In case you missed it: Travel, health, breast feeding and vitamin D
Welcome back to BCM Momentum’s rundown of exciting news, events and announcements that you may have missed.
Travel internationally, stay healthy
While yesterday was chilly in Houston, the normal creep of the thermometer’s mercury typically turns everyone’s attention to summer and possible travel destinations. Considering international travel in the coming months? Our experts at Baylor College of Medicine have tips to stay healthy as you travel abroad.
My motto is “if it is green it’s mean, so avoid raw foods such as salad greens; if you don’t peel it, don’t eat it (fruit) and bottled water with no ice,” Dr. Laila Woc-Colburn, assistant professor of medicine and director of medical education at the National School of Tropical Medicine at BCM, said in a press release. “Also, always remember to wash your hands.”
Get more expert advice on international travel.
Teaching by example
Next month, Baylor College of Medicine will begin to offer a Master’s Program in Orthotics and Prosthetics. While we’ll share more details in the coming weeks, meet one of the program’s instructors, Earl Fogler.
Vitamin D supplement for breast-fed infants
An article published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association recommends mothers who breast feed also need a vitamin D supplement that helps the body absorb calcium and grow healthy bones.
BCM’s Dr. Steven Abrams, a professor of pediatrics, who also authored the accompanying editorial published in JAMA wrote, “a daily exposure of vitamin D intake of 400 IU per day has been demonstrated for almost 100 years to reliably prevent rickets in infants regardless of sunshine exposure or race.”
Read more about the recommendation in CNN’s The Chart blog.
–By Audrey M. Marks