Archive for the 'Child Health & Disorders' Category

Did you know that nearly 7 million children have been diagnosed with asthma?

Asthma can be hard to diagnose in children, because what is considered the definitive test—spirometry—cannot usually be properly performed on children until they are about 5 or 6 years old.

Here are some symptoms and risk factors for you to be aware of.

Does your child wheeze? If he has four or more episodes of wheezing in one year, or if the wheezing lasts longer than one day or wakes him up from sleeping, asthma is likely. It is also likely that your child wheezes when he is not suffering from a cold or upper respiratory infection.

Does your child have a persistent cough that is worse at night or when he exercises? This can be a sign of asthma.

Does your child have a parent or sibling with asthma? This increases his risk.

Does your child have eczema, allergic rhinitis or food allergies? Does he have pollen allergies? These are signs of increased risk as well.

The good news is that many children with asthma symptoms grow out of them. If your child does have asthma, it can be treated and managed with medication. Be sure to talk to your child’s pediatrician if you suspect asthma.

Our mental image of children is one of happiness–children playing, children laughing.

We do not readily think of children as being depressed. Depression does affect children, however, and it can be hard to diagnose.

Here are some signs of depression in children:

• Frequent crying and sadness
• A feeling of hopelessness or despair
• Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed
• Sudden irritability and flashes of anger
• Overreaction to failure or rejection
• Hypersensitivity
• Preoccupation with songs that feature death, isolation and/or suicide
• Changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Worsening school performance, trouble concentrating
• Threats of running away
• Oppositional or defiant behavior

Many of these signs of depression can be hard to distinguish from normal childhood behavior. For example, sudden irritability and oppositional behavior are fairly common in the teen years.

What you should be looking for is a sudden change, a change that seems out of character, or a combination of symptoms. You should also trust your parental instincts; if you suspect something is wrong, there’s a good chance something is.

If you suspect your child is depressed, talk with them and their health care provider.

When your child has a fever, you may be worried. A fever is the body’s natural response to illness.

A low grade fever—any fever less than 101 degrees–can be allowed to continue without treatment, as it is a sign that the body’s natural illness fighting system is working as it should.

However, fevers in very younger children, and high fevers must receive prompt attention.

Here are some general guidelines for treating your child’s fever. Remember, these are just guidelines; you should always follow your pediatrician’s instructions.

1. If your baby is 6 weeks older or younger, any fever can be serious and should be considered an emergency. Call your pediatrician immediately, and do not administer medication unless directed specifically to do so. [Baby Health]
2. If your baby is between the ages of 6 weeks and 3 months, and has a fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit or more, you need to talk with your doctor within the next 2 hours. Your doctor may recommend waiting until morning, or suggest other immediate treatment.
3. Any time if your child of any age, has a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, call your doctor. Your doctor may want to see your child right away, or may want to see how your child responds to over-the-counter treatment.

Dextromethorphan, or DM, has been a staple in cough syrup for some time.

Recent studies have shown, however, that this cough-suppressing medication is not effective in children who are under 6.

What’s more, it can cause side effects. Fortunately, honey, staple of natural medicine, has come to the rescue.

Research has shown that honey is not only an effective way to treat a cough; it may even be more effective than DM was for children.

Honey has long been known to have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. It has a variety of traditional uses, including wound healing.

In the study, children between the ages of 2 and 18 were given either buckwheat honey, honey flavored DM, or no treatment.

Honey was better and reducing nighttime coughing than DM. Coughing was less severe and less frequent, and both the children and their parents got a better night’s sleep. [Cough remedies]

DM didn’t fare so well in testing; in fact, it wasn’t significantly better than no treatment at all.

Diphenhydramine, another popular medication in over-the-counter cold medicine, was also studied and was found not to be any better than no treatment at all when it came to reducing coughing and helping children and parents sleep.

There is a great deal of controversy surrounding regular childhood vaccinations or immunizations.

Unbiased information is almost impossible to find. Some parents are even unaware that they do have options when it comes to vaccines.

You generally have three options regarding vaccinating your child.

1. Follow the recommended schedule for all vaccinations.
2. Refuse all vaccinations.
3. Adopt a modified schedule.

If you choose option 1, your path is simple. Your pediatric care provider will be happy to provide you with a copy of the recommended schedule and help you schedule vaccinations during well-baby visits.

Most states in the United States allow parents to refuse vaccinations on the basis of medical or religious reasons. Some states allow philosophical exemptions.

A medical basis generally involves a previous negative reaction to a vaccine or the presence of a medical condition or disease which is a contraindication to a particular vaccine or all vaccines.

Most schools have vaccination policies; you will have to check your state laws to see if your exemption will be accepted by the school you intended to use for your child. If you are homeschooling, of course, that question is moot.

You suspect your child has a cold but you are unsure as it is allergy season.

We have provided you with some tips to rule out a cold and diagnose allergies as well as ways to pinpoint the signs and symptoms that can interfere with your child’s daily routine.

When It May be Allergies

Lots of parents can spot allergy symptoms right off the bat while others may confuse the signs of an allergy with another type of illness such as a cold or the flu.

How can you be sure that the symptoms originate from an allergy?

• If you notice your child has a rash that is dry, red and itchy on the ankles, wrists and other skin creases, you probably are facing an allergic reaction.
• Cold symptoms that last a week or longer such as itchy throat, a stuffed or runny nose that seem to appear the same time every year probably point to an allergy.
• Your child may present with runny, itchy eyes, sneezing, sniffling or rubbing their nose if they are suffering with allergies.

In the past when you took your child to the doctor for some type of medical issue the doctor typically prescribed an antibiotic in order to make them well.

It has come to the attention of the medical community in recent years that antibiotics have been over prescribed, especially in the case of children.

Now many doctors will hesitate to prescribe an antibiotic unless they are sure the infection is bacterial and not viral.

What Type of Medical Conditions Require an Antibiotic?

Most children when they become ill do so from a viral infection and antibiotics don’t work to treat their condition. Bacterial infections on the other hand require antibiotics to treat them such as sinus infections or an ear infections.

If your child has whooping cough, croup, a cold or strep throat, antibiotics will do nothing to treat the problem. Even some cases of diarrhea, vomiting and bronchitis are not bacterial infections but viral infections and will not be affected by the use of antibiotics.

The Overuse of Antibiotics

When antibiotics are overused they will often lose their effectiveness. This in turn causes the medical community to research stronger antibiotics to treat simple bacterial infections from those they used in the past. Many strains of bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics because of their overuse.

As every parent knows, it is sometimes hard to tell whether or not your child is sick enough to keep home from school.

It can be especially hard to tell whether respiratory symptoms are the cold or the flu.

One key indicator of flu is a fever, typically 101 degrees F or higher.

A sore throat and/or cough often occur with the fever. If your child has fever, he should be kept at home, especially if a sore throat or cough is also present.

If you suspect your child has the flu, especially if your child has fever, symptoms are severe, or symptoms last several days, contact your child’s health care provider immediately. Anti-viral treatment started within 48 hours of onset of symptoms can provide a lot of relief.

It is important to note that recovering from the flu can take a while. Children are often ill with the flu between 5 and 10 days.

While your child is safe to return to school once the fever has subsided and the child feels up to it, it is better to keep your child home one extra day rather than have them return to school too quickly.

The National Autistic Society has welcomed the results of research that seems to suggest that children with autistic-spectrum disorders (ASD) might be diagnosed at a much earlier age.

Their spokesperson said that it provided further insights into the condition.

The recent study looked at over seventy toddlers, grouped as those with normal development, others with ASD and finally children with different problems.

The two year olds were all shown different animation; some based on movement and the rest a mixture including sounds. The ASD sufferers responded more when the music matched the changing imagery by over sixty percent.

The research carried out in Yale, was recently published in the magazine Nature. Soon after they are born, a baby will pay attention to its surroundings, which is where their development begins. For babies with autism this is usually not the case, so any insights are essential for detecting the condition as early as possible.

The data was produced by creating different versions of animated games, for example ‘pat a cake’, which was then shown to each participant.

In a split screen, approach the visual was alternatively shown in reverse and upside down, the subject’s reactions were noted.

Do you feel that your child is more susceptible to back-to-school sickness?

Children often feel excited when they start getting into their back-to-school routine.

However, it can be quite challenging for you as a parent if you know that your child is more prone to allergies and other sicknesses that result from going to school.

Even though it is inevitable, there are a few ways to help you keep back-to-school sickness in your child to a minimum.

1. Talk to your child’s doctor: If your child is prone to back-to-school sickness, consult your child’s doctor and take necessary precautionary medications such as vaccination shots to prevent infections.
2. Talk to your child’s teacher: This is the first thing that you should do because s/he is the person who is present most of time with your kid in school. Ask simple questions like how often they can wash their hands etc.
3. Teach your kids to wash hands often: Teach your little one to wash his/her hands after eating or before touching dirty objects.
4. Give them a bottle of clean distilled water: If you feel that drinking water in your child’s school is unhygienic, tell your children not to drink water at school. Give them a bottle of clean distilled water to take to school.