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.
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 Children's 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 Governor's 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 Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Dilip R. Patel Michigan State University/Kalamazoo Center for Medical Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, USA
JJoav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc Professor of Pediatrics at the Division of Pediatrics, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Mt Scopus Campus, Jerusalem, Israel, Kentucky Childrens Hospital, University of Kentucky, Lexington, United States and Professor of Public Health at the Center for Healthy Development, School of Public Health, Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States, the former Medical Director of the Division for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, Jerusalem and the Founder and Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Israel
