Iron is an essential nutrient and mineral that is required by adults and children alike. Iron helps move oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body and helps muscles store and use oxygen. It is especially important for children because it aids development and prevents anaemia. Untreated iron deficiency in children can cause physical and mental delays. It can lead to less healthy red blood cells in the child's blood stream which will cause a delay in the growth of physical and mental faculties.

Risk factors for iron deficiency in children

Infants and children at highest risk of iron deficiency include:

Babies who are born prematurely or have a low birth weight
Babies who drink cow's milk before age 1
Breast-fed babies who aren't given complementary foods containing iron after age 6 months
Babies who drink formula that isn't fortified with iron
Children ages 1 to 5 who drink more than 24 ounces (710 milliliters) of cow's milk, goat's milk or soy milk a day
Children who have certain health conditions, such as chronic infections or restricted diets
Children ages 1 to 5 who have been exposed to lead
Adolescent girls also are at higher risk of iron deficiency because their bodies lose iron during menstruation.
Symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia

The signs and symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia in children may include:

Pale skin
Fatigue or weakness
Slow cognitive and social development
Inflammation of the tongue
Difficulty maintaining body temperature
Increased likelihood of infections
Unusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or pure starch
Prevent iron deficiency in children

Take steps to prevent iron deficiency in your child by paying attention to his or her diet. For example:

Breast-feed or use iron-fortified formula. Breast-feeding until your child is age 1 is recommended. If you don't breast-feed, use iron-fortified infant formula.
Encourage a balanced diet. When you begin serving your baby solids, typically between ages 4 months and 6 months, feed him or her foods with added iron, such as iron-fortified baby cereal. For older children, good sources of iron include red meat, chicken, fish, beans and dark green leafy vegetables. Between ages 1 and 5, don't allow your child to drink more than 24 ounces (710 milliliters) of milk a day.
Enhance absorption. Vitamin C helps promote the absorption of dietary iron. You can help your child absorb iron by offering foods rich in vitamin C, such as melon, strawberries, kiwi, broccoli, tomatoes and potatoes.
Consider iron supplements. If your baby was born prematurely or with a low birth weight or you're breast-feeding a baby older than 4 months and he or she isn't eating two or more servings a day of iron-rich foods, talk to your child's doctor about oral iron supplements.
Make sure that you watch out for the tell tale signs of iron deficiency and take the necessary precautions to avoid the same. If you wish to discuss about any specific child related problem, you can consult a specilized pediatrician and ask a free question.

Iron Deficiency In Children

Is your child undergoing Primary Immunodeficiency Disorders (PIDDs)? If you are tired of seeing your child suffering with regular cold and cough which could be solely due to a lack of nutrients in the diet, resulting in low immunity of the body. Adopting healthy habits by cutting back on junk food while including healthy items will help raise your child s immunity levels immensely. 

Some of the best foods to include in the diet to increase the immunity of your child are mentioned below:

Eggs, pulses, lean meats and other healthy protein: Immunity buildup may be disrupted if there isn t enough protein in your diet. Milk protein in cow s milk or dairy products like butter and cheese, animal protein in lean meats such as chicken and ovo-protein in eggs are highly beneficial and raise immunity levels.
Fish for immunity build up: Fish is a great immunity builder and also helps in making the brain work more efficiently. Fish meat contains lean proteins as well as essential Omega-3 acids which help properly regulate many functions within the body raising immunity.
Stay healthy with yogurt: There are a lot many flavored varieties of curd or yogurt that your child may like and which is also considered as a power food source. It helps reduce gastrointestinal illnesses. However, try and go for the less flavored ones as they would have lesser amounts of processed sugar.
Oats and Barley for your rescue: The reason why oats and barley are healthy alternatives, especially for children is because they are composed of beta-glucan (fibre containing antioxidants and antimicrobial properties). This helps in avoiding constipation thus cleaning the intestine and hence avoiding the buildup of harmful bacteria within the body.
Fruit toppings are delicious: Fruits are not limited to mangoes, apples and bananas only. Darker the color of the fruit, greater is the nutritional value. Berries, peaches, melons, pomegranates etc, can and should also be included in your fruit intake as they are healthy as well as tasty.
Vegetables can be tasty too: Growing children require leafy green vegetables for physical and mental development as they contain zinc, iron and folic acid. Foods like fenugreek leaves and spinach are an example of vitamin rich food items. You can include spinach and other vegetables in a clever manner by making the food interesting so that children would want to eat it willingly.
Carrots to fight infection: Carrots are beneficial for good eyesight and protection from infections. With carrot intake it becomes quite difficult for the bacteria and germs to ender the blood vessels. This can be made into a salad or craved figuring to make it interesting to the kids.

Immunity of Your Child - 7 Foods that Help Boost It!

SSHL is not like any other normal hear-loss trouble. Rather it is quite a severe condition. Sudden deafness can occur at any time due to several reasons. This trouble does not affect both the ears rather only one specific ear is usually affected, and thus this is one of the prominent signs that can help the doctors to understand that SSHL has occurred. 


What are the leading causes of this hearing loss?

    Head injury: If you have faced any severe kind of head injury ever, then it might bring SSHL. This is why you are suggested to get necessary treatment on time so that this kind of hearing loss can be avoided.
    Loud-noise exposure: If your ears are exposed to louder noises or sounds in a consistent manner, then there is a greater possibility of the occurrence of this hearing loss. Thus, you should stay away from unwanted noises. 
    Ageing: With the increase in age, hearing power slowly decreases. However, if you take proper precautions from the very beginning, then SSHL can be definitely avoided. 
    Blood-circulation troubles: Interrupted blood-circulation creates different physical troubles out of which hearing loos is one of the most prominent one. And if timely treatment is not provided, then it might get converted into SSHL. 
    Ototoxic medication: This kind of medication should not be continued for long without doctor's prescription otherwise SSHL might occur. 
    Lyme disease: This is a kind of disease, which occurs due to tick bites and this is pretty infectious in nature. Apart from that, this disease is now considered as one of the main sources of SSHL. 

How to evaluate this hearing loss? 

    History analysis: The history of the patient needs to be known first otherwise SSHL cannot be perfectly treated. If the history shows that the patient already has an existing trouble of ear loss for which SSHL has been proven, then in accordance with the same the treatment can be prescribed. 
    Laboratory and imaging: Laboratory analysis is one of the main methods for evaluating SSHL and necessary images of the ears boost the potentiality and importance of this kind of analysis to a great extent. 
    Quick evaluation: This kind of medical evaluation is mainly made on the basis of the symptoms. The doctors often follow the signs thoroughly in order to determine as to whether the patients have SSHL or not. This evaluation is highly supported by different medical tests that are prescribed by the doctor.

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: Causes and Evaluation

Epilepsy is a form of chronic disorder and it is characterized by recurrent seizures. The episodes of epileptic seizures may differ from person to person. These seizures could be a result of a genetic disorder or a result of trauma or stroke. During a seizure, a patient may also experience symptoms of neurological disorders and sometimes lose consciousness.

Medical help for epilepsy
Epilepsy itself cannot be cured using medication, but proper medicines help in eliminating recurrent seizures. These medicines stabilize the electrical activity within the brain preventing seizures.

How effective is the medication for epilepsy?
The success of controlling seizures using medicines depends on the type and severity of epilepsy. Medicines for epilepsy are usually very effective and may fully keep seizures under control. However, controlling seizures caused due to brain problems may be more difficult. Usually, epilepsy medicines can control seizures for a long period of time when they are taken regularly.

When is medical help needed?
The decision about when to start medicines for epilepsy is a tricky one. This is because a first seizure cannot confirm whether a person has an on-going epilepsy problem. A second seizure may occur after many years or may not happen at all. Prediction of seizures is also quite difficult.

The severity of seizures also indicates when to start medicines for treatment. In case a first seizure is quite severe, medication should be started at once. Some people have very mild seizures even though they may be recurring in nature, and medication can be avoided in this situation.

The decision of starting medication will vary from case to case and in most cases, medications may be prudent after the first seizure itself. You should always consult a doctor to know when you need to start taking medicines to treat the condition.

For making the most out of the medicines to control seizures, you should follow certain steps:

You must take medications exactly as your doctor has prescribed.
Before switching to generic versions of your medicines or before taking other prescribed medicines, you must consult your doctor.
You should never stop taking the medicines.
In case you experience enhanced depression, mood swings and suicidal thoughts, you should talk to your doctor immediately.
In case you have the migraine, you should let your doctor know so that he can prescribe you anti-epileptic medicines, which also prevent migraines.
Medicines cannot treat the underlying cause of epilepsy, but these help in controlling seizures and this is the most common symptom of epilepsy. Medication should be started at a proper time and must be continued without stopping.

Epilepsy - When To Seek Medical Help?

Coughing during the night can really wreak havoc for your sleep and cause inexplicable discomfort in the throat and chest region. Thankfully, you can manage it by soothing your tickling throat as well as sensitive airways before you go to bed at night. 

Drink herbal tea: A mugful of non-caffeinated tea mixed with a teaspoon of honey before going to bed can help you to a considerable extent. This is because any warm liquid has the power to break down the formation of mucus in the throat region and with a bit of honey, the herbal tea becomes even more powerful.
Try to sleep in an inclining position: Gravity is your greatest enemy while combating night-time cough. When you lie down flat on your back at night, all the mucus and dust particles, which you have swallowed all through the day, would accumulate in the throat area and aggravate it making more cough. But you can easily defy gravitational force by piling up some pillows and prop yourself on them while sleeping. You may also keep a wooden block of 4 inches height under your head, which would keep the acids in the stomach so that they don t come up to irritate your throat.
Make sure you use the steam cautiously: When your airways are dry, it can make you cough harder. Therefore, you may find relief if you take a warm shower or a bath before going to bed. But you have to be sure that you don t have asthma as steam can prove harmful for you.
Check the level of humidity: Humidifiers are known to soothe the problem of persistent coughing when the surrounding air is dry. But too much of moisture during the night can also make you cough. This is because dust mites, mold and other allergens thrive well in the damp air and they could conspire to make your cough even worse. So, pick up a cheap hygrometer from a hardware store and see that the humidity level stays within 40 to 50 percent.
Equip yourself at night: Keep all the things from drops to water to cough syrup or anything that soothes coughing at your bedside so that you can help yourself in case you wake up in the middle of the night and start coughing.
By following these few tips every day, you can manage the night time cough and have a good night s sleep without any interruptions.

Night Time Cough - 5 Tips to Manage it

The habit of thumb sucking is very common in many toddlers and babies, but often disturbs the parents to a great extent. Before dealing with this habit, it is very imperative for parents to understand the cause of this behavior. The tendency of thumb sucking is quite normal for the babies as it makes them feel comforting.

Problems that occur with thumb sucking
There are certain problems that occur if the baby develops the habit of prolonged thumb sucking. The problem that occurs mainly on sucking the thumb for longer time is with the teeth of the toddlers which may result in speech problems. Some babies get over this habit of thumb sucking on their own without any adverse after affects. However, sometimes prolonged thumb sucking may result in irritation on the skin or lead to peeling off of the skin, causing discomfort and pain to the child. There are chances that even the nails on the fingers grow in a crooked manner because of infection caused by thumb sucking.

How to get your child to leave thumb sucking habit?

Parents must in any case not force their toddlers to stop this habit or get upset with them, as it can cause the toddler to develop this habit all the more.
A child mainly sucks his thumb for comfort, and the habit can be stopped by diverting their mind and offering the child a soft toy or giving them a special blanket.
It is better to give the toddler something to hold which makes him feel secure and comfortable.
It is very important to assess whether it is a problem before stopping the habit of thumb sucking. But if the habit continues, it may affect the alignment of the teeth.
It is always better to make use of ways like positive reinforcement and encouraging behavior change in your child. Parents must set up a reward system and take a note of the days the child does not suck his thumb. It is important that parents praise their child verbally and give them some reward at the end of the month.
The best and simple way to quit the habit of thumb sucking is to cover the thumb with a thumb guard or mittens.
The best way to help your child quit the habit would be to distract him or her and involve them in activities that would require the use of both the hands. Parents can keep their child busy by giving them puzzles or blocks to play.

Thumb-sucking Habit - 7 Things to Keep in Mind!

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