Tag: diarrhea

Stomach Flu in Children

Stomach flu or gastroenteritis is a kind of infection in the digestive system, especially the stomach and intestines. Causes for this condition are parasite, bacteria, or virus infection spread through contaminated food and fluids. It can also be caused by certain toxins present in some plants & seafood, usage of powerful laxatives in order to cure constipation or because of intake of poisonous heavy metal or food. The problem starts with stomach upset and cramps. The child shows disinterest in eating and feels week. Symptoms of stomach flu are diarrhea and vomiting, which take nearly five days to go away. Sometimes, even fever can accompany along with dehydration.

The child must be given fluids regularly as this will suppress other symptoms from emerging because of loss of water from the body. Loss of water and salt from the body is the biggest risk in stomach flu. Dehydration can not only worsen the condition, but can threaten the life of the child, if it isnt taken care of in the early stages. Since there is loss of salts along with the loss of water from the body, plain water wont do much. Oral rehydration solutions which are available at the local grocery or drug store, is a good idea because it has the correct combination of salts, sugar and water which can hydrate the body. These fluids come in different flavor, so that kids can have their favorite flavor and is easy to consume. The solution shouldnt be added with anything else such as sugar or water.

If a child is vomiting, solution can be administered to him using a teaspoon every two minutes. The quantity can be increased gradually. If the vomiting is more frequent, the child can be made to suck ice chips in order to supply constant fluid to the body. The solution should be given till diarrhea comes to a halt, but it is not advisable to continue it for more than twenty four hours. Some of the fluids such as soft drinks, sports drink, apple juice, tea, or chicken broth contain wrong amounts of salt, sugar & water and can make matter worse. Besides fluids, the parent shouldnt give any type of medicine without consulting a pediatrician. Fried, spicy and sugary foods arent good in this condition. If the child isnt receiving sufficient amount of fluids he/she will show signs such as sunken eyes, dry mouth, intense thirst, unusual sleep patterns, and decrease in urine.

The more the bed rest taken by the child the better it is. The child should take complete bed rest for at least twenty four hours or till the diarrhea and vomiting stops. If the child has fever, the temperature should be checked and noted in a log, every four hours. If the temperature is very high and doesnt stop climbing, the doctor should be contacted immediately. The person who is preparing and serving food to the child should wash his or her hands very carefully before doing so. Also, if the diarrhea and vomiting doesnt stop after twenty four hours, it is a must to get a doctors appointment. The child should be rushed into emergency if the vomiting contains blood or green color substance.

The doctor, after doing stool and blood test, prescribes antibiotics if infection is suspected. Along with it, anti nausea medicines are also given to stop the throwing up and control fluid loss. If there is considerable loss of fluids from the childs body, the child might be admitted into the hospital and will be administered with fluids such as glucose or IV, through a tube connected to the childs veins. If the child has fever, temperature is checked and the doctor would ask about information about the temperature pattern, for which the parent should be ready. If the illness is stretched for days, a log about the information about the daily weight should also be given to the doctor. Sometimes, the blood oxygen levels would also have to be checked with the help of a pulse oximeter.

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Food Allergies in Kids

Food allergies are a common problem in kids. Nearly two million children have food allergies in the United States. Some food allergies are life threatening, even if the food is taken in very little quantity. Peanut tops the list of notorious foods which cause allergies. Following it are milk, especially cows milk, soy, eggs, wheat, seafood and other nuts.

Food allergies are caused when the immune system is confused. The job of the immune system is to protect the body from diseases, bacteria, viruses and germs. The antibodies produced by the immune system helps to fight these minute external organisms which makes the person sick. But if the body is allergic to certain food, the immune system mistakes the food to a harmful foreign substance and takes action towards it thinking that it is dangerous to the body. The body acts adversely, when it isnt supposed to do so.

When the immune system detects allergic substance, the antibodies produce mast cells. They are a kind of immune system cell which release a chemicals, such as histamine, in the bloodstream. These chemicals affect the respiratory system, digestive system, nose, eyes, throat, and skin. Initial symptoms are runny nose, tingling sensation in the lips or tongue, and itchy skin rash like hives. The reaction can be mild to severe and depends on every individual. The symptoms can appear right after the food is consumed or after few hours. Other symptoms are cough, wheezing, nausea, hoarse voice, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ache, and throat tightness.

A sudden and harsh allergic reaction is known as anaphylaxis. The patient encounters many problems, all at once which involve blood vessels, the heart, digestion, breathing, and skin. The blood pressure drops very steeply, the tongue swells and there is swelling in the breathing tubes. Patients who have such allergic reactions should be ready to handle emergencies. They should always carry some type of medicine which will help to combat or reduce the adverse affect of the food.

Most of the times, it is very easy to detect the cause of food allergy. Problems such as hives begin to surface as soon as the child eats the substance he is allergic to. At other times, it becomes very difficult to determine the cause of allergy. In such cases, everything should be observed under close surveillance. Food items which are made out of many ingredients should be thoroughly checked for the allergic cause. Most of the times, allergies are inherited from other family members or other kids born with food allergies. Changes in the surroundings and the body play a major role in these kinds of cases. Some of the kids arent actually allergic to the food and show only mild reaction. Like people who are lactose intolerant suffer from diarrhea and belly pain after consuming milk and diary products. This is not an indication that the child is allergic to milk. This reaction happens because their body is incapable of breaking down the sugars which are found in diary products and milk.

If the conditions are severe, a doctor should be consulted immediately. If food allergy is diagnosed, the doctor refers to an allergy specialist. The doctor asks questions like eating patterns, past allergic reactions and the time period between the consumption of food and the surfacing of the symptoms. The specialist can also ask about allergy related conditions like asthma or eczema and whether allergic reactions are hereditary. Usually skin test and blood test is done to test the antibodies and the reaction they have on the skin when it is exposed to the allergic substance.

Kids who are allergic to egg and milk outgrow them as the age progresses. But allergies which are severe and are related to items such as peanut, shrimps, and some kind of fish, last for a lifetime. Other than food, children can be allergic to certain medicines and flower pollen. The best way to avoid allergies is to avoid the cause of it. No specific medicine has been developed for the cure of allergies.

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Constipation in Children

Constipation is a condition of improper bowel movement. Usually the child experiences pain and has a hard time passing dry and hard stool. In normal condition there is no pain while passing the stool and it has a soft texture. The bowel movement is also regular. A child having constipation not only finds it difficult to pass stool, but at times will feel the urge to pass and when he goes to the toilet, he cannot relive himself.

The digestive system is responsible from the intake of the food to the smooth passage of waste. The food or fluids are consumed from the mouth, which heads towards the stomach via the food pipe. After the stomach treats the food with acid, it passes on to the small intestines and then to the large intestines, also known as bowels. The final stage of food digestion is the outlet through of the waste through the anus and rectum. During the whole processing, the body parts absorb nutrients and water from the food supplied to them. The left over matter comes out as waste.

It is a myth among some people who say that an individual is constipated if he or she doesnt pass stool on a daily basis. But the truth is that the bathroom habit differs from one individual to other. So if constipation is to be checked the regular pattern of bathroom habit of that particular individual must be checked and the comparisons must not be made with the other.

Other than not passing stool regularly, the child feels full most of the times and is a little uncomfortable. The belly can also feel stretched because of the full feeling. The child makes great effort to pass and the experience is very painful. Even after passing, the child may feel the urge of passing more stools. Because of the hard stool, it cause small tears in the anus skin and there will be little blood on the toilet paper. The child should immediately tell this to his parents, who can take care of the situation immediately. Some kids who have a worse condition will pass watery stool, something similar to diarrhea, and mucus along with the hard stool.

Constipation is becoming more and more widespread because of the unhealthy diet pattern followed by most of us today. With the trend of fast food, other fatty, starchy and sugary foods, children arent getting the required amount of fiber, which in turn slows down the bowels. It is the responsibility of the parents to make their children eat fiber enriched foods such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Along with eating food rich with fiber, it is also a must to drink enough fluids. Water is the best fluid for this condition. Fluids help to soften the stool and allow smooth passage within the intestine. Insufficient intake of fluids makes the stool dry and hard. Children are becoming more stagnant because of video games, internet and television, which are leaving them with little or no time for physical exercise. Exercise helps the food to move through the digestive system. Lesser active play time and physical activity is also a major cause of constipation. Medicines should be avoided and should be taken only when doctor recommends them.

Stress and anxiety can play havoc over the digestive system. School going kids are usually stressed out because of the homework, assignments, and exams. An adult can talk the kid out of the stress. Children, who have the irritable bowel syndrome or IBS, worsen their condition because of stress. Spicy and fatty foods can also act as triggers, along with the stress. Kids having this syndrome might even experience gas and belly pain. Sometimes children avoid going to the bathroom when they feel the need for. Usually unclean restrooms keep children away. But when the natures call is neglected, it becomes harder to go at a later time. In very rare cases, medical conditions such as lupus, diabetes and thyroid gland malfunctioning can also lead to constipation.

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How Many Acupuncture Treatments Will it Take?

Acupuncture is a well-established and increasingly accepted treatment procedure for pain, for emotional troubles, and for an ever increasing number of physical ailments. More and more traditional physicians are referring patients to acupuncture clinics for a certain set of problems that may be treated more effectively, and without the side effects of medication. Also, individuals may decide to use an acupuncture clinic as the first choice to heal a disease.

The length of a treatment varies widely from person to person, depending on the particular symptoms, the age of the patient, how long the condition has existed, and the environment of the patient. There also seem to be patients that are naturally responsive to acupuncture, when all the other factors are similar. A patient that is responsive to acupuncture may only require one or two visits, as is the case with a number of children. Adult patients that are responsive generally require one to six visits for a particular symptom or set of symptoms. In other cases, up to twenty visits may be required, depending on the severity and length of time the symptoms have persisted. But even some remarkable cases such as recovery from paralysis may come about after a very long series of treatments.

For some conditions, such as for chronic pain, daily treatments are recommended until the pain subsides. The same is true for clients using acupuncture as a means to help stop drug addiction, which require daily treatments in order to keep the cravings at a minimal level. In a few patients, the initial treatment may aggravate the symptoms. A similar possibility is that there is a marked improvement after the first treatment, which may be followed by an aggravation of symptoms at the next few treatments. These should be reported in detail to the acupuncture practitioner, who may revise the locations of needles for the treatment, depending on the particular patient.

It is always a good idea to consider an acupuncture practitioner for whatever health problem you might have. Some problems respond exceptionally well with acupuncture. Acupuncture has a very good success rate for such symptoms as headaches, head congestion, cramps (menstrual, muscular, or intestinal), pain, depression, fatigue, hemorrhoids, and children’s nervous disorders. Acupuncture treatments have frequent success in the following areas, though not quite the same success rate as in the areas above. These include diarrhea, painful menstruation, eczema, gastric problems, kidney and gall bladder malfunction, nervous disorders, palpitations, rheumatism, shingles, autonomic nervous problems, especially following surgery.

There are a number of other conditions that acupuncture can be effective for, and for these a practitioner should be consulted, as new results are coming out frequently. Currently, it is thought that acupuncture is more helpful for symptoms rather than curing such diseases as tuberculosis, infantile paralysis, and Parkinson’s disease. Acupuncture treatments are sometimes surprisingly effective after traditional medicine has been tried without success. Lets look at two simple cases. In the first, a lady suffered with pain in her ankle for three years, and no standard medical treatment helped. Careful observation of her symptoms by an experienced acupuncture practitioner cured her in three treatments. The second case was of a farmer who had a low grade fever (about 100 degrees) nearly every night for a number of months. Regular physicians could not determine a cause, nor a solution. Regular acupuncture treatment was not effective. The acupuncture practitioner then applied the treatments at the optimal time (very early AM, not during the normal clinic hours), and the fever disappeared permanently. I hope this introduction to some uses of acupuncture may help you or someone you know to better health.