Pulse Check Wisconsin-Insights from a Milwaukee, ER Doc
Hosted by Christopher Ford MD, FACEP, an ER physician in Milwaukee and advocate for public health and social justice.
In each episode, Dr Ford will share stories of presentations to the ER, and delve into preventative health tips and social determinates of health. Guests from allied healthcare, public and private sectors will join to provide invaluable insights.
Follow the Pulse Check Wisconsin Podcast for your regular dose captivating tales and invaluable health tips. Who knows, it may keep you out of the ER!
Pulse Check Wisconsin-Insights from a Milwaukee, ER Doc
Episode 8-Dr Lisa, Deanna and Aidan Branch
Welcome to Pulse Check, Wisconsin.
Chris :Good morning. Good evening. Good afternoon. Whatever it is for you all. Thank you for joining us for eighth episode of Pulse Check Wisconsin. This is Chris Ford. I'm an emergency medicine doctor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And again, thanks so much. I am very happy to start this eighth episode Again, for those of you who are new to the podcast we normally will start off the podcast with a case. But this week I felt it was a little bit more powerful to start with a first person. Testimony of. The issue that we're going to be discussing today that affects people, not only in the city of Milwaukee, but in the state of Wisconsin, other neighborhoods, other communities, municipaleadies, et cetera. And so. We want to get started. Before we get started. Again, super excited to start this episode. We have two very three, actually three very special guests here with us today. One being Deanna Branch, who is a staunch advocate for correcting the lead issue here that we have in the state of Wisconsin.
And we'll be providing the testimony to kick us off.
Chris :So this testimony. It's not just any testimony. This took place at the White House Lead pipe summit. And on January 27th, 2023. Deanna was not only invited to speak to the lead issue here in Milwaukee. But she was also given the honor of presenting the vice-president. Vice president Harris. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and get started with our testimony.
Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Deanna Branch. I am a mother. The mother of two wonderful children. Aidan. and Jaden Branch, and also a community organizer with the COLEition on Lead Emergency, COLE for short. It is an honor to be here today to talk about our country's commitment to protecting children from the irreversible and damaging effects of lead poisoning by removing lead service lines. I must thank President Biden and the members of Congress for listening. COLE and frontline community groups across the country have been advocating for the removal of lead pipes and access to clean drinking water for all communities who are devastated by elevated blood lead levels. We found out when my son Aidan was two years old and had to be hospitalized not once, but twice due to the severity of elevated blood lead levels. When I found out what happened to my son, I had no idea of the severity of lead exposure. After learning how I needed to be there for my son, how I need to be there for my community. I began to advocate and fight for children everywhere who don't deserve to be exposed, to lay in their water and lay in their homes. I am happy to share now the 80 is now nine years old. And standing beside me today, healthy and well, with a gift of his first book, Aidan the Latifree Superhero, signed and ready to be given as an honorary gift to Minister Regan and President Harris, Vice President, sorry, Vice President Harris. For all of their hard work. Thank you to Mr. Regan. Vice President Harris and the Biden administration for taking the first step with the bipartisan infrastructure plan to help cities and states remove all of their lead laterals. Now it is up to communities to hold our elected officials accountable to implementing the infrastructure bill. It is up to utileadies to share what they need to ramp up their last service line programs. Most importantly, it is up to our government agencies and mayors and governors to act with a sense of urgency to prioritize removing every single lead service line. In the words of my son Aidan, you are all lead free superheroes. And together we will defeat the evil lead monster in the water, paint, and soil. Thank you. My sons and I are so honored. and grateful for this invitation to witness history in the making. Without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Administrator Regan and Vice President Harris. Thank you. Welcome. Welcome. Deanna, you are just, you are a superstar, the superheroes and a superstar. Thank you so very much. And to the boys. Thank you guys. Aidan, we are so motivated by your mom and the two of you. As young leaders on this issue. Your voice has been so important
Chris :so very powerful testimony indeed. You know, Deanna has not only had the first person perspective of being a parent. Children who have been affected by lead poisoning, but she took the next step to get involved to correct the issue and folks like that in the community are invaluable because. When they're at the table, they can bring that experience they can bring. Remedies that they see based in that experience of living day to day. Knowing the things that are barriers to. lead prevention remedies that. are proposed. And so. Very honored to have her here today. Very honored to have our lead free superhero, Aidan. On as well to share some of his pearls of wisdom, as well as some of his testimony. In his lead journey and some of his pointers and tips for some kids that may be exposed to lead or live in areas that have a high lead prevalence. In addition, we will have on a very, very special guest. Dr. Lisa Chowdhury. She is a pediatrician and an expert both state side, as well as nationally on lead prevention. She is. An amazing pediatrician. She is an amazing person. One of the most brilliant. Providers that I've had the opportunity to work with and know. Not only am I proud to have her as a fellow community advocate in some of this work to remedy some of these social determinants of health. But she also is my partner and my wife and I am very fortunate to have her as a partner, as well as to have her. As the mother of our two amazing boys. So I'm very excited to have her on here. And with that being said, let's go ahead and get started with our interview with Dr. Chowdhury, with Aidan in the Lead Free Superhero, as well as Deanna Branch
Deanna:aidan was hospitalized twice due to the severity of his lead poisoning. He developed and and other behavioral, emotional problems. And that's really what lead me to become an advocate. I felt like I didn't have any resources or any tools or anyone in the community to like really help me or assist me what was going on. The health department got involved the second time he was hospitalized. And so did CPS. And I thought they were coming to, you know, the hospital to help me, to advocate for me But that wasn't the case on the last day of his discharge day. CPS came in pretty much said we can't discharge us from hospital because you can't provide a safe place for him to live. And by that time, the old landlord was just done with the property and just pretty much gave the, the contract to a different rental agency. And then they talked to us and they said, well if you sign this new lease, then we'll do the renovations and get all the lead out. And because the health report that was done, it was just lead was just everywhere. The soil, paints pipes, everything. Originally we thought it was just lead paint was the main cause, which it was, but lead was everywhere. And at that point I didn't trust the housing or the new landlord. Cause it was like three different landlords took over their property during the time we were living there. So I was just over it. I just ended up breaking the lease and just living with family living in shelters who were homeless. I lost my job cause I was in and out of the hospital with Aidan so much. And they were just tired of my excuses. And then my health took a turn for the worse and through all that, that still really didn't stop me from advocating. And speaking up for myself and letting my community know what's going on. And it was really Aidan, he he was getting, you know, having school troubles, getting bullied in school about his behavior, and he felt safe and comfortable at church. And that's really the sanctuary that I took refuge in. And it was me advocating, speaking about what me and Aidan were going through at church. And that's when I found out, you know, I'm not the only parent or child in the community going through this. And it's not a me problem, it's not a family problem, it's a community problem. And nothing was done in the community to make parents and children feel safe. So, we had to advocate for ourselves and each other. And that's really what's wrong about the COLEition on emergency. We start off as a group of parents, advocating for their community, their family, their rights. And it turned into the huge coalition that it is today. And it lead me to becoming a spokesperson advocate for myself and my community. So now that when parents are going through what me and Aidan went through, there's someone like me there that has their back to help them and tell them what they can do to absorb the lead, to reduce the lead levels in children, to fight for parents rights and to make the community stand up and help us and do something for the community. Better housing is what we're striving for. More clinics like next door in the community that actually helps prevent children from being exposed to lead. Removing the lead pipes, that was a huge one. When we got invited to the White House, I'm, I'm still. But when Kamala came to Milwaukee what, two years ago, she actually invited me and Aidan to just come talk to her and she wants to hear our story personally, but Aidan wasn't vaccinated. So I took his pictures and his drawings that he created. And she's the one who said, Oh my God, this would make a great book. And of course I'll tell my pastor what she said and my pastor agreed. And they sponsored the book along with Feeding America, the Homeless Hunger Task Force of Feeding America. They sponsored the book and got it published. After the book was published, I said, okay, now what? Because the vice president, it's been a year, she hasn't callead me. And the same time next year, that's when I got the call saying, Oh, this is the vice president. Can you come to this annual lead summit? At the White House? In three days? And I said okay, you may bring the book. Is it the books? Well, let's bring Aidan too. And fortunately he was vaccinated by then. So we could bring Aidan and Jayden. We all came to the white house. We delivered the first copy of the book to the vice president and she presented to the library of Congress for me, because at that time I was off dialysis and pregnant with Ray Lynn. So it was a crazy, busy time. And the minute we got back home, not even a week later, we were invited back to meet the president at the State of the Union address. And that's when he shook my hand and that's when the bypass infrastructure thing came into place where they were going to invest a lot of money into states to remove all the land laterals out of the city of Milwaukee. And of course, I had brought Jane Aidan back for that. They couldn't come to the state capitol with me, but they got to sit in the White House theater. And watch me at the state capitol, it was just amazing. And that just was my moment to see like, Oh my God, it's after all these years of advocating is really happening. Something's really being done about this lead problem. And there's a lot more that needs to be done. But I think we're going in the right direction. I would definitely say that. And it's just exciting that I get to work right alongside my sons and let him tell his story. So when I'm getting a lot of calls and interviews, I need to bring my son with me and to tell his story in his own words, especially when I'm getting invited to an event where there's a lot of children. Who want to be writers, who just want to share their story and just advocate for themselves. It's nice to hear from another child. I make sure I bring my kids everywhere with me so that they can connect with the other kids while I'm connected with the parents. About what the parents should be doing to prevent lead. And Aidan can share his story and encourage the kids to read, write, tell their story, write it down. Just advocating for positive change in the community has just been, it's just been a blessing. That's the short version.
Chris :No, fantastic. I mean, God bless you for everything that you've been through and everything that you've been able to do to kind of turn things around and try to make a difference in the community. And I agree with you, you know, putting a lot of emphasis on the disparities here in Milwaukee and having lived it. You and Aidan both, you know, this is something that, it drives it home for folks. And it's something that emphasizes how much work we still need to do in the community as well. So thank you so much for sharing that. That's amazing.
Aiden:Yeah, anything anything.
Chris :Yeah. Aidan, do you wanna tell, I, I hear you had a big speech yesterday, man. You wanna tell us some of the stuff he talked about in there?
Aiden:Okay.
Chris :no pressure, bro.
Aiden:do you if I get my phone so I can,
Deanna:I think he, because he wrote it down, he don't remember what he said. Oh, that's fine.
Chris :No, take your time,
Deanna:man.
Dr Lisa:That's,
Deanna:I think it's probably, can you just remember a few things that you said about my police in the clinic? The, the topic of the market summit was about health equity and why I'm fighting for your health care and health care in the community is so important. And that's why they want to age to speak because he just lost his favorite clinic. He was saying how the clinic is right next to Park tree schools and my mom used to work there. It's by the house where I was lead poison, you knowlead poisoned in this house you know, it still makes me happy to be around the neighborhood because it makes me think about my family. You know, cause he really did love that house. He we had a dog and the school was right there in the park or the store. So when we had to move and had to downsize into an apartment, a whole house to apartment. So it was really rough for him. And we had to get the dog to my mother because we don't allow pets here. So it was really hard. It has no park over here either. So it was really hard for him. So he loves going to that clinic because it reminds him of his old neighborhood and he gets to go see his old school, old school friends, go to the park, go to the store. So that's what he was just saying. Like, that's where all the best things are. And when he went to this new clinic, he said he was happy to see Dr. Lisa, but it was so far and you know, and I was exhausted. And it took a long time for the over to get there. So he was just like, you know, I don't want to go back there again. So that's pretty much what he was saying. And everyone was just emotional about what he was saying, because it really relates to how hard it is to get good qualeady health care in my community. But the most important part that he stressed was that you love to be there. The doctors wanted to be there. And you love the community. You love the children in the community. That's really the most important part. Of the speech that he was saying is that the doctors love community loves them. So bring them back because they love us. So why, why are they leaving the community? That was really the best part of your speech.
Dr Lisa:Yeah, Aidan, you're such a star. You're right.
Chris :Were you, were you nervous when you, when you gave your speech, man? Sometimes I get nervous.
Aiden:At church, at church, my mom wasn't there because she was sick, but at the gala she was there. She listened to my speech.
Deanna:Yeah, this wasn't the first time he said this speech. The first time was at the health summit a month ago at the church. And he was nervous because I got a foot injury, and I couldn't go. So I had his big brother take him to the church. And he was nervous at first, but the pastor stood with him while he said the speech. And when everyone gave him a standing ovation, he said, Okay, I'm not nervous anymore. Everyone loved it. It was okay. So he was
Aiden:ready this time.
Deanna:Cause I was there, you know, his grandmother was there, all his family was there. So he was excited to say at this time because he was just All the love and support he gets when he speaks. That's really what makes them want to speak more He definitely got a lot of support again. So public speaking he's getting better at it so much better.
Chris :Yeah He's an all star in my book And what would you say to kids that have lead exposure? What is your message to those kids?
Aiden:The message to those kids were make sure you eat healthy green leafy vegetables, wash your hands daily and frequently to avoid the lead monster, don't eat lead paint or don't eat any of from the lead pipes, don't eat any, don't eat out from the walls and make sure you always, always wash your hands after and before you eat.
Deanna:Filter water filter water.
Chris :Wow. That's fantastic guys. Well, good job, man. Thanks for thanks for sharing that with us. Thanks for sharing it with all the kids in the community. So I guess the first question is more so for Dr. Lisa. Can you describe the prevalence of lead poisoning among children in Milwaukee? And what factors contribute to the occurrence of lead poisoning?
Dr Lisa:Yeah. So the prevalence of Milwaukee overall, it's very sad. It's way too much lead in this city and nothing in my training before I got to this clinic had prepared me for the amount of lead that I have seen. And how high the lead levels were the overall trends of lead in Milwaukee. We do reflect the national trends, which is good news overall, over the last couple of decades since they took the lead out of gasoline and the lead out of paint in the late 70s, lead levels are coming down. But the progress is not equal across all states and within those states, not equal across all cities. So Milwaukee is a perfect example of that some of the most recent data in 2021 of the state of Wisconsin for kids under six 2. 8. So just about 3 percent of kids had elevated lead levels. And that's considered over a level of five at that time was the elevated marker, but in Milwaukee, it was almost twice that about 5%. And then when you break Milwaukee down into smaller chunks, smaller demographics start looking by zip codes and neighborhoods, those disparities become even more prevalent. So the north side and the south side are the highest. levels overall, with the north side being overall the kind of pinnacle of the crisis of the lead in Milwaukee, with some neighborhoods, as high as about 20 percent of the kids who live in them being lead poisoned, which was reflective, which is reflective of my patient panel. And then why the second half of your question and there's You know, to start with, there is just from the beginning, a lot of lead in Milwaukee historically, and that goes all the way back to Milwaukee having extensive and exponentially more lead pipes than any other part of the state. And apparently, back in the early 1900s, the lead industry had a very strong lobbying aspect to it. So, even though in other parts of the country and state. Other places were getting away from lead pipes as soon as like the 1920s. Milwaukee really didn't until 1962 was when it was finally banned here. And lead based paint. Another factor is that it's warmer. So all of us cold climates were heavily utilizing lead paint back in those days until again, it wasn't even that long ago in 1960 or 1978 when that was finally banned. So there was a lot of lead here to begin with, but we know it's bad. We know how to get rid of it. So why is it still such a problem here is the second half of that question. And that becomes a little more nuanced lead levels are one of those public health outcomes that you can point to, and they will highlight where to look for racial disparities segregation. Redlining systemic inequities and poverty. Because these all culminate in elevated levels at still this point in 2024.
Chris :And Deanna, just to kind of touch on that too. So you, you mentioned a couple of programs that are in place right now to address some of these disparities. One thing you talked about was some of the federal campaigns that are going on the vice presidentlead her initiatives, any other initiative that you've been a part of, or that, that you've experienced firsthand and working with here in Milwaukee.
Deanna:I've been speaking with Tony Gilbert, an environmental lawyer about things to help with the lead paint issue. Cause I find that's really the main issue is. A lot of landlords in the constructed housing. That's really the issue on the north side is the bad housing and the chipping paint. That's really what's the main source of the lead. So just steps and things to hold landlords accountable for keeping their properties updated. And the COLEition of land emergency also has this lead safe health kit where they have filter water pictures duct tape to like tape, like the crack and pealing. Paint off the walls to just kind of putting a band aid on the issue. So it's different things in the kit a swifter mop to wipe down the window seals and things like that to put a band-aid on the issue until it is properly cared for and maintained. That's why I feel like on the North side, the issue is a lot worse than on the South side, because they have things like the South side health clinic that actually goes door to door and helps parents you know, with And kids, their level reduced and we don't have that on the north side. So a clinic or outreach centers like that on the north side to help educate parents and reduce the amount of lead kids are exposed to will be great. And that's what we're trying to implement on the north side to reduce the levels. And we're starting with I forgot the name of the program, but my church nurse, she's talking about implementing the incident of Hopkins free school. Cause a lot of kids are tested with very high lead levels now. So they're actually testing now doing lead tests in schools. So I'm just getting a lot of great news about preventive measures and things being done to help lower the lead level for kids on the north side, because on the south side is getting better. I'm hearing thanks to the 16th street community clinic. So I want to see some of that progress coming to the north side and more state laws. I know there's like a targeted rental and special program in other states that have been implemented that holds landlords accountable. A certain lead issues, but Wisconsin doesn't have that. So I'm learning things that we should have that we don't have, and we're just trying to figure out ways to make sure that not only Wisconsin is safe, but that is the main goal. And once we figure out how to get these measures done in Wisconsin, we can work with other states and hopefully it can be like a worldwide thing. We can tackle the issue head on. But there's a lot of things that need to be done, a lot of different components to put together to, to help with preventive measures for being exposed to lead. So it's a lot of work, but it's just, it's just fun to hear and learn about different things. And different strategies to help fight the issue.
Chris :Well, it's good to know that, you know, there are a lot of initiatives, a lot of wheels in motion right now to try to address this issue. Dr. Lisa, in terms of the common sources of lead exposure, Deanna kind of touched on a little bit bit about the chips and the paint, things of that nature, water. What are the common sources for lead exposure in this region, and how can parents kind of mitigate or reduce these risks for kids?
Dr Lisa:Yeah, Deanna and Aidan did a great job, especially. And so, yeah, they already pointed out kind of the big three, which are paint, water, and soil. And when you have a kid with elevated blood levels, you have to look at all of those sources because it often in Milwaukee is a combination of all of them. So for paint, like Deanna and Aidan were saying, that is probably still the most common source, especially on the north side. All of those houses will were built before 1978. So all of that old paint is lead based. And so if there's any chipping areas, the windows are a big spot, the doors, the porches that's going to be a big spot for the, the lead chips and Apparently the lead actually tastes, makes the taint taste better. So that's one of the reasons why kids are going to do that. But also developmentally, it is appropriate for little one year old two year old to learn their environment and the way they learn is oral. That's their strongest sense. So they're going to pick up any little thing, put it in their mouth. So like Deanna was saying, the duct tape is huge. If you see areas where there is breakdown and Ideally, you've got someone coming into the house to actually abate, get that let out permanently. If you own your house, there are some programs that can help with that. If you don't, it is a huge uphill battle. If you have a landlord who's willing to do all of that, that's amazing. Unfortunately, that's not the realeady I see most of the time. Dan's story is unfortunately much more common where I have families getting evicted, rather than their houses getting abated. But yes, so paint, cover up with duct tape and look at all those windows and then what Aidan said too about washing his hands, super important, especially before and after because even if you touch those lead based paint chips if you wash it off, you're not going to ingest it. Water, your second source, so the lead pipes that run throughout this city. Like I was saying, they are very prevalent in Milwaukee and if there's any crack or leak, that's where that lead's getting in. And unfortunately, we don't find that out until your child is lead poisoned. So that's a big problem. Using bottlead water, which is something that probably most of my families do, but that's a very expensive fix, but that's something they do. A filter is super helpful. You can get filters and they'll stay specifically like 99. 9 percent effective at getting the lead out. You have to be on top of those. You have to keep up on those filters. They can't get it, you know, you have to change them, refill them. And then if those are not options, you can do the trick of running cold water through the pipes for at least three minutes before using them. This is not a foolproof way though. Depends on how much leakage, if that's going to help. It has to be cold water. Hot water actually disperses the lead more. So some people will think boiling water will help. That will do the opposite, actually. And then soil is your other big one and that's in Milwaukee due to all of the paint. And then from the gasoline from back in those days is it's actually in the soil here. And kids love to eat dirt. That's a huge problem. so if you've got patches of soil that are just exposed to cover them, if you can gravel mulch, put something on them. If you're planting things that you're going to eat, plant them in a planter above the ground and away from any old paint. Then there are like less common sources, especially of imported products like foods, candies, spices, old toys, makeup from other countries. So there's those things to watch out for. And then if you work in a job where you're exposed to lead, you can bring that home. And certain copies like fishing, hunting, pottery. And so again, those are potential exposures where you're going to have to be very careful about, you know Not wearing those clothes in the house, lots of hand washing and being aware of what products you're using and what your kids are putting in their mouths.
Chris :Awesome. Well, thank you guys for covering that. Oh, there we go. This is the filter that we were discussing here. Thank you for showing that. Yeah. Yeah.
Deanna:My church helped the Lutheran church. They give out a lead, a picture. It lasts for six months and they give an extra filter to put in the middle of the picture. It's good for, Parents who have younger ones who drink, you know, bottles of formula and don't want to waste a lot of money buying a bottle of water or baby water in their jugs. This is the best thing. Especially if you have a sink like mine, it doesn't really adjust to the, the faucet one. So it's a lot easier and easier to put together.
Chris :Yeah, that's a good point too, right? The ease of putting things together and kind of the hassle. A lot of folks, you know, especially if you're working you know, and you got a family and you get other things you got to take care of, you want to make it as easily accessible for people as possible to use. That way they're able to use it and reduce that risk as well. So that's a good point. Yeah. One question for you, Deanna. So have you, have you run into any, like, Okay. Common misconceptions about lead poisoning or any myths that about lead poisoning in all your advocacy work and any ways that you're you're able to address it that you and Aidan are able to kind of tell folks what are things to expect about lead poisoning?
Deanna:The most common myth that I grew up hearing is the boiling the water gets rid of everything. I grew up learning that so it was kind of hard to unlearn that. And my mother always made us take off our shoes for into the house. I never understood that now I get it so it's just different things of just growing up and not understanding why or that is the most main misconception Is the boiling the water will get rid of all of the lead Or run it for a long time, which it does help to run the water for a long time or My mother said if you cook with hot water that gets rid of the lead No, just the only thing gets rid of the lead is the is the filter but taking your shoes off You Bring it to the house. That's essential. That's common law in my house now. And washing your hands a lot, like often how doctors wash their hands. And I keep a lot of sanitizer around, but I try to encourage the kids to use soap and water. If they have access to, you know, soap and water in the sink, instead of just using sanitizers, I just feel like water and soap is always better, but either way it gets done as long as it's done because being an advocate and knowing what I know and everything that me and Aidan have been through, we're definitely paranoid now to the point where if they do change up the lab pipes, which there still is lab pipes in my neighborhood because I checked at the last TMJ4 interview, they actually checked my lab pipes and Confirm my suspicions that they weren't changed out yet, but if they were, I thought I'd still be using preventive measures and filter water because it's for my own peace of mind of everything we've been through for a year.
Chris :Yeah, absolutely. In terms of some of the short term and long term health effects of lead poisoning and children, how do they manifest and what should folks look out for? I guess I'll start with Dr. Chowdhury and then Deanna if you want to answer with some of your own personal experience too, that would be helpful.
Dr Lisa:So lead can get everywhere. Once it enters the body. The body gets into the bloodstream, it's distributed to the brain, kidneys, liver, and loves bones.'cause it can mimic calcium. The body can store lead in your bones as long as 25 to 30 years for just it's half life in the bloodstream. It's closer to a month before it starts to breakdown. And in the soft tissue organs month and month and a half for kids, what we worry the most about is those developing rates. And so at the extreme level of. eye lead exposure, the brain and the central nervous system will be attacked. It is like a neurotoxin and it can lead to coma seizures, even death. And if you survive that level, you'll likely have very permanent intellectual, severe disabileady and behavioral problems that are irreversible. And what we now know that I think this is probably the most common myth that I hear is. There is no safe level. The current level of lead that will give you an abnormal versus normal 3. 5, which is down from even when we graduated from medical school is five. But that's, that is actually a marker of the prevalence of lead so they move that target based on where 97. 5 percent of the population's lead levels are. So if you have a lead level at 3. 5 or 3. 4 it doesn't mean it's normal. Even a level one, two, three can cause irreversible damage to the brain and development in kids. So what the leaderature is showing that kids who are lead poisoned will have lower math and reading scores by fourth grade, lower high school graduation rates. And there is actually shown associations between elevated levels and increased risk of incarceration. And because of where I practice and my patient panel. I've now seen so many lead poisoned, children, anecdotally. I can see it clinically before I even see the number. I have these little one and two year olds who I've known since birth, and when they were infants, they were, you know, ahead of every milestone, developing incredibly. I'm writing, like, super baby in their charts, and then all of a sudden, the development just stops, or it regresses, and goes backwards. And they're just running home from the parents are exhausted, the kids are off the wall, the behavior looks something a little bit like ADHD, a little bit like autism, developmental delays on top of that. And when I see that I just already know that it's going to be lead. And lead doesn't stop there. Like I said, it stays in those bones for pretty much your lifetime when you get high enough levels. And so even when you do get pregnant at a time of that high calcium turnover, it can leach out and affect the fetus. And so then you've got a whole nother generation.
Chris :And Deanna, from your perspective, is there anything as a parent that you noticed that Dr. Lisa said, you know, one or two year olds that were advanced at one point in time and then kind of see that regression? Was that your experience as well? Kind of seeing manifestations in Aidan? Or how did it, how did, how did you see it?
Deanna:For me, lead is just terrifying. Just seeing both spectrums of it. I do advocate that no level of lead is safe for a child. Because I've seen firsthand with my kids are three years apart. They both were exposed to it, but Aidan was exposed to it longer and he was much younger when he was exposed to it. So for Jaden at the highest, his was 20 and his level went very down. Once we moved from that house, his level went down very fast, only down to two because he wasn't exposed for it that long, but for Aidan. He was hospitalized twice because of how long he was exposed to it. And it took so, so much longer. So it's going down there, but he's still technically. And I noticed that that's when all of the things in school started happening once they were exposed to the lead. James has like a few minor problems, like dyslexia, a little trouble concentrating and focusing. Aidan, he has the worst of it with the ADHD, other things coming on after he was exposed to lead. And as for me When I was removed from the house, my kidneys did start getting worse, but they said that was due to high blood pressure, which I've always had, but my parents think that there might be lead too, that exposed to you, because I found out that when women are exposed to lead, they can transfer that lead to their, their, their children. So their babies from the womb. So just learning so much that I'm knowing and just researching. It's just terrifying to hear that a lot of people who are in the prison system are going through a lot of things in life, they all had effects with lead. So just learning about lead is just, it's just terrifying to hear that and to see how lead reacts to every child differently in the exposure and you just never know what you're, what you're going to get or what the lead will cause as far as effects children and adults. So it's just terrifying the more I learn about lead.
Chris :Yeah, you know, like you said, there's so much about it that we're still finding out and the guidelines change. Like that, at least it said, even from when we were in medical school, the quote unquote acceptable levels have changed significantly. And I think kind of what both you guys highlighted, especially In the setting of the long term effects of lead exposure and the fact that it remains in, you know, the bones for 2030 years you're talking about generations of folks, not just that child that are going to be affected in the long run, and emphasize the importance of programs like you guys are part of. And emphasizes the importance of initiatives that we're taking both at the state and the federal level to kind of deal with this, not, you know, in years to come, but deal with it now because, you know, the, the sooner that you act, the sooner that you're going to prevent those, irreversible ripple effects in society, so in terms of healthcare perspective and the other two, you can speak from this from, from your own personal experience of perspective. going to the hospitals and being there and kind of seeing some of the therapies. But for Dr. Lisa, first, what steps can healthcare providers take A, to screen and then B, you know, how does early detection impact treatment outcomes for, for, for kids exposed to lead?
Dr Lisa:Yeah. I mean, I think the goal is absolutely prevention because lead toxicity is 100 percent preventable. It is not something that any kid. or adult like you were saying Deanna should ever have to suffer those health consequences from. And so the most primary prevention actually comes not in the healthcare setting, but Like you were talking about before, Deanna, it's coming at the policy level, the governing level, the rules around housing. There should not be lead in anybody's water, in anybody's paint. There are many households for which this is not an issue, and the houses for which are very highlighted segments of our society. But on my end, what I can do is try to catch it as soon as possible, because like you were saying, Deanna, the earlier we catch it, the different the outcomes when you look at Jaden versus Aidan. So standard practice for pediatrics is we screen all kids, and this is a new, this is new to them, there's now universal screening at one and two years old for all kids. It used to be kind of kids who had state insurance versus commercial insurance was just if you had risk factors, now it's universal. So, If you are working at a place like I work where you're seeing so much lead, you're probably going to follow a different protocol where we will screen twice a year between one year, 18 months, two, two and a half, and three, because that's the age where everyone's moving around and putting things in their mouth and then yearly until five. And the quicker you find the lead, the quicker you can do interventions and stop it from climbing and get it down faster. And then also the sooner you can start all the therapies. So occupational therapy is huge. Speech therapy, almost all these kiddos get some speech delays out of this. IEPs, if they're in school, that's one of those things that you're legally entitlead to. If you have lead exposure, does that mean in realeady you're getting all those supports? Not all schools have those resources, but we can at least get that started. Behavioral support from behavioral specialists. And ideally before even I'm seeing you at one in doing that screening, I would love for it to start while you're pregnant. You know, you're a mom, Deanna. We know that when we're pregnant, we actually have more time to deal with this as soon as that baby comes. Like it's just survival mode. So it would be great if we were screening pregnant women, if we were talking to, talking to women and doing the education before the baby comes. I know one of the initiatives Cole has is the safe baby kits, the lead kits Deanna was talking about. And their, their goal is that every mom who leaves the hospital after you have your baby gets to go home with one of these kits, right? Because then when that newborn is drinking formula mixed with water, they already have that water filter right there. And then before that baby's crawling, we've already talked about it, you've not only baby proofed the, you know, the light, the electrical sockets, all of those things, but you've also lead proofed as part of your just standard baby proofing before that baby's moving around. So then hopefully by the time that baby turns one, I'm not seeing any lead. And even more, hopefully they've already taken it out of all the houses. But yeah, the sooner, the better. Sure.
Chris :And just to kind of springboard off of that, what, what kind of, treatments or advances are available to a child that is lead poise? And again at least I'll start with you and then Deanna, you can kind of tell me from your perspective, seeing the treatments and being in the hospital with your kids, just kind of from your perspective, how what you saw and what you experienced.
Dr Lisa:So, unfortunately, there is no great treatment. And there are no big advances. It is a toxin. And by the time it's in there, it's already caused so much damage. You know, I was talking to a psychiatrist once because I just, kids who have lead poisoning are harder to medically manage. They don't respond the same way that kids would just straight ADHD do. And she was explaining to me to think about it, like, like a brain injury because that's how organic it truly is to the brain. But it depends on the level how we're going to treat it. So like for Aidan his levels were high enough that we had to hospitalize him. And if it's way high, like over 70, you're going to be doing IV medications over 45, you're going to do oral succumer, which is a chelating agent to, to get that level down sooner. If you're not in those categories, we really just focus on the environmental mitigation strategies that Deanna talked about. And then the other piece is the nutrition, which is another way to help get these levels down lower. So that's what Aidan was talking about when he was advocating for eating your green vegetables, which is the advocate for all children. But he's right. Calcium, iron, vitamin C. Those are the big three. Throw in some zinc, vitamin D, phosphorus for bonus points. I really focus on hemoglobin. More iron. We can get that let down sooner. So all those kids I'm going to start on at least a multivitamin, if not some ferrous sulfate. And then the The really unfortunate part for kids is there's so much follow up. So the finger poke we do at that screening is just a screen. It is not diagnostic. You can have lead on your fingers. We pick it up. False positive. It's not in your blood. And so Aidan definitely knows firsthand that when it, what it requires is kind of serial blood draws to monitor. I remember once Aidan locking himself in the bathroom at next door. Because he was so traumatized by all of the medical procedures we've had to do. But yes, so there are serial blood draws. We do x rays if it starts coming back up because we can irrigate the bowels. If we see anything in the guts that shows that there's lead ingested. So those are kind of the strategies we employ right
Chris :now. Deanna, being a parent of a child and that therapy kind of walk us through, you know, the hospitalization. Tell me what, what occurred during those hospitalizations from your standpoint. What are some of the things that you experienced?
Deanna:Well I'm just fortunate that I only had one child that was hospitalized and not two for Jaden, because his lead wasn't that high, he wasn't able to go home, which is not, and as long as he was away from the environment, they had to let exposure, and the slogan that we like to preach at COLE is well fed, less lead. So just changing his diet, his lead level went down drastically. As for Aidan, he had to do the chelation process at the hospital where the succumber to absorb the lead. But the thing is, once you're on that medicine, and it's absorbing the lead out of the body and going through the liquids, not through urine. Once you're back in an environment that is around lead, it's like a magnet. So the lead level went higher the second time because we went back to that house. So his lead level was higher the second time he was exposed to it with that medicine. So that was the downside of returning back to that house and dealing with the child with lead. It was, it was, it was just rough trying to just navigate that whole process. But three before three, that's the slogan that we teach the parents to make sure that their kids are tested three times before the age of three. To check their lead levels. The biggest part is the diet change, and you know, it was hard for Aidan at first because he loved corn dogs and other things that he's not supposed to be eating, but it's much easier now and even fun. Just to go to the church gardens to learn about different fruits and vegetables, get the kids excited. We're actually working on a lead free cookbook with recipes that are foods that help with lead, but you make them in a way where kids actually enjoy and like it. I think it's fun. And his favorite thing to do now is smoothies, blending. He will leaderally eat anything you put in the blender into a smoothie. He will leaderally drink. He loves smoothies. That's what I found out about him at the hospital because he had to drink a lot of it because they had to give him a lot of liquids to the medicine to work. Another thing that we discovered is just when he was working with Child Dynamics, which they closed down because of the pandemic, but that was a great program for him. They had music therapy, art therapy, and that's really when we discovered Creativity. He loves trains. He loves artwork. And now that's how the book came about. He's the illustrator of the book. And it's just amazing to see. He has really latched on to that hobby. Every time you see Aidan, he'll be playing with trains and he'll be drawing. And that's really, that program is really what brought out his creative processes. So when we talk with kids who are affected by lead, we try to get them to find out what their creative niches and just kind of latch onto that. And keep them focused on positive things like gardening and artwork and music therapy, whatever the kids love, trains, or just keep them focused on things like that. That really helps with kids who are liAidanden, who constantly have to be doing something or focus on something or something in their hand. I know Legos and geometry dash or stuff like this, there's certain things that helps kids exercise their mind brain activities. That's really what we'd love to focus on. We're talking to children who are affected by lead. That's really what helps and with the diet, I find that's the most important thing, what you're putting in your body. Yeah,
Chris :and you brought up something that I wanted to touch on there too, in addition to all that amazing information about, you know, from Ada's own personal experience, as well as your experience. Yeah. But this is the first and second official celebrity cameos here in I'll post check Wisconsin, we got you and and Aidan here. I heard a rumor that you just got a call from New York Times magazine. At your book will be featured in their hundred 27th anniversary issue. Can you tell us a little bit about the book, because I definitely want folks to go out pick up the book. Definitely wanna support those efforts here in the city as well. That's big for the for the city and big for you guys too.
Deanna:Yes, I'll be speaking with them later on today for more information. I'm really excited about that. They callead me on a what, a weekday. I was like, I was just shocked. But they do want to feature the book. The book is callead Aidan the Lead Free Superhero. It's completely illustrated by Aidan detailing his story experience with lead. And I wrote the words, of course, but it's just me narrating his story. I don't know what else to say about the book. It's, it's awesome. His artwork is He really, he really brings the book to life. It's just, it's amazing. My goal is was for, to create a children's book that would inspire children to learn what the lead monster is. I give all the credit to Aidan because it was his genius idea to create three lead monsters one representing the water, one representing the paint and one representing the soil. So if you look at the artwork in the book, you'll see three different lead monsters his artwork is just captivating. In the back of the book, I made sure I had the church nurse put down some information for the parents of what to do and where to go what kind of resources if your child is affected by lead, or what to do if you think your child is affected by lead, because I felt like that was important because I wish I had someone like me there when my child was exposed, because I had to learn a lot of this on my own. So I wanted to have a resource guide for parents. I also included a wonderful poem that I wrote at the hospital when I was hospitalized, and I didn't think I would make it home, so I wrote that just because I didn't make it home, that I left something from me to them. But since I am home, I just published it in the book for all the other parents to enjoy as well. And it was just a blessing to be able to deliver the first copy to the vice president. And I'm just happy that I get so many calls now from everywhere. So I'm out from the Junction COLEition out in Ohio. They're doing a lot of work in Ohio to reduce the lead levels in their own city. And they read my book and they asked me and Amy to come out. In August to their last summit to share our story and read our book and to meet a left free superhero and we begin a lot of calls like that. People who enjoyed the book. And the last person I was expecting to call about the book was the New York Times, but that would get a lot of publicity publicity. I've been ordering my author copies and just handing them out leaderally at every event that we get callead invited to. I'll go on the. I'll go on the website and order some author copies and just hand them out free. So you give this to your kids. My goal is just to spread awareness. So when people purchase the books, that's a bonus. Or they give me money and I'll purchase more books to give out for free. My goal is just to spread the awareness and to inspire others. Who are going through what I'm going through or just want to read the book. or want more information about lead and what it is and how to get involved. That's that's really the goal. So being able to be featured in a magazine that's going to definitely let the message be known worldwide because it is a global issue of lead. So I thought it's definitely going in the right direction of bringing awareness. So I'm very happy and proud to hear that. And I told Aidan, Aidan knows what the New York Times is, but he's excited. It ain't got to him yet.
Chris :It's a big deal, but that's dope, man. You know, I'm gonna need, I'm gonna need Marvel, I'm gonna need everybody to get on board too, right? Like we need, they need an infusion of superheroes anyway, so there we go.
Deanna:My favorite part about this whole experience is going through it with my kids and watching their attitude. Because the first thing Aidan said, We went to the White House. He said, where's the rest of the kids? Where's the candy? It's been fun. It's been fun going everywhere with them and experiencing. Experiencing these things once lots of things with them. That's the best part.
Chris :Yeah, no, absolutely. Well, to close it out you know, I'll start with Dr. Chowdhury and then I'll bring it back to you, Deanna, just to kind of close it out with any advice, but what advice would you give parents in Milwaukee to help protect their children from lead exposure and to minimize their risk of lead poisoning?
Dr Lisa:Step one is being aware. That this is such a huge issue in the city. I was really surprised to learn that. And I think if you can start with exactly like Deanna and Aidan are talking about all the public awareness is step one, and then to protect yourself before it even before you have that baby. Figure out your risks. If you're renting, ask if there's a history of lead paint, lead pipes, they're legally supposed to give you that information, but find that out. And if you're buying the house, get it inspected, check the water, check the paint, check all of those things before, before you make that final plan. If you're able to replace, I've talked to families who are like, is it worth it? It's worth it. It's difficult in this city, like with the lead pipes, there's a cost sharing situation with the city. So it's an investment on your end, but it is absolutely worth it. So if you're able to replace everything you can wherever there's lead, get it out. And if you're not able to, which is the bulk of the lead exposure because you're renting then mitigate as much as you can. Just like Deanna was explaining, you know, wash the hands, no shoes in the house, use the duct tape, wet dust so that using something that's gonna pick up the dust instead of putting it back into the air, keep the windows closed. use the water filters, mitigate as much as you can and maximize the nutrition on the other hand. And then if your child is exposed, you are not alone. You are not a bad parent. This was not your fault. And there are many people out here who are going through the same thing. So find your supports, find your resources, find a medical professional that you trust. It's a long journey. It's not a, it's not a short journey. And so You're but you're not alone and you can find your people to help you through this. As you step by step, make your way through it.
Chris :Absolutely. And Deanna anything from your end any, any closing remarks or any advice for parents that may find themselves in the same situation.
Deanna:My advice is to well fed, let's let maybe for three in to always filter your water. There is no safe level of lead in the blood for a child. My church, that's the best resource. I feel like that's helped me thrive in this journey, or our journey, as Aidan would say, to defeat the lead monster so reaching out to your doctors and your church and other community organizations, that's really been a big help. And I've learned so much for them. So I would definitely recommend Everyone to read Aidan the Lead Free Superhero book as well. Just hearing Aidan story and getting inspired by it and the information in the back is very useful and helpful to children as well as parents.
Aiden:Anything else you want to add? All I want to add is, I thank Dr. Lisa. And I thank her because she always made me happy and she never failead to give me shots just to make sure I can see another day because the lead poisoning was, was almost killed me two times. And I thank Dr. Lisa for helping me with my lead. And I thank her for all giving me toys and strawberry shortcake.
Dr Lisa:Well, I thank you, Aidan, and your big brother, Jaden, and Deanna, and baby RayRay, you guys have taught me so much. about lead, lead in Milwaukee, the barriers, the resilience, the, you know, everything I have learned so much from you guys being your pediatrician. It's been such an honor to be on this journey with you.
Chris :Wow. Well, thank you guys so much. And I'm going to definitely Post Aidan the Lead Free Superhero on our website and make sure we kind of get it out. Everybody go and get the book. Thank you so much for joining us here today. Thank you for taking the time to sharing your story. You know, like Dr. LIsa said, your, your story of resilience is inspiring and I hope that it helps many other parents in, in, in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin because, you know, it lead us everywhere, like you said, and all throughout the country and all throughout the world. So, you know, you guys are doing amazing work to bring awareness and to share your story. And again, just, you know, I think this is going to have effects down the road that, that we've never seen before in lead prevention. Thank you.
So, so much good information in that interview with Dr. Chowdhury Aidan and Deanna. I think it's important to break down some information that they gave and to put it into some context with what we're seeing in Milwaukee. One of the things that we talk about is the prevalence of lead poisoning what we're able to see throughout Milwaukee County is around 4. 7 percent of children under the age of six that were tested in 2021 alone had blood lead levels above five micrograms per decaliter. And again, as we discussed, that's the level considered of toxicity that we see for quote unquote, lead poison children. But as we learned from Deanna and from Dr. Chowdhury, any amount of lead in a child's system should be considered lead poisoning. Now, that was in Milwaukee County. So again, 4. 7 percent of children under the age of six that are tested for toxicity, now, you compare that to the remainder of the state, uh, the same age group, and that's only about 2. 8 percent of kids in the same age group that you see meet that criterion for lead toxicity. And so you see there's a higher prevalence here in Milwaukee County. So when we talk about lead poisoning, we're seeing an over prevalence in the city itself and in the Milwaukee County area. In fact, when you look at testing from 2018 to 2021, it shows that childhood lead poisoning specifically on the north side of Milwaukee is anywhere from 18 to 20 percent of the Children that are living in that area. And that kind of shows that disproportion a little bit more just by zip code alone. And it should be noted that that is only in the kids that are being tested. There's likely a number of kids that are not being tested, which means those numbers are probably larger. One thing we should mention is that in other cities and in other states, for instance, Rochester, New York, Cleveland, Ohio, these are cities that require inspections for health hazards before tenants even move in. So, these municipalities, these cities require lead testing, they require lead inspections before the tenants are able to move in to avoid and circumvent that exposure in the first place. Many lead prevention advocates, not only in the state of Wisconsin, but nationwide, often bring these examples up as examples that could be utilized in the state of Wisconsin to potentially curb childhood lead poisoning and childhood lead exposure. However, due to state capping that was placed on the books by lawmakers in 2011, a lot of landlords are not forced to abide by these local rental protections for tenants.
Speaker:And in fact, due to these laws in 2011, lawmakers prohibited municipalities from requiring rentals to be certified or registered or even license and limited the scope of these rental inspection programs that could be potentially life saving for some kids in the long run.
According to a recent PBS study. That Deanna was a part of and it highlighted her story and Aiden's story showed was examples of how some cities and some municipalities in the state of Wisconsin are getting around some of this very rigid legislation that's in place to avoid any testing or any standards for lead prevention. According to this story, cities such as Eau Claire, Racine, and Oshkosh require rental inspections for certain building hazards, and they get around these laws by using wording to comply with the state law on the fact that they will lump it into same categories as health hazards. These communities will target their rental inspections to address habitabilities or violations of habitability and anything that could cause a substantial hazard to the health of the tenant. They can include lead in those parameters. The issue is Milwaukee County unfortunately could target lead in a similar way, but in recent years we've lacked the funding to do so on a larger scale. So with that being said, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done on lead prevention in Milwaukee and in the state of Wisconsin. Although Deanna mentioned quite a few programs that are in place right now to help parents and help children in the city of Milwaukee specifically. However, this is just another example of a healthcare disparity in the city of Milwaukee that we need to continue to address here, and that we need to continue to advocate for our patients and for parents of patients who are lead poisoned. We need to continue to build awareness to the long term effects of lead poisoning because I don't think that that gets out enough, as well as how long lead remains in the body and the long term effects that it's having, because we're not only seeing lead poisoning effects on the patients themselves and our pediatric patients. We're seeing it in their families for generations to come. This issue is not going to go away overnight, uh, and I hope to address it in future episodes. I hope to continue to touch on lead poisoning and the issue that we're having in the state, as well as in the city of Milwaukee. And it'll be good to get an update for you guys as well of any advances that are being made or any pieces of legislation that are coming up that can be helpful for families here. I want to thank the brilliant and amazing Dr. Chowdhury, not only for coming out to speak in with us, but for many things that she does. This podcast would not be possible without her. What I am today would not be possible without her support and her love. And I mean, words can't describe how much I owe to Dr. Chowdhury and how much I love her. I want to thank Deanna and Aidan for having me. Sharing their story with us. I would advocate for you guys to go out and get the book Aiden the Lead Free Superhero I have my copy I'll link copies to the website so that you guys can go out and support his work Be sure to check it out The book is fantastic. You're able to see the artwork that Aiden was able to do and the stories that Deanna was able to weave out of the works of art So definitely go check that out. A lot of good information to break down the lead issue, not only for adults, but for kids as well. And there are additional resources in the back of the book as Deanna Also, if you check out the website, there will be links and resources for lead testing and lead information for adults and for kids on the website. So be sure to check that out. Again, I want to thank everyone for listening. This eighth episode, I want to invite you to our next episode. We're going to have more topics on social determinants of health in the city of Milwaukee and in the state of Wisconsin. We're going to have more healthcare. cases for you to hopefully give you more information to keep you out of the ER. So as always, take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and if you need me, come and see me.
