by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on September 7, 2011
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
The excitement of decorating a baby’s room is a wonderful rite of passage for every parent. It’s also a big business for manufacturers. If you look in any baby related catalog, the choices for furniture, bedding and toys seems unlimited. But even though having so many options for matching sheets, blankets, crib bumpers and stuffed animals for your baby’s crib may seem appealing, these items put infants at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)* as well as suffocation, strangulation and entrapment.
It is well known that there are significant disparities in some medical conditions between different races and ethnicities, and SIDS risks are no exception. In infants born to black mothers, the rate of SIDS is more than twice that of white, non-Hispanic infants. In addition, black infants have much higher rates of death due to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, often caused by unsafe bedding items.
To better understand the reasons why the use of soft bedding is more prominent in black families, researchers from Children’s National Medical Center in Washington D.C. recently conducted a study of infant bedding practices in black mothers. It’s hoped that by compiling this type of data, the medical community can better identify and educate at-risk families, resulting in safer infant sleep surfaces in the United States. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on July 11, 2011
Did you watch the Today show this morning? If so you probably saw a segment on trampoline safety featuring Thriving safety expert, Lois Lee, MD, MPH. Here, Dr. Lee goes into more detail about how to keep your children safe should they use a backyard trampoline.
One of the activities my sister and I enjoyed as children was jumping on our neighbor’s trampoline. The trampoline was your standard backyard kind–rectangular and black with only mesh on the sides. There was no such thing as netting around the trampolines back then. Most of the time we loved to jump on it and do somersaults, but there were other times when we would just lay on the warm black surface and watch the clouds drift by.
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
If my mother knew then what I know now, we’d have spent a lot less time on that trampoline. Actually, knowing my mother, we wouldn’t have spent any time on it at all.
In response to NBC Today Show’s inquiry about any recent trampoline-related injuries at Children’s, I did a quick search of patients figuring there would be only a few from the scattered sunny days we have had this spring. Boy, was I surprised to find out that the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Boston has seen at least 20 children with trampoline related injuries in the last 8 weeks. Most of the children had fractures of their arms or legs after falling while jumping on the trampoline in their own backyard. Nationally, over 90% of the trampoline injuries seen in the emergency department occur on a home-based trampoline—not at a gymnastics facility. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on July 7, 2011
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
The first time I took my friend Julie to a national baby supply/furniture chain store, her eyes glazed over as soon as we walked in. After a few minutes in the packed aisles, with boxes towering from floor to ceiling, stuffed with equipment and toys just for babies, she was ready to leave. “This is overwhelming. How can anyone possibly know what to buy?” she said.
But that confusion was precisely the reason I was invited on this particular shopping excursion. Being a pediatric emergency medicine doctor and mother to a 1-year-old at that time, I knew my way around a baby store. I knew exactly what we were (and weren’t) looking for.
Still, despite our clearly defined mission, like Julie I was slightly overwhelmed by the sheer number of products available. With so many choices for all the things you need/want to buy, how does a new parent begin to choose? Even with my background, I felt a little taken aback by it all. After some searching we eventually found her the perfect crib and I was glad I came along to help; besides picking out a car seat, finding a safe crib is one of the most important pieces of equipment a new parent will buy. Making the right choice is crucial.
To keep cribs safer, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) just released its new standards for safe cribs. According to their mandates, all cribs sold after June 28, 2011 must meet these new standards, which include:
- Stopping the manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs
- Strengthening mattress supports and crib slats
- Requiring crib hardware to be more durable
- Making safety testing more rigorous. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on October 28, 2010
Having grown up in the Deep South –Tallahassee, Florida to be exact–I spent many weekends watching college football (Go ‘Noles!!). At the time it seemed everyone was enthralled with the action on the field, but few seemed overly concerned about the future health of the players. Many people cheered for yard gains and devastating blocks, but few seemed to think about the long-term effects those hits could have for the boys on the gridiron. Fortunately things are changing.
There is now growing awareness of the effects of repeated head trauma and concussions based on the experiences of professional football players and other athletes like Mohammed Ali. In response the NFL just passed new rules governing hits in the league, hoping to reduce the amount of head injuries sustained by its players. A good move for protecting the long term health of the athletes, and one that’s likely to be replicated by college and high school sports programs as well. It’s a step in the right direction, but based on my experiences there’s still a great deal of information that patients, parents and coaches still need to learn about concussions. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on September 30, 2010
MA drivers younger than 18 are banned from using phones in any capacity while driving.
Lois Lee, MD, MPH, works in Children’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program
CRUNCH!! The sickening sound and subsequent lurch forward were undeniable: the dreaded sound and feel of another car running directly into the back of mine. At first I was shaken, then utterly confused as to how it could have happened. Sure, the roads were a little slick from the rain, but that had lightened up a long time ago. Not only that, but traffic at the time was standing still! How, with dry roads and street congestion, did a driver manage to bump into my car? Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on July 26, 2010
Teen swimmers are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors
Lois Lee, MD, MPH, works in Children’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program
As a physician, there are certain patients’ stories that stay with you long after you’ve treated them. The dog days of summer remind me of when I was a resident and treated a teenager who nearly drowned in a lake. The patient survived, but only after suffering severe brain damage. He was part of a larger group of kids who went to a nearby lake to escape the heat and blow off some steam, but one of them couldn’t swim well and got in trouble. My patient saw him struggling and bound out into the deep waters to help. Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on May 27, 2010
It was reported yesterday that a toddler in Lowell fell out of a second-story window and had to be rushed to Children’s Hospital Boston for emergency care. Falls from windows are very dangerous for toddlers and small children, and as the weather gets warmer the number cases involving kids tumbling through windows that are only screened in are expected to rise.
In this installment of her monthly injury prevention column Lois Lee, MD, MPH of Children’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program, discusses the dangers of leaving windows open in homes with small children.
Full story »
by Lois Lee, MD, MPH on May 24, 2010
Lois K. Lee, MD, MPH of Children’s Hospital Boston’s Emergency Department Injury Prevention Program will be featured on ABC’s Nightly News later this week as part of a segment on the dangers of ‘button batteries.’ In an effort to better inform our readers, Lee wrote a Thrive post specifically detailing the dangers these tiny batteries pose to kids, and offers tips for parents on how to help keep their children safe from accidentally ingesting of one.
Lois Lee, MD, MPH
Working in the very busy emergency room here at Children’s Hospital Boston, I have unfortunately had to take care of many children who have placed foreign objects in their noses or ears, or have swallowed a foreign object like a coin. Inevitably, parents usually ask me, “Why did they do it?” Often, the only answer I can give them is, “Because they can.”
Full story »
