Archive for the 'Childhood Disorders' Category

Learning disabilities can present in a variety of different ways, which can make getting an exact diagnosis a difficult process.

But an exact diagnosis is essential to developing the best plan of action for your child.

Research has uncovered some new ways that ADHD can present. One of these is inconsistent reaction times when the child is performing short-term memory exercises.

This is the kind of memory often referred to as working memory—the kind of memory that allows you to remember what you are doing and stay on task.

Children with ADHD can get the answers right, but do not show the same consistency in response times as their counterparts on these types of exercises, doing math problems, for example.

Children who have more traditional ADHD symptoms, and are more hyperactive, restless, or impulsive, tend to have even slower reaction times than children who have ADHD but do not necessarily have these traditional symptoms.

This is not to say that every child who seems occasionally slow when it comes to answering questions or staying on tasks has ADHD. But this is important new information and may help medical professionals understand more about how ADHD affects child behavior, especially when it presents in a way not associated with hyperactivity.

Respiratory syncytial virus is a childhood infection that’s responsible for 7% of visits to a pediatrician and 2% of all emergency room trips.

This virus causes 0.2% of all inpatient hospital stays.

This disease strikes all younger children and also affects some older children as well.

This makes Syncytial virus a more serious virus than influenza, which indicates that more attention needs to be put towards finding vaccines for syncytial.

The only children who have heightened risk for syncytial are children who are born prematurely [Preterm babies].

Being in day care, having other children at home, having been breast-fed and even living in a home with a smoker didn’t seem to have an effect on syncytial.

What is respiratory syncytial virus?

This virus is a lower respiratory tract infection that mostly occurs during winter months.

This virus mostly only causes typical flu symptoms, but some serious complications can occur with children who are premature and children who have lung problems.

But this virus is the number one cause of phenomena in children. This virus can also cause bronchiolitis, which leads to coughing and an inability to breath.

Cerebral palsy is not any particular illness or disease; rather it is physical condition that mainly affects normal functioning of the brain.

It can take place before or during childbirth.

As the main cause for cerebral palsy is still unknown, there is no perfect way to prevent it.

However, if you are pregnant, here are few helpful measures that can hopefully help your unborn baby to prevent cerebral palsy:

1. Ensure that you maintain healthy diet in your pregnancy and if you have any other untreated health condition, make sure that you manage it properly.
2. Measles during pregnancy or early stages in life can trigger cerebral palsy. So, ensure that you take necessary immunizations during pregnancy to avoid complications for your baby.
3. Even premature delivery can trigger cerebral palsy, so make sure that you avoid all those triggers of premature delivery like smoking, alcohol, improper diet, etc.
4. Get prenatal checkup for the Rh factor during pregnancy, which is extremely important to prevent unexpected brain damage and complications like cerebral palsy. Rh incompatibility can be easily treated if undentified in the early stages.

According to new study, high folate levels are present in blood of children who are newly diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) than others without IBD.

The findings also doubt earlier theories of IBD that persons with IBD are more prone to folate deficiency.

Inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis, refers to illness that causes chronic inflammation and serious damage to intestines in digestive system. IBD manifests itself in colon and results in Crohn’s disease, which can occur any where in the intestinal tract.

IBD triggers in children of all ages and results in diarrhea, bleeding, abdominal pain, fever and also nutritional deficiencies.

Melvin Heyman, MD, a professor of pediatrics, chief of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, and director of the Pediatric IBD Program at UCSF Children’s Hospital says, “This particular exciting study opens the door to additional research into folic acid role in IBD, particularly in young patients”.

Low levels of folate can be due to many reasons like poor absorption of folate, poor or low dietary intake and also medical interactions.

According to Nina Holland, PhD, a senior author on the paper, previous findings have shown that adult patients with IBD tend to have low levels of folate in blood than those without illness.

As parents, we want our newborn baby to look perfect so when we start noticing scaly, red patches on their scalp and a greasy quality to their hair we may start to worry about the future prospects of our baby’s appearance.

If their hair is oily now, what will it be like when they are teens? The good news is your baby just has cradle cap and that’s nothing to be alarmed about.

Are you sure it is cradle cap?

This is a common question doctors hear regularly after diagnosing and explaining cradle cap to parents. That’s because most people are sure something is wrong. But the truth is cradle cap is not that unusual nor is it anything to be alarmed about.

What causes cradle cap?

Cradle cap can, in some ways, be blamed on the mom. That’s because what happens is that the mom’s hormones interact with the placenta before the baby leaves the womb. Her hormones cause the sebaceous glands to become overactive and that leads to the problems known as cradle cap.

If your child suffers from seizures or vision problems, you should investigate the possibilities of Batten disease.

A rare inherited disorder of the nervous system which usually manifests in childhood, early signs usually appear between 5 to 10 years of age.

In some cases, early signs are very subtle and take the form of personality and behavior changes, slow learning and also ineptness in kids.

Over time, affected children may suffer with mental impairment, progressive loss of sight and motor skills, worsening seizures. Gradually they can become completely disabled and eventually die.

However, it is very rare and it is estimated that almost 4 of every 100,000 births are diagnosed with this form of genetic disorder. It is neither contagious nor preventable.

Is there any way to save child from Batten disease?

So far, no specific treatment that can stop or reverse the symptoms of Batten disease has been identified. However, seizures can be reduced and they can be controlled with anticonvulsant drugs. Physical and occupational therapy can help your kid to maintain function as long as possible.

Retinoblastoma, a rare type of eye cancer, mainly affects the retina (light sensing part of eye) of young children under five years of age, but can affect adults too.

It is estimated that approximately 200 to 300 children are diagnosed with retinoblastoma every year and it affects one in every 20,000 children.

Almost 40% cases of retinoblastoma are inherited; 75% of them are affected by only one eye, with 25% of cases affecting both eyes.

Is it curable?

If you detect tumors in the early stages, you have a better chance of saving the eyesight – and sometimes even the life – of the victim. Successful treatment for retinoblastoma depends on the position, size and number of tumors present in the eye. For smaller tumors, here are a few treatment options:

1. Laser therapy: This therapy is mainly used to vaporize the tumors present in the retina. Usually two or three sessions are needed at monthly intervals to completely eliminate the tumors.
2. Thermotherapy: The main process used in this procedure is heat, which is used to destroy the cancer cells present in the retina. Sometimes, thermotherapy is combined with chemotherapy or radiotherapy for total elimination.

A complex genetic disorder which causes developmental delay and affects the nervous system, Angelman Syndrome does not usually manifest until at least six months of age.

If your child has this particular genetic disorder, other common signs such as small head, problem in movement and balance of limbs will be present in early childhood.

This rare genetic disorder affects almost 1 in 12,000 to 20,000 people. Children with Angelman syndrome display typically happy, excitable behavior with frequent smiling and laughter. Unusually fair skin and light colored hair are typical physical characteristics.

Is it an inherited condition?

Most cases of Angelman syndrome are not inherited, particularly if it is caused by deletion in the maternal chromosome 15. The changes in genes can take place randomly, during the formation of reproductive cells or at early stages of fetal development.  Victims don’t typically have any history of the disorder in their family.

In very rare cases, the gene changes in gene responsible for Angelman syndrome can be inherited, so it is essential for you to take great care of your growing baby during pregnancy(prenatal care).

Is Angelman syndrome serious?

As there is no way to repair chromosome defects, there is no perfect cure for Angelman syndrome. Complications associated with Angelman syndrome include:

Even though it is very rare, diphtheria infection spreads easily and takes place very quickly in children and also in adults, who are exposed to infectious bacteria.

If you have children below 5 years of age, then you have to be very careful.

It mainly affects kids below 5 years of age and adults above 60 years of age.

Years ago, diphtheria was the leading cause of death among children.

But now, with the advancement in medical sciences, it has become very rare bacterial infection.

Various medications and vaccinations are available to prevent the outbreak of this dangerous infection.

So, it would be much better if you give proper vaccinations to your child. Even after giving vaccination, if your child gets it, identify the symptoms at early stages to get right treatment at right time.

Recognize early symptoms to avoid serious problems!

The most common sign of diphtheria infection is a thick grey covering in the back of the throat that potentially makes breathing difficult for your kid.

When your child is exposed to infectious bacteria that leads to diphtheria, the nose and throat gets the inflammation. It typically causes very bad sore throat, fever, weakness and also swollen glands.

Are you aware of progeria? It is extremely rare yet fatal genetic condition in children. Usually progeria is characterized by an accelerated aging in your kid.

With this condition of progeria, your kid begins to look like an elderly person.

Children with this syndrome usually survive to an average age of 13 years and usually get affected with serious heart disease.

Like other newborns, children with progeria appear normal at their birth.

But after 6 to 12 months, you can observe certain changes in their skin and also hair loss, if your kid has progeria.

How does progeria affect children?

Even though your baby has born with much better healthy look, the signs and symptoms of progeria tends to appear at 18-24 months of age. Certain common signs of this premature aging condition can mainly include:

• Failure in normal growth.
• Unexpected loss of body fat.
• Wrinkles, loose and aged appearance of skin.
• Dislocation of hip.
• Stiffness in joints.
• Prominent eyes and scalp veins.
• Head appears to be too large for face.
• Unexplained hair loss, including eyebrows and eye lashes.
• High pitched voice that resembles with an elderly person.