Over Christmas my right big toe became swollen, painful, and red. My cousin said that he has gout, and it caused the same symptoms. Do you think he may be correct about my big toe?
Your cousin MAY be correct. Although there may be other causes, the big toe is a common place for a gout attack. The symptoms of gout are a painful, red, swollen joint, as it is a form of arthritits. There are a number of causes; the most common is just an elevation of the uric acid levels in the blood, which accumulates in the joint,
Cholesterol and Children
by Tom Seman MD FAAP January 5th, 2012 | Pediatrician on Call
There's been a lot of news stories on lately about having a child's cholesterol level checked. Should I ask my children's pediatrician to consider doing this for my kids?
We all know how high cholesterol levels affect the heart and the blood vessels in adults and the necessity of checking it regularly as well as treating those with levels higher than recommended. Before it was known that it takes a long time for cholesterol plaques to develop within the arteries and vessels, it was initially hard to correlate childhood behaviors and cholesterol levels with adult outcomes; however, in the 1960's and
Read More
We all know how high cholesterol levels affect the heart and the blood vessels in adults and the necessity of checking it regularly as well as treating those with levels higher than recommended. Before it was known that it takes a long time for cholesterol plaques to develop within the arteries and vessels, it was initially hard to correlate childhood behaviors and cholesterol levels with adult outcomes; however, in the 1960's and