What is the biggest threat to the future of medicine? The biggest threat to the future of medicine is not what you think. It’s not the impending likelihood that antibiotic resistance may be the leading cause of death by 2050.[1] It’s not the burdening of our healthcare system with lifestyle-related noncommunicable diseases that kill over 7 in 10 people around the world each year.[2] It’s not the mental health crisis that has caused 1 in 5 high school students to think about suicide, and 1 in 10 to actually go through with it.[3] So what IS the biggest threat to the future of medicine? The b ..read more

[UPDATED: September 26, 2021 to take into account data since the Delta variant became the predominant SARS-coV-2 strain in the US at the end of June 2021.] The World Health Organization acknowledged in its scientific brief on COVID-19 Natural Immunity dated May 10, 2021 (1) that: “Natural infection may provide similar protection against symptomatic disease as vaccination.” It’s time for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to acknowledge the same. It’s time to look at the scientific data showing that natural immunity from prior COVID-19 infection is not only as protective, but may actually b ..read more

[UPDATED: September 26, 2021 to take into account data since the Delta variant became the predominant SARS-coV-2 strain in the US at the end of June 2021.] Some parents had already decided that they were going to be the first in line to get a COVID-19 vaccine, as soon as Emergency Use Authorization was granted by the FDA for use in 12 to 15-year-olds on May 10, 2021. And now are anxiously awaiting authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds expected shortly. Other parents had already decided that there was no way they would ever get a COVID-19 vaccine for their kids, even if Eme ..read more

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of Vitamin C and Zinc for immune support during the pandemic. I teach about these supplements and more in my online course, Integrative and Functional Medicine Strategies for the Pandemic, and I have helped 100s of families successfully manage COVID-19 quickly and effectively without longhaul complications.  So, when the COVID A to Z study was recently published concluding that high-dose zinc and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) are NOT effective at reducing the duration of COVID-19 symptoms, many of you asked how to make sense of these new findings. Upon ca ..read more

We’ve all heard discussion around the potential negative consequences of remote learning, including: Social disconnection Academic loss Socio-emotional & developmental regressions But what about the complications that no one is talking about?  The ones that may be preventable?  The ones that we as parents can actually do something about? Since we went into lockdown and remote learning began in March 2020, I’ve seen some surprising trends in my patients’ physical & mental health – some predictable, some not. These are based solely on my observations in my practice and ..read more

Vitamin D – the “sunshine” vitamin – is literally my favorite vitamin in the whole wide world (although technically it’s actually a hormone, not a vitamin). And now, the world is finally giving vitamin D the place in the sun it deserves.  The UK is giving all vulnerable citizens a bottle of Vitamin D this winter (1). An international group of health, science and medical experts (including me!) have signed an open letter to world governments that Vitamin D should be prioritized for ALL healthy adults (2,3) – and let’s please not forget children!  As a holistic pediatrician and pediat ..read more

Could your child have PANS/PANDAS? Do you have a child who was totally “normal” one day, and the next day suddenly has new anxieties, fears, tantrums or rages, OCD behaviors and maybe even tics? Does your toddler have out-of-control tantrums, and your friends and parents think you may have parenting issues? Or do you have a child who has always been more anxious, but now has gradually worsening separation anxiety and mood swings, who used to be a great student but is now barely holding on because she can’t focus and has difficulty processing or remembering what she’s learned just the day befor ..read more

As the start of the 2020-21 school year rapidly approaches, many of you have asked how I think schools should re-open. As a pediatrician who has cared for patients with COVID-19, a parent of 2 school-age children, and a mother of 2 children who had COVID-19 (1 of whom was hospitalized and had all the signs of possibly heading toward MIS-C), I have a unique perspective that I want to share. Know that this is my opinion, based on the limited yet emerging data we have about COVID-19 in kids, my personal and clinical experiences as a mother and pediatrician, and the reality we’re living in – whic ..read more

By now, many of you have heard that the UK has issued an “urgent alert” to all British physicians about a rare complication being seen in children called Kawasaki disease (1) – likely linked to COVID-19, upending our previous thoughts that children are “immune” to serious COVID-19 disease. Similar reports have come out of Italy and Spain. There are increasing reports of other “non-classic” presentations of COVID-19 in children, including “Covid-toe” and hallucinations. And as I look back over the last month, I’ve seen ALL of these. My son with auditory and visual hallucinations (who ended up ..read more