Category: Children’s Health

Forever chemicals found in the blood hinder the development of children

A recent study found that potentially toxic chemicals present in commonplace items like food packaging, cosmetics, and carpets are altering the hormonal and metabolic processes required for human development.

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Researchers looked at blood samples from children, teenagers, and the elderly for the study. Fluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAs), also known as “forever chemicals,” were discovered in the blood samples of all of these people. Chemicals like PFOS, PFOA, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHpS, and PFDA were discovered.

Recent regulations from the US Environmental Protection Agency are intended to strictly regulate the amount of these chemicals in US drinking water.

The study’s lead author, Jesse Goodrich, is an assistant professor of population and public health sciences at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He says that exposing children to PFA compounds affects their thyroid function as well as their metabolism of lipids and amino acids. Likewise, hormonal activity shifts.

The thyroid produces two crucial hormones for children’s normal growth that aid in the body’s production and utilization of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates as well as blood pressure regulation.

Every cell in the body is impacted by these messenger chemicals. Lipids aid in the storage of vitamins, facilitate the production of hormones, and help the body use or store fat while amino acids are required to create enzymes, hormones, proteins, and other essential molecules.

David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group who was not involved in the study, claims that this is not the only investigation into how exposure to PFEs in humans affects hormone levels. States of metabolism are also impacted. Changes in these metabolic indices, according to them, may be a sign of a number of future health issues in children, including elevated risks for obesity, insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, and possibly cancer.

Angina in children – 8 myths that can hinder treatment

Purulent angina , or bacterial tonsillitis, is a very common infection in children and adolescents. It is caused by bacteria from the group of streptococci Streptococcus pyogenes , i.e. group A streptococcus. That is why it is also sometimes called strep throat . Due to the fact that it is a common disease and can be difficult to treat, there are many myths associated with it. Here are a few of them.

MYTH 1. Angina does not need to be treated with antibiotics

Bacterial angina should be treated with antibiotics . Although the disease resolves spontaneously without treatment within a few days, the risk of complications without antibiotic treatment is higher. Antibiotics reduce the infection in the short term. Mainly penicillins are used. Note: even if the troublesome symptoms subsided quickly, you should take the medicine exactly as prescribed by your doctor. Premature discontinuation of antibiotics increases bacterial resistance to drugs and the risk of re-infection and complications (read: strep throat and kidney disease ).

MYTH 2. Very young children do not get strep throat Young children and infants can get strep throat, although this is rare. Symptoms of infection in children under 3 years of age can be unusual. It is worth being sensitive to them. The child may be irritable, tearful, refuse to eat – these are symptoms that indicate a sore throat in the child. In addition to this, there is a fever and sometimes a watery runny nose. Purulent angina, after all, most often affects children and adolescents aged 5-15 years. It is estimated that the disease accounts for up to 30% of acute throat infections in this group.

MYTH 3. White raids on the tonsils always mean angina White raids on the tonsils are a characteristic symptom of angina

, but they do not always appear with this infection! At the same time, they may indicate other diseases, e.g. infectious mononucleosis, i.e. a viral disease that is not treated with antibiotics. It is therefore not a conclusive symptom. However, if a child or teenager develops white raids on the tonsils, for this there is a severe sore throat, fever, weakness, then with a high degree of probability streptococci are to blame. It is worth confirming the assumptions with a test for the presence of Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococci) in the throat and tonsil swabs.

MYTH 4. A positive streptococcal test requires antibiotics According to some parents, a positive streptococcal test means that the child must take an antibiotic. This is not true. Many children are carriers of streptococcus and these children will test positive even in the absence of symptoms of the disease. If the symptoms indicate a cold, not strep throat, and the test result is positive, then there is also no need to prescribe an antibiotic to the child. The decision to administer it should always be made by the doctor on the basis of a detailed examination.

The most effective diagnostic test is culture, which involves taking bacteria and growing colonies in the laboratory. It also allows you to choose an antibiotic to which the bacterium is sensitive. However, this method requires time (up to 3 days), which is not there when it is necessary to implement treatment quickly.

MYTH 5. Unfortunately , there is no vaccine against type A streptococci responsible not only for strep throat, but also rheumatic fever, glomerulonephritis or scarlet fever. This is a neglected group of bacteria that vaccine manufacturers have not paid enough attention to. There is a vaccine for other types of streptococci (pneumococcal vaccine). It is mandatory for children.

MYTH 6. Angina is not affected in summer . Although most cases of angina occur from winter to spring, the infection can develop at any time of the year, including summer. Then it is favored by sudden changes in temperature. Cold drinks, especially carbonated drinks, ice cream, bathing in cold water or moving from an air-conditioned room to the outside when it is hot, cause that the local immunity in the throat decreases and angina may develop.

MYTH 7. With angina you can go outside And angina should not go outside until you feel better, and until the end of antibiotic therapy it is better to avoid groups of people (kindergartens, shops, playgrounds), because this is a time of slightly reduced immunity of the body and it is not difficult to catch another infection. A child during the treatment of angina should stay at home, rest and take plenty of fluids. You can go for a short walk when your child is no longer bothered by fever, weakness or chills. If it is cheerful, it is even worth doing, because the sun causes the release of vitamin D, which improves immunity.

MYTH 8. Improvement should occur after 1 dose of antibiotic Symptoms of angina do not disappear immediately after administration of the antibiotic. Often the inflammation is so great that sore throat and fever still bother. Therefore, in addition to the antibiotic, the patient is additionally given antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs at this time. This does not mean that the antibiotic does not work. Its task is to reduce the amount of bacteria, not to alleviate symptoms such as fever.

Do you know the effects of the habit of rubbing your eyes?

The habit of rubbing the eyes is quite common which seems harmless and people feel that it reduces fatigue somewhat.

Don't rub your eyes

But did you know that this habit can be destructive to vision.

According to the Cleveland Clinic in the United States, a minor scratch in the cornea can cause serious damage to the eyes.

The risk of eye infection increases , as a result of this habit, the risk of various eye infections increases.

Eye infection occurs when germs are transferred from the hands to the eyes or for some reason the eyes are affected by worms.

According to experts, the thickness of the surrounding skin increases due to the melting of the eyes, as a result of which wrinkles appear while the skin also becomes dry.

If the eyes are itching due to an allergy, then the chemical reaction called histamine is triggered by melting.

This provides temporary relief, but after that the severity of the allergy becomes worse.

As a result of this habit, the hormone that maintains the color of the skin around the eyes begins to become more, as a result of which black circles begin to appear.

The intensity of cataract can be worse when you blink, the pressure on the inner chambers filled with eye fluid increases, which increases the risk of cataract.

If a person is affected by cataract, the severity of the disease becomes worse.

According to experts, as a result of this habit, redness increases in the eyes, while looking at the eyes, it looks as if you are tired.

According to experts, rubbing the eyes affects the structure of the cornea and weakens the vision, due to which the glasses have to be used.

Experts said that the functions of the blood vessels are affected by often rubbing the eyes, due to which bright light starts to bite.

A simple solution to protect children from near-sight weakness has been found

The weakness of close vision is a problem faced by millions of people around the world.

Especially in the current era, this problem is becoming common among children due to the use of smartphones and other devices.

But it is possible to protect children from this problem of vision by using commonly used eye drops.

This was revealed in a new medical study conducted in Hong Kong.

Research has shown that atropine eye drops relax the eye muscles while the pupils expand.

According to research, the use of atropine eye drops in small amounts can prevent or slow down the weakness of near vision in children.

During this problem, the flexibility of the eyelids starts to disappear, due to which it is possible to see distant objects clearly, but there are difficulties while looking or studying nearby objects.

Researchers said that people with close vision impairment have to use glasses or contact lenses.

In this study, 353 children aged 4 to 9 years were included and they were divided into 3 groups.

One group was given placebo each night, while the children in the other group were given a small amount of eye drops.

The third group was given a higher amount of eye drops.

The study on all three groups lasted for 2 years.

The results showed that the groups that were given eye drops had a lower rate of cases of near vision impairment.

The results were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association

A new way to help keep babies from going deaf has been found.

It is believed that some newborns are born with impaired hearing due to medical issues, some of which may result in lifelong deafness; in such situations, doctors provide antibiotics shortly after birth. Medicines are administered. However, antibiotics given to many infants shortly after birth to prevent deafness have adverse consequences for the infants, causing them to lose their hearing.

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Currently, there is no official test or method for precisely assessing the hearing ability of such children around the world. But British experts have come up with a new method that is being praised as being very helpful.

According to the BBC , health officials have developed a new method to detect hearing loss in newborns, which is currently in the early stages, but is likely to be made public soon.

According to the study, health professionals used microphones and other tools to test for hearing problems in babies by taking swabs of their cheeks. The results of the test were ready in just 26 minutes.

The report claims that although the aforementioned approach has not yet received approval, specialists are still evaluating it. A test kit is now being created at a cost of about two lakh rupees. Additionally, the kit can be built for less money.

The test kit is currently being tested on newborns in a limited number of hospitals in the UK and the initial results have been encouraging, which experts say could be beneficial for children in the future.

The above process is used to figure out what’s wrong with children’s hearing, and then the right medication is given.

In the past, doctors gave every child with a hearing problem a different antibiotic. Because some of these antibiotics had bad side effects, some kids lost their hearing for good.

Hearing problems or earaches are common in newborns and young children, but some children are left with lifelong hearing loss if the disease is not properly diagnosed.

How to help a child when his tummy hurt?

When the stomach hurts, the child is crying, has no appetite or desire to play. It also raises a lot of concerns for parents who are worried about their child and would like to alleviate the unpleasant ailment. What methods are indicated here?

Why does the child have a stomach ache? When a baby is born, its digestive system is able to perform its basic function – digestion and absorption, but its motor function still needs to be improved.

In the first years of life, the immune system develops, in which over 70% of of cells (lymphocytes) are associated with the digestive tract (GALT – gut-associated lymphoid tissue). The microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract is also differentiated, and the type, species and strain of bacteria inhabiting the intestines are influenced by many factors, e.g. childbirth (natural or caesarean section) or method of feeding (mother’s milk or formula). It should also be remembered that in the first years of a child’s life, the barrier of the intestinal mucosa is sealed and the number of epithelial layers that lines the walls of the small intestine gradually multiplies. All this makes the digestive system of a small child sensitive to external factors, such as stress, change in diet or certain medications (especially antibiotics and iron preparations). They can cause functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, which since 2016 have been classified as disorders within the brain-gut axis. Their causes are seen in the bacterial imbalance in the intestine.

Functional disorders of the digestive system include regurgitation (most common in infancy), infantile colic, functional constipation and diarrhea, and cyclical vomiting syndrome . The good news is that they are mild and usually go away on their own. Abdominal pain, however, causes the child to cry, and this affects the functioning of the whole family (generates stress and increases the level of fatigue).

How to relieve a child’s stomach pain?

Education is very important to reduce parental anxiety. It has been proven that functional disorders of the digestive system may have an emotional background. And it must be remembered that newborns and infants perfectly sense the fear and nervousness of their loved ones, which has an impact on their developing organism.

Painful ailments can also be relieved by a gentle tummy massage and the use of warm compresses (e.g. with a hot water bottle). It is also recommended to put the baby on the tummy as often as possible, but always under the watchful eye of an adult.

Hugging your baby (skin to skin) and wearing it, e.g. in a sling, will also bring relief. Probiotics will also help. And although there are a lot of them in pharmacies, choosing the right preparation is extremely important. In the case of functional disorders, the strain of Lactiplantibacillus (previously Lactobacillus) plantarum 299v.

The Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v strain binds to epithelial receptors in the gastrointestinal tract, thanks to which it can form beneficial biofilms and take the place of potentially pathogenic bacteria. It also strengthens the intestinal barrier, which prevents the movement of unwanted substances from the intestines into the bloodstream. It also contributes to the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), which lower the pH in the intestinal lumen, which inhibits the growth of pathogens

It is also worth composing the child’s menu in such a way that it contains sources of valuable macro- and micronutrients. Most of them are provided by vegetables and fruits (especially raw), pickled products (cucumbers, cabbage, beets), good quality dairy products (e.g. kefir, cottage cheese), fatty sea fish and lean meat.

Walking shoes for babies. What to consider when choosing them?

Shoes for learning to walk should be comfortable, flexible and as natural as possible. It must be remembered that the first steps of an infant are still clumsy and nothing should interfere with the improvement of walking skills.

Walking shoes. When should you buy them?

According to the latest knowledge, children should go barefoot as long as possible. This is extremely important because it allows the baby to freely experience various stimuli and test their abilities in changing conditions (we walk differently on a soft carpet, differently on sand, and differently on hard tiles).

Walking barefoot is also an excellent training for the senses, and for us, parents, the opportunity to be moved by the sight of tiny feet.

What first walking shoes to choose?

Healthy walking shoes are soft, flexible (they can be twisted to either side and they are easy to bend (especially in the place where the foot performs a rolling movement), comfortable, made of natural materials.

Children’s shoes for learning to walk cannot have a hard and stiff sole. In such footwear, the child’s movements are hindered and it is easier to fall. They are also very uncomfortable. Only soft shoes for learning to walk will provide a small foot with freedom of movement.

Also, make sure the shoe is breathable. This is very important, because the mechanisms of thermoregulation in small children are still maturing, so it is easy for them to sweat excessively. And none of us like sweaty feet. So when we are wondering what shoes to choose for learning to walk , let’s choose a model made of natural leather. Let’s also try not to buy too high shoes, so as not to limit the freedom of movement of a small foot. It is best when the upper ends before the ankle.