Ask Dr. Mom

since August 14, 1998

This is the place to ask all your questions. Read what Doctor Mom said to other questioners.

Is excess weight a really a health risk?

*** Fat may not always be unhealthy, experts say Fat may not always be an automatic indicator that someone is unhealthy, researchers said Thursday. They said more careful measurements can show someone's precise health risks and might be a better way of measuring obesity. The most common measurement of obesity right now is body mass index, or BMI. This is calculated by dividing someone's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. So for example someone who is five feet, five inches tall, or 1.65 meters, and weighs 132 pounds or 60 kg, has a BMI of 22. A BMI of 25 or above is considered overweight and one of 30 or above is obese.

Help! My child has molluscum contagiousum and I don't want to have them burned off.
(These are little pearl-like warts. They come en mass.)

According to _Pharmacist's Letter_ in the July 1993 issue, cimetidine (Tagamet) was being used to treat chronic warts in children.

"It often helps when nothing else works...probably because cimetidine stimulates the immune system. They're giving children about 30 mg/kg/day divided into 3 to 4 daily doses. Kids over 100 pounds should get usual adult doses. It takes about 8 weeks for the warts to disappear. " This very short article also cautioned to watch for children that are on concommitant use of theophylline (Theodure) or phenytoin (Dilantin) as blood levels should be monitored to prevent adverse effects. (Curran was on Dilantin when he took the cure.)

Note for the chemically sensitive:
A word about smells bothering you. Just because you CAN smell something, even if it is strong, does not mean it is harming you. You can use the pulse test if you are not aware of any respiratory systems. If your pulse is elevated, then that smell is stressing your system. Sometimes we can develop conditioned responses to things we fear or had a reaction to in the past. For example, I feel my chest tightening up when I just SEE a cigar. Even if it is 500 ft away, outdoors! Conditioned response. Watch out for them. Don't fear too much.

Sometimes at night, my legs feel all jumpy, like I have to move them. What can I do?

Essential Fatty Acids What is an omega-3 fatty acid? Who needs omega-6 fatty acids?

Asthma at School This child only has breathing problems in school. What should I look for?

Tired during the day My husband can't stay awake. Sleep problems can kill.

Baking Soda Important! What is the trick for food and drug reactions? READ THIS NOW. It can save a life.

What I know about Retinopathy of Prematurity
Several of my friends have this form of blindness. I would like to be kept informed of current research in this field.

Winter-time eczema and bad breath: Besides this page, I just read that children in hard water areas
are more likely to have eczema.

Tantrums! Help me keep from killing this kid!

I have become a vaccine heretic. Go here for the National Vaccine Injury Center.

I gave them a nice donation. It was my ex-mother-in-law who first alerted me to the connection between allergies and vaccines. She pointed out that her son never had allergies before his shots. I started watching. Sure enough, a vaccination resulted in my boys getting really allergic and hyper for 3 weeks afterward. What do you expect from putting foreign proteins directly into your system? That is how Seyle gave anaphylaxis to rats. (Hans Selye- The Stress of Life ca. 1940s) After Curran was born, I met people whose children were vaccine injured. Not a pretty sight. I myself, got my arthritis and muscle pains after my rubella vaccination in 1978.

Future topics

Recurrent ear infections