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Excerpt
Gardiner and Wornham’s article , “Recent Review of Complimentary and Alternative Medicine used by Adolescents” (pp 298–302), highlights the increasing use of CAM by adolescent patients and their families. Familiarity with CAM is essential for healthcare providers who most likely will be providing care to teens who are using these therapies. Complimentary and alternative medicine can include different healing modalities, including acupuncture, herbal medicines, chiropractic, massage, and many other forms of treatment. Although most forms of CAM are unregulated, this article looks specifically at trials of CAM for asthma, urinary tract infections, headaches, and mental health conditions, and the use of supplements in athletes. The article emphasizes the need for future studies to delineate the effectiveness of CAM therapies.
The second article, by Herbold and Frates, “Update of Nutrition Guidelines for the Teen: Trends and Concerns” (pp 303–309), contains detailed information about nutritional needs for teens. The authors provide specialized guidelines for nutrient intake for teens who are following various types of vegetarian meal plans, such as lacto-ovo vegetarians and vegans. Recent trends in dieting behaviors of teens are outlined, along with the role smoking may play in dieting and weight loss. In addition to highlighting trends, the article addresses the issues surrounding subclinical eating disorders and diet issues unique to teen athletes. Encouraging healthy eating practices among teens is necessary to ensure their future health, although it will continue to be a challenge in the current body-conscious society.
Callahan and Mansfield (pp 310–315) have put together a thoughtful yet concise article entitled “Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Adolescents,” which summarizes the recent recommendations for the screening and treatment of type 2 diabetes. The article reviews the expert committee’s new diagnostic criteria for diabetes and summarizes the recent American Diabetes Association’s [1] guidelines for screening for Type 2 diabetes. During the past decade, primary care clinicians and endocrinologists have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of adolescents presenting with type 2 diabetes, long thought to be a disease of adults. The sedentary lifestyle and increased obesity of children over age 6 likely have contributed to these worrisome trends, and challenge pediatric providers to become comfortable with the diagnosis of impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes and to provide new therapeutic modalities. Current treatment efforts, a clear explanation of the pathophysiology relating to type 2 diabetes, and some of its associated diseases, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, are enumerated in this article.
The Adolescent Medicine section in Current Opinion in Pediatrics 2000 is a valuable review for all clinicians caring for adolescents. These three articles provide readers with essential and practical updates of issues that are on the forefront of primary care.
