lauren, Kelly is stunted on the right. Her right buttock is so small that her pants and shorts must have an elastic or drawstring waist so they don't fall down. And her skin, including on her face, has brown, flaky patches. "I'm a dalmatian," the spunky first-grader tells anyone who asks.

When times are tough, the girls and their mothers comfort one another. They trade advice on doctors and a long list of medications.

As Kelly and her parents watch Lauren, they're also learning how to minimize the disease's external effects. Lauren, for example, uses bleaching cream to lighten dark skin patches, and wears a lift in her left shoe to soften a limp by giving her shorter, thinner leg a boost. She also has braces on her teeth to prepare her for more craniofacial surgeries, attempts to help the left side of her somewhat pinched-looking face keep pace with the right.

To do so, doctors will eventually break her jaw. They also may have to open her skull to make room for her growing brain. "Do you think they'll find it?" Lauren says with a smirk.

Her mother, Marsi Beeson, says Lauren's sense of humor has helped her daughter cope. "As tough as it's been, I have to say that she keeps me positive because if she's not complaining, I say, 'Then what do I have to complain about?'" she says.

Still, while Lauren downplays the pain, the disease is not without discomfort.

Both girls have migraines, joint pain and, because they have suppressed immune systems, heightened susceptibility to colds and infections.

Adults who have scleroderma often wear gloves because of an extreme sensitivity to cold. Even picking up silverware in an air-conditioned room can be painful.

Initially, Lauren's disfigurements drew taunts from fellow students. They called her "Two-Face" after a villain from the "Batman" comics and movies. Lauren's advice for Kelly: "Ignore them." Or better yet, she adds, tell them about scleroderma so they understand.

Lauren's teachers did the latter with her classmates. That, along with articles about her in the local papers, helped turn things around. "Now my friends don't even notice it," Lauren says.

Both she and her mom, with whom she shares a two-bedroom apartment, note other positives.

Once so shy she rarely looked people in the eye, Lauren is now the poster child for the Scleroderma Foundation and testified earlier this year before a congressional committee to ask for more research funding.

Along with actors Jason Alexander and Bob Saget - both with family members affected by the disease - her work has helped heighten the profile of a disease many Americans know little about.

Even less is known about children with scleroderma, making Lauren's presence in Kelly's life that much more important.

Whatever happens, Kelly - who often follows Lauren from room to room - is sure of one thing: "I want to be with Lauren."

---

posted 07-24-2002 08:07 PM            

E. Coli Up Among Premature Babies
ASSOCIATED PRESS

In a dangerous boomerang effect apparently caused by antibiotics, E. coli is on the rise among premature babies and has overtaken strep as the most common infection in such infants, a disturbing new study suggests.

The shift is worrisome because E. coli bacteria can be more deadly than streptococcus germs.

The rate of group B streptococcus blood infections in newborn preemies fell by nearly three-quarters during the 1990s, probably because more women in labor now get antibiotics to keep from passing the bacteria on to their babies during delivery, the researchers said.

During that same period, the rate of E. coli infections doubled, apparently because ampicillin, the antibiotic commonly used the wipe out strep, gave E. coli room to flourish, according to the researchers.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and was published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. It was led by Dr. Barbara J. Stoll, professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine.

Group B strep and E. coli are among the bacteria that live harmlessly in many people's intestinal tract. If they spread into a woman's vagina during pregnancy, though, they can overwhelm the newborn's weak immune system, sometimes causing mental retardation, hearing or vision loss, or death.

Over the last decade, giving women preventive antibiotics intravenously during labor has cut the once-predominant group B strep infections by 70 percent in all newborns, but it still kills about 80 each year.

NIH scientists and doctors at about a dozen hospitals and medical schools compared 5,447 very low-birth-weight infants born from 1998 through 2000 with 7,606 similar births from 1991 through 1993. Very low-birth-weight is defined as 3 1/2 pounds or less.

Over the study, the more-dangerous "gram-negative" type of bacteria, predominantly E. coli, overtook group B streptococcus and other related bacteria as the most common type of infection in the premies. Gram-negative bacteria have innate resistance to antibiotics and can acquire further resistance mechanisms from other germs.

E. coli infections rose from 3 per 1,000 births to 7 per 1,000 births, while group B strep infections dropped from 5.9 per 1,000 births to 1.7 per 1,000 births. The overall rate of sepsis dropped from 19.3 per 1,000 births to 15.4 per 1,000 births.

The research appears along with a related study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since 1996, the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have backed two strategies as equally effective for deciding which mothers should get antibiotics during labor to prevent group B strep transmission.

One involves testing mothers for presence of streptococcus in the vagina near the end of the pregnancy; the other recommends antibiotics for all mothers who have risk factors linked to transmission of the bacteria: a fever above 100 degrees, preterm delivery or rupture of the protective amniotic membrane 18 hours or more before delivery.

In the first study comparing the approaches, researchers found that testing for streptococcus cut the risk of a baby being infected 54 percent more than the risk-factor approach.

"While the risk-factor approach is definitely catching some women, it's missing a good proportion of women," said Stefanie J. Schrag, a CDC epidemiologist.

As a result, the CDC in August will release new guidelines recommending screening all women for presence of group B strep, she said.

The researchers studied records on 5,144 babies born at about 170 hospitals around the country.

---
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/jul/24/072402677.html

posted 07-25-2002 10:14 PM            

Summit Set on Childhood Obesity

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON- Former Surgeon General David Satcher is leading an effort to reduce obesity among children and plans a national summit of health and education experts to discuss ways to trim the fat. "This is not about appearances. It is not about cosmetics or aesthetics," Satcher said. "It is about health."

First lady Laura Bush will serve as honorary chairman at the gathering Oct. 7-8 in Washington. As surgeon general, Satcher issued a report in December saying that obesity may soon overtake smoking as the chief cause of preventable deaths.

Some 60 percent of adults are overweight or obese, as are nearly 13 percent of children. The rate has been rising for a decade and threatens to wipe out progress fighting cancer, heart disease and other ailments, Satcher warned.

Like adults, children tend to eat more calories than they work off. But unlike adults, youngsters are supervised by schools that have a responsibility to encourage more exercise and better eating habits, Satcher said.

Dozens of government agencies and other organizations are sponsoring the summit. ---

On the Net:

Summit site: http://www.actionforhealthykids.org

--

posted 07-25-2002 10:19 PM            

Comfort Care Urged for Dying Kids

ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON- Caring for a dying child can drain a family emotionally long before the end, yet few doctors or hospital staff are taught ways to help ease the burden.

"We are in need of medicine with a heart," said parent Salvador Avila, quoted in a new Institute of Medicine report released Thursday.

Said a second parent, Deborah Dokken, about her daughter's death: "I was scared and lonely, standing outside, unable to be with her. No one had time to tell me what was happening."

"Since birth (our son's) medical needs have increased and his health has deteriorated. Our goal has been to try and provide him with the best quality of life he could have. We live every day not knowing when will be our son's last," added parent Tina Heyl-Martineau.

The study recommends improvements in training and methods to comfort both the terminally ill child and the immediate family.

Lawrence A. McAndrews, president of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions, said he welcomed the report as well as government and private efforts to make services more available to people who need them.

"There is no task more difficult in a children's hospital than caring for children who are dying," McAndrews said. "We know that these children cannot just be treated medically - the whole child, and the whole family, must receive services that have psychological, spiritual and cultural dimensions."

In 1999, people under the age of 20 accounted for about 55,000 deaths, roughly 2 percent of all deaths in the country, even though that age group made up 29 percent of the population.

In 1900, some 30 percent of deaths involved children. The causes of death have also changed, with accidents the main cause now, compared with infectious disease in 1900.

Death in childhood now often involves children suffering from unusual diseases seldom seen in their hometowns. That means seriously ill children and their families often have to travel far from home for treatment, removing them from the usual sources of emotional support and straining family relationships and finances, the report said.

The study suggests that pediatricians, hospitals and hospices to work together with other agencies to develop better procedures for comfort, or palliative, care and bereavement care for the children and their families.

The recommendations mirror many of those made two years ago by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which also stressed the need for palliative care for dying children.

Among the recommendations from the institute - a branch of the National Academy of Sciences - are providing complete and understandable information about the child's outlook and care options.

The report urges medical professionals to have continuing discussions with parents about their preferences for care and to offer effective and timely treatment for physical and psychological symptoms.

Insurers should change their policies to eliminate restrictions on hospice care for children, the report said. It also urged Congress to add hospice care to services in Medicaid and other public programs for children.

posted 08-02-2002 01:51 AM            

More Kids Vaccinated Vs. Chicken Pox

ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA- Three-fourths of American toddlers received the chicken pox vaccine last year, up from just one-fourth five years ago, the government said Thursday.

A nationwide survey found that 76 percent of children 19 to 35 months old got the vaccine in 2001, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The coverage rate was 26 percent in 1997, and 68 percent in 2000. Chicken pox is usually mild in children but can lead to pneumonia and other serious infections.

The vaccine was introduced in 1995. Before the vaccine, nearly every child contracted chicken pox. Health officials now hope to stamp it out.

The CDC also reported that immunizations among children 19 to 35 months old are at an all-time high.

Nearly 90 percent are covered against hepatitis B, and 94 percent against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.

---
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/aug/01/080107787.html

posted 09-07-2002 11:37 PM            

H.S. Athlete Dies of Heart Attack

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT- A 15-year-old high school football player who collapsed at a game died of a heart attack, an autopsy showed Saturday.

Southwestern High School student Eric Simpson, who had just made a tackle, collapsed Friday while standing on the field during a time-out, the Detroit Free Press reported.

"He was standing next to the official. He just fell over," said head coach Danny Foster, who went with Simpson in an ambulance to St. John Hospital.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday evening the cause of death was a heart attack.

Team staff and emergency medical personnel performed CPR on Simpson at the game before he was taken to the hospital.

Principal Betty Hines said Simpson had undergone a physical and was cleared to play football. Hines said doctors told her there was nothing that could have indicated the student would suffer heart failure.

Foster described Simpson as a budding defensive tackle and offensive guard and said his death is a loss for the school.

"He's a great kid to be around. He's an excellent young man," Foster said. "I can't think of anyone at the school that didn't know Eric."

The incident came the same week that a 10-year-old girl in Illinois died after collapsing during football practice, and that a 16-year-old Texas boy had his leg amputated after an injury during a football game.

posted 09-19-2002 12:14 AM            

Kids Using Prescription Drugs More

By THERESA AGOVINO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK- When Christy Olson's daughter developed asthma as a toddler 12 years ago, she was reluctant to put her on prescription drugs.

"I was so worried about side effects. I didn't want to give it to her unless I had to," said Olson, who lives in Rochester, Minn., and is a nurse herself. She decided it was a necessary move, and her daughter, now 15, still takes medicine for her condition.

While parents then and now are often nervous about medicating children, it is becoming more common. Use of prescription drugs is growing faster among children than it is among senior citizens and baby boomers, the two traditionally high consumer groups, according to a new study.

Spending on prescription drugs for those under 19 grew 28 percent last year, according to the survey by Medco Health Solutions, a Franklin, N.J.-based pharmacy benefits manager.

Meanwhile, spending per patient rose 23 percent for those between the ages of 35 and 49 and less than 10 percent for those above 65.

Children are also spending 34 percent more time on medication than they were five years ago, the study found.

Treating children is still relatively inexpensive, costing an average of $84.72 per patient each year. That compares to an average expense of $944.40 per year for people aged 65 to 79.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a government agency, estimates that overall spending on prescription drugs rose 16.4 percent to $142 billion last year.

Among children, the most prescribed drugs were for allergies, asthma and infections. Prescriptions for Ritalin and other medicines for neurological and psychological disorders were also substantial - a finding that renewed concern among some experts who worry that such drugs may be over-prescribed for children.

Some doctors also were alarmed that spending on prescription drugs to treat heartburn and other gastrointestinal disorders surged 660 percent over five years, according to the study. The jump was seen as linked to the increasing number of overweight children in the United States.

Some of the findings on prescription drugs mirrored trends seen in disease patterns. For example, the incidence of asthma and allergies are generally increasing, so doctors said it wasn't surprising that children's prescriptions for such ailments would also grow.

"It is good news that more kids are getting treated for asthma because it means less trips to emergency rooms and hospitals," said Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer of Medco Health.

About 7 percent of children have asthma and 25 percent have allergies, approximately double the incidence 25 years ago, according to Dr. Michael Blaiss, a pediatrician who specializes in such ailments.

Olson, the Minnesota nurse, also has a 13-year-old son who has asthma and is receiving medicine. She suffers from asthma herself.

Medicating her children has at times been a difficult process. Her daughter, when she was 9, had a severe reaction to steroid she was taking and went into shock. It took 18 months of experimenting to find a correct dosage.

Even so, she's more comfortable now than she was at first with having her daughter taking drugs. "I feel differently now because I see that she needs it and she is better because of it," Olson said.

"I know things have gotten better since that time, but drugs are such an important part of treatment that we need more studies," she said.

The survey also found that spending on antibiotics among children increased 42 percent. Doctors say antibiotic resistance is a widespread problem.

Spending on drugs for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder increased 122 percent over the past four years and accounted for 8 percent of the total spent on prescription drugs for children, up from 7 percent in 1997. Spending for depression medicines held steady at 5 percent of the total.

Dr. Lawrence Diller, author of "Should I Medicate My Child?" worries that such drugs are over-prescribed. He also pointed out that, while Ritalin and other drugs for ADHD are generally seen as safe for children, there haven't been many studies of the effects of antidepressants on children.

"The antidepressants are known to have sexual side effects. I wonder what the long-term effects of that is going to be on adolescents," Diller said.

The vast majority of prescription drugs are developed for adults, and drug makers are not obliged to test them on children. In 1997, Congress passed legislation that gave drug companies an additional six months of market exclusivity if they tested their drugs on children. That has sparked more tests, but experts say more studies are needed.

"I think practitioners feel more confident now that there is more data to back up prescription patterns," said Dr. John Ring, who sits on the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Drugs.

But he said most of the prescriptions written for children are still written for drugs that haven't been approved for youngsters.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/thrive/2002/sep/18/091807402.html

posted 09-19-2002 08:16 PM            

My daughters spots started to subside and fade this morning though they are still there. The spots on my friends child did the same thing.

posted 09-19-2002 11:10 PM            

You better have your daughter checked out. --- If whatever she's got has the same amount of persistence that our respiratory problems have, she could be sick for a while. -- That cramping worries me a little too. There's been reports of a meningitis problem in the mid-west that was reported recently and it might be being spread in your direction.

posted 09-20-2002 03:31 PM            

Sidhelion in your post you mentioned using Gold Bond cream and lots of it and you're also into alternative health care.

Recently I found a product in the health food store (Beam's) that is working very nicely in controlling occasional outbreaks of eczema that I get on my hands. I've been using a prescription cream for years and while it eventually clears up the skin condition it seems like it takes a long time. I bought a product containing emu oil along with other natural ingredients. The label said the cream was effective as an aid in controlling the flare-up of Rosacia, Psoriasis and Eczema. The ingredients are listed as: Emu oil (19%), olive oil, purified water, beeswax, shea butter, aloe, vitamin E, evening primrose oil. There are also extracts of Chamomile, Calendula, Comfrey and Grapefruit seed. Plus pure essential oils: Carrot seed (for vitamin A), Rose, Lavender and Lemon.

I bought their smallest container which was rather expensive (2oz. $16.50) and originally I bought it as a moisturizer for my face... but after seeing how well it clears up my eczema and other nasty itches on my feet and ankles which I'm sure are reactions to something I'm allergic to... I'm using this product for those ailments now and something else for a face moisturizer.
You might try using it and see if it works... I'd be interested in hearing if it does or not. On the container I bought there's a small picture of an Emu and it's called Sensitive Skin Cream.

In the past I've heard other people in the forum recommend using grapefruit seed extract and also colloidal silver as an aid in clearing up the respiratory ailments. I used colloidal silver a couple of years ago when I contacted the chemtrail cough which took me a couple of months to get over. Worst cough I ever had.

posted 09-21-2002 03:06 PM            

BTW, Dan got me real worried when he posted a new article about WNV mimicing polio and causing paralysis.
http://www.chemtrailcentral.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000167.html

posted 09-21-2002 05:17 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Unhappy Trails:
Hi WonderWmn, we went to the doctor yesteday and the diagnosis was SOME KIND OF VIRUS. I knew what the doctor was going to say before we even got there but we needed to rule out meningitis. She still has a bit of a rash but it's drying up. The flu symptoms are subsiding a bit but she's still in bed. Thanks for asking. How's everybody doing out your way?

Glad to hear she is doing somewhat better. I love it when they use the term..........some kind of virus.........isn't that special? That means, so much to me. Everyone here seems to be hanging in here. My brother is doing great, since he took all the herbs we use. My father is now trying to come down with a sore throat, and not feeling that great. I have my kids on lots of supplements and vitamins, and immune boosters. The friend in Arlington, is still having those problems. I posted that on the chemtrial thread. I will keep you posted on what is going on. Take care and hope she feels better soon :-)
Blessings,
Melanie

[Edited 1 times, lastly by Unhappy Trails on 09-21-2002]

---

posted 09-21-2002 08:29 PM            

P.S. The following is an email I got in respone to the post about my daughter getting ill.

This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread ]

From: "Hungry House Health Products" | This is Spam | Add to Address Book
To: xtwoandahalfx@yahoo.com
Subject: rash, illness
Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 17:27:06 -0700


Dear Unhappy Trails,

We are herbal nutritionists in Indiana. We have been working on “chemtrail illnesses” now

for several months, and have seen some unbelievable things happening as a result of this evil

operation; many viruses, bacteria, funguses (fungi?), etc. At the present time, we are having both adults

and children coming through our door with these particular rashes, and we have identified it as

SYPHILIS. This is hard to explain to most people, of course; how could a monogamous person,

especially a child, develop syphilis? We have been recommending certain herbal treatment for them, which

has been taking care of it. If you research syphilis, it has three stages, during which it appears to

go away, but is simply dormant until the next stage. VERY CONTAGIOUS! If it is in the air, then it is

also in our water and food, in our pets, etc.

We would like to help as many people with these chemtrail illnesses as possible. If you would like to

talk to us, call toll-free at 1-800-659-5119 and ask for Dennis. There is no charge for consultation.

Hope your girl is getting better!

Emily Ball

Hungry House

hunhouse@ruraltek.com

Richmond IN

posted 09-22-2002 03:10 AM            

We're doing the cilantro metal chelation therapy along with chlorella. I'd be interested in hearing about some immune boosting herbs. I want to thank everyone here who has been supportive since I joined last May. It's comforting to know there are others who are working together to bring an end to this madness.

Sorry to hear they are spraying you guys at ground level for the WNV. Not a good thing at all. It's probably only a matter of time before the entire country is getting it. My God...it's hard to believe this is all happening. I feel like I'm having a nightmare and can't wake up.

posted 09-22-2002 10:00 PM            

I never heard of getting syphilis from airborne particulates U/T but I doubt it's possible. I'll have to do a little looking around.

Yeah this is really turning into a nightmare here with them spraying us from the ground and air now. Luckily they haven't tried to spray at ground level in my neck of the woods yet but I'm sure they're thinking about it.

posted 09-22-2002 10:32 PM            

There was also an epidemic in Los Angeles a while back but nothing in your area yet. The article below has a lot of information in it.

Syphilis Epidemic in Los Angeles County
June 2000 Being Alive Newsletter
http://www.beingalivela.org/news0600/0600_syphilis.html