There are just way too many “My Child Ate…” scenarios for us to write about! However here are a few honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the “My Child Ate…” series but are just as important:
“My Child Ate… The Dog’s Food”
Although it might be uberly gross to discover that your child has forgone your dinner delight for a canine cuisine, there’s no need to worry. Eating a mouthful of dog or cat food poses no immediate harm and toxicity should not be an issue. Read more »
How many times have you squealed aloud after discovering your child has recently delved into what they believe to be a culinary delight but you know to be just plain gross?
While getting outside to allow your brood some time to release excess energy is the primary goal, it may lead to unexpected, and often quite disgusting ingestions. Read more »
The blog series “My Child Ate…” continues this week with us taking a look at the top ten things children are getting into around the house. Each year, poison centers receive over one million calls involving children ages five and under. Have you ever wondered what in the world kids are getting into? Well check out our top 10 list below:
Cosmetics/Personal Care Products: “It’s pretty and pink. It’s easy to open, and looks like a fruit drink.” Read more »
Welcome to the IPC’s second installment of the “my child ate…” blog series. Last week Mike explored the dangers of prescription medications, and this week I am going to talk about stuff kids eat that is really, really gross. Like poop, for example. Do kids really eat poop, you may ask? They sure do. All shapes, sizes and species. I can even give you a ranking of the most common poop calls we get:
1. Human
Most of the time, for babies, this is in the form of their own poop. It is the most common poop call because, well… it’s the most accessible—it comes right out of them! Read more »
Over the next 4 weeks the IPC staff will contribute some of their most compelling cases from the call center that often start with three words, “my child ate…” We hope you enjoy this blog series, and we encourage you to share your own “My Child Ate…” stories or your poison center experience.
There is a burgeoning fascination with the strange things children eat. If one were to do an internet search on the three words “my child ate”, it looks like a lot of children are eating Tums, poop (yes, poop, human and pet), pennies, crayons, deodorant and a host of household products. Going beyond internet search, the TLC channel even has a TV show on the subject and has casting calls for the show “Your Child at What?” Read more »
It’s one of the biggest poison myths of all time: ‘all-natural’ or ‘organic’ substances are safer than their man-made or ‘chemical’ counterparts. However, the fact is that some of the most toxic substances known to man come straight from mother earth (or her creatures). There may be many positives about organic or all-natural products, but being inherently safer to humans is not one of them. Please don’t make the mistake of being less than vigilant in the way you store organic cleansers, all-natural pesticides or herbal supplements. Remember the toxicology mantra “the dosage makes it so”. Any substance can be potentially harmful/toxic in the right amount! Read more »
Making sense of new voluntary dosing guidelines on acetaminophen containing products: Minimizing liver damage associated with a common medicine.
Acetaminophen is one of the most common over-the-counter (OTC) medications, appearing in over 600 OTC products. It is an effective pain reliever and fever reducer when used as directed, though it can cause severe liver damage if overused. In fact, acetaminophen overdose is the most common cause of acute liver failure requiring a liver transplant in the United States. Read more »
Over 70,000 Illinois residents call the IPC from home, work or other location every year for help regarding a potentially harmful substance. However if you’ve never called our poison center, you may be wondering how we do things around here. Below are answers to some common questions that we hope will increase your knowledge and familiarity about calling the poison center.
What can I call the poison center for? Read more »
Unfortunately, many poison exposure incidents start with 3 little words: “I dare you…” A group of friends egging each other on, calling bravery into question (and often offering money if the dare is completed) can quickly turn a flippant suggestion into a potential medical emergency.
Here are some dares the IPC staff has consulted on:
A 40 year old male was dared to chew and swallow a lizard for $50. A live one. There is a reason we have the Brookfield Zoo’s senior reptile keeper’s phone number on our quick number list! Read more »
Temperatures are warm, the sun is shining and kids are out of school. Summertime is “outside time”, so read on for tips to keep your family safe while outdoors!
Plants and Mushrooms
Learn the names of all the plants in your garden and landscaping, and label them with both their common and botanical names (tip: bring a cut of the plant/flower to your local nursery or greenhouse if you don’t know what you have). Consult the IPC’s toxic plant list to help plan your garden, especially if you have little ones. Teach children to never eat mushrooms or berries growing outside. Read more »
New Pediatric Acetaminophen Dosing Guidelines and Formulation Changes
If you are in tune to healthcare and medical news stories, you probably already know that overdosing or chronically using too much of the popular non-aspirin product called acetaminophen may cause serious and possibly even fatal liver damage. Read more »
I just love doing internet searches. I am old enough to remember searching the library for journals, magazines and newspapers, books, and scanning microfiche for hours on end in order to find information for projects and articles. Now with technology, key tidbits on almost any topic are just a few key strokes away.
Recently, I was reading a list serve thread about Bath Salts and a potential relationship with traumatic death by suicide or homicide. Read more »
June is National Safety Month. Did you know that potentially hazardous substances can be found in nearly every home? Follow these tips to keep you and your family safe from potentially toxic exposures!
1. Store all medications, chemicals and household products out of reach and out of sight of children—ideally locked up. Read more »
A few weeks ago we posted a blog entitled “Nutritional Supplements: Are the Benefits Worth the Cost?.” This week, we are shifting our focus to another population group while continuing our conversation on herbal remedies and supplements.
An eye-opening study was published in the May 2011 online edition of the Pediatrics Digestregarding the administration of herbal medications and teas to infants one year of age and under by parents. A major finding was that 9% of infants, some as young as one month old, were given non-prescription products for a variety of conditions. Examples of products given to babies included gripe water, chamomile, teething tablets, and teas such as chrysanthemum tea, lemon tea, orange tea, and rosemary leaf tea. Read more »
This time of year, the Illinois Poison Center’s call volume starts to increase for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons has to do with the use of pesticides in the home. Here are the top 5 most frequently asked questions about insecticides:
1. Can I use outdoor-use pesticides inside the house if I have a really bad bug problem?
No! There is a major difference in the safety level of the two products. Most Read more »
That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.
Evolving technology, demographics, and regulatory changes are all expanding the type and scope of services that Poison Control Centers have historically provided. A few weeks ago, I wrote about the limitations of the Mr. Yuk logo; we are not “just the place that Mom’s call” anymore.
Last year, the IPC received about 36,500 calls on children 5 and under. We provided triage and treatment recommendations that allowed families to treat a stunning 96% of these kids at home without an expensive or stressful trip to the ER. Hmmmm, maybe that sounds like the place that mom’s call after all. Read more »
Everyday millions of people are bombarded with radio commercials, TV infomercials, internet ads, and aggressive sales pitches touting the health benefits (many of them unproven) of nutritional supplements. Warnings about potential adverse reactions, toxicity, food/drug interactions, and other precautions are often under-emphasized or absent. It is important to note that dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA and as a result manufacturers do not need to prove safety or effectiveness. Read more »
Just the other day, one of our super certified poison information specialists (CSPI) was shopping at a local grocery store and found a packet of castor bean seedsin the gardening section. While most would be dazed by the beautiful flowers these seeds produce, at the Illinois Poison Center we are all too familiar with the poison contained in castor beans, ricin. Ricin is derived from castor beans and can be refined and manufactured as a chemical weapon. Potentially toxic plants around homes are always a concern for the IPC staff. With the spring-planting season upon us, we want to provide our readers with some very important information they need in order to become more educated gardeners. Read more »
Although the Illinois Poison Center handles calls about human-related exposures only, we know many of our readers still need poison prevention tips for their furry, four- legged friends. Did you know there was an animal poison control center located right here in Illinois? Well this week the ASPCA Animal Poison Control offers some great tips to keep pets safe from potentially harmful-substances.
Most of us have heard the adage “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Nowhere is this more true than in veterinary medicine. Dogs and cats are very mobile and it isn’t difficult for them to find things to get into. Puppies and kittens explore the environment with their mouths, while bigger dogs and cats may have no problem reaching the countertops. This makes them very prone to accidental poisonings if the proper precautions are not taken. Read more »
Last month, we explained how cutting funding for poison centers is a classic case of ‘penny wise, pound foolish’ and the loss of poison centers would lead to a drastic increase in unnecessary health care costs. One of our astute readers left us a comment asking a very good question:
Thanks for this explanation. I am a big believer in what you guys are doing. There is no doubt that Poison Centers across the country save a lot of money (as well as lives!)
Nonetheless, I do think more explanation is needed to address why a national (or regional) poison centers wouldn’t work. I know local relationships are important, but in my opinion, this needs to be explained further.
We are so glad you asked (we also really like the compliment on saving money and lives too!). We understand the federal government needs to save money, and that a suggested solution is to consolidate the current 57 national poison centers into one, single national poison center to handle all the calls in the country. While that might seem like the best idea, it is however, not a well thought-out concept. There are many reasons why, but the biggest one is… Read more »
I can bet most of us have probably cursed and moaned while struggling to open a container with a “child-resistant” cap. Have you ever wondered how these enclosures came to be and if they’re really beneficial in preventing child poisonings? Since March is Illinois Poison Prevention Month, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to educate you on the history and benefit of child resistant closures. Read more »
Cardiologist: a specialist in the structure and function and disorders of the heartNeurologist: a medical specialist in the nervous system and the disorders affecting itNephrologist: a physician who specializes in diseases of the kidneys.Medical Toxicologist: a specialist on the care of patients exposed to potentially hazardous or poisonous substances
The practice of medicine is an increasingly complex academic discipline, and much like raising a family, sometimes it ‘takes a village’ of specialists to provide the best, most timely care available. Read more »
If that second cup of coffee you just had doesn’t keep you awake tonight, here’s something that might. A recent issue of Pediatrics reviewed the effects of caffeine and energy drinks on children, adolescents, and young adults and found several concerning conclusions.
Did you know that over 500 new energy drink products were marketed worldwide in the last year? Also, did you know that these products are NOT regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? Because of this lack of regulation, there is no maximum dose of caffeine in energy drinks. These products can contain high amounts of caffeine, a nervous system stimulant that is commonly found in your morning coffee, tea, and soft drinks. While caffeinated products may claim to increase exercise endurance and improve mood and memory, they are not without adverse effects, especially at higher doses. Read more »
Mr. Yuk is green, Mr. Yuk is mean! The logo and the saying are a part of poison prevention lore. Created in Pittsburgh in 1971 (yes, 2011 is the 40th anniversary of the iconic logo), it was to replace the more traditional poison symbol of the skull and crossbones . . . a symbol that did not deter the little Pittsburgh Pirate fans in the Steel City.
Mr. Yuk quickly developed a wide reach and has recognition value with adults who were children in the 70’s and beyond. However in the age groups most at risk for unintentional poisoning, 18 to 35 months of age, Mr. Yuk had no deterrent effect in this most vulnerable age group. More than one study cast doubt on the efficacy of Mr. Yuk as a deterrent in the 1980’s. Still, it is a symbol representative of poison prevention and poison centers for many. Read more »
There are just way too many “My Child Ate…” scenarios for us to write about! However here are a few honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the “My Child Ate…” series but are just as important:
