Top Ten Sleep Tips for Children

Top Tip 1 - Work With Your Family DoctorSleeping problems can cause serious health issues or can be a symptom of another underlying health problem. Children who don't get enough sleep simply don't thrive as they should. They are less happy, get ill more frequently, find learning more difficult and don't even grow as well as they should.So it is important that you seek accurate and appropriate medical...

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Living with a Recurrent Fever

Just a Virus?I can’t tell you exactly when this started, because it took awhile for us to figure out what was going on, but it was sometime around age 2. For a long time, we just kept thinking Hayley had a bad string of viruses. Our other children never caught any of them, however, and after awhile, we began to realize that all of her viruses were very similar. She never had a stomachache, never threw...

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Heart Murmurs and Your Child

Many parents fear the worst when their child is diagnosed with a heart murmur, but this diagnosis is actually extremely common. In fact, many kids are found to have a heart murmur at some point during their lives. Most murmurs are not a cause for concern and do not affect the child's health at all.What exactly is a heart murmur? By itself, the term heart murmur isn't a diagnosis of an illness or disorder....

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Cholesterol and Your Child

Most parents probably don't think about what cholesterol means for their kids. But high levels of cholesterol are a major factor contributing to heart disease and stroke, and medical research shows that cardiovascular disease has its roots in childhood. And with the dramatic increase in childhood obesity, more and more kids are at risk.Problems associated with high cholesterol generally don't show...

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Arrhythmias

An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm usually caused by an electrical "short circuit" in the heart.The heart normally beats in a consistent pattern, but an arrhythmia can make it beat too slowly, too quickly, or irregularly. This can cause the heart muscle's pumping function to work erratically, which can lead to a variety of symptoms, including fatigue, dizziness, and chest pain.What Causes Arrhythmias?The...

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Anemia

About AnemiaAnemia, one of the more common blood disorders, occurs when the level of healthy red blood cells (RBCs) in the body becomes too low. This can lead to health problems because RBCs contain hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to the body's tissues. Anemia can cause a variety of complications, including fatigue and stress on bodily organs.Anemia can be caused by many things, but the three main...

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Alpha Thalassemia

ThalassemiasThalassemias are a group of blood disorders that affect the way the body makes hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells that is responsible for carrying oxygen throughout the body.The body contains more red blood cells than any other type of cell, and each has a life span of about 4 months. Each day, the body produces new red blood cells to replace those that die or are lost from...

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Speech-Language Therapy

In a recent parent-teacher conference, the teacher expressed concern that your child may have a problem with certain speech or language skills. Or perhaps while talking to your child, you noticed an occasional stutter.Could your child have a problem? And if so, what should you do?It's wise to intervene quickly. An evaluation by a certified speech-language pathologist can help determine if your child...

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Peritonsillar Abscess

The BasicsLots of kids get tonsillitis (an infection of the tonsils), especially younger kids. As kids get older, however, this throat infection can be accompanied by an unpleasant condition called a peritonsillar abscess.A peritonsillar abscess is an area of pus-filled tissue at the back of the mouth, next to one of the tonsils. The abscess can be very painful and make it difficult to open the mouth....

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Ototoxicity (Ear Poisoning)

Sometimes kids who take high doses of drugs for cancer, infection, or other illnesses develop hearing or balance problems (or both) as a result of taking the drugs. When a medication damages the inner ear — the part of the ear responsible for receiving/sending sounds and controlling balance — it's called ototoxicity or "ear poisoning."The degree of damage to the ear depends on what type of drug a...

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Middle Ear Infections and Ear Tube Surgery

Why Surgery?Many kids get middle ear infections (otitis media, or OM), usually between the ages of 6 months and 2 years.Some kids are particularly susceptible because of environmental and lifestyle factors (like attendance at a group childcare, secondhand tobacco smoke exposure, and taking a bottle to bed).Although these infections are relatively easy to treat, a child who has multiple ear infections...

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Enlarged Adenoids

Enlarged AdenoidsOften, tonsils and adenoids are surgically removed at the same time. Although you can see the tonsils at the back of the throat, adenoids aren't directly visible. A doctor has to use a telescope to get a peek at them. As an alternative, an X-ray of the head can give the doctor an idea of the size of someone's adenoids.So, what are adenoids anyway? They're a mass of tissue in the passage...

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Ears

Listen. Whatever you're hearing — the hum of a computer, your kids playing, a car going by — is thanks to your ears.Hearing is their main job, but it's not all our ears do. These delicate organs also need care and protection, so let's take a look at how they work and what conditions and problems can affect them.All About EarsThere's a lot more to an ear than what you see on the side of your head....

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Eardrum Injuries

A ruptured or perforated eardrum is exactly what you might imagine: a tear or hole in the eardrum — the part of the ear that vibrates in response to sound waves. Eardrum injuries can be extremely painful and, in the worst cases, might lead to infections and hearing loss.Fortunately, though, most eardrum injuries heal within a few weeks with no problems arising. When an eardrum won't heal on its own,...

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Ear Injuries

Falls, blows to the head, sports injuries, and even listening to loud music can cause ear damage, which can affect hearing and balance. That's because the ear not only helps us hear, but also keeps us steady on our feet.Kids need to hear well to develop and use their speech, social, and listening skills. Even mild or partial hearing loss can affect their ability to speak and understand language, while...

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Cochlear Implants

Sometimes called a "bionic ear," the cochlear implant offers the hope of regaining or restoring the ability to sense sound for some people who have experienced significant hearing loss.Although they're not miracle devices, cochlear implants help some children and adults, whether they're born deaf or whether hearing loss occurs later in life, experience talking on the phone, listening to music, and...

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Chronic Hoarseness

All kids strain their voices every now and then: cheering for the home team at a ballgame; belting out a favorite song in the shower; calling out to friends on the playground.Most of the time, such actions don't do any real harm to the vocal cords, the delicate bands of tissue in the larynx, or voice box. But chronic misuse of the vocal cords — caused by such things as repetitive screaming, yelling,...

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Balance Disorders

When you think about balance, the role that ears play might not come to mind. But ears are crucial to maintaining balance thanks to their vestibulocochlear nerve. This nerve sends signals to the brain that control hearing (auditory function) and help with balance (vestibular function).But the ears aren't the only organs that help us balance. Ears, eyes, joints, and muscles work together to keep us...

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Auditory Processing Disorder

About Auditory Processing DisorderAuditory processing disorder (APD), also known as central auditory processing disorder (CAPD), is a complex problem affecting about 5% of school-aged children. These kids can't process the information they hear in the same way as others because their ears and brain don't fully coordinate. Something adversely affects the way the brain recognizes and interprets sounds,...

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