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!

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

Down syndrome is a chromosomal disorder that is caused by the presence of an extra chromosome. A genetic condition, it causes physical and cognitive impairments and can lead to disabilities and increase the risk of a number of health problems.

Causes
Each cell in our body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes where one chromosome in the pair comes from the mother and the other comes from the father. But in the individuals with Down syndrome, the chromosome 21 has an extra copy. This means that there are three copies instead of the usual two. The reasons behind this genetic abnormality remains unknown as of yet, but there are a few risk factors that might increase the chances of the condition.

Women who are older than 35 years of age have a higher risk of their children being born with Down syndrome.
If a woman has a child with Down syndrome, then chances are that the next child might be born with the condition as well.
Though uncommon, Down syndrome has been seen to have been passed from parent to child.
Symptoms
Children born with Down syndrome exhibit certain characteristic symptoms which include flattened facial features, a short neck and eyes that slant upwards. Ears that are atypically shaped and muscles that lack tone are also symptoms of Down syndrome. Physical growth and development of the child are also hindered by the condition. A child with Down syndrome might also display social and mental disabilities that include a short span for attention, a lack of judgment and issues with impulse control.

Complications
Down syndrome can lead to a number of medical complications that include but are not limited to visual impairment, leukemia, chronic constipation, dementia, hypothyroidism and Alzheimer s disease in the later stages of life.

Homeopathic Treatments
Homeopathic treatment methods of Down syndrome focus on the development and improvement of the behavioral and cognitive abilities of a child with Down syndrome. The treatment that is usually prescribed includes homeopathic medicines and bio-neural supplements that help remedy the disorder. These also reduce the effects that the condition might exert on the physical growth and intellectual development of the child.

A child with Down syndrome might find it difficult to communicate and recognize objects and people. Homeopathic treatment can help remedy these shortcomings. Homeopathic treatment for Down syndrome should be initiated at the earliest possible in order to help the child with behavioral and physical development.

Down Syndrome - Signs & Symptoms You Must Not Ignore!

There are few things I hear over and over again from students
1.  How they are studying for so many in a day
2.  How they do not have even time for anything else in their life due to study pressure
3. How they are sleep deprived
4. How much they are stressed
5. And finally, after all the sacrifices and hard work, their exam performance is not what they expect.

Here are few tips to study smart, improve your grades and yet have a life!
We all know that 2 hours of focused study will be much more productive than 4 hours of distracted study. And, the good news is that concentration is a mental skill that you can develop and improve. There are two ways to improve your concentration:

A. First, work on raising your brain's natural ability to concentrate or in other words, learn to increase your attention span.
B. Second, adjust the environment around you to make concentrating easier.

Improving your concentration takes a little time and effort, but it is worth it. In my personal experience with students, I have seen noticeable improvement in relatively short time.

A. Ideas for daily concentration boosting habits include

1. Mindfulness meditation: Many studies confirm that 20 minutes of meditation or more per day improves concentration and attention span. Mindfulness meditation, where one focuses on one's breathing,  is one of the simplest way of meditation. Start with ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes before bed. To begin with you may try a guided meditation. One can easily find audios for guided meditation online.

2. Proper sleep: I am sorry to say this. Pulling all nighters will not help with your grade. Unless you are getting sufficient restful sleep, you are not going to be as mentally focused as you could be to study as well as answer questions in exams.

3.  Food for your Brain: The more you use certain skills, the more they are reinforced in the brain. So it makes sense that playing concentration games and games that require you to focus will improve your concentration ability. You need to be consistent in this. Play for about 10 to 20 minutes each day. Have fun, and get the benefits but remember not to spend more than 20 minutes a day. Your goal is to improve your concentration and not just keep scoring higher in the game! Try Lumosity and use only free version this will help you restrict your daily play time to 20 minutes and have maximum benefit.

4. Eat healthier: Your brain needs the proper nutrients to allow you to focus. Eat more vegetables and fruits and avoid consumption of junk food as much as possible. Instead you could keep some nuts such as walnuts, almond or peanuts as in between munches. Lot of research has now proven that sugar is very harmful for our health. Reduce sugar and refined white flour in your diet as much as you could.  

5. Exercise: It is helpful in both reducing stress and increasing energy and focus. At least 20 minutes a day would go a long way. Going for a short jog of 20 minutes will make next 4 to 5 hours of study very efficient.

B. Optimize your mental state & environment

In addition to building the habits described above into your daily routine; also adjust your environment and your current mental state to improve your concentration when studying.

1. Create a study space: Your brain loves routine. Create a place where all you do is study. An obvious choice is a secluded desk of some kind, but the trick is to make sure you only study in that spot. Studying in bed is a bad habit, for example, because your body is trained to want to sleep once you get into bed.

2. Remove distractions: Turn off the ringer on your phone and take other steps to prevent interruptions. Don't study with the television on or with radio playing. Some studies have shown that soft instrumental music (no vocals) can help improve your concentration.

3. Reduce background noises: If you have to study or work in an environment where it is too loud (classroom or open space) or too quiet (such as at home or at a library) you can get easily distracted by outside influences. With the right amount of background noise you can actually block out distractions and enhance your creative thinking.

4. Use timer: Set a time limit when you need to study new material. For example, let's say you want to read one chapter in a book (and remember it). Decide in advance that you can have 45 minutes to read the chapter, and 15 minutes to review it. Set a timer to keep yourself honest, then pace yourself to keep within the allotted time.

5. Stay motivated: If you see studying as burden, it's hard to concentrate. One way to stay motivated is to set up a reward system. Tell yourself you have to earn that hour of watching your favorite show later in the evening by first completing 2-3 hours of intense studying.
That way, even if the material is dry, you have the reward to look forward to.

6. Take breaks: Take a break every two hours. You mental energy will begin to decline after a long period of study. So every two hours or so, take a ten minute break. Walk around, eat a light snack, or just stare at the wall to relax your mind.

Concentrating is the first step to learning anything new. It only makes sense that if you improve your concentration, your memory will improve also.

How an expert can help?
If you want to get individualized expert opinion about how you are studying currently and what ways you can improve; you can always consult the expert. Once he/she knows what your current study methods are, they will be able to give you specific tips to improve upon. Most likely once you incorporate those tips you will be spending less time studying and your grades will improve. That's what is studying smarter and not harder means!!

Study Smarter and Not Harder!

Women tend to develop high levels of blood sugar during their pregnancy (especially within the 24th and 28th weeks), irrespective of whether they already had suffered from diabetes prior to their pregnancy. However, gestational diabetes, if not taken proper care of, might escalate the risks of developing diabetes in the near future for both the mother and the child, accompanied by complications in pregnancy or labor. Gestational diabetes is usually characterized by mild symptoms such as excessive urge to urinate, excessive thirst, blurred vision and fatigue.

Causes:
Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, allows for the utilization of the glucose for energy. The food consumed is broken down by the digestive tract of the body, converting carbohydrates into glucose before releasing it into the bloodstream. The glucose is then absorbed by the cells to be used as an energy source. Now, at the time of pregnancy, the placenta (organ nourishing the fetus) connecting the baby to the blood supply also produces various other hormones in high levels, for instance, estrogen and human placental lactogen. Most of these hinder the normal functioning of insulin in the cells, hence raising the blood sugar count. With subsequent growth of the baby, the placenta keeps on producing more amounts of such insulin resistant hormones to an extent that they are capable of meddling with the development of the baby.

Treatment:
1. Monitoring the blood sugar count at least four to five times a day and keeping it under control might help to ease the complication.
2. A healthy diet consisting of whole grains, vegetables and fruits in the right proportion and limiting sugar or other highly refined carbs meets the nutrition and fiber requirement of the body. Guard against additional weight gain during pregnancy as that hampers the entire process.
3. Exercise or regular physical activities help to normalize blood sugar level by boosting glucose absorption in the cells. Furthermore, exercises also enhance the sensitivity of the cells towards insulin. This means that only a little amount of insulin production by your body would be enough for the transportation of sugar.
4. Medication, If exercise and diet fall inadequate, insulin injections are often administered to control blood sugar count.
5. Keeping the baby under close observation with the help of repeated ultrasound and other tests to record its growth and development is an essential part of the treatment plan.

Gestational Diabetes - How It Can Be Treated?

Scabies is a contagious disease that is caused by small insects called mites, primarily the  human itch mite . Small blisters are formed along the trail where the mites lay the eggs. You may experience symptoms of intense itching at night. The usual spots where scabies usually tend to develop are the fingers, armpits, elbows and the inner thighs.

This disease can spread by touch; sharing toiletries or sleeping with an infected person all contribute to the spread of this disease. The eggs and the feces of the mites in the burrows of the skin are what cause the itching in scabies. The eggs and the feces usually trigger allergic reactions on the skin.

The various homeopathic treatments for scabies are:
1. Carbo-veg: This remedy is effective when you experience dry abrupt eruptions on the body. Symptoms of itching tend to aggravate at night, especially during undressing. There is usually a smelly discharge from the infected areas.
2. Arsenic album: This remedy is used to treat scabies eruptions which appear on the bends of the knees. The burning and itching sensations tend to worsen at night.
3. Causticum: This is used to treat symptoms of scabies which include wet pustules with foul smelling pus. In this case, the skin develops a yellowish hue along with the presence of warts. Coughing and sneezing can lead to involuntary urination.
4. Hepar sulph: Hepar sulph is used when symptoms of crusty pustules develop on the hands, folds of the skin and the feet. The skin becomes sensitive to cold weather and the pustules have a cheese like discharge.
5. Lycopodium: Lycopodium is used to treat symptoms of scabies that occur on the genitals, scalp and the abdomen. Exposure to anything warm can aggravate the condition and intensify the itching. The pustules are moist and yellowish brown in color. The itching usually subsides if the skin comes in contact with anything cold.

5 Common Homeopathic Remedies for Treating Scabies

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