Green Lanterns: The Sinestro Corp Wars

The Green Lanterns are the galactic corps of the universe. The Green Lantern comic series has come a long way since there was only one Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Now there are thousands, each have a green ring which by their will power will will create anything they want. They are invincible except against anything yellow (duh!).

Sinsestro Corps Wars was conceived by writer Geoff Johns and drawn by artist Ethan van Sciver with the first issue published on August 2007. The storyline concludes in February 2008. I only finished reading it yesterday so you know how heavy my backlog of comic reading is.

Sinestro was once the greatest of the Green Lanterns until he turned rogue and was replaced by Hal Jordan. While imprisoned, Sinestro discovered the power of yellow light and made himself a yellow ring. I wonder why he did not call himself Yellow Lantern. Hmm. Somehow it did not sound right. Anyway, he formed the Sinestro Corp which is the counter part of the Green Lantern corp and set out to do what all villains want to do, conquer the universe.

The series is a series of mayhem, blood and gore as the Green Lantern corps fought against the Sinestro corps. The Green Lanterns were being slaughtered until the Guardians rewrote their ring's code allowing them to use lethal force. Then the good guys wins.

Interesting story but what was more interesting was the revelation that there are altogether seven color corps:

green (willpower)

yellow (fear)

violet (love)

red (rage)

indigo (compassion)

orange (avarice)

blue (hope)

A prophecy was then unveiled that there will come a day in the future when all seven corps will fight to the destruction of the universe bringing on the "darkest night"

'nuff said

Green Lanterns: The Sinestro Corp Wars

The Green Lanterns are the galactic corps of the universe. The Green Lantern comic series has come a long way since there was only one Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Now there are thousands, each have a green ring which by their will power will will create anything they want. They are invincible except against anything yellow (duh!).

Sinsestro Corps Wars was conceived by writer Geoff Johns and drawn by artist Ethan van Sciver with the first issue published on August 2007. The storyline concludes in February 2008. I only finished reading it yesterday so you know how heavy my backlog of comic reading is.

Sinestro was once the greatest of the Green Lanterns until he turned rogue and was replaced by Hal Jordan. While imprisoned, Sinestro discovered the power of yellow light and made himself a yellow ring. I wonder why he did not call himself Yellow Lantern. Hmm. Somehow it did not sound right. Anyway, he formed the Sinestro Corp which is the counter part of the Green Lantern corp and set out to do what all villains want to do, conquer the universe.

The series is a series of mayhem, blood and gore as the Green Lantern corps fought against the Sinestro corps. The Green Lanterns were being slaughtered until the Guardians rewrote their ring's code allowing them to use lethal force. Then the good guys wins.

Interesting story but what was more interesting was the revelation that there are altogether seven color corps:

green (willpower)

yellow (fear)

violet (love)

red (rage)

indigo (compassion)

orange (avarice)

blue (hope)

A prophecy was then unveiled that there will come a day in the future when all seven corps will fight to the destruction of the universe bringing on the "darkest night"

'nuff said

The Calling

A man stands alone, in front of a crowd,
t’is an ordination, a man given commission.
Business as usual, ebbs and fro like a cloud,
momentous moment, appreciation omission.

The man reserved, introvert, stand aghast,
feed my people is the Lord’s demand.
To them you must be prophet, priest, and sage,
declare, disrupt, discern on My command.

He answers questions in his ordination,
confessional beliefs and commitment.
Not asked about his spiritual condition,
nor his needs wants and contentment.

He stands there and is anointed to lead,
a people staying in Egypt, postcode Babylon.
Come one, come all, it’s to time to leave,
but why go, here plentiful drinks and corn.

He hears his calling, his fire burning within,
the Holy Spirit transforming and informs.
Yearning to serve, his passions overflowing,
holy fire, holy passions, saintly being forms.

The man stands amazed, in his soul,
still reserved, introverted, and alone.
Down from heaven the grace flows,
power, glory, holy, all his sins atone.

A man stand alone and floats,
people are fed and the deed is done.
With two fish and five loaves,
Lord dancing with him, call him son.

The Calling

A man stands alone, in front of a crowd,
t’is an ordination, a man given commission.
Business as usual, ebbs and fro like a cloud,
momentous moment, appreciation omission.

The man reserved, introvert, stand aghast,
feed my people is the Lord’s demand.
To them you must be prophet, priest, and sage,
declare, disrupt, discern on My command.

He answers questions in his ordination,
confessional beliefs and commitment.
Not asked about his spiritual condition,
nor his needs wants and contentment.

He stands there and is anointed to lead,
a people staying in Egypt, postcode Babylon.
Come one, come all, it’s to time to leave,
but why go, here plentiful drinks and corn.

He hears his calling, his fire burning within,
the Holy Spirit transforming and informs.
Yearning to serve, his passions overflowing,
holy fire, holy passions, saintly being forms.

The man stands amazed, in his soul,
still reserved, introverted, and alone.
Down from heaven the grace flows,
power, glory, holy, all his sins atone.

A man stand alone and floats,
people are fed and the deed is done.
With two fish and five loaves,
Lord dancing with him, call him son.

Iron Man Action Figures

Jin Saotome's Super-Cool Custom Superheroes

I want, I want

Iron Man Action Figures

Jin Saotome's Super-Cool Custom Superheroes

I want, I want

The Seven Deadly Sins Updated Version

Seven New Deadly Sins
Suitably updated. by P.J. O'Rourke
04/14/2008, Volume 013, Issue 29

Busy times for us sinners--there are now an additional Seven Deadly Sins. The fresh abominations in the eyes of the Lord were announced by Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Vatican body that oversees confessions and plenary indulgences. This organization goes by the contrition-inducing name of the Apostolic Penitentiary. In an article in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Bishop Girotti detailed the seven new ways we can go to hell or, at the minimum, be sentenced to afterlife in purgatory at the Apostle Pen. The bishop's supersizing of the mortal transgression catalog is thoroughly up-to-date (as translated by the Times of London):

1. Drug abuse
2. Morally debatable experimentation
3. Environmental pollution
4. Causing poverty
5. Social inequality and injustice
6. Genetic manipulation
7. Accumulating excessive wealth

and he also added a few of his own which is worth reading... not to mention The 11th Commandment is, "Thou shalt not blog."

The Seven Deadly Sins Updated Version

Seven New Deadly Sins
Suitably updated. by P.J. O'Rourke
04/14/2008, Volume 013, Issue 29

Busy times for us sinners--there are now an additional Seven Deadly Sins. The fresh abominations in the eyes of the Lord were announced by Bishop Gianfranco Girotti, head of the Vatican body that oversees confessions and plenary indulgences. This organization goes by the contrition-inducing name of the Apostolic Penitentiary. In an article in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Bishop Girotti detailed the seven new ways we can go to hell or, at the minimum, be sentenced to afterlife in purgatory at the Apostle Pen. The bishop's supersizing of the mortal transgression catalog is thoroughly up-to-date (as translated by the Times of London):

1. Drug abuse
2. Morally debatable experimentation
3. Environmental pollution
4. Causing poverty
5. Social inequality and injustice
6. Genetic manipulation
7. Accumulating excessive wealth

and he also added a few of his own which is worth reading... not to mention The 11th Commandment is, "Thou shalt not blog."

Is Our Gospel too Small? An Orthodox Perspective

Christianity Today, May, 2008

CHRISTIAN VISION PROJECT

The Poverty of Love

The desert fathers and mothers would know instantly why our gospel is too small.
Bradley Nassif posted 4/30/2008 08:33AM

The last few decades, more and more evangelicals have been mining the treasures of Eastern Orthodoxy. One reason for their openness is the work of people like Bradley Nassif, professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University in Chicago. For years he has been, as one editor put it, "a courageous and enthusiastic pioneer of Orthodox-evangelical dialogue around the world." While Nassif was exposed to evangelical faith in his youth, which he says gave his faith vitality, he has remained a faithful member of the Orthodox Church. But while championing the Orthodox cause, he's never been blind to its spiritual needs. As he put it in one article, "The most urgent need in the Orthodox world today is an aggressive 'internal mission' of (re)converting our people to Jesus Christ." In this Christian Vision Project article, Nassif suggests how one element of the Orthodox heritage might help reconvert all of us to the person and mission of Jesus Christ.

"Is our gospel too small?" Shouldn't the answer be obvious? As an Eastern Orthodox theologian, my first impulse was to point out that a small gospel has never been our problem. The name of the great 7th-century saint Maximus the Confessor symbolizes the maximal gospel proclaimed by him and all the Orthodox—one with cosmic implications that embraces the whole of creation. Proclaiming that kind of gospel has always been the Orthodox way. But then I came down to earth. Though Orthodoxy has a grand vision in principle, it often doesn't make a lot of difference in practice. I believe our theological compass is pointed in the right direction, but when it comes to following through on our not-so-small gospel, we are no better than anyone else.

read more

Is Our Gospel too Small? An Orthodox Perspective

Christianity Today, May, 2008

CHRISTIAN VISION PROJECT

The Poverty of Love

The desert fathers and mothers would know instantly why our gospel is too small.
Bradley Nassif posted 4/30/2008 08:33AM

The last few decades, more and more evangelicals have been mining the treasures of Eastern Orthodoxy. One reason for their openness is the work of people like Bradley Nassif, professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University in Chicago. For years he has been, as one editor put it, "a courageous and enthusiastic pioneer of Orthodox-evangelical dialogue around the world." While Nassif was exposed to evangelical faith in his youth, which he says gave his faith vitality, he has remained a faithful member of the Orthodox Church. But while championing the Orthodox cause, he's never been blind to its spiritual needs. As he put it in one article, "The most urgent need in the Orthodox world today is an aggressive 'internal mission' of (re)converting our people to Jesus Christ." In this Christian Vision Project article, Nassif suggests how one element of the Orthodox heritage might help reconvert all of us to the person and mission of Jesus Christ.

"Is our gospel too small?" Shouldn't the answer be obvious? As an Eastern Orthodox theologian, my first impulse was to point out that a small gospel has never been our problem. The name of the great 7th-century saint Maximus the Confessor symbolizes the maximal gospel proclaimed by him and all the Orthodox—one with cosmic implications that embraces the whole of creation. Proclaiming that kind of gospel has always been the Orthodox way. But then I came down to earth. Though Orthodoxy has a grand vision in principle, it often doesn't make a lot of difference in practice. I believe our theological compass is pointed in the right direction, but when it comes to following through on our not-so-small gospel, we are no better than anyone else.

read more

Dr Amar Singh and the "New Autism"

nstonline

My friend, Dr Amar Singh has stirred up a hornet's nest of controversies in this article in New Straits Time especially among people who are working "classical autistic" children or have one.

Before you start throwing stones, please note the following:

(1) This is not a scientific paper based on evidence-based medicine. This is a reflection by a concerned paediatrician on the state of parenting in a segment of population of Malaysian society at this moment,

(2) You must understand the genre of the article. Dr Amar is using a metaphor to bring across his message. In actual fact, he is not writing about autism at all but parenting.

(3) This is a call for many of us busy people with young children to re-examine our priorities in child-rearing. Your child do not ask to be born. Parents make the decisions to have children. Therefore parents must also be ready to bear the responsibility to take care of their children, especially in their formative years.

I laud Dr Amar Singh's concern and courage to speak out about the sorry state of parenting in our society today especially in the well educated affluence middle class. Read on...

Community: Emergence of the 'new autism' epidemic
By Dr Amar Singh

2008/04/26

DR AMAR SINGH, a consultant community paediatrician who has treated a few hundred autistic children in the last 20 years, believes there is a new autism epidemic sweeping across Malaysia. IN the past 20 years, most countries - developed or developing - have seen an explosion in autism cases.

Many of us who were quoting rates of three to four cases in every 10,000 children, have had to revise them to one case in every 1,000.

The figure went up further in recent years to become one in every 100 children.

This increase, as most of us in the medical fraternity have recognised, is not merely due to an increase in the recognition of the condition, or an increase in diagnostic ability to identify children who may have a milder variety of the autistic spectrum disorder.

Rather, it's due to an actual increase in the rate of the condition.

In addition to the vast increase in numbers, the "face" of autism has also been changing, especially in the past 10-15 years.

More than 20 years ago, we saw cases of what we term "classical autism". For purposes of comparison, I refer to this as the "Old Fashioned Rain-Man-Dustin-Hoffman Autism" - a description that many parents can easily identify with, which is the more severe autism.

The clinical features are present early, even before the first year of life, but the child may only be seen by a healthcare professional around the ages of 2 to 4 - about the time when parents realise something is wrong.

The prognosis for long-term rehabilitation is usually not good for children diagnosed with the more severe forms of the condition.

But the "new autism" that has surfaced in the last decade or so has a different presentation and evolution compared to the "classical" one.

Some of the key epidemiological and socio-demographic features of the "new autism" are:

- Parents are predominantly from the upper or upper-middle class;

- Parents are often busy professionals;

- The child is often left with a baby-sitter and only picked up in the evenings or during weekends; and,

- Some have shown elements of emotional or social deprivation.

Among the cases of the "new autism", it is Chinese children who predominate, despite having no problems with access to facilities and necessities when compared with other ethnic groups or poorer sectors of society.

Their parents are often busy professionals and usually leave their child in some form of child care.

At times there is the "triangular family" - my phrase for a dad working overseas, while the mum works in another city and the child is left in the care of a grandparent.

Their parents tend to be those who focus on "quality time", rather than "quantity time".

These parents also tend to be those who come from an earlier generation of parents who did not put much emphasis on playing with, reading to or spending time with the children.

The child-minder or grandparent is usually the one looking after the child's physical needs, but this doesn't mean the child's emotional, intellectual or spiritual needs are met.

Culturally, some of these "new autism" children's parents tend to value health and wealth more than emotional well-being and, in some cases, have not been brought up to show affection in a visible manner.

Symptom of a de-compensating society

Reflecting on this growing problem with other professionals and parents, it is my view that this condition has varied origins, although the clinical symptoms are similar.

One possible reason is damage by external stressors on the child, either during the time in the womb or in the child's early days after birth.

The Sept 11 attacks, fears of an uncertain future, increasing struggles at work, fatigue - a pregnant mother can communicate these, albeit unintentionally, to the child in her womb or her newborn baby.

The child subconsciously (in the "spirit") perceives the world as a bad place to be and "withdraws from society". Hence, we can say these children are a symptom of a de-compensating society that has increasing fears and uncertainties.

In this sense, children are perhaps the most sensitive indicator of a society's well being.

Another possible reason for the onset of the "new autism" is that a child who has a minor developmental problem, either in speech or learning, is made worse because they are deprived emotionally, perhaps by parents busy trying to make a future for their children and struggling for time in the current competitive world.

They can also be deprived socially to some degree because family units have grown smaller as most parents opt to have only one or two children.

Coupled with a decrease in neighbourhood social interaction and the increased use of personalised child care, the child's socialising is limited.

However, the hypotheses suggested here will not be true of every child or parent. Neither are they true of "classical autism".

They are merely offered for reflection while we search hard for an environmental toxin or whatever organic cause for the explosion of autism that we see in our young today. They are also expressed here with a view to identify prevention or severity reduction strategies.

More common in boys

There are far more boys being born with this "new autism" than girls. A child with the "new autism" disorder is often the only child or the only other child to the parents.

The child usually has a fairly normal development for the first 12 months, including the social relationship with parents.

He or she may even have developed some spoken words with meaning between 12 and 18 months but, later, there occurs a sudden "loss" of recently acquired communication abilities.

There is usually significant social impairment as well. The childhood has been rather restricted in terms of social interaction, especially with other children and at times even with adults.

An extreme example is a child who spends almost all his time with his grandmother watching TV serials and seldom leaves the house or meets other children.

There is no neurological abnormality in the vast majority of these children. Many are clinically bright children.

With speech and language therapy, adequate socialisation with children in a normal nursery, and greater interest and involvement by parents, the child can do very well and often shows significant improvements.

Many are able to enter normal mainstream education although they still require some support and understanding from the teacher.

Suggestions to prevent "new autism"

Parents need to be made aware of the importance of the child's spiritual and emotional needs, as early as from the womb.

Much time and energy is spent on ensuring the physical health of the child but little on the fact that the child is listening and responding to our state of mind and emotion.

This does not just place the burden of responsibility on mothers but fathers and society as well.

We need to re-discover our own hope, emotional and spiritual well being, for us to be able to communicate it truly to our children.

Parents need to be educated on the importance of spending "quantity time" with children and be responsive and relational in play. This may require an adjustment in work or expectations for financial wealth - a voluntary "downsizing".

Child minders also require formal instruction on the value of play and social interaction in the up bringing of a child.

There is a need to institute a formal developmental screen at the age of 2 to identify those with features of autism.

This is already in place in many developed countries and the Ministry of Health is also planning to put in place this formal development screening in Malaysia.

This article is not meant to be a scientific discussion, but rather a personal reflection. Despite that, it is hoped that the reflections and observations, made over a period of more than 20 years in hundreds of children with autism, may be of benefit to children and parents.

Perhaps the truth about the "New Autism" can be best illustrated by quoting the secret that Fox told the Little Prince (in the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery):

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Love is the key in preventing and healing our children with autism.

Suggestions to Prevent or Reduce the Severity of the ‘New Autism’

• Educate parents on importance of in-utero child’s spiritual and emotional needs

• Educate parents on the need to spend time with their children

• Child minders require instruction on the value of play

• Need for formal developmental screening at 18 months to 2 years to identify autism

Dr Amar Singh is head of the Paediatric Department at Ipoh Hospital and is actively involved in providing and developing services for children with disabilities and their parents.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

Dr Amar Singh and the "New Autism"

nstonline

My friend, Dr Amar Singh has stirred up a hornet's nest of controversies in this article in New Straits Time especially among people who are working "classical autistic" children or have one.

Before you start throwing stones, please note the following:

(1) This is not a scientific paper based on evidence-based medicine. This is a reflection by a concerned paediatrician on the state of parenting in a segment of population of Malaysian society at this moment,

(2) You must understand the genre of the article. Dr Amar is using a metaphor to bring across his message. In actual fact, he is not writing about autism at all but parenting.

(3) This is a call for many of us busy people with young children to re-examine our priorities in child-rearing. Your child do not ask to be born. Parents make the decisions to have children. Therefore parents must also be ready to bear the responsibility to take care of their children, especially in their formative years.

I laud Dr Amar Singh's concern and courage to speak out about the sorry state of parenting in our society today especially in the well educated affluence middle class. Read on...

Community: Emergence of the 'new autism' epidemic
By Dr Amar Singh

2008/04/26

DR AMAR SINGH, a consultant community paediatrician who has treated a few hundred autistic children in the last 20 years, believes there is a new autism epidemic sweeping across Malaysia. IN the past 20 years, most countries - developed or developing - have seen an explosion in autism cases.

Many of us who were quoting rates of three to four cases in every 10,000 children, have had to revise them to one case in every 1,000.

The figure went up further in recent years to become one in every 100 children.

This increase, as most of us in the medical fraternity have recognised, is not merely due to an increase in the recognition of the condition, or an increase in diagnostic ability to identify children who may have a milder variety of the autistic spectrum disorder.

Rather, it's due to an actual increase in the rate of the condition.

In addition to the vast increase in numbers, the "face" of autism has also been changing, especially in the past 10-15 years.

More than 20 years ago, we saw cases of what we term "classical autism". For purposes of comparison, I refer to this as the "Old Fashioned Rain-Man-Dustin-Hoffman Autism" - a description that many parents can easily identify with, which is the more severe autism.

The clinical features are present early, even before the first year of life, but the child may only be seen by a healthcare professional around the ages of 2 to 4 - about the time when parents realise something is wrong.

The prognosis for long-term rehabilitation is usually not good for children diagnosed with the more severe forms of the condition.

But the "new autism" that has surfaced in the last decade or so has a different presentation and evolution compared to the "classical" one.

Some of the key epidemiological and socio-demographic features of the "new autism" are:

- Parents are predominantly from the upper or upper-middle class;

- Parents are often busy professionals;

- The child is often left with a baby-sitter and only picked up in the evenings or during weekends; and,

- Some have shown elements of emotional or social deprivation.

Among the cases of the "new autism", it is Chinese children who predominate, despite having no problems with access to facilities and necessities when compared with other ethnic groups or poorer sectors of society.

Their parents are often busy professionals and usually leave their child in some form of child care.

At times there is the "triangular family" - my phrase for a dad working overseas, while the mum works in another city and the child is left in the care of a grandparent.

Their parents tend to be those who focus on "quality time", rather than "quantity time".

These parents also tend to be those who come from an earlier generation of parents who did not put much emphasis on playing with, reading to or spending time with the children.

The child-minder or grandparent is usually the one looking after the child's physical needs, but this doesn't mean the child's emotional, intellectual or spiritual needs are met.

Culturally, some of these "new autism" children's parents tend to value health and wealth more than emotional well-being and, in some cases, have not been brought up to show affection in a visible manner.

Symptom of a de-compensating society

Reflecting on this growing problem with other professionals and parents, it is my view that this condition has varied origins, although the clinical symptoms are similar.

One possible reason is damage by external stressors on the child, either during the time in the womb or in the child's early days after birth.

The Sept 11 attacks, fears of an uncertain future, increasing struggles at work, fatigue - a pregnant mother can communicate these, albeit unintentionally, to the child in her womb or her newborn baby.

The child subconsciously (in the "spirit") perceives the world as a bad place to be and "withdraws from society". Hence, we can say these children are a symptom of a de-compensating society that has increasing fears and uncertainties.

In this sense, children are perhaps the most sensitive indicator of a society's well being.

Another possible reason for the onset of the "new autism" is that a child who has a minor developmental problem, either in speech or learning, is made worse because they are deprived emotionally, perhaps by parents busy trying to make a future for their children and struggling for time in the current competitive world.

They can also be deprived socially to some degree because family units have grown smaller as most parents opt to have only one or two children.

Coupled with a decrease in neighbourhood social interaction and the increased use of personalised child care, the child's socialising is limited.

However, the hypotheses suggested here will not be true of every child or parent. Neither are they true of "classical autism".

They are merely offered for reflection while we search hard for an environmental toxin or whatever organic cause for the explosion of autism that we see in our young today. They are also expressed here with a view to identify prevention or severity reduction strategies.

More common in boys

There are far more boys being born with this "new autism" than girls. A child with the "new autism" disorder is often the only child or the only other child to the parents.

The child usually has a fairly normal development for the first 12 months, including the social relationship with parents.

He or she may even have developed some spoken words with meaning between 12 and 18 months but, later, there occurs a sudden "loss" of recently acquired communication abilities.

There is usually significant social impairment as well. The childhood has been rather restricted in terms of social interaction, especially with other children and at times even with adults.

An extreme example is a child who spends almost all his time with his grandmother watching TV serials and seldom leaves the house or meets other children.

There is no neurological abnormality in the vast majority of these children. Many are clinically bright children.

With speech and language therapy, adequate socialisation with children in a normal nursery, and greater interest and involvement by parents, the child can do very well and often shows significant improvements.

Many are able to enter normal mainstream education although they still require some support and understanding from the teacher.

Suggestions to prevent "new autism"

Parents need to be made aware of the importance of the child's spiritual and emotional needs, as early as from the womb.

Much time and energy is spent on ensuring the physical health of the child but little on the fact that the child is listening and responding to our state of mind and emotion.

This does not just place the burden of responsibility on mothers but fathers and society as well.

We need to re-discover our own hope, emotional and spiritual well being, for us to be able to communicate it truly to our children.

Parents need to be educated on the importance of spending "quantity time" with children and be responsive and relational in play. This may require an adjustment in work or expectations for financial wealth - a voluntary "downsizing".

Child minders also require formal instruction on the value of play and social interaction in the up bringing of a child.

There is a need to institute a formal developmental screen at the age of 2 to identify those with features of autism.

This is already in place in many developed countries and the Ministry of Health is also planning to put in place this formal development screening in Malaysia.

This article is not meant to be a scientific discussion, but rather a personal reflection. Despite that, it is hoped that the reflections and observations, made over a period of more than 20 years in hundreds of children with autism, may be of benefit to children and parents.

Perhaps the truth about the "New Autism" can be best illustrated by quoting the secret that Fox told the Little Prince (in the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery):

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

Love is the key in preventing and healing our children with autism.

Suggestions to Prevent or Reduce the Severity of the ‘New Autism’

• Educate parents on importance of in-utero child’s spiritual and emotional needs

• Educate parents on the need to spend time with their children

• Child minders require instruction on the value of play

• Need for formal developmental screening at 18 months to 2 years to identify autism

Dr Amar Singh is head of the Paediatric Department at Ipoh Hospital and is actively involved in providing and developing services for children with disabilities and their parents.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright 2008 The New Straits Times Press (M) Berhad. All rights reserved.

What if Your Pastor is a Rapper?

What if Your Pastor is a Rapper?

Myths about Diets in Preventing Children's Allergies

From Medscape Pediatrics

New Guidelines Downplay Role of Diet in Preventing Pediatric Allergies: An Expert Interview With Frank Greer, MD
Posted 04/21/2008
Kathleen Louden

Medscape: What was the impetus for developing this new clinical report?

Dr. Greer: There was a lot of folklore built around this idea that something the mother eats during pregnancy or lactation or something she feeds her baby has long-term impact for allergy disease. Traditionally a lot of pediatricians have recommended not to give infants eggs, fish, peanuts, or any nuts in the first year of life.

Medscape: Were there new research findings?

Dr. Greer: Yes. It makes absolutely no difference. For instance, if you're going to have a peanut allergy, it has nothing to do with when you were introduced to peanuts. If a mother eats peanuts during pregnancy or lactation or if she feeds her 6-month-old peanut butter, it has no effect on whether you get peanut allergy. If you're going to get it, you're going to get it. There's even evidence from one study that if you don't introduce egg into the infant's diet until after 6 months, the baby is more likely to develop an egg allergy. And European recommendations came out the same month that ours did that if you introduce wheat between 4 and 6 months of age, your baby will be less likely to have a gluten allergy.[1] We didn't go that far. This is one of the very few areas where ESPGHAN [European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition] policy differed from the AAP's January statement.

Medscape: So expecting and breastfeeding mothers don't have to restrict their diet by avoiding common food allergens?

Dr. Greer: Correct. The evidence is just not there that pregnant and lactating women restricting their diet in any way affects whether their baby gets allergic disease.

Medscape: This is a major change from the recommendations the AAP made in 2000, isn't it?

Dr. Greer: We've never had a statement this strong. The statement that this replaced said that it's probably not a good idea to introduce these [potentially allergenic] foods until after the infant is of age. [The former recommendation was to delay giving dairy products until 1 year; eggs until 2 years; and peanuts, tree nuts, and fish until 3 years of age.] These recommendations were not based on evidence but on expert opinion. The new statement is evidence based. There have been a number of recent studies, particularly looking at the effect on allergy of nutritional interventions during pregnancy and lactation.

read interview

read journal article
Published online December 31, 2007 PEDIATRICS Vol. 121 No. 1 January 2008, pp. 183-191
Abstract
Full Text (PDF)

CLINICAL REPORT
Effects of Early Nutritional Interventions on the Development of Atopic Disease in Infants and Children: The Role of Maternal Dietary Restriction, Breastfeeding, Timing of Introduction of Complementary Foods, and Hydrolyzed Formulas
Frank R. Greer, MD, Scott H. Sicherer, MD, A. Wesley Burks, MD and the Committee on Nutrition and Section on Allergy and Immunology