Health Guidance

Many people are unaware that Arthritis can affect children and teenagers. Unfortunately statistics have shown that approximately one in one thousand are affected and some forms of Juvenile arthritis can potentially be very serious. The ignorance of the link between arthritis and children can result in delayed diagnosis with resultant damage to tissue and organs.

Many children who contract Juvenile arthritis do so via a bacterial or viral infection. This form of infection is normally brief, but can last several months. Most children will recover completely. The juvenile version of rheumatoid arthritis can be much more serious, lasting months or even years.

The symptoms of Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis are viewed and classified by how the condition starts. This is where we start our battle to defeat and beat arthritis Continue reading ‘Our Battle to Beat Juvenile Arthritis’ »

Skin cancer was once considered a disease that affected mainly adults as a result of years of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays. In recent years, however, doctors began seeing skin cancer in children as well. Since children have not had the years of sun exposure believed to be needed for cancer development, scientists began to look for another reason. Research found that a defective gene may be to blame.

When the enzymes responsible for repairing DNA damage, called nucleotide excision repair enzymes, are mutated, it can lead to mutations in other cells, altering the genes in them. If one of these genes is a type that suppresses cancer, it may actually reverse its actions and begin inducing tumors. Continue reading ‘Skin Cancer in Children – Why Sunburn May Not Be the Culprit’ »

If you wish to smoke cigarettes or cigars despite the associated health risks then that is your own personal choice. What you do not have the right to do is force other people to inhale the smoke from the tobacco products you choose to use, which is why their use in public places is strictly prohibited in many industrialized countries including the United States. Despite an awareness of the reasons behind these public restrictions a shocking number of parents who smoke still choose to light up in the presence of their children without regard for their health. This fact is astounding given that there is scientific research which proves that passive smoking can lead to numerous diseases and is the third leading cause of preventable death in children here in the United States.

Various Diseases And Ailments

Every time you light up a cigar or cigarette in the presence of someone else you are putting them at increased risk of cancer, Crohn’s disease and respiratory diseases such as asthma or bronchitis. You are also making it more likely that the people who are passively smoking because of your tobacco product will develop cardiovascular ailments as well as increasing their chances of getting nose, throat and ear infections. Passive smoking is particularly dangerous for children who may not be aware of the dangers they face when they breathe in second hand smoke. Perhaps the most disturbing fact about passive smoking is that it increases the chance of a young child dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Continue reading ‘The Health Hazards Associated With Passive Smoking’ »

Social stories are one of the techniques that are used with children with Autism. Although this is done in a structured way for children with Autism it is a technique that has been used for centuries. Parents have always talked and described upcoming situations in an effort to ease their children’s fears.

Many times social stories are written with the childs’ name as the name of the person in the story. For some children this seems to be an easier way to talk about themselves. It is almost like talking about a child like they are someone else. On some level a child with Autism does seem to understand that the story is about them. Continue reading ‘What Are Social Stories?’ »

Having a child with autism, hearing that first diagnosis, or questioning some of the early behavioral issues, for a parent, can be a trying and often isolating time. Sifting through the voluminous information on causes, treatments, and therapies can also be quite overwhelming, especially with no one to offer guidance.

To begin with, if you’re a parent, or know someone, who has a concern about atypical behaviors in their child, you should begin by receiving a medical evaluation by your family practitioner. If a concern is noted regarding PDD/NOS (some of the characteristics of autism) or autism spectrum disorder, the family or parents can request that their school district provide a comprehensive psychological-educational evaluation that identifies the need for fine/gross motor, socio-emotional, academic, and speech language supports. Continue reading ‘How to Help Children With Autism’ »

More and more children suffer from allergies nowadays, particularly eczema and asthma. These two allergies are linked genetically-a condition called atopy, which also includes hay-fever. You can see the link clearly if you look at an embryo: the bronchial tract, where the asthma and hay-fever manifest themselves, and the skin are derived from the external layer, which is called the ectoderm.

The body is vulnerable to invasion by two kinds of alien environmental panicles. Living invaders include bacteria viruses and fungi. Nonliving ones, called allergens because they set up an allergic reaction, include pollutant chemicals, dust particles, pollens and various foodstuffs.

The body’s immune system detects these invaders as alien because they have different chemical or protein structures. It fights living particles by producing antibodies, which destroy them by clinging on to their membranes so that they can’t reproduce or function (the principle used in vaccination)..Non-living particles can only be neutralized and thrown out of the body through an allergic reaction, such as a skin rash, sneezing watering eyes or nose, mucus discharge or diarrhoea. Continue reading ‘How Can We Prevent Allergies in Children?’ »