He’s got a made-for-TV smile and a spirit that just won’t quit. When 8-year-old John Lamm walks, runs, plays hockey and even breakdances around his hometown of Girard, Ohio, you wouldn’t know about the difficult odds he overcame; nor the 29 surgeries he’s endured. As documented in a popular 30-second television commercial for Akron Children’s […]
Have Genetic Services, Will Travel
On a recent Friday, Akron Children’s geneticist Catherine Ward-Melver, genetic counselor Susan Woods and developmental pediatrician Dan Smith traded their hospital exam room for a brightly colored classroom at Portage County’s Happy Day School. Dr. Melver has been holding a genetics clinic at the school twice a month for the past 10 years, with the support […]
Stork’s Nest Aims to Prevent Birth Defects in Akron Area
Every third Saturday, new and expectant parents congregate at the South Arlington United Methodist Church in Akron. It looks like a big play date, but it’s actually part of a program designed to prevent birth defects, prematurity and infant mortality. The program is Stork’s Nest, where clients earn points for attending educational sessions on preconception, […]
A clinical geneticist applauds Angelina Jolie’s candor (Video)
Actress Angelina Jolie revealed May 13 in the New York Times that she quietly had a preventive double mastectomy after a genetic test showed she carries a mutation in the hereditary breast/ovarian cancer gene BRCA1.
Akron Children’s well worth the long drive
Fourteen years ago I was a young mother of my first child. After an emergency c-section, Kegan was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital for respiratory problems.
What is the multiple marker test?
Between the 15th and 20th weeks of pregnancy, expectant mothers usually are offered a blood test called the multiple marker test.
Sometimes called a triple screen or a quad screen, depending on the number of things measured, it also might be done in combination with blood tests and an ultrasound in the first trimester.
