Announcer 1: This is PediaCast.

[Music]

Announcer 2: Welcome to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for parents. And now, direct from the campus of Nationwide Children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike! Dr.

Mike Patrick: Hello, everyone, and welcome to PediaCast a pediatric podcast for moms and dads. It is Dr. Mike coming to you from the the campus of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. And this is Episode 180, and it's going to be a little different that our last few have been. We've had kind of a series of interviews, and because of that we've let the news and your questions in a simmer, but it's time to bring them to the forefront.

01:01

So we're going to talk about some News Parents Can Use, and then we have some answers to listener questions for you this episode as well. So I want to welcome all of you to the show. Before we get started I just want to kind of check in with everyone. The questions continue to roll in, but I have a lot of feedback on the show itself. And the reason that I kind of like that feedback is we've made some big changes over the summer in terms of mixing up interview shows and then doing new shows, and listener shows as separate ones.

So we've been really going more with about 20 to 30 minute show instead of an hour long mega episodes that we've had been having in the past. So I just wanted a little bit of feedback on that, what you think with the shorter shows and are we getting to the news and the listener questions often enough for you or would you like to hear more of that? Are we too strong on the interviews? Too late on the interviews? What do you think?

02:01

So I just wanted to get some of that feedback. Also wanted to talk a little bit here about as school get started, a lot of families seems things get pretty crazy, and you know, the kids are gone all day and mom and dad possibly both are at work all day. Sometimes the parent-kiddo quality time starts to slip a little bit. And I just want to encourage everyone out there, you know, I was in the show by saying stay involved with your kids, and I think that's really important.

And so I would just encourage you to make some special time especially when you have older kids. You know, when you have toddlers, I mean, from a safety standpoint when they're awake you're around. But it's easy to let the older kiddos, the preteens, and the teenagers kind of start to slip by and they're doing their own thing, and you're doing your thing. So make sure you check in with them. For us college football season is a great opportunity for me to spend time with my kids because we go to the Ohio State Buckeye games, the homes games.

03:06

And we usually go like three hours. We leave the house about three hours before kick off time. We get to the stadium early and we have meaningful conversation while the teams are warming up and the rest of the fans are piling in. And I will say if my kids roll their eyes at this and didn't like it, they would let me know. But they love it. And so it's just some time for little quality one on one dad-daughter or dad-son time depending on the game.

So I would encourage all of you, I'm not trying to stand up on my soapbox here because I certainly myself need to spend more time with my kids. So I think it's really important and as the school year get started and the busyness settles in, I just wanted to remind you that's important. All right. So what are we going to talk about today? Well in the news segment Sponge Bob is in trouble, we're going to talk about that as it relates to attention and behavioral issues in children especially young kids.

04:11

Also pesticide maybe associated with ADHD, we're going to talk about that. Windows are dangerous, and we're going to look a little bit at the statistics on how many kids fall out of windows and are injured enough to have to go to the hospital or be admitted to the hospital. So window dangers, and then finally the news; what do senior citizens, elementary kids, and exercise have in common, you might be surprised.

And then we're going to take some listener questions, breastfeeding and X-rays, and contrast materials for X-rays, is it safe to breastfeed after you've been dosed up with radiation or a contrast material. Also coffee drinking in little kids, and deodorant use in little kids, we're going to discuss those things. And then finally we'll round things out with the new segment I'm calling "My Two Cents", and it's really more of an official commentary.

05:04

As you folks know, I am not afraid to comment on my feelings about things and so this is just going to be a time when I can more formally give you my two cents rather than just straight facts. And today's topic is going to be Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and the scuffle on the HPV vaccine. So I'll give you my thoughts on that. I want to remind you if there is a particular topic that you would like us to talk about, it's easy to get a hold of us, just go to pediacast.org and click on the contact link.

You can also email PediaCast@gmail.com. And the Skype line is open 347-404-KIDS. That’s 347-404-5437. We'd love to get your voice and your question or comments on the air. I want to remind you also the information presented in every episode of PediaCast is purpose for general education, OK. We do not diagnose medical conditions and we do not formulate treatment plans for specific individuals.

06:05

If you have a concern about your child's health, make sure you call your doctor and arrange a face to face interview and hands on physical examination. Also, your use of this audio program is subject to the PediaCast terms of use agreement and you can find that over at pediacast.org. All right. So let's take a very quick break and we'll be back with the News Parents Can Use, right after this.

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Dr. Mike Patrick: All right. We all know that Sponge Bob can't be exactly good for your health, right?

07:02

I mean, that just sort of seems intuitive, you know what I'm saying. And yet you can't sometimes draw yourself away from Sponge Bob. So we're not here to condemn Sponge Bob, although I think that there are some out there who would like to do that. So you know, is Sponge Bob -it can't be good for your health, right? That seems intuitive, but what about scientific?

Well we didn't really have any studies on Sponge Bob until now. Researchers from the University of Virginia set out to prove the 'Sponge Bob hypothesis' that Sponge Bob might be bad for your health. And it took 64-year olds and divided them into three groups. Group one watched as the researchers put it, 'A truncated episode of a very popular fantastical cartoon about an animated sponge that lives under the see'. But we all know who they're talking about. Group two watched a truncated episode of a realistic PBS cartoon about a typical U.S. preschool aged boy, better known as "Caillou".

08:03

And I don't know if you've seen Caillou, but I'm not so sure I'll describe him as a typical U.S., preschool aged boy, but that's for another discussion. And group three spent the same amount of time engaged with paper, crayons, and markers. Now immediately following their timed activity, all children were asked to perform four tasks and these tasks included games with rules that had to be followed and activities in which snacks were promised, but delayed.

So they had to wait for their snacks, but they knew they were out there. So I don't know is this ringing as sort of unethical to anyone out there to make a kid do this things, perform tasks, and 'Hey there's foods set in on the table, but you can't have it yet. So researchers observed and scored each child's performance based on the specific predetermined criteria and then they compared the scores of the three groups in terms of their attention and behavior.

09:01

The Sponge Bob group performed the worst -worse than the other two groups. And the Caillou and the drawing groups both scored about the same and the results were statistically significant and reported in the Journal of Pediatrics. OK. So now we have scientific proof that Sponge Bob actually does rot your brain, right? See we knew it was true, and it was true. I'm kidding of course. And I have to put on a disclaimer here, I actually personally know a former Sponge Bob animator who's a friend of the family. He doesn't do it anymore, but there was a time when Sponge Bob was front and foremost in his mind because he was actually animating the show.

So what is this all tell us really? Well in my opinion it doesn't tell us much. So you over stimulate a four year old with Sponge Bob and Patrick, and Squidward and they're continually moving underwater mayhem in and around the Krusty Krab.

10:00

And then you expect them to sit down immediately after and play a quiet game while they're waiting for a snack, they aren't allowed to have. Did we really need to study to tell us that this was going to be a problem? I mean, this is Preschool 101 moms and dads. Does it mean Sponge Bob gives your kid ADHD? No. Does it work up your kid? Sure.

Just like watching and nail bitingly close Ohio State football game fires me up. You know, for you maybe it's watching your team in the playoffs or clinging to your seat during a NASCAR race. I mean, as adults we probably are in the best condition to play a quiet game following the big game. But does that mean we are diseased? No. I think it's just our brain in action. You fire up the chemicals and it takes some time for the noggin' to simmer down. See I'm doing it now, just getting excited about the results of the study, I might as well be watching Sponge Bob.

This is science reporting normal physiology folks, nothing to see here. So does that mean you should plop your kid down in front of Sponge Bob for hours at a time? Of course not. Moderation is the key, little Sponge Bob, little game time, a little quiet time, little reading, little drawing, lots of physical activity.

11:08

We just need to be aware of how much and in what order to do them. All right. Let's move on to something that's more of a real concern as it relates to ADHD. This too was published in the Journal of Pediatrics. Canadian researchers think that pesticides in food maybe related to ADHD and they're urging parents to buy organic especially when it comes to the dirty dozen food that are most likely to collect, store, and pass on this chemicals to your kids.

The pesticides also known as "Organophosphates" enter the body through foods are broken down into body and their by-products are excreted in the urine making it relatively easy to measure exposure. Previous studies have shown that reducing organophosphate exposure by switching to organic fruits and vegetables -those grown in the absence of this chemicals reduces the by-products measured in the urine by 85-90%.

12:00

So this seems to be the real deal. We know where the pesticides come from. We know how they get in the body. We know how they're excreted from the body. We know how to measure them, and we know that switching to organic foods drastically reduces exposure. Now the question before these researchers were; what exactly do this chemicals do while they're in the body? Well they looked just over a 1,000 kids and broke them into two groups based on how much organophosphate by-products was measured in their urine. Then they compare the incidents of diagnosed ADHD between the two groups and they found that those in the high organophosphate group were twice as likely to have ADHD compared to those in the low organophosphate group. Twice as likely -so I don't know, to me this is a wow. Now obviously there are a lot of other factors in the development of ADHD, genetics being one of the the clear ones. But they're still pretty impressive results and enough to make me want to think about buying organic fruits and vegetables wen possible. Now, I mentioned the Dirty Dozen and those are foods that suck up and deliver the pesticides to those of the ones you most want to buy organic.

13:07

And what exactly are those? Well the environmental working group has come up with a card that you can download and just a reference card you could put in your coupon book, take it with you to the grocery store for quick reference. And it has a list of the Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables and then it also has a list of the Clean 15 which are 15 fruits and vegetables which don't suck up the organophosphates quite as easily. So if you head over to pediacast.org and click on the show notes and look for episode 180, we'll have a link for you to the environmental working group and their Dirty Dozen,, Clean 15 reference card over there. And this gives you a good excuse to head on over to pediacast.org. we have a new website for you and it's not just the same girl with a different dress, I mean, this is a brand new website from the ground up, the underlying engine is different.

14:01

And one of the things I'm really excited about is the search engine works very well. And I know in the past we've had search capability app at pediacast.org because you know what, the 180 episodes we have lots of information and you want an easy way to figure out your particular topic that you want to know about to find the episode where we discussed it. Before it was kind of frustrating, but the search function does very well now. So if you haven't seen the new site please check it out at pediacast.org. All right. Windows are a part of everyday life for children in the United States.

While many parents know that windows can be a hazard for their child, they may not be aware just how often things can take a turn for the worse. A new study conducted by researchers here at the Center for Injury Research and Policy of the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that approximately 5,200 children and adolescents 17 years of age and younger were treated in U.S., emergency departments each year from 1990 through 2008 for injuries sustained due to falls from windows.

15:03

This translates to approximately 14 children being injured as a result of a window fall everyday in the United States. The study which appears in this month's print issue, The Journal of Pediatrics found that children zero to four years of age were especially vulnerable than only accounting for a majority 65% of the injuries, but also having a higher rate of serious injury resulting in hospitalization or death. Children who fell from a height of three or more stories or who have landed on a hard surface such as concrete or brick were also at increase risk for serious injury.

The study senior author Dr. Gary Smith, Director of the Center for Injury Research and policy says, "Window fall injuries are serious. In fact one in every four children in our study was hospitalized as a result of their injury. We know from successful community education and prevention programs in New York City and Boston that child injuries due to falls from windows can be prevented and we need to do a better job protecting our children from these types of serious injuries."

16:06

In this study more than 190 children fell from windows each year after gaining access to the window by climbing on the furniture placed near the window, therefore furniture should be move away from windows to help keep young children safe. In addition, it's important for parents to understand window screens will not prevent a child from falling out of the window. Dr. Smith reports, "Many children in the study pushed off screen out of the window and then fell to the ground." So what can you do to prevent injuries from window falls? Well, install window guards on all second story or higher windows in places where young children live or visit. Remember that screens will not prevent a child from falling out of a window. If windows are open, use window stops to prevent the window from opening more than four inches, move all furniture away from windows, and remember that fire escapes, roofs, balconies, etcetera are not safe places for children to play and educate older children on the dangers of climbing out or jumping from windows.

17:01

And also consider planting bushes or flower beds under windows as these may soften the landing surface and reduce the severity of injury in the event of a fall. All right. Moving on, in Tampa senior citizens are sharing the importance of exercise with elementary students. Tampa Bay Online reports that five senior citizen residents of the Sun City Center have formed a group called 'Fitness One America'. The seniors visit elementary schools and give a 45 minute presentation on the importance of exercise at a young age. The program includes talks, a video presentation,interactive exercise with a handful of the students and it wraps up with a swing dance demonstration. The eldest of the group, 90 year old Sol Fried, recently told a group of the students, "Too many of our young people are not taking care of their bodies and are spending too much time at their TV screens, computer, and video games. Reduce the time you spend being a looker-on, one who watches others move. You be a part of the picture, not the watcher." So how is this for a great match-up? And perhaps it's when you could facilitate in your community.

18:03

I'll put a link to the full story in the Show notes over at pediacast.org, and you put a call into your local senior center and elementary school and who knows maybe you'll get them talking. All right. We're going to take a quick break and we will be back to answer your questions right after this. [Music] Dr. Mike Patrick: OK. First stop in our listener's segment is a thank you from Elizabeth in Canyon, Texas. And Elizabeth says, "I just wanted you to know that your podcast got me through my youngest child's babyhood. I got my iPod when he was an infant in 2007, and I would sit up with him at night in the nursing chair with your podcast on. It was definitely great to get parenting support while all so tired out. I lost track of you for a bit and I'm now trying to figure out how to get your back on to my iPod. Thanks for sending me to Manic Mommies, also a great resource for me as a working mom."

19:19

Thanks for the support Elizabeth. And there's a couple of applications that I find personally useful for keeping track of podcast on my iPod or my iPhone actually. One is called iCatcher!, and the other is Downcast. I've used both of them and they're great. You basically use the app's search function to find the podcast or you can insert the URL of a show's feed if you know it. Both apps search for new shows and then download them over wi-fi or through 3G, and keeps you up to date and organize with your podcast collection without the need of tendering up to your computer's version of iTunes. So I'll put a link to both of those apps in the Show notes, iCatcher!, and Downcast.

20:00

OK. So our first actual question comes from Radic in Poland. And Radic says, "Hi, Dr. Mike. At first thanks for such good podcast. I'm a father of 14-month old daughter and I really enjoy listening to the podcast and learning things from you. I'm writing because my wife has gotten a tomography of sinuses and is still breastfeeding. We wanted to find answer if she can nurse after the tomography. The research in Google gave different answers. Some say it's OK, that there's no evidence of a problem, other say wait 24 hours before breastfeeding again. So if there is no evidence that mother shouldn't breastfeed for 24 hours after tomography, why do some sites say not to breastfeed for 24 hours? And what about plain X-rays, maybe the info was in some podcast, but I couldn't find. Thanks in advance, Radic. Well, Radic in Poland, thanks for your question. So plain X-rays are not a issue. You know, the radiation is just there for that moment in time, doesn't have any lasting effects on breastmilk. And so if you have plain X-rays and then could breastfeed right afterward, not going to be an issue. 21:03 But what about with tomography? Tomography is a fancy name for a CAT Scan. CT of CAT Scan stands for Computerized Axial Tomography, that's where we get the term CAT Scan. And basically it takes a bunch of X-rays and cross section or slices that put together by computer. Then we also probably got to mention MRI's which there's no radiation involved with MRI's, it just uses magnets, so radiation is not an issue with MRI's. And again in terms of breastfeeding, the radiation from CAT Scan is also not going to be a problem. So the issue that we're talking about here is IV contrast. So if you're getting a tomography or CT Scan, and they're going to us IV contrast, is that going to be an issue for breastfeeding? Is the IV contrast harmful to your baby?

22:00

Well, the truth is we don't know for sure. And we do know that only a very small amount of the contrast material makes it into the breastmilk. It ends up being less that 1% of the IV contrast dose actually makes it into the breastmilk. And then less than 1% of that 1% or less than 1% ends up being absorbed by the baby's gastrointestinal tract and making it into the rest of the baby's body. So they're getting less than 1% of less than 1%. So we know the exposure is very, very low, but there haven't really been any studies to show whether that is dangerous exposure. Now, of course you have to keep in mind babies themselves sometimes need IV contrast for their own CAT Scans, and aside from rare, but potentially serious allergic reactions, there really aren't any known concerning effects of brief intermittent exposure to radiology contrast. But it's still sort of a black box, we don't know for sure because the study just aren't out there.

23:03

And since IV contrast clears from the mother's milk by 24 hours, some advocate pumping and dumping for 24 hours after they have the contrast dose. Personally that's probably what I would do, just for peace of mind,, you know, it's probably fine. And again I'm just saying what you found on Google that it's probably fine. But you know, for peace of mind since we don't know for sure, it's fine to pump and dump for one day. Now is this being overly cautious? Yeah, maybe it is. So then the next thing is, what is the official stands of the radiology field? Well, they spoke to the issue in 2010, The American College of Radiology there Committee on Drug and Contrast Media puts out a manual on contrast media for radiologist to look at and what did they say in their 2010 report. Well, they admit that there's not much literature regarding safety. They point out that study show less than 1% of contrast makes it into the breastmilk and less than 1% of that 1% is absorbed by the baby's GI tract. So again, they say exposure is very low.

24:11

And this is true for both of the major types of contrast. The two major types being iodinated X-ray contrast, and gadolinium based contrast. So what are the recommendations? Well, they say the available data suggest this is now their words. The available data suggest it is safe for mother and infant to continue breastfeeding after the mother receives contrast agents, but they hedge a little. They believe that mother should be given the information we just discussed and if the mother so desires, she may abstain from breastfeeding for 24 hours with active expression and discarding of breastmilk from both breasts during that period. OK. So we've been very helpful here, right? It's safe, but if mom wants to wait 24 hours that's fine too. Now I'm not sure that's 100% reassuring. And again if it were my wife and my baby, I'd probably go to wait 24 hour, but that's me. Hope that helps Radic, and thanks for writing in.

25:02

By the way for those of you who want to know more, we'll put a link on the Show notes to the American College of Radiology, their Committee on Drugs and Contrast Media and their manual on contrast media from 2010. It's a big document, but the breastfeeding discussion begins on page 61, so you can scroll down very quickly and find it. Again that will be in the Show notes over at pediacast.org. All right. next stop is Megan in German Village which is here in Columbus, Ohio. She says, "When my two year old stays with my mom, she insist on giving him sips of her morning coffee because he likes it. Now because it is at home, he loves it. And this gives me a rash, but doesn't have any health effects. She uses regular coffee with artificial creamer and artificial sweetener. My gut tells me the fake creamer and the fake sweetener are worse for him than the coffee. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much, Megan in German Village, right around the corner from Children's.

26:00

Well, thanks for writing in Megan. So let's take a look at the risks and benefits here. I mean, that's how we evaluate things on PediaCast. What are the benefits of letting your child have sips of coffee? Well, in your case it makes your son happy and it makes grandma happy. What are the risks of letting your child have sips of coffee? Well, that gives you a rash apparently, and there's the risk that he may want more. You know, he may start wanting a cup of his own. And you know, there's the risk that you are giving into something that you have said no to which makes him maybe want to be a little more defiant on other issues and topics as they present themselves in the future. There's the nutritional risk that caffeine and artificial sweeteners, but you know, we're talking sips here, so that's probably fine. Caffeine -it's a stimulant, so it can cause behavioral changes, increase heart rate. In large doses there have been anecdotal reports of arrhythmia's and sudden death that could possibly related to the caffeine, so one of the arguments made against energy drinks in teenagers.

27:08

But again these are large doses that we're talking about. so just sips here and there of the caffeine probably is not much of an issue. So you have to sort through this list of risks and benefits and come up with a plan. And here's what would probably happen in our house. I mean, if you're already making coffee and it stays as the occasional sips, I think that's fine, I mean, it's low risk, sometimes you just have to pick your battles. Your son's happy, grandma's happy just let it be. But if he wants more? What if he wants to starts to want a cup of his own? Well, you could put your foot down, but there are many other things and circumstances where you have to put your foot down and you got to pick your battles, is this really another instance where you want to pick your battle. And you may, you may want to do that. You could also go to creative route, put a splash of coffee in a small cup of milk, call it kid coffee or something fun, maybe add a touch of flavor of Nestle Kwik, just a touch something similar to that.

28:06

Basically make your version of kid coffee more fun than grandma's so when he visits grandma he wants mommy's coffee. Of course it might tick off grandma and start a war if who can make the drink your son likes best which is probably not a healthy family dynamic. So again, there's not right or wrong answer here, you know your family best. If you think it's going to just stick with the occasional sip, then maybe it's just best to go with that. At that point the coffee is no longer forbidden and next week he'll move on to a different issue, and you won't even either worry about it anymore because he won't be asking for a drink and you can move on to the next battle. I'm not sure I really answered your question, Megan, but this is again one of those situations where there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer, but hopefully you have some fresh ideas on approaching the problem. But thanks, Megan. Next stop is Stephanie in Springfield, Illinois. And Stephanie says, "Dear Dr. Mike, I'm very tempted to start having my five year old wear deodorant. I would give her a bath using anti-bacterial soap, but soon after she'll have a bad odor that comes from her underarms.

29:09

I did have a sister who struggled with body odor and I'm concerned about my five year old going through what she went through. Is it OK if I occasionally put deodorant on my daughter. It's a good question, Stephanie. And back in PediaCast 154, we talked about body odor in painstaking detail. We talked about several causes, we talked about the medical work up associated with body odor, we talked about dealing with it at home. But we did not mention deodorant. So I'm going to point you back to episode 154 and I'll put the link in the Show notes from 180, so you don't have to dig too deeply. Just go to pediacast.org, click on the Show notes and for the first one that pops up there should be episode 180 and put a link to 154 for that detailed discussion on body odor. But what about deodorant? Well, deodorant itself is not really much of an issue, I mean, you're just hiding the smell with another smell.

30:01

Some kids can get skin rashes because of the deodorant, so you have to watch out for that. But if a little deodorant now and then is all you need to deal with the issue and the deodorant is not causing a rash, then for my own kids that's what I would do. I think you're fine with that, I don't see a problem with a little deodorant use here and there as long as it's not causing other problems like a bad rash. On the other hand, you maybe able to avoid using the deodorant just by washing the armpits with soap and water, but more often that just bath time. So sort of make it a part of morning, after lunch, after dinner and before bed routine just a quick swipe with a little soap and water, and a washer again that maybe all that you really need to do. But just get her kind of used to that being a part of her daily routine. Now you maybe asking yourself what about antiperspirants or a deodorant antiperspirant combination. Well, I think if the problem is severe enough to take that step, I would definitely see your doctor before you go that route. There are medical conditions that can contribute to body odor and can we talk about those in detail in episode 154.

31:05

And I think it's a good idea to have your child examined by your doctor and to make sure that nothing else is going on before you take that step. So hope that helps, Stephanie. And by the way just to test out that new search function of the new PediaCast website, I did stick body odor in the search box, and what do you know? Episode 154 and episode 19 popped up. So I went back and low and behold we had talked about body odor way back in PediaCast episode 19 as well. I didn't go back and listen to that one, I was little afraid to. Those back in the early days, you know, when we were on a rickety desk and a basement. So I'm not sure how that one's going to sound. But hey, it's there if you want to check it out. All right. We're going to take another quick break and we'll be back with my 2 cents on Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Gardasil, and that is coming up next.

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32:39

OK. So, I'll give you a little background information here. In 2007, Rick Perry, the Texas Governor who is still the Texas Governor, but Republican candidate for the Presidency. In 2007 he signed an executive order making Gardasil, which is the HPV vaccine mandatory, although parents could opt out if they didn't want their kid to have it. But they would have to be given by state mandate.

33:05

Now this was controversial, certainly parents want to partner in health decisions, and the HPV vaccine -Give you a little more background information; HPV is a virus, and so the vaccine helps protect against that virus. And that particular virus has been strongly linked to the development of cervical cancer also causes genital warts, but in terms of cervical cancer it's a strong, strong relationship. and cervical cancer, you know, this is why you get a pap smear to see if you have it and has to be treated and sometimes you lose your uterus because of it. And sometimes you need chemotherapy and so I mean, it could be -it's serious and it can be deadly if it's not caught early. So this is something that can certainly make women more healthy, save lives, prevent cervical cancer by getting the HPV vaccine.

34:00

Now, how do you get HPV? It's a sexually transmitted disease. That's how you get that virus. So the controversy becomes what? You know, this is a little girl and she's not going to get a sexually transmitted disease. So could you hold off on getting that HPV vaccine until she's older and make the choice for herself and what if you she as parent I want her to be abstinent until she gets married anyway and in a perfect world her future husband is going to have been abstinent and so this is not going to be an issue. Of course that's in a perfect world, we all know people make mistakes. So anyway, parents want a partner, this is kind of a controversial issue anyway because of the whole STD and choice related thing. It was also controversial because the vaccine manufacturer had donated money to Perry's campaign. And so if there's a state mandate, you're going to sell more vaccine and you're going to make more money and these people had put money of Perry's pocket, and so it was controversial. And I'm not saying whether it is the right thing or the wrong thing to do.

35:01

I think that his intentions were good, but it was overturned by the Texas legislature and incidentally I think just knowing Rick Perry's politics, he's for a small government not big government. And I think less government intervention in people's lives. And so I really think he was looking out for the good of these kids with regard to future disease -my personal opinion. But hey, this is the My 2 cents segment, so that's allowed. So Michelle Bachmann comes along and gets fired up and called it a 'government injection through executive order', which I don't know, to me that sounds like the death penalty or something -government injection through executive order. So you know, she's using inflammatory language to begin with. So then the next day on NBC's Today Show, Bachmann is talking about a woman that she meets on the campaign trail, and Bachmann's quote is, "She told me their little girl took that vaccine, that injection and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. There is no second chance for these little girls if there is any dangers, consequence to their bodies."

36:14

Now in my opinion this is irresponsible to say. This is obviously an anecdotal report which means that it's a person saying this happened without any scientific proof or knowledge that this is actually a related event that Gardasil or the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation. So next the AAP American Academy of Pediatrics rightly so and this by the way has not gotten as much press. The American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a statement and they said, " We would like to correct false statements made in the Republican presidential campaign that HPV vaccine is dangerous and can cause mental retardation. There is absolutely no scientific validity to this statement. Since the vaccine has been introduced, more than 35 million doses have been administered, and it has an excellent safety record."

37:03

So I'm glad the AAP came out with this. Is Gardasil a good idea? I think it is for the reasons that I mentioned at the beginning of this discussion that HPV is strongly linked to cervical cancer and people make mistakes. And so it's probably a good idea to have that layer of protection -my personal opinion. Should there be a government mandate that says, 'You must have the HPV vaccine'. My gut reaction to that personally is no. I mean, there are some advantages to it being a government mandate, one is that makes the vaccine available free for those who need it, who are not able to pay, and you can say, 'someone has to pay', but those said people who have to pay would be the ones paying for the treatment of those folks with cervical cancer treatments down the road. So it's that cost effect of I think in terms of the prevention aspect, so you're not treating cancer later. It also forces kids to see a doctor.

38:00

I think it's good to have that for parents to opt out, so it's still is a partnership decision and parents can say, "Hey, you know what? I've gotten the facts and I don't want to do it, but at least I had to go to the doctor to get the facts", although I know some doctors would actually give -be a little more that just give you the facts. It may become an unpleasant experience because the doctor really want you to do it, you don't want to, so I get that. And I think it was nice that Rick Perry did include that parent opt out thing in the executive order. So you know, executive order definitely bad idea, keep lose in the legislature and let the executive branch enforce law and not right law, that's the way our system supposed to work. So it may have been a bad idea on Perry's part to do it as an executive order, but I do think his motives were genuine and based on science and compassion. Michelle Bachmann on the other hand should truly be ashamed if she's on a crusade to keep kids from becoming mentally retarded from Gardasil, fine I mean, if that's a legitimate concern she has. I mean, Perry acted on a legitimate concern. I don't think worrying about mental retardation from Gardasil is a legitimate concern.

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And really I think Bachmann only purpose in her statements were for political gain and in the process she's frightened parents and put more kids at risk from dying from cervical cancer in the future, so that's my 2 cents. All right. We are going to warp thing up now. I want to thank all of you for taking time to allow PediaCast to be a part of your day whether you're commuting or exercising, working in the kitchen, doing laundry whatever it is, set at your desk working and you're allowed to listen to other things while you work at work. I want to thank you for allowing PediaCast to be a part of that. I want to remind you that reviews in iTunes are helpful if you are perusing the iTunes online store and you come across PediaCast, please give us a little review, would appreciate that. And mentions in your blogs, on Facebook, and in your tweets. And also you could tell your doctor about PediaCast, I would be ever so appreciative. That way your doctor can check us out and hopefully recommend us to their other patients everywhere around the country and around the world.

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Also would appreciate you telling your family and friends, and we are in the process and hopefully by the time you listen to this show, this will become a reality that we are going to have and if it's not there when you check it out, just in a week or so check it out again. If you go to a tab at pediacast.org, it is the resources tab, and we're going to have some good links for you the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC's, flu information page, the traveler's page, just some good links that parents ought to have handy is going to be on that resources page. And then we're also going to have a link to a PDF that is a flyer on PediaCast that you could download and print out and hang on bulletin boards at your church, YMCA, daycare centers, your doctor's office, telephone poles in your neighborhood. No, I wouldn't probably go that route. I mean, your neighbors might not like that. But anyway, that should be at the website fairly soon so you could check that out. Also remember to get a hold of us just go to pediacast.org, click on the contact link, pediacast@gmail.com, or call the voice line at 347-404-KIDS. 41:06 And again thanks for being a part of the show. A little feedback on how things ate going, you know, you liked the interviews, are we not doing the news and listeners quite enough, is this the right balance? Just what are your thoughts, would appreciate that so we can make the show even better. And until next time. This is Dr. Mike, saying stay safe, stay healthy and stay involved with your kids. So long everyone. [Music] Announcer: This program is a production of Nationwide Children’s. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on PediaCast.