Infants often suffer from certain diseases which need proper care and timely treatment for quick recovery. At times, it can be difficult to communicate with an infant and understand his/her needs and problems but with a close observation you will surely be able to detect any alteration in the baby's behavior and sense it when he/she is ill. Here are some of the most common diseases infants are susceptible to and what you can do about them.

1. Abdominal distension
It is normal for a baby's belly to stick out after he/she has been fed, but if between feedings there is swelling in the abdomen or it feels hard, it can be an indication of a problem. If this symptom is accompanied by vomiting and absence of bowel movements for more than two days, your baby may be suffering from abdominal distention. This condition may have been caused by swallowing of extra air by the baby while crying or feeding. In such a situation, a pediatrician should be consulted for proper diagnosis and treatment.

2. Jaundice
It is common among newborns to develop mild forms of jaundice as the undeveloped liver is often not able to eliminate the chemical bilirubin from the blood. Mostly, this situation proves to be harmless till the level of bilirubin reaches a certain limit. After that, the disease must be properly treated to avoid damage to the baby's brain or nervous system.

3. Rsv infection
Rsv or respiratory syncytial virus is responsible for causing respiratory problems among infants. Rsv infection usually affects the bronchial passage and shows symptoms like cough, runny nose and mild fever which may even lead to bronchitis. Moreover, this infection may also develop into viral pneumonia, which makes it more important to consult a pediatrician if your baby shows any of the above symptoms.

4. Diarrhea
Infants are susceptible to watery bowel movements due to the action of virus, allergens, specific medications or bacteria. If you observe that your baby is passing stools more often than usual and it is watery, then it may be a case of diarrhea. Sometimes, these symptoms are accompanied by high fever, abdominal pain, lethargy, vomiting, dry eyes and mouth etc. In this situation you should consult your pediatrician and focus on replacing the fluids your baby has lost, to prevent dehydration.

4 Common Diseases that Babies are Susceptible To

Any type of surgery is stressful for your body and you will need to take extra care of yourself in order to heal well. Any procedure that is performed on the stomach, liver, gallbladder, intestines, appendix, pancreas or spleen can be categorised as an abdominal surgery. 

Here are ten tips to speed up the healing process after such a surgery.

Be prepared: While preparing yourself for surgery, also prepare your home for your return after surgery. Stock up your fridge with soft foods and keep loose, comfortable clothes easily accessible. Ideally, finish your laundry and house cleaning before the surgery and move away furniture and other things that could trip you.
Understand your medication: After the surgery, you are likely to be prescribed medication to relieve the pain and help with the healing process. Understand the dosage of these medications as well as any possible side effects that you should watch out for.
Get out of bed: The more you move around, the faster your incision will heal. Moving about also aids in the digestive process and helps the bowel work efficiently.
Avoid lifting heavy weights: Do not lift anything heavier than 500 grammes without your doctor s consent. This includes your pets, laundry baskets, grocery bags etc. also, avoid vacuuming for a while.
Get some light exercise: It may be a few months before you can get back to your regular workout routine but ensure that you get a little light exercise every day. Walking is a great way to start.
Keep plenty of pillows at hand: Holding a pillow between your knees or against your stomach can help relieve abdominal pain and discomfort. You may also feel better by propping yourself up on a few pillows when sitting on a chair.
Drink plenty of water: Keeping your body hydrated is crucial to the healing process. Water aids in circulation and ensures that adequate nutrients reach all parts of your body. Ideally, one should drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day.
Care for your incision: Keep your incision clean and dry by washing it with soap and water daily and thoroughly drying it afterwards. Do not apply any ointment or cream on the area unless advised so by the doctor.
Take a close look at your diet: For the first few days, it is advisable to eat only soft or semi-soft foods that are easy to digest. You may gradually change to normal food as your body s tolerance levels increase.
Get plenty of sunshine: Exposing yourself to a little sunshine on a daily basis can make the recovery process less painful and make you more cheerful.

10 Quick Tips To Help You Recover Post Abdominal Surgery!

The outcome and the procedure of an abdominal laparoscopic surgery vary among patients. The extent of the surgery, the length of the procedure, the surgeon, the hospital nursing staff, and a number of other factors vary with each patient.

Moreover, the recovery or the healing time also varies among patients. What applies to one patient may not apply to another. Generally speaking, surgeons will tell you that it takes only a few days to recover from a laparoscopic surgery, but this is not true to specific cases as in many cases, the recovery time has been longer than expected. So, a laparoscopic surgery is subjective to the health of the patient and the extent of the procedure; however, there are some tips that may prove to be helpful for you to deal with a laparoscopic surgery and to improve your healing process.

Here are some useful tips that you can follow before the surgical procedure.

After you have consulted your doctor and made up your mind on the procedure, then it will be useful to watch some surgery videos and read about the procedure to prepare yourself mentally. The videos can be gory and hence discretion must be maintained.
You can read blogs by patients who have undergone laparoscopic surgery to get a better understanding of the procedure and its implications.
Eight hours prior to the procedure, do not drink or eat anything.
Ask someone to accompany you on the day of the procedure.
Make sure that you fix a pre-op appointment with the surgeon to clear any doubts about the surgery, anesthesia or any such concern.
You can shave the part of your body where the surgery will be performed by yourself or be prepared for someone else to do the same at the hospital.
Prepare your hospital bag with the necessary items and inform the person accompanying you about the items in your bag.
Here are some useful tips that you can follow after the surgery.

Keep yourself active after the procedure to enhance the healing process and to relieve any flatulence.
Stick to comfortable clothing and preferably loose clothes.
Avoid taking a bath for a week or as advised by your surgeon.
To avoid constipation and to stay hydrated drink at least 2-3 liters of water a day.
Hold a pillow against your stomach to lessen the pain while sneezing or coughing.
Don t get up straight from your bed. Roll sideways and use the support of your arm to stand up.
Avoid driving for at least 2 weeks.
Go for regular check-ups with your surgeon or doctor to ensure that the incisions are healing properly.

Tips To Deal With Abdominal Laparoscopy!

In most cases, pain anywhere in the body can be explained as a symptom of some other problem, but sometimes, there is no reason for abdominal pain. This type of pain is known as chronic functional abdominal pain. This is a gastrointestinal disorder that cannot be explained through X-ray or laboratory findings. It can be triggered by altered sensitivity to nerve impulses in the brain and gut. People suffering from this condition are often so debilitated by the pain that it becomes the central focus of their life.

This condition cannot be cured, but with proper treatment, it can be managed so that it does not affect the quality of your life. The aim of treatment for this condition is to control the symptoms and improve functioning. When it comes to treating this condition, the patient s relationship with his or her doctor plays an important role as the condition cannot be proven through any form of testing and it has a great psychological effect on the person. Regular checkups are also a key to managing this condition effectively.

The first step towards achieving this is to identify possible emotional and situational triggers. Maintaining a journal that records these experiences can help with this. Further treatment is usually either through psychological treatment or antidepressants.

Psychological treatment is based on the understanding that the brain can block pain by diverting attention elsewhere. Nerve impulses that travel from the abdomen to the brain must pass through a type of  gate  that is controlled by nerve impulses generated by the brain. When these impulses close the gates, pain is blocked while when these gates are open, the pain can be magnified. Psychological treatment for chronic functional abdominal pain can be in the form of relaxation techniques, imagery, hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy. While relaxation techniques such as meditation and hypnosis help a person shift focus from the pain, cognitive behavioral therapy teaches a person how to change thoughts and perceptions in order to control the pain.

Antidepressants can also act as pain relievers. This form of medication stimulates the production of brain signals that close the  gates  of nerve transmissions. This blocks the pain but can take several weeks to be effective. Some people may experience side effects such as drowsiness and nausea and hence should never be taken without a doctor s supervision. In some cases, antidepressants may also be combined with cognitive behavioral therapy or medication to regulate bowels.

Ways to Treat Chronic Functional Abdominal Pain!

Infection is generally understood as the invasion into the body tissues of an organism by certain foreign bodies such as bacteria, parasite, and virus. They are transmissible diseases and can be transmitted from one person to the other via sneezing, coughing or physical contact. They can be mild, moderate or severe.

*They can be acute, that is, can last for a short time, or chronic that lasts for a long time, or a latent infection that may not cause any symptoms at first but reactivates and resurfaces over a period of time.

* Although each infection has its own distinct symptom. Generally, these symptoms include fever, swelling, redness, inflammation, burning, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, muscular pain, nausea, vomiting, rapid pulse or rapid breathing.

* If the patient has a severe headache, difficulty in breathing, painful swelling and unexplained prolonged fever or cough, he or she should immediately consult a doctor.

Conventional drugs that are given to treat infections like antibiotics, antiviral, antihistamines and steroids have many side effects on the human body. They on one hand hamper the digestive power of the system and on the other hand lower the immunity power of the body. In the long run, these medicines can have adverse effects on the body. Though conventional drugs suppress the disease for some time, the disease tends to resurface in the future.

However, Homeopathy has been found to be of great success in treating both acute and chronic infections. The best part is that, there is no side effect. Homeopathy also boosts our immune system so that the body naturally develops the strength to fight against infections in future, when foreign bodies invade. Homeopathic medicines have also proved to be effective as preventive measures against infections.

Some of the Homeopathic medicines for the treatment of most common infections are discussed below:

1. Throat infections - Belladonna, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Phytolacca, and Mercurius are most commonly administered to cure throat infections.
2. Skin infection - Common homeopathic remedies are Sulphur, Calendula, Hypericum, Silica, and Hepar sulfuris.
3. Bladder infection - Berberis, Chimaphila, Hydrastis, Apis, Cantharis, and sarsaparilla are commonly prescribed.
4. Stomach infection - Arsenic album, Nux vomica, Carbo veg, Lycopodium, and Pulsatilla are commonly recommended.
5. Sinus infection - Kali bichromicum, Pulsatilla, Mercurius, Natrum muriaticum, and Allium cepa work well in cases of sinus infections.

Most of the Homeopathy medicines are prescribed on the basis of symptoms observed. So, Homeopathic medicines are prescribed, even before the definitive diagnosis is made. Thus, the time saved prevents the infection from spreading, and the patient is automatically cured rapidly.

Homeopathy Treatment For Infections

Abdominal pain can be triggered by a number of factors. Sometimes, it's mild enough to be overlooked while at others, the pain can be debilitating. Most abdominal problems start with the same symptoms and hence the cause of this pain can be a little difficult to pin point. In many cases, the location of the pain can help understand the factors that are triggering it.

Generalized pain can be simply be triggered by indigestion. On the other hand, it could also be a symptom of a number of illnesses like irritable bowel syndrome, appendicitis, viral gastroenteritis and intestinal obstructions etc. However, the former are more common. This type of pain resolves itself without medical intervention.

In other cases, abdominal pain can be localized to the upper or lower abdomen on the right or left side or in the centre of the abdomen. This sort of pain is usually sporadic and comes and goes with great intensity. In most cases, this sort of pain is a symptom of a serious problem and should not be ignored. One of the most common examples of localized abdominal pain is the pain caused by appendicitis in its later stages. Severe pain that is located just above the centre of the belly button could be a sign of pancreatitis. A burning sensation and severe cramps in the center of the stomach could point towards stomach ulcers that could cause perforations if left untreated. Other causes for this type of pain include endometriosis, ovarian cysts, angina, kidney infections and a spleen infection.

Mild stomach pain whether localized or general can be relieved using home remedies and does not often require medication. However, if the pain is severe or if it comes on suddenly, you must immediately consult a doctor. Another reason to consult a doctor is if the pain persists for more than 24 hours. If the pain is accompanied by black or bloody stools or vomiting and nausea, do not ignore it. Black stools are often an indicator of the presence of blood in the digestive tract. Abdominal pain that worsens with movement or is tender to touch is also something that should be shown to a doctor. Other reasons to consult a doctor are abdominal pain with persistent vomiting following meals and unexplained weight loss and a loss of appetite.

The bottom line is, that when it comes to abdominal pain, it's better to consult a doctor and be told that there's nothing to worry about rather than self medicate and wait for it to worsen.

Abdominal Pain & When To Consult A Doctor

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