Ways to help kids through traumas

In the 2004 movie “Into the Storm” a tornado devastates a high school community. As the townspeople work to rebuild their connections, they find hope and security. But in the real world, with all the deadly storms and tragic shootings that have happened lately, many parents are struggling to help their children cope.

The Red Cross and FEMA suggest limiting children’s exposure to media coverage of events and listening carefully to your kids’ worries.

Kids under age 5: They might have nightmares or even regress and start bed-wetting or thumb-sucking. Offer reassurance that the family is now safe. Don’t replay blow-by-blow info on the disaster.

Children 5-11: They might become aggressive or withdraw from normal activities. Give them time to find the words to express their feelings. Reassure them that you’re there for them.

Teens: They might rebel, opt for risk-taking behaviors or have trouble sleeping. Listen; ask about their feelings. Patience!

FEMA also suggests that, as a family, you create a disaster plan to assure kids you’re prepared come what may.

Wash away UTIS

Remember Adam Sandler in “Billy Madison,” Bill Paxton in “True Lies” and (most poignant) Jeremy Blackman in “Magnolia”? In those movies, it’s the men and boys who, finding themselves in some supposedly amusing or heartfelt situation, fail to hold their water, so to speak, and pee on screen.

But peeing in your pants because of a urinary tract infection is not funny and is overwhelmingly more common in women than men. Half of all women experience one episode by age 32.

The standard treatment is antibiotics, but although effective, they can damage your gut biome and fuel antibiotic resistance. And antibiotics don’t keep the infection from returning.

Now there’s an easy, healthier way to fight off UTIS: New research from the University of Miami School of Medicine shows that instead of avoiding liquids, you should increase your fluid intake (water is best) to at least 48 ounces daily.

In the study’s group of

140 healthy, premenopausal women, those who increased their water intake to that level reduced the incidence of UTIS by almost 50 percent over the course of a year, reducing their use of antibiotics by around the same amount. We like phenazopyridine (in AZO and other products) as a way of tolerating the pain until the water therapy or antibiotics take effect.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.