There was a little surprise waiting for me in my inbox this morning. The CDC contacted me to help get the word out about a recall of a few Total Body supplements that have toxic levels of selenium and high levels of chromium. Guess they’re trying really hard to alert people to the issue.

The products and lot numbers are:

• Total Body Formula Tropical Orange with lot numbers 4016801, 4024801 and 4031801
• Total Body Formula Peach Nectar with lot numbers 4016802 and 4031802
• Total Body Mega Formula Orange/Tangerine with lot number 4031803

The CDC has information on their website about this, but here’s the basics they sent me:

• As of April 22, 2008 there have been 195 cases.
• Those affected range from children to older adults.
• Ten of 16 states where the supplements were distributed have reported cases to their state health departments, including Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
• The supplements were also sold over the Internet.
• Symptoms typically occur within 5 to 10 days after daily ingestion of the product begins.
• After discontinuing use of the product, the symptoms of selenium toxicity may last for several weeks but should improve eventually without treatment.
• Testing also revealed elevated levels of chromium in the supplements, up to 17 times greater than the amount stated on the label. The supplements are considered less likely to cause chromium toxicity because the chromium levels in the supplements are not as elevated.

The recalled products may cause the following severe, adverse reactions:

• significant hair loss
• muscle cramps
• diarrhea
• joint pain
• fatigue
• fingernail changes
• blistering skin

They say to just throw out the bottles if you have them, and consult a doctor if you have symptoms. You can report your symptoms to your local Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) or Department of Health.

I got a notification in the mail about 2 weeks ago, reminding me that my son is due for his 3 year checkup. This is the first time the doctor’s office has sent me this kind of a note, and I was fairly impressed that they are getting that organized in their new office.

But what can I say? It was too near to Christmas and I was too busy to call immediately. So I finally remembered to call them today.

The woman on the phone took a look at my son’s record and informed me that it was too soon for his checkup.

Say what?

Somehow she had decided that I meant I wanted one immediately, not at the end of February, when he’s actually due.

It took a bit of explaining that I meant for the appointment to be scheduled for when he’s due for it, not immediately. I guess habits can get you that way sometimes, since so often people call and want that appointment immediately.

But I would have been far more impressed if she had simply said “OK, I see he’s due at the end of next month. Let’s see what we have.”

Instead, she told me it was too soon, and nearly ended the call. Just one of those moments you wonder what the person was thinking.

There was an interesting report on the evening news that I just had to look up and share tonight. It was about how broken bones are becoming more common in children. Not only that, they’re getting rickets.

Two factors are the major causes. One is that kids aren’t getting enough milk or other calcium sources; the other is that they aren’t getting enough sunshine, and so develop vitamin D deficiencies.

It’s not just that broken bones happen more easily in childhood if you aren’t building their bones either. It is suspected that osteoporosis will also become more common because bone density is not being built early on.

Rickets can be quite serious. The article noted a case where a little boy had it bad enough that his leg bowed and he could no longer run because his legs hurt so much.

Of course, there are plenty of things you can do to help your kids have stronger bones. Make sure they get plenty of calcium in their diets daily, whether from dairy sources or other sources such as broccoli. Make sure they play outside a lot. 10-15 minutes a day is a minimum. Makes me glad that I walk my daughter to and from school daily. We get plenty of sunshine during that time, and her school gives a decent recess. An hour of general physical activity is also needed, in or out of the sun.

If you’ve been having trouble getting enough calcium in your kids’ diets, think about what you can switch. Get them to drink more milk, for example, or serve yogurt sometimes for breakfast. Cheese in sandwiches or on pizza. There are lots of ways to encourage your children to take in more of what their bodies need if you fear they haven’t had enough lately.

Technorati Tags: childrens bones, rickets, health, children, kids, family, stronger bones

I’ve heard before that cough medicine really isn’t effective for children. But now the FDA has come out with an advisory that you should not give cough medicines to children under two without a doctor’s order.

I think most parents have done this, though. I certainly know I’ve had a simply miserable time getting my husband to understand that these have been shown to be not all that effective, if effective at all, for children. But if he’s the one to buy medicine when they’re sick, it’s a cold medicine that includes something for cough. Probably because it’s so hard to find a plain decongestant now that pseudophedrine is behind the pharmacist’s counter. I miss being able to easily buy children’s Sudafed.

It’s important to pay attention to this warning, however, and I hope labeling on the bottles makes it clearer. Children under 2 are more likely to have complications from cough medicines, including death. And it may pay to keep in mind that some find it dangerous to give cough medicines to children under 6.

My own suggestion would be that if your kids are in those age groups, just get rid of any medications that include something for cough that you have for them. They don’t seem to do a whole lot anyhow. Use a humidifier and maybe a decongestant or fever reducer as necessary. Don’t bother with anything that isn’t all that effective.

Technorati Tags: babies, cough syrup, cough medicine, fda warning, family, children

While both my kids are very active, I don’t consider them to have behavioral issues. But many parents do have to deal with behavioral issues with their kids, so when I saw this I had to post.

Over on Blogging Baby there’s a post about the possibility of corn causing behavioral problems such as tantrums with some children. The issue is essentially a mild allergy.

If you think about it, corn is a hard one to avoid. Sugar from corn is very often used as a sweetener. Think about how often high fructose corn syrup appear on ingredient lists.

While it wouldn’t be easy to avoid, I can certainly see just testing for a problem by reading labels and avoiding anything that might have corn or corn syrup in it. You’d have to learn the many ways that it is listed but it should be doable.

Technorati Tags: corn syrup, allergies, behavior problems