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Calendar of Events
Dec. 1 — Prepared Childbirth. The technique of childbirth is presented during this six-week class. The pregnant woman and her coach will receive information on what to expect during labor and delivery. This class teaches the coach to manage the labor process. UC Davis Medical Group Patients: $65, Community: $80. The date listed is the first day of the series. The remaining dates will be on the same day of the week for the next 5 weeks after day one. Time: 6:30 to 9 p.m. Location: 4900 Broadway, Suite 1630, Sacramento. Register online.
Dec. 10 — Joan Giboney Tree of Hope "Untrimming Party." Beautiful holiday ornaments will be on sale with proceeds going to cancer research. Time: noon to 4 p.m. Location: UC Davis Cancer Center lobby, 4501 X St., Sacramento.
Dec. 30 — Baby Basics: Care of the Infant. This class presents the basics of caring for the newborn through the first year. UC Davis Medical Group patients: $20; community: $30. Time: 6:30-9 p.m. Location: 4900 Broadway, Suite 1630, Sacramento. Register online.
Some CT scans unnecessary
after kids bump their heads
A substantial percentage of children who get CT scans after apparently minor head trauma do not need them, and as a result are put at increased risk of cancer due to radiation exposure.
After analyzing more than 42,000 children with head trauma, a national research team led by two UC Davis emergency department physicians has developed guidelines for doctors who care for children with head trauma aimed at reducing those risks.
Researchers found that one in five children over the age of 2 and nearly one-quarter of those under 2 who received CT scans following head trauma did not need them because they were at very low risk of having serious brain injuries.
In these low-risk children, the risk of developing cancer due to radiation exposure outweighed the risk of serious brain injury.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 435,000 children under 14 visit emergency rooms every year to be evaluated for traumatic brain injury.
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More teens die in car crashes than any other single cause, and are involved in four times more crashes per mile driven than any other group of drivers.
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Students help create community garden
Over the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity. The increase is so great, in fact, that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uses the term “obesogenic” to describe current American society.
Overweight and obesity — which greatly increase risks for chronic disease, including heart conditions, type 2 diabetes and some cancers — affect lower income people at higher rates than the well-to-do, in part due to access to healthy foods and safe places for physical activity.
To help change this for one Sacramento neighborhood, students of the UC Davis School of Medicine honors society, Alpha Omega Alpha, joined the Health Education Council this fall to launch a new community garden on Cypress Street and Harris Avenue in Del Paso Heights.
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