Lisinopril Side Effect occurred on 2008-03-26
2008.03.01 — Pelvic Floor Disorders Affect 1 in 3 Women
March 01, 2008
Pelvic Floor Disorders Affect 1 in 3 Women
SATURDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) — One-third of women in the United States have one or more pelvic floor disorders, and age has no significant effect on these disorders, says a Kaiser Permanente study.
Frequent urge to urinate, incontinence and dropped pelvic organs are among the symptoms of such disorders.
The study of 4,000 women (80 percent had given birth) found that 25 percent suffered from anal incontinence, 15 percent from stress urinary incontinence, 13 percent from overactive bladder, and 6 percent from dropped pelvic organs (pelvic organ prolapse). The women in the study were aged 25 to 84. The findings were published in the March issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
“These conditions really affect a woman’s quality of life. Many women think this is just something they have to deal with as they age, and there isn’t anything they can do about it, but that’s not true,” study author Jean M. Lawrence, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente’s department of research and evaluation in southern California.
A previous study by the same team of researchers found that vaginal births double the rate of pelvic floor disorders, compared to Caesarean deliveries or never giving birth.
“One of the myths surrounding pelvic floor disorder is that it affects only older women, but the truth is these conditions are extremely prevalent and extremely debilitating. But because the subject matter isn’t cocktail conversation, women feel isolated and don’t seek support and treatment,” study co-author Dr. Karl Luber, a urogynecologist in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Kaiser Permanente San Diego Medial Center, said in a prepared statement.
Women with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders should consult with a doctor trained in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, he advised.
“Among the available options for treatment for these common disorders are physical therapy to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, devices that can be fit to support your vaginal walls, and surgery. Many of today’s surgeries are very noninvasive and can be done as an outpatient,” Luber said.
In the United States, more than 15 million women have stress urinary incontinence, 16 million have an overactive bladder, and one in 10 suffers from anal incontinence, according to information in a news release about the study.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Child Health & Human Development has more about pelvic floor disorders.
– Robert Preidt
SOURCE: Kaiser Permanente, news release, Feb. 29, 2008
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2008.03.01 — Only Severely Depressed Benefit From Antidepressants: Study
March 01, 2008
Only Severely Depressed Benefit From Antidepressants: Study
TUESDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) — While popular antidepressants such as Prozac are widely prescribed for people with varying degrees of depression, the drugs are only effective for those with the most severe depression, a new study suggests.
“Although patients get better when they take antidepressants, they also get better when they take a placebo, and the difference in improvement is not very great,” lead researcher Irving Kirsch, a professor of psychology at the University of Hull in Great Britain, said in a prepared statement. “This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments,” he added.
In the study, Kirsch and his colleagues collected data on 35 clinical trials of antidepressant drugs whose results had been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The antidepressants included in the trials were fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Effexor), nefazodone (Serzone), and paroxetine (Seroxat/Paxil).
An analysis of the data showed that patients taking antidepressants fared no better than patients receiving a placebo. This appeared to be the case whether the patients were mildly or moderately depressed.
The drugs only seemed to benefit a small group of patients — those with the severest depression when the study began.
Based on these results, there appears to be little reason to prescribe these antidepressants to anyone but the most severely depressed patients, the study authors concluded.
The findings were published online Feb. 25 in the journal PLoS Medicine.
Dr. Nada Stotland, president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, said she wasn’t surprised that the study found that not every antidepressant works for every patient. Many people who are depressed don’t respond to the first antidepressant they try. It can take up to an average of three different antidepressants until one works for a particular patient, she said.
“Medication helps some, but not all, people with depression,” Stotland said in a prepared statement. “For people with mild to moderate depression, psychotherapy can work as well as medication. Studies have shown that between 70 and 80 percent of people can and do get better with a combination of treatment approaches, which will often include individual therapy, family therapy and/or medication.
“Therefore, testing any single antidepressant on a group of depressed individuals will show that many of them do not improve,” Stotland added. “There is a small group of depressed individuals who do not respond to any antidepressant.”
The new study highlights the fact that treatment for depression needs to be tailored to an individual, and that the most effective treatment will often include multiple approaches, Stotland said. The study results also suggest that more long-term follow-up trials are needed to determine which patients are most likely to benefit from specific therapies.
“Some of the most exciting research in progress at the present time concerns our attempt to match the antidepressant to the patient from the outset; we may be able to perform laboratory tests or identify clinical factors that let us know in advance which antidepressant will work for each person,” Stotland said. “That will be an enormous advance for the millions of people suffering from this very painful and potentially disabling disease.”
In a prepared statement released late Tuesday, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Senior Vice President Ken Johnson said, “It is true that pharmaceutical products, such as antidepressants, can result in a differential response among different patients. It is for this reason that a variety of therapeutic options is important in health care — so that each patient can receive the most effective treatment for his or her needs.
“Because of this, America’s pharmaceutical research companies are dedicated to continuing their research into and development of potential new medicines to treat depression as well as the other disease that affect patients worldwide.”
More information
To learn more about antidepressants, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
SOURCES: American Psychiatric Association, news release, Feb. 26, 2008; PLoS Medicine, Feb. 25, 2008, online; Feb. 26, 2008, news release, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington, D.C.
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2008.03.01 — Health Highlights: March 1, 2008
March 01, 2008
Health Highlights: March 1, 2008
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Pills Reported Found in Recalled Frozen Fish
Gorton’s frozen fish sold in 10 states is being recalled after unidentified pills were found in the product by a Pennsylvania family, the Associated Press reported.
The company ordered the precautionary recall of about 1,000 cases of the fish, as a laboratory worked to identify the pills. Results of the tests are expected early next week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Pennsylvania authorities, and the company are investigating the incident.
A New Freedom, Pa., woman said she had bitten into one of the pills and her 9-year-old daughter found another pill in the fish, the wire service said. Neither person got sick, and both were checked out at a local hospital. The pills were described as beige and about the size of an aspirin.
The recall affects Gorton’s 6 Crispy Battered Fish Fillets in 11.4-ounce packages. The UPC code is 44400157770, with a date code of 7289G1 and a best-if-used-by date of April 2009.
In addition to Pennsylvania, the fish also was distributed in: Alabama, Delaware, California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
For more information, contact Gorton’s at 800-896-9479.
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FDA: Inhaler Capsules Mistakenly Being Swallowed
Some consumers prescribed respiratory inhalers that include capsules full of medicine are mistakenly swallowing the capsules instead of inhaling the contents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned.
The Spiriva HandiHaler and the Foradil Aerolizer are prescribed to people with asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases, the Associated Press reported. The FDA said it has received several reports of people swallowing the capsules, which will do nothing to assist breathing. The only proper way to use the capsules is to inhale the contents with the inhalers.
The FDA “indicated that not many of the patients who swallowed the capsules reported side effects,” the AP reported.
The Spiriva product is produced and co-marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer; the Foradil inhaler is made by Novartis and marketed in the United States by Schering-Plough.
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Wyeth’s New Antidepressant Gets FDA OK
Drug maker Wyeth has received U.S. government approval to replace its successful antidepressant Effexor XR (venlafaxine hydrochloride), which is facing patent expiration within the next two years with a different drug that the company says has some added advantages.
The New York Times reports that Wyeth received approval Feb. 29 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Pristiq (desvenlafaxine succinate). Effexor XR’s patent expires in 2010.
Wyeth maintains that Pristiq has some new features, the Times reports. First, patients will be able to begin treatment at the therapeutic dose level of 50 milligrams (mg). Usually, a patient starting out on an antidepressant has to take a lower dose for a few weeks before working up to the therapeutic dose.
Second, the drug doesn’t have to be broken down by the liver, as its predecessor does, the newspaper reports. This eliminates problems of drug interactions, the Times quotes a Wyeth spokesperson as saying.
Effexor XR’s 2007 sales were $3.8 billion, the newspaper said.
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Walker’s Four Bean Salad Recalled
Potential contamination with Clostridium botulinum bacteria has prompted a recall of 16-oz., 5-lb., and 10-lb. containers of Four Bean Salad made by Walker’s Food Products Company of North Kansas City, Mo., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
This kind of bacteria can cause botulism, a serious and potentially fatal kind of food poisoning. Symptoms include general weakness, dizziness, double vision, trouble speaking or swallowing, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, abdominal distension and constipation. Anyone with such symptoms should seek immediate medical help, the FDA said.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled Four Bean Salad, which was sent to distributors in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa for sale to retail stores and restaurants. The 16-oz. containers were packaged under the Kay’s Gourmet brand name, while the 5-lb. and 10-lb. containers were packaged under the Walker’s Food Products Co. brand name.
The recall includes salad with expiration dates 12/23/07 through 04/5/08. The expiration dates are stamped on the bottom of the round clear plastic containers.
Anyone who bought the recalled salad should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, call Walker’s Food Products at 1-800-725-2372.
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Scientists Identify Gene That Blocks HIV
American and Canadian researchers have identified a human gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection by preventing certain forms of the virus from replicating, CBC News reported.
In laboratory tests, the scientists found that cells in which TRIM22 was switched off couldn’t defend themselves against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
“This means that TRIM22 is an essential part of our body’s ability to fight off HIV,” Dr. Stephen Barr, a researcher in the department of medical microbiology and immunology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, said in a prepared statement.
The study was published in the Public Library of Science journal Pathogens. Previous research had found that other genes in the TRIM family could prevent certain forms of HIV viruses from replicating, CBC News reported.
Barr and his colleagues are now investigating how TRIM22 can be switched on in people who can’t defend themselves against HIV.
“We hope that our research will lead to the design of new drugs and/or vaccines that can halt the person-to-person transmission of HIV and the spread of the virus in the body, thereby blocking the onset of AIDS,” said Barr, who added that this type of achievement could take decades.
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Alcohol Doesn’t Erase Bad Memories
Alcohol doesn’t help drown a person’s sorrows, it actually makes bad memories linger, say researchers at the University of Tokyo in Japan.
After conducting tests on rats, the researchers concluded that ethanol — an intoxicating agent in alcohol — locks memories in place, Agence France-Presse reported.
The rats in the study were shocked in their cages and then injected with either ethanol or saline. Afterwards, the rats would immediately curl up in fear when put in their cages. This fear response lasted longer (an average of two weeks) in the rats that were injected with ethanol. The findings were published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
“If we apply this study to humans, the memories they are trying to get rid of will remain strongly, even if they drink alcohol to try to forget an event they dislike and be in a merry mood for the moment,” the study authors wrote. “The following day, they won’t remember the merriness they felt.”
Team leader and pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki said it’s best to “overwrite” a negative memory with positive memory at an early stage and avoid drinking alcohol, AFP reported.
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2008.03.01 — ADHD Drugs Won’t Raise Risk of Substance Abuse
March 01, 2008
ADHD Drugs Won’t Raise Risk of Substance Abuse
SATURDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) — Parents of children who are prescribed psychostimulants for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) might have one less thing to worry about now that a new study concludes these kids are no more likely than their peers to abuse drugs and alcohol as young adults.
The report, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, is published in the March issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
“The results should reassure clinicians who might be hesitant to treat ADHD because of concerns about future substance abuse,” said study co-author Michael C. Monuteaux, assistant director of research at the pediatric psychopharmacology program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Past research looking for a link between ADHD medications and substance abuse has produced conflicting conclusions.
“Some previous studies showed an increased risk of substance abuse associated with stimulant treatment, and other studies showed both no association and also a protective effect from treatments,” Monuteaux said. “But those studies had some methodological limitations, and not all of them followed their samples well into late adolescence and early adulthood.”
The Massachusetts General Hospital investigators designed their study to overcome the shortcomings of previous studies. They followed their research subjects up to a median age of about 22, included an assessment for psychiatric problems such as conduct disorder that are associated with substance abuse, and applied rigorous methods to accurately analyze data.
The research study team interviewed 112 young men (ranging in age from 16 to 27) a decade after they had been diagnosed with ADHD about their use of alcohol, tobacco and a variety of psychoactive drugs. Seventy-three percent of the subjects had been treated with stimulants at some time, and 22 percent were currently taking the stimulant medications.
The study found no relationship between having ever received stimulant treatment and the risk of future alcohol or other substance abuse. The age at which stimulant treatment began and how long it continued also had no impact on substance use.
“This study is a continuing effort to explicate the factors that mediate risk. It is methodologically sound and suggests that, as always, things are more complicated than we want them to be. The study demonstrates that the use psychostimulants for ADHD children do not increase the risk for substance abuse in adulthood, but it also suggests there is no protective effect, said Dr. Jon A. Shaw, director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Miami.
Symptoms of ADHD include impulsiveness, hyperactivity and inattention. According to a study published last fall in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, almost 9 percent of American children have ADHD, but only 32 percent of them are getting the medication they need.
“There is sufficient evidence that parents should be reassured that the use of psychostimulant medication for the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents does not increase the risk for substance abuse in later life and remains the most effective treatment for this condition,” Shaw said.
More information
For more on ADHD, visit the National Institute for Mental Health.
SOURCES: Michael C. Monuteaux, Sc.D., assistant director, research, pediatric psychopharmacology program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Jon A. Shaw, M.D., professor and director, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of Miami; March 2008, American Journal of Psychiatry
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2008.03.02 — Surviving Daylight Saving Switch
March 02, 2008
Surviving Daylight Saving Switch
SUNDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) — Planning ahead and following a few simple steps can help you minimize the impact of lost sleep when the clocks go ahead one hour on March 9, says the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
The academy offers the following tips to cope with the return to Daylight Saving Time (DST):
- Begin to readjust your sleep schedule a few days prior to the time change by going to bed an hour earlier.
- Modify your eating schedule by having dinner one hour earlier.
- Be careful when driving or operating machinery on the day of the time change.
- Avoid napping, particularly before bedtime.
- Keep a light schedule — such as minimizing driving and avoiding strenuous physical activity — on the Monday after the time change.
- Eat properly, stay hydrated and remain physically active.
“The conversion to DST, with its forced loss of one hour of sleep and a change in sleep schedule, can sometimes result in complaints of disrupted daytime functioning,” Dr. Ron Kramer, medical director of the Colorado Sleep Disorders Center, said in a prepared statement. “This problem, surprisingly, can last as long as one to two weeks in some people, especially in the ‘night-owl’ type of person.”
But he added that the change can be a good opportunity to examine your sleep patterns and behaviors.
More information
The National Sleep Foundation has more about
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2008.03.02 — Health Highlights: March 2, 2008
March 02, 2008
Health Highlights: March 2, 2008
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
U.S. Disposes of Last of Its Original Smallpox Vaccine
America’s oldest smallpox vaccine is no more.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced late last week that it had arranged for the elimination of the last of its 12 million doses of Dryvax, the vaccine that was largely responsible for eliminating the worldwide scourge of a disease that killed millions of people in the 1700s and 1800s.
The Associated Press reports that Dryvax, developed by the pharmaceutical company Wyeth in the late 1800s, was actually used quite recently — in 2003 — to help stem an outbreak of monkey pox in the United States. The last case of human smallpox was reported in Somalia in 1977.
No one in the United States gets smallpox vaccinations anymore, but because of concern about biological terrorism, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved replacing Dryvax with more than 200 million doses of a vaccine known as ACAM2000, made by Acambis Inc. of Cambridge, England, the wire service reports.
Despite its effectiveness, Dryvax had its problems, the AP reports, with evidence of heart attacks and heart inflammation in some cases.
But overall, the vaccine’s importance can’t be overlooked, Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of Vanderbilt University’s department of preventive medicine, told the wire service. He called it a “historical moment, because it’s our oldest vaccine.”
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Solution Offered for U.K. Binge Drinking: Smaller Bottles of Wine
A recent report of binge drinking among wine aficionados in some of the more affluent British circles has prompted a rather simple solution: offer wine in half bottles.
BBC News reports that Trish Groves, the deputy editor of the British Medical Journal, made the suggestion because people in the United Kingdom have little choice when buying wine. The amount of wine in a standard bottle is 750 milliliters, about 1.6 pints.
“It’s no wonder Britain’s middle classes are getting wasted,” BBC News quotes Groves as saying. “It’s all too tempting to finish the bottle there and then to avoid waste,” she told the BBC.
Using her own experiences, Grove, said that her local wine store was typical of the problem throughout the United Kingdom – almost all wine is sold in full bottles.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association was receptive to the idea, BBC News said. “As an industry, we’re always keen to provide our consumers with a range of options to choose from,” a spokesperson is quoted as saying.
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Pills Reported Found in Recalled Frozen Fish
Gorton’s frozen fish sold in 10 states is being recalled after unidentified pills were found in the product by a Pennsylvania family, the Associated Press reported.
The company ordered the precautionary recall of about 1,000 cases of the fish, as a laboratory worked to identify the pills. Results of the tests are expected early next week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Pennsylvania authorities, and the company are investigating the incident.
A New Freedom, Pa., woman said she had bitten into one of the pills and her 9-year-old daughter found another pill in the fish, the wire service said. Neither got sick, and both were checked out at a local hospital. The pills were described as beige and about the size of an aspirin.
The recall affects Gorton’s 6 Crispy Battered Fish Fillets in 11.4-ounce packages. The UPC code is 44400157770, with a date code of 7289G1 and a best-if-used-by date of April 2009.
In addition to Pennsylvania, the fish also was distributed in: Alabama, Delaware, California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
For more information, contact Gorton’s at 800-896-9479.
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FDA: Inhaler Capsules Mistakenly Being Swallowed
Some consumers prescribed respiratory inhalers that include capsules full of medicine are mistakenly swallowing the capsules instead of inhaling the contents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned.
The Spiriva HandiHaler and the Foradil Aerolizer are prescribed to people with asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases, the Associated Press reported. The FDA said it has received several reports of people swallowing the capsules, which will do nothing to assist breathing. The only proper way to use the capsules is to inhale the contents with the inhalers.
The FDA “indicated that not many of the patients who swallowed the capsules reported side effects,” the AP reported.
The Spiriva product is produced and co-marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Pfizer; the Foradil inhaler is made by Novartis and marketed in the United States by Schering-Plough.
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Wyeth’s New Antidepressant Gets FDA OK
Drug maker Wyeth has received U.S. government approval to replace its successful antidepressant Effexor XR (venlafaxine hydrochloride), which is facing patent expiration within the next two years with a different drug that the company says has some added advantages.
The New York Times reports that Wyeth received approval Feb. 29 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to market Pristiq (desvenlafaxine succinate). Effexor XR’s patent expires in 2010.
Wyeth maintains that Pristiq has some new features, the Times reports. First, patients will be able to begin treatment at the therapeutic dose level of 50 milligrams (mg). Usually, a patient starting out on an antidepressant has to take a lower dose for a few weeks before working up to the therapeutic dose.
Second, the drug doesn’t have to be broken down by the liver, as its predecessor does, the newspaper reports. This eliminates problems of drug interactions, the Times quotes a Wyeth spokesperson as saying.
Effexor XR’s 2007 sales were $3.8 billion, the newspaper said.
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Walker’s Four Bean Salad Recalled
Potential contamination with Clostridium botulinum bacteria has prompted a recall of 16-oz., 5-lb., and 10-lb. containers of Four Bean Salad made by Walker’s Food Products Company of North Kansas City, Mo., the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
This kind of bacteria can cause botulism, a serious and potentially fatal kind of food poisoning. Symptoms include general weakness, dizziness, double vision, trouble speaking or swallowing, difficulty breathing, muscle weakness, abdominal distension and constipation. Anyone with such symptoms should seek immediate medical help, the FDA said.
No illnesses have been reported in connection with the recalled Four Bean Salad, which was sent to distributors in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa for sale to retail stores and restaurants. The 16-oz. containers were packaged under the Kay’s Gourmet brand name, while the 5-lb. and 10-lb. containers were packaged under the Walker’s Food Products Co. brand name.
The recall includes salad with expiration dates 12/23/07 through 04/5/08. The expiration dates are stamped on the bottom of the round clear plastic containers.
Anyone who bought the recalled salad should return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. For more information, call Walker’s Food Products at 1-800-725-2372.
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2008.03.03 — That ‘Sex Talk’ With Your Kids Should Be Ongoing
March 03, 2008
That ‘Sex Talk’ With Your Kids Should Be Ongoing
MONDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) — Parents may not want to hear this, but new research suggests it’s not a good idea to just have that one big “sex talk” with your kids.
Instead, the study recommends that you encourage an ongoing dialogue about sex with your children — even if it makes you uncomfortable — so your kids are less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors.
“It’s important that parents set a foundation early on in talking with their kids about sex so that it becomes part of the norm in their household,” said study lead author Steven Martino, a behavioral scientist at RAND in Pittsburgh. “As children grow and have experiences, you want them to feel it’s natural to talk to their parents. When asked where they’d like to get their information, kids say from their parents more than anyone else.”
Martino said he realizes that some parents feel uncomfortable talking about sex with their children. And, he said, it’s OK to let your children know that you’re uncomfortable, but explain that it’s such an important topic that you need to talk about sex anyway.
Martino’s study included 312 teens and their parents. Both parents and adolescents completed baseline questionnaires, and the researchers had the teens complete their surveys in private rooms and assured them that their parents would not be given any of the information they provided.
The parents were then randomly divided into two groups, with half attending an eight-week worksite-based parenting intervention class called “Talking Parents, Healthy Teens,” designed to improve communication with their teens. The other parents just completed the survey and received no intervention.
Follow-up surveys were completed at one week, three months and nine months after the intervention began. The surveys were designed to assess 22 sex-related topics, such as the consequences of sex, how to make decisions about when to have sex, how to say no if you didn’t want to have sex, how well condoms prevent sexually transmitted diseases, and more.
The researchers then assessed the breadth of communications — how many of those 22 subjects the parents had discussed with their teens, and how often.
They found that when teens and their parents had more conversations — repetition — teens reported feeling closer to their parents and felt they could talk more openly with their parents about sex and other topics. A greater breadth of communication was associated with a perceived ease of discussing sex between parent and child, according to the study.
Results of the study were published in the March issue of Pediatrics.
“You can’t just have the big sex talk once. Discussions need to be ongoing,” said Dr. Lea deFrancisci Lis, a child psychiatrist at New York University’s Child Study Center in New York City.
DeFrancisci Lis pointed out that, like most studies, this one didn’t establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. “We can’t say that kids whose parents talk about sex openly with them will have less sex,” she said. “But, research has shown an association between parents who are more open and kids who wait longer to have sex, have less teen pregnancy and less sexually transmitted diseases, so communication is really important.”
Both experts recommend starting to talk about sex at a young age, properly naming the body parts. DeFrancisci Lis said that when a new sibling is on the way, that’s a great time to discuss where babies come from. For parents who are really uncomfortable talking about sex, books can help open discussions, she said.
Martino added that watching TV or movies with your child can provide teaching situations and may make the dialogue feel more natural. The same goes for some of the lyrics in teen music, he said.
More information
To learn more, visit
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