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Child Health and the Environment
by Donald T. Wigle, MD, 382 pp, $49.95, ISBN 0-19-51-3559-8, New York, NY, Oxford University Press, 2003.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158:188-189.
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That children are not just miniature adults is well understood by pediatricians. A newborn infant with congenital hypothyroidism will have permanent devastating neurodevelopmental effects if not quickly treated with thyroid hormone; older children and adults who acquire hypothyroidism do not experience similar brain damage. When administered to a newborn infant, the antibiotic chloramphenicol causes "gray baby syndrome," a condition that does not occur in older infants, children, or adults.
Infants and children are also uniquely vulnerable to the effects of many environmental hazards. Four years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics published the Handbook of Pediatric Environmental Health, the first comprehensive guide to the identification, prevention, and treatment of pediatric environmental health problems. Now a second book, Child Health and the Environment, has been published and offers a welcome addition to the first. Whereas the former offers practical guidance for pediatricians, this new textbook will serve the needs . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Ruth A. Etzel, MD, PhD, Reviewer
George Washington University
School of Public Health and Health Services
Washington, DC
retzel@earthlink.net
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