Dr. Narayana Prasad

When it comes to babies and their sleeping habits, you have to understand that every baby is different and has different needs. Thus, certain things that may work for one set of parents may not necessarily work for the other. Thus, here are a few tips that will ensure that your child gets ample of undisturbed sleep and stays healthy and fit: 

1. Learn to distinguish when your baby starts feeling tired: Once your child starts feeling tired, he/she will definitely show specific signs that he/she requires some sleep. Some common signs  are:
a) The constant eye rubbing 
b) Yawning
c)  Getting a bit fussy and cranky 

Put your baby to sleep as soon as possible when he/she starts showing such signs. If your baby gets overtired, it will be all the more difficult for him to fall asleep. 

2. Set a proper sleep cycle: Ensure that you set a suitable sleep cycle for your baby. Train your child to sleep during the night and play during the day. Ensure that you keep your kid busy during the day, ensuring that he/she stays awake even after a feed, so that he is tired by night time and sleeps properly all throughout the night. At night, when your child gets up for a feed, ensure that you do not turn on the lights. Instead, make sure to keep the room in semi-darkness so he/she goes back to sleep effectively. 

3. Ensure that your baby is full: If your baby is hungry and has not had his fill, it will tend to disrupt his sleep. Thus, ensure that your baby is well fed before you put him to sleep. For example, if during the day you feed the child after every three hours, as evening approaches feed him every two hours. This will ensure that he is well fed before he goes to sleep.

4. Let go the burping occasionally: Babies do not avidly breastfeed at night. Thus, it is not essential that you wait for him to burp every time he feeds.  

5. Give a Massage: Another way to ensure that your baby sleeps properly is to give him a good massage. A massage will help the child to relax and thus sleep better.

Migraine Clinical Picture

What Symptoms Occur During a Migraine Attack? •

Migraineurs have recurrent, severe, and disabling attacks of headache, often unilateral and pulsating, along with symptoms of sensory disturbance, such as light, sound, and odor sensitivity. Nausea and neck stiffness are other common symptoms, and symptoms can be aggravated by movement.

• Some patients experience dizziness during attacks.

• About 20–30% of patients experience aura and neurological symptoms (e.g., visual disturbances), which usually precede the headache phase of an attack.

• Premonitory symptoms such as yawning, irritability, tiredness, cravings, and difficulty concentrating sometimes precede headache onset.

What Is Migraine Aura, and What Symptoms Can Occur?

• An aura is any neurological symptom that occurs shortly before the headache attack. Visual symptoms (e.g., flickering lights or zigzag phenomena), somatosensory symptoms (e.g., paresthesias), speech problems, and rarely, motor symptoms can occur during aura.

• Symptoms usually last >5 and <60 minutes.

• Before migraine can be diagnosed, other possible neurological deficits must first be excluded.

• Cortical spreading depression (see below) is thought to be the pathophysiological cause.

What Can Trigger a Migraine?

• Menstruation

• Shortness of sleep, irregular sleep, or too much sleep

• Stress (or in some patients, relaxation from stress)

• Alcohol (e.g., red wine)

• Caffeine (e.g., coffee, chocolate)

• Foods containing glutamate or aspartame

• Dehydration

• Vasodilating drugs (e.g., nitrates) Epidemiology

How Many People Are Affected by Migraine?

• Women: about 13–18% of the population

• Men: about 5–10% of the population

• Numbers may be lower in Asian populations Chronic Migraine About 4% of the adult population experiences chronic headache, i.e., headache on 15 or more days a month. About half of this group has chronic migraine, and the other half has chronic tension-type headache  Disorders/Abnormalities That Can Be Comorbid with Migraine

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Fibromyalgia

• Back pain

• Hypertension

• Stroke and cardiac disease

• Childhood vomiting

TREATMENT

ONLY HOMOEOPATHIC MEDICINES CAN CONTROL THIS

ADHD, which stands for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, is a chronic brain condition that leads to difficulty in prolonging attention on to a single thing, impulsiveness and hyperactivity. Though it mostly affects children and teenagers, it often continues into adult life as well, and can pose serious issues in adult lives - specially in maintaining jobs and relationships.

Effects of ADHD on your sex life:

• Impulsivity: If you are suffering from ADHD, it is highly probable that you are often very impulsive in nature - and are susceptible to taking a number of risky decisions, such as unprotected sex. 
• Attention-deficit problems: Since your thoughts are often jumping from one thought to the other, you will find it very difficult to actually concentrate on any single job at hand. Since sex requires attention and use of judgment, distractions can prove to be detrimental to a healthy sex life.
• Hyper-sexuality: This refers to the condition of an unnaturally high sex drive. It is basically caused by the stimulation of the brain by the release of endorphins during sexual arousal, which often leads to calmness and relaxes the restlessness that is otherwise so common to ADHD patients.
• Hypo-sexuality: This is exact opposite of hypersexuality. This condition refers to an unnaturally low sex drive, where you may often lose all interest in sexual activity completely. Often, this is a product of ADHD itself, but it can also be attributed to being a side effect of a certain type of medication, especially anti-depressants. 
• Other disorders: Women suffering from ADHD have been known to have difficulties in achieving orgasm, often in spite of prolonged sexual stimulation. Also, if you are suffering from ADHD, you may also tend to be hypersensitive - which implies, something that feels pleasurable to your partner, may be painful or irritating for you.

Suggested Treatments:

Certain suggested treatments for improving the sex lives of people suffering from ADHD are:

• Including variety in sexual activity, such as different locations, positions etc.
• Communication, which proves very beneficial in combating intimacy issues
• Prioritize, and try to stay in the moment and not zone out, if you are suffering from ADHD disorders

If you wish to discuss any specific problem, you can consult a sexologist.

If your kid is affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), it is important for you to know about the best ways of dealing with the condition. Muscular dystrophy consists of group of diseases, which result in the weakening of muscles along with reduced flexibility. DMD accounts for being the most common type of muscular dystrophy. It occurs because of flaws in the gene, which controls how your body keeps the muscles healthy. This disease affects boys and the symptoms start appearing from early childhood.

Treatment
There is no specific treatment for DMD. However, there are several ways, including medicines and therapy, to deal with the symptoms and to protect the muscles.

1. Several steroids such as prednisone help in slowing down muscle damage. Children taking this medicine are able to walk for two to five years longer than they would usually do. Lung and heart functions are also improved.
2. DMD leads to heart problems and hence, you should take your child to a heart doctor for regular checkups until the age of 10.
3. In some cases, a surgery may be required to fix their shortened muscles, for straightening the spine, or for treating a heart or lung problem.

Taking care of your child

1. Stand and walk: Being in an upright position will keep your child’s bones strong and the spine straight. You can get your child braces or standing walkers, which will help him in terms of balance and mobility.
2. Eat right: Although there is no special diet for DMD, several food items should be taken for preventing problems related to weight. Your child should eat the proper amount of food with a proper balance of nutrients and calories regularly.
3. Stay active: You should ensure that your child exercises regularly. Regular stretching exercises help in keeping the muscles and joints limber, which makes him feel better. You can avail the help of a physical therapist for an exercise schedule.

You can look for and join local support groups associated with DMD, as other families living with DMD can be a source of good advice and understanding about life with DMD. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can ask a free question.