GOOD NEWS ABOUT THUMB SUCKING AND NAIL BITING

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Get your fingers out of your mouth!” How often do we say that? You may want to bite your own tongue now.

A study from New Zealand revealed that children who bite their nails or suck their thumbs have a significantly lower risk of asthma, allergies and eczema. Not only is that true in childhood, but they evaluated adults up to 32 years and the relationship held.

Interestingly, an earlier study showed that mothers who sucked their child’s pacifier clean also had a lower risk of developing allergies.

This makes sense when you are familiar with the “hygiene hypothesis” which holds that the fewer microbes children are exposed to the more conditions including allergies they are susceptible to.

COMMENT:

When I was growing up there was a saying that you need to eat “a peck of dirt a year”.  It make sense.

GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE HPV VACCINE

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The vaccine against human papillomavirus, or the HPV vaccine, is turning out to be even more effective than it was originally thought.

After almost 10 years of vaccination, the number of cervical cancers and precancerous lesions has been reduced by 50%.  In addition, the vaccine appears to protect from types of HPV species that are not included in the vaccine.

Although the recommendation has been for 3 doses, it appears that children are protected after only two. The current recommendation is for 2 doses.

There are 2 reasons to vaccinate by age 14: not only is the immune response to the vaccine better at a younger age but the idea is to protect women and men long before exposure.

COMMENT:

Do not Google the vaccine. The internet is rife with statements that are not scientific, scary, and just wrong. The vaccine does not cause any serious side effects, although when a child develops something after a vaccine a parent tends to blame the vaccine. The MMR and autism is an example of that.

You should consider the hpv vaccine just as routine as a tetanus shot. In addition, it is the only anti-cancer vaccine we have and you should protect your child.