• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

Did you know astronauts nap? While two fly the plane one takes a 40 minute nap. NASA found that for 26 minutes of that time the astronaut was asleep and the entire 40 minutes boosted their performance by 34% and their alertness by 54 percent. This got me thinking about all those “stop” signs I went through when my kids were young and I was severely sleep deprived and how a 40 minute nap could have been my ticket to… well, less tickets. Lately I’ve been obsessed with napping, of sorts. Not the fall flat-on-your-face-and-collapse nap (I know those... read more

• Last updated 8/12/10 by Mothering Editorial

April 17, 2010 The Indian Council of Medical Research has suspended the cervical cancer control vaccination program for girls in India. According to Mercola.com, the program is part of a two year study to look into the "utility of a vaccine in public health programs and acceptability of Gardasil, the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine made by Merck [a US pharmaceutical company]." The suspension was made after four deaths and more than 120 complications were reported by young women who had received the Gardasil vaccine. 1Concerns have surrounded the use of Gardasil in... read more

• Last updated 5/6/10 by Mothering Editorial

My 2 yr old got MMR vaccine, 7 days later she developed a low grade fever. I recently noticed a swollen lymph node on the side of her neck. Could this be from the vaccine? It is a little larger than 1 cm. She also had a sandpaper like rash on her forehead.I'm sorry, but I am not a medical expert.  I am a computer scientist who manages the MedAlerts.org website which presents the U.S. Government's VAERS data. You can use MedAlerts to search for other similar events.  If you type "lymph" into the "WriteUp" field (in section 2 of the search form) and select the MMR... read more

• Last updated 1/5/11 by Mothering Editorial

I had both my sons circumcised. At the time, it seemed like a no brainer - since my husband and everyone else we knew had it done. I wasn't even aware that there may be an issue or consequence regarding it, and am not sure what the facts are since my doctor was a conventional OB (I had 2 C-Sections due to breech babies). Can you help share some specific information with me regarding circumcision?This is a difficult time because, as the USA is becoming a non-circumcising country, we are learning that the foreskin is a normal, protective body part and it belongs to our... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

I waited two months to get my children an appointment with a new dentist. She is one of two who takes the Oregon Health Plan, a state-funded insurance program for kids who qualify. We’ve really been feeling the pinch of the recession and our family, unfortunately, more than qualifies. I was so glad that OHP includes dental coverage. It’s been a year since the kids have seen a dentist. The appointment was for 2:20 p.m and I called around 1:00 p.m. to confirm. We arrived early. The receptionist handed me some paperwork. Included in the paperwork... read more

• Last updated 3/31/10 by Mothering Editorial

My one year old son is not circumcised and is having a problem with his foreskin allowing the urine to drain. Basically, the urine builds up in the foreskin like a water balloon and then drains slowly. It's only a few second process, but it's very noticeable. We saw a Urologist today and he recommended circumcision. The opening is so small, it can't really be located. He informed us that there is a steroid cream application that we could try, but when pressed for an answer he stated that because the opening is so small, it probably wouldn't work. If we do have to... read more

• Last updated 3/31/10 by Mothering Editorial

Recently I came across the following story on a court ruling that found vaccines were not the cause of autism. I am interested to know what information is available from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System on vaccines and autism so that I can better understand the issue. Here is a link to the news story on NPR. http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/03/court_vaccines_dont_cause_aust.htmlLet me start by pointing out that I am not a medical professional.  I am a computer scientist who examines the U.S. Government's VAERS data and posts it at MedAlerts.org.  So... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

Hey, I’m in the thick of hideous clouds of juniper pollen here in Santa Fe. Cherilyn Swenson of Spabox dropped by and gave me some sweet relief in the form of Clear My Head 2 Go Roll On Inhalation. It helps. Benadryl did nothing, nor did Claritin (although they work for some). As I mentioned, doing the neti pot helped last night, but it’s not something I want to do in the work bathroom sink area. I roll the inhalation it over my sinuses, as the skin under my nose is currently too sensitive to go near. We had a great time talking about some other brands... read more

• Last updated 3/24/10 by Mothering Editorial

March 24, 2010 In its pursuit of banning the use of mercury in medicine, unless proven safe by appropriate toxicity studies, today the nonprofit Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs (CoMeD, Inc.) filed declarations from pregnant women harmed by Thimerosal-containing influenza shots in the US District Court for the District of Columbia (case: 1:2009cv-00015).  These declarations report that health care providers seemed to be largely unaware of the continuing presence of mercury in vaccines and that these providers often failed to accurately disclose the known risks to the... read more

• Last updated 3/24/10 by Mothering Editorial

March 25, 2010 US nonprofit Intact America has released a call for signatures to their petition "Say No to Circumcision" intended for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who is considering a general recommendation of circumcision for all infant boys in the US. An explanation and link to the petition can be found below, please consider raising your voice to help Intact America reach this important goal of 25,000 signatures. From Intact America: "No professional medical association in the world has ever recommended infant circumcision. But as you read this, the CDC... read more