The prevalence of chronic illness or disability in adolescence has increased in recent years due to medical advances, and adolescents are now more than ever able to lead a productive life even in spite of serious illness. In the past, children with many diseases would not reach adolescence, but over the last decade or more the survival rate for children with cystic fibrosis, for spina bifida and congenital heart disease has increased. The old morbidity (infectious disease, poor housing, poverty, lack of immunisation) has been exchanged with the new morbidity of adolescence, where a longer life expectancy is followed by an increase in life-long disability. The concern in chronic illness include medical, psychological, physiological, biological, reproductive, cognitive and social aspects. Practitioners of the healing arts must become familiar with the most common disabilities likely to afflict children and adolescents so that appropriate evaluation, treatment, and management may occur. This book will cover a broad area of chronic illness in adolescence written by leading experts in this field.
Author Biography:
Hatim A Omar, MD, FAAP, Professor of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology; Professor of Family Studies; and Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, University of Kentucky, Lexington. He is the holder of the Childrens Miracle Network Endowed Chair in Pediatrics. Dr. Omar has completed residency training in obstetrics and gynecology as well as pediatrics. He has also completed fellowships in vascular physiology and adolescent medicine. Dr. Omar is the founder and chairman of the Stop Youth Suicide Cmpaign. He is the recipient of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Governors Award for community service and volunteerism in 2000, Kentucky Teen Pregnancy Coalition Award for outstanding service 2002, Awards for suicide prevention from the Ohio Valley Society for Adolescent Medicine and Kentucky Pediatric Society in 2005 and 2007, Sexual Abuse Awareness Month Award for his work with sexual abuse victims from the Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Professionals in 2007, Special Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics 2007 and the Founders of Adolescent Medicine Award from the AAP in 2007. He is well known internationally with numerous publications in child health, public health, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, pediatric and adolescent gynaecology. Donald E Greydanus, MD, Dr. HC (Athens), FAAP, FSAM (Emeritus), FIAP (HON) is Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, as well as Pediatrics Program Director at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine (WMED), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. He is also Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (East Lansing, Michigan, USA) as well as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Received the 1995 American Academy of Pediatrics Adele D. Hofmann Award for Distinquished Contributions in Adolescent Health, the 2000 Mayo Clinic Pediatrics Honored Alumnus Award for National Contributions to the field of Pediatrics, and the 2003 William B Weil, Jr., MD Endowed Distinguished Pediatric Faculty Award from Michigan State University College of Medicine for National and international recognition as well as exemplary scholarship in pediatrics. Received the 2004 Charles R Drew School of Medicine (Los Angeles, CA) Stellar Award for contributions to pediatric resident education and awarded an honorary membership in the Indian Academy of Pediatricsan honor granted to only a few pediatricians outside of India. Was the 2007-2010 Visiting Professor of Pediatrics at Athens University, Athens, Greece and received the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Outstanding Community Faculty Award in 2008 Joav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc, born and educated in Denmark is professor of pediatrics, child health and human development, Division of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Mt Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel and Kentucky Childrens Hospital, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky United States and professor of public health at the Center for Healthy Development, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States, the medical director of the Health Services, Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Jerusalem, the founder and director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel.
