Why TV – whether good or bad – is not for children

I am the breadwinner in my family and my husband is the house husband. I work in a big accounting firm and his work is mostly research, which he does at home in his computer. In order to save money, he is the designated baby sitter of our three- year-old son. I know he loves him but I feel he lets him watch too much TV. He says he only makes him watch programs with uplifting stories, good music and appealing characters, not scary programs or rated-R pictures. Just the same, I don’t approve of a child sitting in front of the TV most of the time. Am I right? If so how can I convince my husband?

He thinks the TV is a convenient pacifier for a three-year-old. He reads to him and takes him out so I can’t complain about that. He says I worry needlessly. Have you come across any definite evidence that indicates too much TV is bad for small children?

Worried Mom

Yes! A new study was recently released by the Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle which examined more than 1,300 children, aged one to three. According to their findings, every hour of TV a child watched daily increased by 10 percent their risk of developing attention-deficit problems by age seven. The authors came to the alarming conclusion that early TV exposure may permanently rewire a child’s brain – and not in a good way.

According to this study, it doesn’t matter what the content of the TV program is! What causes the rewiring of the infant and toddler brain is the medium of rapid-fire visual images. Have you ever thought of sending your son to a nursery school? Not only will he be with children his own age but he will learn a lot. There are nursery schools all over the city and one can find them in residential subdivisions to make it easy for parents to drop off their kids on their way to the office. I think this is a good solution to your problem. Your husband will be able to concentrate on his research better and your son will learn his ABCs and how to relate to children his own age. I am sure there is a good one near you. Don’t risk your child’s brain getting rewired by too much TV exposure!
All your husband has to do is to bring him there and pick him up. This is not too much to ask of a house husband, is it?

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The Blood Test You Must Have

I want to share this experience with your readers to save women from a cancer that can be diagnosed in its early stages. My mother always had her yearly pap smear and mammography just to make sure she is fine in those areas. Her ob-gyne always gave her a clean bill of health. She also had blood test for cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid, etc. So she was always in good shape, or so she thought! One day, she started to feel abdominal pains, coupled with diarrhea. When she would get better, she would feel constipated. Then her stomach started to grow big to the point that she couldn’t close her pants. Our whole family was leaving for a cruise and she did not feel like going because she couldn’t fit into any of her clothes.

She went to a doctor who gave her an x-ray which showed negative results for any tumor. Not satisfied with that because she was not feeling well, she went to a gastroenterologist who checked her for bacteria and again it was negative. She was diagnosed as having irritable bowel syndrome and was given medication for that. But her abdominal problems would not go away and her stomach grew like a five-month pregnancy. She went back to her doctor and demanded a CT-scan. He gave her a prescription for one just to shut her up, I think. The scan showed a lot of fluid in her stomach so he decided to take out the fluid. The fluid they took out weighed five lbs.!

They sent the fluid for biopsy and it showed cancer cells. It was only at this point that the doctors decided to give her the CA125 blood test, which is a simple, inexpensive blood test that diagnoses ovarian cancer. And true enough, my mother had a form of ovarian cancer called primary peritoneal cancer. By the time she was diagnosed, it was too late. It was in a very late stage and less than a year after her diagnosis, she died.

You see, what doctors do not tell us is that one out of 55 women will get ovarian cancer. That is why we have to take charge of our own health. Pap smear, bone density test, mammography, annual physical checkup are not enough. My mom even had a sigmoidoscopy, which is an invasive test of the colon and the rectum. Little did we know, a simple, inexpensive CA125 blood test could have diagnosed what she had and probably saved her life if she did it early enough. I am so devastated by my mother’s death because it was so senseless. I hope this letter is taken seriously by your women readers. Have the CA125 blood test as part of your yearly test. I will repeat the symptoms: the abdomen suddenly enlarges and is filled with fluid, and constant bout with diarrhea or constipation.

Do not take no for an answer! If your doctor does not want to give you this test, insist on it or go to another doctor. If this letter could save a few lives, it was worth my time and energy to write it!

Frannie Girl

I hope a lot of women will take this letter seriously and follow the advice of Frannie Girl. Encourage your family and friends to get the test. It does not take much to have this blood test and the life that you save could be …..yours!

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For your questions, write to Mayenne Carmona at Star Media Inc., 6th floor Jaka Bldg. Ayala Ave., Makati City.