The appendix is a small, finger-shaped pouch attached to the large intestine in the right belly area. It is a vestigial organ as it has no specific role to play in humans, but the organ is still seen, though in a very small size compared to the earlier living beings in the evolutionary chain. Acutely inflamed appendix is the most common cause leading to it removal, often seen in the ages of 10 to 19.

Causes: the appendix gets infected by two main reasons - general infection in the abdomen that reaches the appendix or blockage of the appendix leading to inflammation and swelling within it. The appendix is a blind pouch, and there is a good chance for its blockage from food particles, lymphatic tissue, or even sometimes feces. Some of the potential risk factors for appendicitis include a diet low in fiber, high in sugar, gut flora, and family history.

Symptoms/diagnosis: in adults, the appendicitis has very characteristic symptoms including acute pain in the right upper part of the belly associated with fever and vomiting. However, in children, the pain may not be as tell-tale a sign but is still quite diagnostic of appendicitis. However, presence of the following symptoms together is surely indicative of appendicitis.
1. Right abdominal pain, especially rebound tenderness, where pressure placed in the right upper part of the belly and released leads to excruciating pain.
2. Fever, nausea, and vomiting
3. Abdominal fullness or bloating
4. Elevated white blood count (as with most infections)
Additionally, the younger the child, the symptoms are not very clear, but ultrasound will confirm the diagnosis. The inflamed, enlarged appendix will be visible on the images and could be surrounded by free fluid. Ct scan also can be considered if required to confirm the diagnosis.

Treatment: as noted above, children present with symptoms that do not pinpoint to appendicitis. Treatment usually takes two routes:

If diagnosed as appendicitis before rupture, then surgical removal is the best method to contain its symptoms. Other symptoms like fever and nausea and vomiting usually subside a couple of days after the surgery.
If the appendicitis goes unnoticed and ruptures, then the intestinal cavity can get infected, which is called peritonitis. Earlier, the preferred approach was to control the infection and then go for removal. However, lately, removing the appendix followed by antibiotics to control the infection is the preferred approach.
The prognosis and recovery from appendicitis is very good. Deaths have occurred only in very small infants, where they are not able to pinpoint the area and therefore it can go undiagnosed, leading to rupture and subsequent death.

Early identification is the key to proper identification, immediate treatment, and complete recovery from appendicitis.

Appendicitis 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!

What Causes Early Childhood Trauma? + How to Identify this Condition?

The problem of early childhood trauma refers to disturbing experiences that take place in children during 0-6 years of age. The traumas that young children experience can be the effects of natural disaster, war or accidents or that of intentional violence like sexual abuse, domestic violence or physical abuse.

What Does this Condition Impact Childhood?

Traumatic events have a significant impact on your child's life and can break his sense of safety. The problem has been linked with a decrease in the size of the brain cortex. This is the part of the brain that controls several complex functions like thinking, consciousness, memory, attention, awareness, and language. The changes that occur as a result can affect your child's IQ as well as his or her ability to control emotions. As a consequence, he or she may harbor feelings of danger and become more afraid or it may manifest in other personality issues which are not very obvious.

How do you identify this condition?

Generally, children who suffer from traumas face problems in regulating their emotions and behaviors.

They may display signs like:

- Fear of new situations
- Being clingy to their parent(s) or somebody close
- Become easily frightened
- Display aggressive and/or impulsive behavior
- Are difficult to comfort
- Display deterioration in behavior and functioning
- Easily forget newly attained developmental skills
- Difficulty in sleeping

Depending on the age during which your child may go through a traumatic event, he or she can exhibit signs relevant to his or her age.

For instance:

Children aged 0-2 years may also display reactions like poor verbal skills, memory problems, excessive temper, experience nightmares, etc.

On the other hand, children aged 3-6 years can face difficulties in learning as well as develop poor skill and learning disabilities, face problems in social interaction, may be unable to trust people and so on.

If this condition remains unattended or unresolved for longer, it may create personality issues and can deeply impact the individual's relationships, or equations in the society, as they grow up and even after they become adults. In fact, many behavioral problems can be traced back to childhood trauma.



What Causes Early Childhood Trauma? + How to Identify this Condition?

Many women develop uterine fibroids by the time they hit the age of 50 years and above. These are non-cancerous growths that may occur in the uterus. Most women go through severe bleeding and pain as well as discomfort as a result of these fibroids. Age, family history of the same condition, obesity or being overweight, eating habits and even ethnicity play a large role in deciding the risk of each individual patient. These fibroids can grow in the submucosal, intramural and subserosal areas.

Following are the common side effects of uterine fibroids:

    Frequent urination: Due to the pressure of the fibroids on the uterus, the patient may experience a constant feeling of fullness in the lower pelvic area of the body, which may lead to frequent filling of the bladder. This gives rise to frequent trips to the washroom for urination. 
    Heavy Bleeding: Severe bleeding is one of the most common causes of the presence of these kinds of fibroids. The patient may experience a lot of bleeding during menstrual periods, as well as pain and cramps the rest of the time. The periods will also be very painful when there are fibroids in the uterus or the uterine lining.
    Painful Intercourse: It is a well-known fact that any kind of infection or growth as well as sores and other such ailments can lead to vaginal dryness as well as pain during sexual intercourse. This is true for uterine fibroids as well, which can lead to severe pain during sexual activity. These fibroids can also give rise to pain in the lumbar or lower back region.
    Abdomen Swelling: The abdomen may go through significant swelling in such a condition and the patient may even look like she is pregnant. The growth can push the shape of the abdomen outwards and create a full feeling.
    Pregnancy Complications: The presence of uterine fibroids can give rise to several complications during pregnancy and even after child birth. One of the most common problems in this case is bleeding, followed by more severe outcomes like miscarriage. The women suffering from uterine fibroids are at greater risk of undergoing a caesarean section for the delivery of the baby. The baby may also be born breech and a premature delivery may take place. 
    Infertility: This is also a rare side effect of the uterine fibroids and is generally seen only in very severe cases. 
    Cancer: Only one in every 1000 cases might transform into malignant tumours. These uterine fibroids are generally known to be non-malignant. 

Any symptoms must be reported to a gynaecologist at the earliest to avoid any serious complications.

Common Side Effects of Uterine Fibroids

Bronchitis occurs when the bronchial tubes become swollen due to an ailment or any kind of infection. These tubes are a part of the respiratory system and usually join the lungs. There are two types of bronchitis - acute bronchitis and chronic bronchitis. A virus or bacterium usually causes acute bronchitis. It shows up after a person has had a respiratory disease. The most common symptoms of this disease usually show up when a child has flu or cold. A blazing throat, a feeling of being sick and mucus draining from the sinuses usually describe the disease.

Homeopathy is a very effective treatment for bronchitis. In fact, it is the most effective treatment. Homeopathy has been successful in treating some exceptionally extreme cases of bronchitis. It functions admirably in both acute and chronic bronchitis. Here are a few treatments for acute bronchitis for kids that have proven to be beneficial over time:

Hepar Sulph is one of the best homeopathic medicines for bronchitis where a person experiences increased sensitivity to cold. Chilly air and exposure to the cold in any form is impossible to be tolerated by the patient. It energizes cough quickly. Hepar Sulph cures situations where even if a single part of the body is exposed to the cold like a hand or a foot, cough begins immediately.

Bryonia, on the other hand, is helpful in situations where a person feels extremely thirsty, yet may only have a few sips at a time. The mucous layers and the mouth become extremely dry. Even the cough is very dry in such cases. There is a pain in the abdomen and headache while coughing.

Pulsatilla is great in situations where the patient coughs up a lot of greenish or yellowish mucous. Cough is more irritable while resting and the person cannot rest or sleep because of the same. The patient is usually not at all thirsty in this situation.

Arsenic Album is one of the best homeopathic medicines for symptoms that include a feeling of weakness along with other signs of bronchitis. Extreme wheezing and cough increase after nighttime and makes it difficult for the person to sleep. Along with extreme weakness, restlessness may also occur. The patient feels parched and frequently drinks little quantities of water.

Antim Tart is useful when there is a lot of mucous in the abdomen and chest. Despite the fact that there is a lot of mucous in the abdomen, little is disposed off. Cough in this situation is aggravated while a person eats. However, Antim Tart tends to find relief from the same. Patients usually find it very hard to bring out the mucous in this situation.

Treat Acute Bronchitis In Kids With Homeopathy!

Children generally tend to be fairly over active and have lesser attention spans. However, when this tends to get into their performance at school and in general with getting along with other children it may be a sign of ADD or attention deficit disorder. Let's look at some of the common symptoms of this disorder.

Symptoms of ADD

1. Problems in staying focused: One of the very basic symptom is that children will often be very inattentive even during classes and will be easily distracted by small things.

2. Problems in trying to remember things or difficulty in following instructions: Children with attention deficit disorder tend to have issues with remembering things and if given tasks, being unable to complete as they can't remember instructions properly.

3. Issues with organizing, planning and trying to finish tasks: Due to the lack of attention, kids have problems retaining information and cannot plan or finish tasks given to them on a daily basis.

4. Easily bored or loses interest: Even if a child with ADD starts with something they like, interest may wane off quickly. Thus it is difficult to make them stick to a specific work schedule which may require regular practice.

5. Lack of attention to details and making careless mistakes: This is another trait of children with attention deficit disorder. They may be able to complete a task, but it will be fraught with mistakes as they wouldn't have much attention to detail.

6. Has a tendency to not listen when someone is speaking to them: This is also very common and is usually tied to being easily distracted and thus will drift off or not listen to when someone is speaking to them.

Some Myths about ADD

a. All kids with ADD are hyperactive
b. They will eventually grow out of it
c. Medication is the only option to treat ADD
d. ADD is not really a disorder and kids need to be trained better

Most of these are half truths and the extent of the problems varies from child to child. Only proper counseling will be able to diagnose the extent of the problem and what needs to be done.

How to spot ADD in Children

ADD can be spotted in children aged below 7 years via certain symptoms. Apart from the ones mentioned above, children generally tend be abrasive towards others and can make embarrassing comments quite often. They also change tasks very quickly without completing any of them. Any distraction would force them to change their track. It is best to go to a child specialist to get your child checked out for possible symptoms.

Symptoms and Myths About Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and How to Spot Them in Children

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