HOUSTON — (April 16, 2009) — “Ew.” It’s a word many parents hear when they serve a meal to their child. But before getting frustrated, parents should know that children taste different flavors in foods than adults do.
According to an expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, exposing children to various types of foods early and often will help them develop a taste for different foods.
“Children have sensitive taste buds, and they taste what we smell,” said Roberta Anding, registered dietitian with BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital. “Certain foods may have a stronger taste for them than they do for adults.”
Taste perceptions
This is why exposing children to various types of food at an early age is important. It starts with breast feeding, which exposes them to a variety of flavors, she said.
“Early imprinting will help alter their taste perceptions,” said Anding.
Don’t give up after offering a new food just one or two times, she said, because it can take 10 to 15 food exposures for a child to actually like the food. However, forcing or cajoling a child to eat a food will ruin a food experience for them, making them less likely to be willing to try the food again.
“Ask that they at least take one bite of the food,” said Anding. “Try introducing the food again when the child is hungry.”
Smell impacts perception
Because 80 percent of taste is smell, children might be more willing to try raw vegetables rather than cooked ones, since they don’t have as strong of a smell, she said.
Getting children involved in the preparation of the food can also help. But Anding does not support another age-old tactic – hiding vegetables and fruits under sauces and toppings, most of which are unhealthy.
“This makes something that would be considered a nutritious food no longer nutritious,” she said.
Rewarding children with food is also not a good idea. It elevates the status of food and makes certain foods or treats more valuable to children.
“Remember that as a parent, your reaction to food has an influence on your children,” said Anding. “So if you cringe at the sight of a certain food, chances are they will too.”
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Continue Reading April 16th, 2009
HOUSTON — (April 14, 2009) — When it comes to sexually transmitted infections, experts at Baylor College of Medicine tout the ABCs — Abstinence, Be faithful, and Condoms. But another letter is also important – ‘S,’ as in silent.
Many sexually transmitted infections are silent diseases, meaning they have no symptoms, said Dr. Peggy Smith, director of the Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic. That’s why it is so important for everyone who is sexually active to be screened regularly for sexually transmitted infections.
“As soon as a person becomes sexually active, he or she should start including regular screenings for sexually transmitted infections as part of a good health care routine,” said Smith, who is also professor of obstetrics and gynecology at BCM. “These screenings can be done quickly and easily and should be performed at least annually or any time there has been potential exposure to such an infection.”
Bacterial infections
Screenings can be done for both bacterial and viral sexually transmitted infections. Bacterial infections include gonorrhea and chlamydia, which is the most common sexually transmitted infection in girls ages 15 to 24. It usually has no apparent symptoms.
“The good news about bacterial infections is that they are highly curable, but if ignored, they can have devastating consequences, including infertility in women,” said Smith.
Viral infections
Common viral infections include the human papillomavirus (HPV), herpes and HIV. Smith noted that cases of HIV diagnosed at the Baylor Teen Health Clinic increased from 2007 to 2008.
The best advice for young people is to delay their sexual debut, Smith said.
“We urge them to be abstinent until they can make good decisions,” she said. “But if they are not, it is imperative to use a condom every time. Condoms provide significant protection against both bacterial and viral infections.”
The number of teens who report using condoms is increasing, but Smith noted that many people stop using them if they have a consistent partner.
“This is a mistake, because when you have sex with someone, it’s like you have sex with whomever your partner has had sex with. You’re putting yourself at a lot of risk.”
April is Sexually Transmitted Infection Awareness Month.
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Continue Reading April 14th, 2009
HOUSTON — (April 10, 2009) — The so-called purple pill, known popularly as Nexium and esomeprazole to physicians, did not reduce asthma symptoms in patients who did not have symptoms of heartburn, said researchers, including one from Baylor College of Medicine, in a report that appears today in The New England Journal of Medicine. The study may change the common practice of prescribing these drugs to asthma patients even when they have no heartburn symptoms.
“I was surprised,” said Dr. Nicola Hanania, associate professor of medicine – pulmonary, at BCM. “It was disappointing for us, but that is why we do research.” Hanania is principal investigator at the BCM site.
Heartburn drugs have no effect
For at least two decades, physicians have prescribed proton pump inhibitors (drugs that block the production of gastric acid) for patients with poorly controlled asthma, whether they had symptoms of heartburn or not. They believed that acid reflux, whether recognized or not, could trigger some asthma symptoms such as wheezing, coughing or breathlessness.
Now a 20-center study involving 402 patients with asthma poorly controlled on the usual drugs shows that such treatment has no effect. The patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group took 40 milligrams of the heartburn drug twice daily for six months. The others took an inactive pill called placebo.
Members of each group had the same number of episodes of poor asthma control during that period, indicating the heartburn medicine had no effect on improving asthma control.
About half the patients had a positive test for excess acid in their gastrointestinal tract when tested with a special probe, which indicates they might have reflux, said Hanania. However, even in these patients, the heartburn drugs appeared to have no effect.
Discuss findings with physician
“Each year, people with asthma are spending as much as $10 million dollars on prescription heartburn medication believing it will help control attacks of wheezing, coughing and breathlessness,” said Dr. Norman H. Edelman, American Lung Association chief medical officer. “Now we know with confidence that silent acid reflux does not play a significant role in poor asthma control. Talk with your doctor before discontinuing any medication, as each patient’s specific needs will vary.”
A study of the effect of these drugs in children is currently underway, Hanania said. Asthma appears to affect children differently, and the researchers feel that study should continue.
The study demonstrates the benefit of the Asthma Clinical Research Centers, a 20-center network that works together to test treatments and answer common questions related to this disease, said Hanania.
Funding for this work came from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Lung Association and Astra/Zeneca (Nexium’s maker that provided the drug).
For more information on research at Baylor College of Medicine, please go to From the Labs or Findings.
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Continue Reading April 10th, 2009
HOUSTON — (April 8, 2009) — Dr. Stuart C. Yudofsky, the D.C. and Irene Ellwood Professor and Chair of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, has been selected as the first recipient of the Joan and Stanford Alexander Annual Award in Psychiatry.
From left: Stuart C. Yudofsky, M.D., Stanford Alexander, Joan Alexander and William T. Butler, M.D.
The award honors a mental health professional who has made shaping contributions in research, education and clinical or community service for people suffering from severe and persistent mental illness. The award consists of an annual prize and lecture of international scope.
Yudofsky’s research and clinical practice focuses on psychopharmacology, the use of medicines to treat mental illness, and neuropsychiatry, the assessment and treatment of the psychiatric aspects of people with neurological illnesses.
For his lecture, Yudofsky spoke on “The Stigmatization of the Mentally Ill: Origins, Implications, and Remediation.”
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Continue Reading April 8th, 2009
CHICAGO, IL — (April 7, 2009) — Older adults with generalized anxiety disorder who received cognitive behavior therapy had greater improvement on measures of worry, depression and mental health than patients who received usual care, according to a study in the April 8 issue of JAMA.
Generalized anxiety disorder is common in late life, with prevalence up to 7.3 percent in the community and 11.2 percent in primary care. Late-life anxiety predicts increased physical disability, memory difficulties and decreased quality of life, according to background information in the article. Late-life anxiety is usually treated with medication, but associated risks (e.g., falls, hip fractures, memory problems) with some drugs and patient fears of adverse effects limit their usefulness. Two previous studies suggested benefits of cognitive behavior therapy in primary care for late-life GAD, but the studies were small and conclusions were limited. Older adults most often seek treatment for GAD in primary care.
Melinda A. Stanley, Ph.D., of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and colleagues conducted the first randomized clinical trial of CBT for late-life GAD in primary care to examine whether CBT would improve outcomes relative to enhanced usual care. The trial included 134 older adults (average age, 67 years) in two primary care settings, with treatment provided for 3 months. Assessments were conducted at the beginning of the trial, posttreatment (3 months), and over 12 months of follow-up, with assessments at 6, 9, 12 and 15 months. Patients were randomized to either CBT (n = 70), which included education and awareness, relaxation training, cognitive therapy, problem-solving skills training and behavioral sleep management; or EUC (n = 64), in which patients were telephoned biweekly during the first 3 months of the study by the same therapists to provide support and ensure patient safety. Therapists reminded patients to call project staff if symptoms worsened.
Levels of anxiety, worry, depression and physical/mental health quality of life were measured via various tests or surveys. The researchers found that CBT, compared with EUC, significantly improved worry severity, depressive symptoms and general mental health. In intention-to-treat analyses, response rates defined according to worry severity were higher following CBT compared with EUC at 3 months (40.0 percent vs. 21.9 percent).
“This study is the first to suggest that CBT can be useful for managing worry and associated symptoms among older patients in primary care,” the authors write. “This study paves the way for future research to test sustainable models of care in more demographically heterogeneous groups.”
Continue Reading April 7th, 2009
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