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Harvard Health Publishing

Child & Teen Health
Do toddler formulas deliver on nutrition claims?
Formula companies claim that toddler formulas, also known as "follow-up formulas," "transition formulas," or "growing-up milks" offer nutritional benefits to toddlers. But are these products necessary and healthy?

Every year, nearly 500,000 people in the US suffer from a gut infection caused by a bacteria known as Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff. It can trigger severe diarrhea that lasts for weeks, months, or even longer. Some cases are life-threatening.
All of us carry C. diff bacteria on our skin and in our stool. Yet the spores only sicken people whose gut microbiome becomes imbalanced, sometimes after taking antibiotics or due to a weakened immune system. How can we prevent or treat C. diff?
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Harvard Medical School Faculty Contributors

Howard E. LeWine, MD
Chief Medical Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Robert H. Shmerling, MD
Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Claire McCarthy, MD
Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Mallika Marshall, MD
Contributing Editor

Lauren Elson, MD
Contributor; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Christopher P. Cannon, MD
Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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