Horizon Hospital

Hello, Good afternoon. I am Dr Shilpa Nayak. I am a paediatrician with special interest in Asthma and allergy related disorders.

asthma is a major cause of school absenteeism and hospital admission in children between the age of 5- 18 years of age. Over 6 million children over the world are suffering from Asthma. So, today I am going to talk about childhood Asthma.

Common symptoms of Asthma are a recurrent cough, recurrent cold, wheeze, restlessness, chest tightness, cold that straight go to a chest and night cough. So, if your child is suffering from any such symptoms, then you should visit your physician for Asthma evaluation.

What causes Asthma?

Asthma is caused due to the swelling of the air way response to inhalation of the indoor and outdoor allergens. For example, dust mites, pollen, molds, animal dander and insects like cockroaches. 

In case of acute asthma attacks, the muscle surrounding the air way get tighten and less air is passed through the lungs.

A physician can help you by conducting different tests. For example, Spirometry or lung function test if your child is 5 years and above and is co operative.

An allergy test is done to find out the allergen that your child is allergic to. And later allergen avoidance help in reducing the frequency and severity of the Asthma symptoms. The doctor may advise for a blood test or X-Ray of the chest if indicated.

So asthma management includes Allergen avoidance, in which the allergen that has been diagnosed by allergic trick testing should be avoided completely.

Pharmacotherapy includes the preventer medicines and the rescue medicines.

Preventer medicines are given as the long term medicines for Asthma, whereas Rescue medicines are provided at the time of a severe attack. Besides this, your doctor will give you Asthma Action Plan and Peak flow meter to monitor the symptoms.

Reduction of stress and breathing exercises indirectly help in Asthma management.

So with the help, proper care and with the proper medication, your child can live a normal and healthy life.

For more information, you can contact me via lybrate.com

Necrotizing enterocolitis is a disease that causes inflammation of the tissues present in the intestines and results in damaged tissues. It initially affects the inner lining which ultimately results in thickening of the intestine. It may also lead to a hole in the abdomen resulting in bacteria entering the intestine, thus resulting in infection.

Symptoms:
The symptoms of Necrotizing enterocolitis are:

1. You may experience symptoms of bloating in the abdomen
2. The abdomen may be discolored
3. You may experience diarrhea and vomiting
4. You may not feel hungry
5. There may be presence of blood in your stool
6. You may have a fever and constantly feel lethargic

Causes: Lack of blood and oxygen in the intestine causes it to become weak and increases the chances of Necrotizing enterocolitis. It may result if oxygen levels drop during a difficult delivery. If the intestines are weak, then they are at a higher risk of getting infected by bacteria. If you have an excessive supply of blood cells in your body or other stomach condition, then it may lead to this disease.

Diagnosis: Usually the doctor conducts a physical exam to detect the symptoms of this disease. If babies are born with this condition, then they may suffer from weak immune system and problems in blood circulation. The doctor may also recommend x-rays to get detailed images of the intestine in order to probe for symptoms of inflammation and damage.

Treatment: 
The treatment of the disease depends on few factors such as:

1. The child's age
2. How far has the disease progressed?
3. Health of your child

It is recommended to stop breastfeeding. Feed the baby through intravenous methods. The doctor may also recommend antibiotics and oxygen support if the child has breathing problems. In severe cases, the child may require surgery to treat this disease.

If the treatment occurs early, then the child may recover. However, complications such as a narrow and damaged bowel may persist. This may cause problems in nutrient absorption in the intestine leading to other disorders.

The newborn are often extremely susceptible to fatal diseases and the first few months of the infant's life calls for uncompromised care and vigilance. One of the most precarious diseases afflicting the newborn babies are chronic lung disorders. This condition mainly emanates from a damage to the lung tissue, which results in breathing troubles. Under such circumstances, the lung may collapse, being filled with fluids and end up oozing out harmful mucus. While a severe form of such lung diseases may often result in the death of the infant, in most cases the infants outgrow the disease and with proper care, grow up to lead a healthy life. 

Most chronic lung diseases in infants are congenital and are spurred by a variety of causes: 

1. Premature delivery: Chronic lung diseases are recurrent in babies born prematurely, i.e. before the lapse of at least 26 weeks of gestation age. Underweight infants also run the risk of suffering from this ailment. The lungs are not able to develop fully in such situations as a result of which they become prone to respiratory distresses. Another allied trigger to Chronic Lung Disease is the use of ventilation on the premature babies. The forced breathing and imposed oxygen levels induced by ventilators often impair normal lung functions in babies. 
2. Fluids in the lungs: Certain babies are either born with or develop a condition where fluids accumulate in the lungs. This inflicts a lot of damage to the lungs and leads to such diseases.
3. Respiratory Infections: Some babies are likely to acquire lung infections from certain disease causing viruses. This largely handicaps the normal lung functions. 
4. Heart conditions:  Abnormal blood circulation in the heart also stimulates lung diseases in newborns. If the heart is unable to regulate the flow of blood to the lungs properly, then the chances of such diseases increase by leaps and bounds. 
5. Inhaling harmful foreign materials: Certain particles often affect the health of the lungs tremendously. Exposure to meconium during delivery might result in the inflammations that potentially injure the lung tissues. 
6. Nutrition deficiencies: If an infant's body lacks vital nutrients, it may result in a condition of malnutrition. Lack of vitamin A may cause chronic lung diseases. 

Chronic Lung Diseases are usually recoverable with early detection and appropriate treatment. However, one needs to meticulously cater to the health needs of the baby, in order to ensure complete recovery and avert recurrence.

Tonsillitis, in the easiest terms, is the swelling of tonsils in our throat that is accompanied by symptoms like throat pain, difficulty in swallowing/ drinking, altered voice and fever etc.

As in the case of most infections, the occurrence of tonsillitis is more common in children due to relatively lower immunity and habits that invite infections. Let's take a look at the first line of defence when you have a cranky child with swollen tonsils.

1. Make your child gargle with salty warm water: This treatment is most helpful in any infection in the mouth. Add half teaspoonful of salt to a glass of warm water and make the child gargle with the mixture as many times in the day as possible (to a maximum of 5 times). Continue till the condition prevails.

Make sure the child spits out the water and not drinks it.

2. Antibiotics: Consult the ent specialist and have the antibiotics if it is a bacterial cause as per the doctor. Take the alternative treatment prescribed in case of other causes. The entire course of medication should be completed even if the kid gets better sooner to eliminate all traces of bacteria.

3. Painkiller/numbing lozenges: Painkillers that are prescribed by the doctor can be given to ease the pain. Same is the case with lozenges but care should be taken that he/she should not have too many of these.

4. Allow him/her to take rest: It does help in a betterment of the condition!

5. Give warm (not hot) soothing food: Soup, ginger honey mixture, ginger tea can help soothe the inflamed tonsils in most cases. The condition, more often than not, gets better within 7-10 days.

Common Myths about Allergy and Asthma

Allergy and asthma are very common in India and the Asian subcontinent. Allergies have a significant impact on quality of life.

Myth 1 Allergy-related diseases are uncommon

Reality: Incidence of allergy-related diseases have doubled in the past few decades.

1 in 3 people suffers allergies at some time in their life.
1 in 10 people are suffering from Asthma.
1 in 100 has life threatening allergy known as anaphylaxis.

Myth 2 Allergies are harmless

Reality: Allergies negatively impact the quality of life for example tiredness, irritability, poor quality of sleep, poor scholastic performance in children.

Allergies to food, drugs and insect sting can cause a severe systemic reaction that can lead to death.

Myth 3 Moving to another place can cure Allergies

Reality: Moving away from the source of allergen may improve your allergy symptoms. But these allergy symptoms reappear after some time as allergic peoples prone to develop new allergies.

Myth 4 All Children grow out of their Asthma

Reality: Asthma can persist; some children have asthma symptoms that improve or disappear during adolescence, whereas other will worsen. Severe or severe asthma tend to remain much the same as an adult.

Myth 5 Allergy drugs are dangerous and make you drowsy

Reality: Non-drowsy antihistamines are readily available, rarely make people drowsy.

Myth 6 Damp houses are just as healthy as dry houses

Reality: Damp houses have higher mould content than dry homes and indoor mould is a common cause of perennial allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, bronchitis as well as asthma.

Myth 7 Colours and preservatives are a common cause of asthma

Reality: preservatives like sodium metabisulfite (220,221,222) in wine,dried fruits,vinegar,grapes and some fruit salad can worsen,but do not cause asthma. Inhalation of small amount sulphur dioxide may cause a reflex contraction of your airways. Monosodium glutamate may trigger asthma in some people ,but researchers have shown that it is relatively a rare problem