Coping With Your Child’s Brain Injury

May 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A CT of the head years after a traumatic brain... 

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When it comes to being a parent the very thought of a child being injured or sick will make a your heart fall to the ground. Hearing that a child has a brain injury can be devastating. Many parents feel lost or angry after their child experiences a traumatic event that causes brain damage and for others simply keeping themselves from falling apart can be difficult.

There are many ways to cope with your child’s brain injury. For instance some people turn to the Los Angeles brain injury attorney for legal representation to seek compensation for their child’s injury. Some people turn to alternative treatment combined with physical therapy to help their child through the process.

Some people turn to family members to help with emotional needs during trauma situations. Many local hospitals and cliques will have support programs and helpful contacts that can make the recovery process a little bit easier. There are even online support groups that offer comfort and helpful suggestions for families.

There are a lot of places to turn to for help after a child goes through a brain injury. It is import for parents to remember that a brain injury is not the end of the world. It is easier for a child to go through a difficult recovery process if hey have calm people surrounding them. Brain injury is much more difficult of the child and it is important for parents to remain calm and collected for their child during this type of a trying time.

Filed Under: Childhood Disability, Health & Medical Tagged With: , ,

What is the Difference Between ADD and ADHD?

April 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Group of children in a primary school in Paris

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Many children are diagnosed with having ADD.  However many children are also diagnosed with having ADHD.  So what is the difference?  Is there even a difference at all?

The answer is that there is no difference at all.  The two are not separate disorders, but are actually the same thing.  ADD stands for attention deficit disorder and ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.  The two terms are used interchangeably for the one disorder.  Children with this disorder can be both hyperactive and inattentive, thus ADHD is usually used for children who show more signs of hyperactivity.

So just what is ADD/ADHD?  ADD is a disorder which characteristically appears in childhood.  It involves symptoms of attention difficulties and inabilities to contain spontaneous responses.  A child does not have ADD/ADHD if they may not listen sometimes or appear hyperactive on occasion.  A child is diagnosed with ADD/ADHD if the signs and symptoms are present across all situations of the child’s daily life, and if they are having a severe impact on functioning.

Over-diagnosing of this disorder has become quite common amongst doctors.  It is important to get several different medical opinions before accepting the diagnosis.  This is because most people deal with ADD/ADHD with the use of medications, the most popular being Ritalin.  You do not want to put a child on this medication unless absolutely necessary.

When it comes to children, almost all of them will show signs or hyperactivity, inattention and spontaneity at one stage or another.  If a child shows signs it doesn not automatically warrant a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD.  However it is a good idea to be mindful for the future.

Filed Under: Childhood Disability, Health & Medical Tagged With: , ,

Child Care and Cold Medicines for Children

February 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A healthy baby is always wished by parents. Everyone wantsthe baby to be free from any birth related disabilities. To achieve this, a number of medicines are prescribed to the mother while she is pregnant. The child is also given medicines and injections at regular intervals so as to make up for any deficiencies. The doctor’s advice becomes crucial in such cases. All tests should be done as advised by the doctor. Also, care should betaken while giving medicine to the child. The doctor should be made aware of any allergies that the child may have from some medicines. Usually the children get cold frequently because there immune system is not fully developed. The medicines also take some time to sow their effect. These cold cure medicines do make your child comfortable for some time and do not have extreme side effects. But still if the child is not able to recover from cold and cough, call a doctor for advice. The advice is necessary because the medicine given by you may be having ingredients which also cure other symptoms like vomiting and fever. The mainingredient in cold medicines is guaifenesin which helps in loosening of mucus. According to FDA recommendations, these medicines can be harmful if taken in more amount than required by the body. The risks are even more for children under 3 years of age.The ill effects have also been seen in older kids of age 5 to 7. Instead of giving medicine, you can also try to give steam tonose before sleeping. This helps in getting comfortable sleep and also gives warmness to body in winter days. One more solutionis to drink a mixture of ginger and honey. This does not have any side effect on children and is also liked by children because of its sweetness.

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Detection of Alzheimer’s disease

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have made a breakthrough by detecting Alzheimer’s disease by blood test. Though further research on this topic will bring more revelations about the disease and the findings of the study so far, the experts believe that if successful the findings can be used for curing the disease also. The presence of antigen which is a kind of protein responsible for immune response is required to identify the disease. But the new study uses synthetic molecules to detect the presence of disease. The use of these synthetic molecules has many advantages. They can beproduced not only at low cost but also in relatively large quantity. Thus the study removes the misconception that only the presence of antigens can be used to identify the Alzheimer’s disease. The study used the synthetic molecules known as peptoids against serum obtained from mice which were having the disease. The further study of these molecules was successful in linking these molecules with the serum samples. Next the same experiment was done on human beings. Samples from six diseases and six healthy people were taken and studied in the lab. Similar results were seen as with the experiments with mice. This study was done by Thomas Kodadek and was published in the journal Cell. The experts in the field of Alzheimer’s disease feel that this can alsobe applied to other disease where the detection of disease is still a challenge. Though the synthetic molecules will change inthose diseases but the basic concept of identification will remain same. If you are reading this article and are interested infurther study the findings and technical details of the study, you can refer the original study as printed in the journal Celland available on the internet for all to read.

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Cancer – Prevention, Diagnosis and Cure

February 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Most of us know that Cancer is a disease where body cells grown uncontrolled. Ofall the cases of cancer, only 5-10% cases are linked to birth and rest are due to external factors due to lifestyle which includes tobacco, diet and infections. These environmental factors cause the body cells to grown uncontrollably and hence difficultyin breathing, eating or moving. Cancer is usually detected by radiology but sometimes microscopic examination is also requiredto confirm the presence of cancerous cells. The cure for cancer is available where a proper diet plan, medicines and exercisesare advised to the patient. But if the disease is in final stage then it becomes difficult to cure. This is because by the final stages, the cancerous cells have spread to multiple locations of the body. The use of radiotherapy for multiple organs is also risky. In such cases, the patient is advised to take proper rest and medicine. The patients are also advised to stop the intake of tobacco as it also increases the risks of cancer. Even grilled meat has been linked to stomach, breast and pancreatic cancer. Finasteride is the name of medicine which is advised to the medicines with lower grades of cancer. The detection of cancer is difficult in initial stages because the person does not feel any difficulty while performing his daily tasks. Its only when the tumour has increased to sufficient size, the difficulties and pain is felt while breathing, eating and walking etc. Thereare medicines available in the market which is proved to stop the further augmentation of cancer. The hepatitis B vaccine is also believed to decrease the risks of cancer and especially liver cancer. Though there are medicines and treatments available for cancer but it’s better to prevent the disease by following proper diet plan, exercises and avoiding tobacco.

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How to avoid Dengue

February 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Dengue is the most widely transmitted disease by mosquito. It’s a viral disease and is usually more active in tropical regions. The symptoms of fever due to dengue include headache, fever and joint pain. One basic characteristic of dengue fever is that the temperature of the body increases to 100-105 degree Fahrenheit. The use of Aspirin does bring the body temperature down but then the fever comes back again In fact, Aspirin should be avoid if you have caught Dengue as it increases the risks of bleeding after few days. Another typical symptom of Dengue is rashes on the body. Usually the people with lower immunity are easily affected by the disease. Thereare programs run by various governments to help eradicate the spread of dengue by making the citizens aware of the reasons forthe spread of Dengue. The most common reason for the spread of Dengue is not cleaning water that gets deposited in the rainy season. This is because the mosquito that carries the Dengue virus usually breeds in places where water has deposited in discarded tires, coolers and flower pots. It becomes more important for the citizens to make sure of hygiene in and around their houses in rainy seasons. The doctors advise the use of mosquito repellents, wearing long sleeve shirts. The use of bed nets is alsoadvised. The patients of Dengue are advised to have rest and drink lots of fluids. There is no proper medicine for Dengue and it takes around 2-3 weeks for the person to get cured. The only medicine that is prescribed contains acetaminophen which is usedfor high fever. Those who have developed critical complications are admitted to hospital for intensive care. These kinds of complications are more common in children. The patients are also advised to stay away from mosquitoes as a mosquito spreads the disease.

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