Dr. James E. LaMar, M.D., M.P.H.

To prevent motion sickness there are a number of things you can do:
• Consume foods and drinks that agree with you. Avoid excessive alcohol and foods or liquids that cause you indigestion, nausea or gas or make you feel unusually full. Heavy, spicy, or fat-rich foods may worsen motion sickness.
• Choose a seat where you will experience the least motion. The middle of an airplane over the wing is the calmest area of an airplane. On a ship, those in lower level cabins near the center of a ship usually experience less motion than higher or outer cabins.
• Do not sit facing backwards from your direction of travel.
• Sit in the front seat of a car.
• Do not read while traveling if you are prone to motion sickness.
• When traveling by car or boat, it can sometimes help to keep your gaze fixed on the horizon or on a fixed point.
• Open a vent or source of fresh air if possible.
• The over-the-counter medication meclizine (trade names are Bonine, Antivert, Dramamine) can be a very effective preventive measure for short trips or for mild cases of motion sickness.
• Your doctor also may choose to prescribe medications for longer trips or if you repeatedly develop severe motion sickness. The most common prescription medication is a patch containing scopolamine (Transderm-Scop). You would apply the patch about 4 hours before travel. Its major side effect is drowsiness.

Immunizations are the best method to prevent disease, so get your child an annual flu immunization and make sure all of the rest of the CDC recommended immunizations for children are done and kept up to date.

For the common cold and other childhood illnesses, regular handwashing is the best preventive measure. Have your child get in the habit of washing hands before every meal and before bed.

From your question, I would say that your family's tendency to premature graying is due to genetics. When graying hair is the result of genetics, there is little that a person can do to stop this from happening. If premature graying is due to either a nutritional deficiency in vitamin B-12 or a medical condition related to the pituitary or thymus gland, it may be possible to reverse premature graying by correcting these problems through treatment.

Discuss this with your son's pediatrician. I think that a check-up every six months till he is five would be advisable and then after that, only as needed. But let your son's pediatrician make that decision.

You have done the most important thing to prevent lung diseases, quit Smoking. Congratulations!! So, to keep your lungs in shape, exercise at least 150 minutes a week and avoid second-hand smoke. Using your lung by exercising is the best way to prevent problems.

Check out this link form the Center for Disease Control on all the benefits you have from quitting smoking: https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/benefits/index.htm

The common cold is caused by over 200 viruses. Most are spread by the hands, like after shaking hands. The best way to stop the spread is by washing your hands often and not touching your face. This is hard to do with kids, which is why they get ill so often. Best way to minimize your child's risk of catching colds is to have them wash their hands before every meal and at bedtime.

The risk of certain cancers can be reduced. Not smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke is the number 1 thing you can do to reduce your risk of cancer. Knowing your family history and getting the best form of screening for that type of cancer is another way to reduce risk. Screening can take many forms, such as with a mammogram (breast cancer), colonoscopy (colon cancer), chest X-ray (lung cancer), or skin checks by your physician (basal and squamous cell cancers and melanoma). Eating well, regular exercise, and staying at your optimum weight will also reduce your risk of cancer.

Yes, but which vaccinations and Malaria prophylaxis medications you need depend on what areas you are visiting in Africa. I recommend you see your Personal Physician. He/she and you can get the information needed from the CDC at this website: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list/

Yes, you can and should get the Chickenpox vaccine. It is a two dose immunization series for someone your age and the second dose must be 28 days after the initial.

No, this should have no health effects. Filtered water will remove sediments from your water that may prevent corrosion in your house's pipes and allow you to use less soap, but showering or bathing in it is not harmful to your health.

Go to this weblink; all your questions and concerns should be addressed: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

You are doing all the right things. Highly processed foods or meats that have been burned or overcooked should be avoided. Apples and oatmeal are good sources of fiber.

Get the flu immunization. The CDC and I recommend that women who are or will be pregnant during the influenza season and women up to two weeks after delivery should get the flu shot.

I advise you to see your Personal Physician. He can order liver function tests and do a full history and physical examination. That way he can determine if your liver is the cause.

That all depends on various factors such as your age, your family history, etc. The purpose is to find if your baby has any chromosomal issues that may lead to lifetime medical conditions.