MIAMI – According to the CDC, about one million children and 1.4 million adults in the US are living with a congenital heart defect.
Helping pediatric patients transfer to adult care is the focus of the Miami Congenital Heart Disease program at the University of Miami.
“It goes beyond the heart because the heart has affected many organs also so let’s say the liver is affected the physicians taking care of that have to be aware of what’s going on with the heart to take care of the liver. If you have lung disease how is the heart affecting this lung disease. So it’s a multi-disciplinary approach,” said Dr. Satinder Sandhu with UHealth.
Sandhu said congenital heart patients often need multi-organ transplants throughout their lives female patients face high risk pregnancies.
And mental health experts are weighing in on the pros and cons of social media use in adolescents and teens.
On the positive side, it allows kids to connect with other likeminded individuals from anywhere in the world.
But on the negative side it can take away from real person interactions which can play a role in emotional and social development.
Child development and mental health experts say setting daily use limits along with monitoring what websites their children visit and apps they use can keep the interaction healthy, not harmful.