Poema xx

Antihistamines—Continued from page 19 antihistamines (although some sedation can occur). Excited (if not frazzled) parents may think, “Great! I’ll give my child Benadryl to help with her allergy symptoms and help them rest, too.” Don’t prepare that cup of hot tea and reach for your favorite book too soon. Benadryl has been known to cause paradoxical hyperactivity in children: an unexplainableability to cause inconsolable irritation and agitation.

dramine’s unpredictable ability to cause either marked drowsiness or off-the-wall excitability. While loratadine and cetirizine both have the convenience of once-daily dosing and seem to be equally effective, cetirizine is my professional (and personal) recommendation. It’s been proven to work faster and reach its peak effects much soonerthan loratadine. It’s a bit more sedative than loratadine, so if you notice your child’s sleepy time coming on a little too quick, loratadine is still an excellent alternative. If your child’s allergy symptoms are persistent even after taking the OTC antihistamines, a visit to the physician may be necessary. In fact, if your little one is less than two years old, it’s probably best to take yourinfant to a physician before treating her on your own. She may be suffering from a non-allergic condition, as toddlers

haven’t developed enough verbal cues quite yet to clue you in on what may be wrong. Plus, OTC antihistamines may be too strong for their little bodies to handle. Cate Sibley received her doctor of pharmacy degree from Northeastern University in Boston, and is currently a communitypharmacist in Charlotte, NC. Her goal behind becoming a pharmacist was to be an accessible source of information to patients so they can understand their medications as best as possible. She quickly realized her goal would be hard to reach by standing behind the counter in the pharmacy. To reach her goal, she and another pharmacist, Nova Simpson, started a website called GetPharmacyAdvice.com.Visit http://www.getpharmacyadvice. com/freegift.html to download a free report on how to save money on your prescription medications.

And the Pharmacist Recommends

While diphenhydramine’s quick 15-to-30-minute onset of action seems like a good thing, it doesn’t reach its peak performance for about two to four hours. Also, it must be taken multiple times per day. Plus, there’s diphenhy-

MediaViolence and Public Policy: Cutting Through the Hype
By Douglas A. Gentile, PhD
The effects of media violence on children’s aggressive thoughts and behaviors have been studied for over 40 years. Scientists know not only what types of effects media violence have, how large they are, but also how they work and why. Most people don’t know that. Most people think that there is still real debateover whether media violence causes increases in aggression. Although there are (of course) a few individuals who cling to the idea that media violence has no effect (or even has a beneficial effect), this viewpoint is not the scientific consensus. Here is a partial list of organizations that have examined the scientific evidence and concluded that media violence is a cause of aggression in society(yes, they use the C-word!): • The American Academy of Pediatrics • The American Medical Association • The American Psychological Association • The American Academy of Family Physicians • The American Psychiatric Association • The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry • The National Institute of Mental Health • The National Institutes of Health These organizations did not jump to aconclusion, nor did they come to this conclusion lightly. Yet the public is not aware that the scientific and public health communities were in such unanimous agreement. Why does this issue continue to be debated in the media when there is so little debate among scientists? There seem to be several important reasons. The first is a common misunderstanding about what we mean when scientists say that...