Dr. Alisa Christine Van cleave M.D.

In a new study, researchers analyzed data from four different studies to see if childhood obesity results in an increased risk of heart disease and other health problems. Results of the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that obese children who cut down weight and reach...

Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix, a tube-like extension attached to the large intestine. The appendix has no known function, but one thing for certain is that one can live without it with no apparent consequences.Appendicitis is a life and death kind of matter and should be treated...

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are often thought of in regard to adults, and cases of UTIs in children seem unusual. They are not. The mechanism by which UTIs develop does not discriminate by age, and the same E. Coli bacteria can affect a child just as easily as an adult. However, UTIs affect 2%...

The causing factor of chickenpox and the ways of transmissionThe causing agent is a virus called varicella-zoster, which is an airborne and really contagious germ. It can be spread while coughing and sneezing, with little droplets of the mucus thrown from the nose and throat. Another way of catching...

Social DifficultiesSocial disconnection is one of the most obvious signs of autism. Children with autism may appear uninterested, or unable to communicate and connect to the social world. Children with autism may not respond to their name being called, and may seem very distant. This is because they...

Autism was always considered to be a boy’s disorder. Girls are diagnosed with autism, too, but at a much lower rate; five times as many boys are diagnosed with autism as are girls.That may not necessarily be because boys have autism more frequently than girls, though. It is possible that girls...