Archive for the 'Childhood Disorders' Category

We already know that every child has lot of physical energy.

Young children acquire the energy in spurts and afterwards they need to rest, whereas older children build up the type of constant energy that obtains through soccer and baseball games.

When your children do not get sufficient exercise or rest, their reaction will be irritability and loss of concentration.

So, getting plenty of rest and exercise is essential for every child.

Physical activities for children with ADD/ADHD:

Allow your child to have some un-frustrated and free time to do the tasks that he/she likes to do at any place they like. The activities can be anything like walking with the dog or riding the bike.

Planning for structured activities with your child is a great way. It can be very helpful to plan for structured activities for a child with ADD/ADHD at least once in a week. Structured activities can give an opportunity for your child to move and learn at a time. A team support is beneficial for a child with ADD/ADHD.

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Are you aware of Kawasaki disease? It is the common inflammatory disease in children, which usually affects almost 80% of total kids, who are aged between 2 to 5.

Though the exact cause for this health condition in children is not clear, some of the researchers consider it as an autoimmune disorder, which is mainly stimulated by an infection or any over exposure to environmental toxins.

However, in most of the cases, Kawasaki disease affects children less than 4 years of age, but very rarely it can also affect young infants and also adolescents. It is often believed that children with Asian ethnicity are at increased risk of developing Kawasaki disease.

Do you think Kawasaki disease is contagious and hereditary?

Though many doctors and researchers believe that Kawasaki disease is caused by a viral infection, it is neither contagious nor hereditary.

It is quite uncommon that more than one kid in a family develops this inflammatory disease. It is also believed that very few kids, less than 2%, can have another attack of this disease in their life.

If the illness continues for more than 2 weeks, then you can notice the peeling of skin on the fingers and also toes of the affected individual.

It is very essential for pregnant women to maintain a balanced diet with more nutrients and minerals.

Most of the birth defects in children are due to lack of essential nutrients during pregnancy [Prenatal vitamins].

Spina bifida is one of the neural tube defects which mainly affects the spinal cord of new born baby.

The neural tube is that embryonic structure, which ultimately develops into your baby’s brain and spinal cord and also the tissues which usually surround these important parts.

Under normal circumstances, this neural tube is developed in the early days or during the first month of your pregnancy.

Later the topmost part of this neural tube develops into brain of your unborn baby and the rest of the tube becomes the spinal cord of the baby. If your body lacks certain essential nutrients and minerals like folic acid, then there are chances for the spine to get split up resulting in spina bifida.

What is the importance of folic acid in the development of spina bifida?

Folic acid is a B-vitamin that your body essentially needs in making new healthy cells. If you have enough folic acid in your body before pregnancy or even during your pregnancy, it can possibly reduce the neural tube defects like spina bifida in your baby. It is very essential for you to take 400mg of folic acid daily in the food you take.

Are you aware of Kawasaki disease? It is the common inflammatory disease in children, which usually affects almost 80% of total kids, who are aged between 2 to 5.

Though the exact cause for this health condition in children is not clear, some of the researchers consider it as an autoimmune disorder, which is mainly stimulated by an infection or any over exposure to environmental toxins.

However, in most of the cases, Kawasaki disease affects children less than 4 years of age, but very rarely it can also affect young infants and also adolescents.

It is often believed that children with Asian ethnicity are at increased risk of developing Kawasaki disease.

Do you think Kawasaki disease is contagious and hereditary?

Though, many doctors and researchers believe that Kawasaki disease is caused by a viral infection, it is neither contagious nor can be hereditary.

It is quite uncommon that more than one kid in a family develops this inflammatory disease. It is also believed that very few kids, less than 2%, can have another attack of this disease in their life.

If the illness continues for more than 2 weeks, then you can notice the peeling of skin on the fingers and also toes of the affected individual.

Bed wetting, commonly known as night time enuresis, can be a very frustrating problem for both parents as well as children.

Many children can stop bed wetting, but they need the help of their parents and doctor too.

Don’t be in the misconception that bed wetting is an indication for bad toilet training. It is just a stage of development in your child.

Night time enuresis is most common in children who are below 6 or 7 years of age. Children cannot establish bladder control at this particular period of age, so it is not at all a cause for concern in you.

If your child continues to wet the bed after 6 or 7 years of age or develops bed wetting after achieving night time dryness, then try to treat the problem with lots of patience and understanding.

Don’t ever try to scold or punish your kid for wetting the bed, as it can lead to feeling of guilty and depression in your child. So, try to tackle this condition with more patience.

How to take care of your children if they develop bed wetting?

Developing this habit of night time enuresis can be a sign of anxiety or mental stress, which your child might be experiencing.

Controlling the blood glucose levels is very important for women before they think about getting pregnant.

If you have diabetes before you got pregnant or developed gestational diabetes, then you are at increased risk of having babies with birth defects when compared with the women who neither have diabetes before pregnancy nor developed mild gestational diabetes.

It has been estimated that about 4.8 percent of women with diabetes before pregnancy have children with birth defects where as 1.5 percent of birth defects occurred in women who did not have diabetes.

It has also been estimated that almost 1.2 percent of women with mild gestational diabetes have babies with some or the other kind of birth defect in them.

Birth defect and diabetes:

The level of risks in a pregnant women suffering with diabetes usually depends on the degree of insulin need and also on the severity of complications involved with diabetes and control of blood sugar levels in her body.

Birth defects are more likely in infants who have diabetic mothers, especially in females who are dependent on insulin. Some of these birth defects are serious and can lead to fetal death. Some times these birth defects usually originate in the first trimester of your pregnancy.

Most of the parents are worried about their 3 year old child, who are not capable to listen a story from beginning to end or cannot complete any drawing.

Those children might have attention deficit disorder.

But it becomes very essential to know that most of the preschoolers usually have a very short attention span and they can’t stick to one particular activity for long time. So don’t get worried about them, these things are very common in kids.

Most common behavioral problems associated with attention deficit disorder include lack of attention, lacking concentration in particular tasks with his or her inability to produce, impulsive behavior and also hyperactivity.

This behavioral disorder is most common chronic disorder which affects millions of children and it also continues to their adulthood.

Most of the medical researchers have recognized this attention deficit disorder in children into three basic forms. These basic forms include inattentive, hyperactive-impulsiveness and also combination of both.

Behavior of the child with attention deficit disorder:

• Mostly, children with this disorder fail to pay close attention and make most careless mistakes in school works and also in other activities.

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is one of the genetic disorders.

This disorder is mainly referred to as the inability of your body to consume the vital amino acids and phenylalanine (Phe).

Amino acids are essential for building body proteins. Your body will get the amino acids from the food you consume.

Phenylketonuria is the condition which affects one out of 12,000-15,000 live births in the US. This disorder can affect you inheriting two copies of the mutated gene, one from each parent.

In Phenylketonuria, the enzyme, phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), that breaks down is completely deficient. Normally this enzyme is used to convert phenylalanine into another amino acid and tyrosine. The deficiency of this can cause high levels of phenylalanine.

The high levels of Phe can damage the brain and it results in severe mental retardation, behavior abnormalities, inability to focus and organize information, seizures and some other neurological disorders.

The deficiency of this enzyme can cause phenylalanine and its breakdown chemicals from other enzyme get accumulated in the body tissues and blood. This disorder can affect both males and females equally.

Immunization with mumps vaccine is a general preventive measure of mumps.

This vaccine can be given separately or as a part of MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) immunization vaccine.

MMR immunization vaccine will be given to prevent rubella and measles.

It is recommended by the World Health Organization that all children should get mumps vaccination all over the world through well-functioning childhood vaccination program.

American Academy Of Pediatrics suggests having routine MMR vaccine administration at ages 12 to 15 months and 4 to 6 years.

Mumpsvax is a standard vaccine in United States and also MMR vaccine is a commonly used vaccine.

Leningrad-3 strain (Soviet Countries), L-Zagreb strain (India, Croatia), Urabe strain, and Rubini strain (Switzerland) are currently used vaccines in different countries.

Health officials tell that the vaccine shortage is causing the outbreak of mumps even worse. They are also worried of the serious problems involved with this illness as it can lead to several other illnesses.

Does Mumps Virus Influence Other Organs?

The mumps virus can sometimes spread from the salivary glands to other parts and cause infection. If the virus spreads to the testicles, it is called orchitis. Orchitis is an inflammation of one or both testicles caused by the virus that causes mumps.

Crying is a normal process in the life of a baby.

All babies cry some or the other time when they feel hungry, thirsty, sleepy, grumpy, lonely or during a diaper change.

At times, the baby undergoes some strange fussy periods where the baby cries excessively for hours.

It can arise rarely or continuously at the same time every day.

Colic – A trigger for baby’s cry

The cause of baby’s cry extends from very simple reasons to critical conditions. One such condition is colic.

It is one of the most common reasons for a baby cry. A baby having recurring episodes of excessive, inconsolable crying refers to a colic condition. With this condition, the baby usually cries about three hours a day for more than thrice a week. It usually begins in babies at about three to twelve weeks of age.

Colic in toddler - relieve it with simple ideas

Calming a child with colic is mainly a matter of identifying and eliminating a trigger for the colic. The primary triggers for the colic are food, feeding, formula, and medications.

To relieve the baby from colic, experiment some of the following ideas to calm the baby.