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93 Results for search "Kids' Ailments".

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Anyone who has spent time with children knows that some of them can bend themselves into positions that defy logic. A teenager may think nothing of dropping into full splits in front of the television. A child with extra flexibility may love impressing her friends by bending her thumb all the way back to her wrist. Dexterity is a good thing. But it can go too far, even in kids. Children and teena...

What is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? ADHD (commonly known as ADD) is a behavioral disorder. Basically, children who have it are unable to concentrate, excessively active, or both. The American Psychiatric Association calls the distinct types "inattentive" and "hyperactive-impulsivity." Some kids with attention deficit disorder repeatedly fail to finish tasks, get distracted easily, a...

What is attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? ADHD (commonly known as ADD) is a behavioral disorder. Basically, kids who have it are unable to concentrate, extremely restless, or both. The American Psychiatric Association calls the distinct types "inattentive" and "hyperactive-impulsivity." Some adolescents with attention deficit disorder can't organize or complete tasks, get distracted easil...

If you're talking to your kid about the important issues in life, the subject of alcohol is bound to come up. In some ways, the "alcohol talk" is a lot like the "sex talk": Ideally, you'll have the discussion long before your child really needs it. Learning about alcohol at an early age can keep him or her from making mistakes and dealing with unpleasant consequences later on. But if your teen has...

When it comes to teen drinking, parents would be wise not to look the other way. The consequences -- from drunk driving accidents to date rape and violent crime -- make it clear that teen drinking is much more than just harmless youthful experimentation. The damage done Ideally, no parent wants his or her teen to drink. First, it's illegal -- and according to the U.S. Department of Justice, 131...

How can I get my child to stop whining? That depends on why he's whining. If he's hungry, tired, or bored, give him what he needs: a snack, a nap, a suggestion of something to do, or maybe just a hug. Then you can deal with curbing his fussy behavior and preventing it in the future. Suppose your child is whining for something he shouldn't have. Try these tips:

If you've ever seen a young child in the grip of a night terror, you'll never forget it. He'll wail in panic, scream, and thrash about like a small animal. His eyes are wide open but he doesn't recognize or even see you. A child with a night terror is caught in a zone between sleep and wakefulness, and it's impossible to wake him up or give him much comfort; he is inconsolable. Night terrors usual...

Most people think of headaches as an adult problem, but kids can get them too. Often, childhood headaches are just temporary symptoms of a cold, flu, or an an infection of the sinuses, eyes, or ears. But like adults, some children can get tension headaches, migraines, or other recurring type of head pain. If your child has mild headaches every once in awhile but seems otherwise healthy, there's no...

The drunken college freshman managed to crawl into the dormitory bathroom, but that's as far as he got. I found him lying in a toilet stall, barely coherent, with purplish vomit dripping down his chin. As the resident adviser (RA), I had to do something. But nobody ever taught me how to deal with alcohol poisoning, and I had never bothered to find out. I wiped off his face and let him lean on me a...

In March 2007, an 18-year-old college freshman at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, went into cardiac arrest after a night of heavy drinking at a campus fraternity. Thirty hours later, he was dead. In November 2006, an 18-year-old freshman with a blood alcohol content of 0.19 fell to his death from a fifth-floor balcony at the University of Texas. Two years earlier, another Univer...

If you've ever watched a nurse take a blood sample from a newborn's heel, you already know that even the youngest children can feel pain. Babies and toddlers may not always be able to put their feelings into words, but their pain is real. According to a report from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, young children may be even more sensitive to pain than adults. Pain relief can be elusive at an...

Why do children vomit? Vomiting is the body's way of expelling material from the stomach, sometimes to get rid of something poisonous. Whatever the cause, your child's stomach muscles will contract forcefully, and food will come back up through his esophagus and out through his mouth and sometimes his nose. What causes vomiting? A stomach virus or "flu" is the most common reason for vomiting...

What is asthma? Most people associate asthma with sudden fits of coughing and wheezing, but the disease is actually present 24 hours a day. If your teenager has asthma, the tubes that carry air to her lungs are inflamed and may be swollen and clogged with mucus. This state may not impair her breathing, but it does set the stage for asthma attacks. Her inflamed airway is extra sensitive, and somet...

When should my child get a tetanus booster? It depends on her age. Experts recommend vaccinating your child when she's 2 months old, with follow-up shots at 4 months, 6 months, after her first birthday, and again around age 5. These initial shots are called DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis) vaccinations. At 11 or 12 years of age she'll need a booster shot called a Tdap, then a ...

What should I do if my child is stung by a bee or wasp? A bee's stinger works like an automatic pump -- the longer it stays in, the more venom it releases -- so get it out as quickly as you can. Look for a little black dot in the center of the bite, and scrape it off with a fingernail or pull it out with your fingers. Try not to squeeze the stinger, though, because that could release more venom....

What is anaphylactic shock? Anaphylactic shock, or anaphylaxis, is one of the scariest health emergencies a parent can face; it occurs when your child has a severe allergic reaction. When that happens, your child's immune system mistakenly responds to a harmless substance as if it were a serious threat, triggering the release of histamine and other body chemicals that cause rapid and sometimes d...

Is coughing bad for my child? Most of the time it's good for her. When your child has a cold, coughing clears infected mucus from her lungs and keeps nasal mucus from dripping down into them. If she didn't cough, a little sniffle could turn into pneumonia. Coughing is also valuable because it signals irritation in the airways. Pollen, dust, or tobacco smoke can make the muscles in the lungs' s...

What is scarlet fever? Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, was once one of the most serious scourges of childhood, sweeping through families like wildfire and causing numerous deaths. But with modern antibiotics, the disease is far less dangerous -- and less common -- than it used to be. The disease is an upper respiratory infection caused by a streptococcal bacteria and associated with a ...

What are pinworms? Pinworms are small, white, threadlike worms that infect up to 50 percent of children. If your child's infected, he'll probably scratch and complain of itching around the anus, especially at night. You may be able to see the worms, which are about a quarter of an inch long and look like pieces of dental floss, wiggling around your child's anus and in his stool. A common chi...

Can earwax interfere with my child's hearing? Only if there's a heavy buildup of it. Earwax serves to protect the ear canal and the paper-thin eardrum from dirt and germs, but if it accumulates it can cause temporary hearing loss. The tip-offs include a hard, waxy plug in your child's ear and complaints of ear pain. If your child has difficulty hearing, he or she might have fluid or an infecti...

What is fifth disease? It's one of five common contagious childhood ailments that cause fever and a rash. After doctors figured out what to call measles, rubella, roseola, and scarlet fever, they apparently ran out of catchy names and called the fifth disease just that. Its technical name is erythema infectiosum, but the illness does have a more colorful moniker: "slapped-cheeks disease." That's...

What is dyslexia? Although the term has fallen out of favor among child psychologists and other experts, dyslexia is popularly used to mean a disability in processing language. There are three types: visual (trouble recognizing printed letters or words); auditory (trouble distinguishing certain sounds or connecting sounds to letters), and "expressive writing" (trouble drawing or writing legibly ...

What is the flu? The flu (influenza) is an all-too-familiar illness for most parents, especially during flu season (November to April). This highly contagious respiratory tract infection can send a child to bed for three to five days with a high fever, headache, congestion, chills, coughing, diarrhea, and vomiting, as well as muscle aches and fatigue. It's caused primarily by two flu viruses, in...

What is dyslexia? Although the term has fallen out of favor among child psychologists and other experts, dyslexia is popularly used to mean a disability in processing language. There are three types: visual (trouble recognizing printed letters or words), auditory (trouble distinguishing certain sounds or connecting sounds to letters), and "expressive writing" (trouble drawing or writing legibly ...

What is dehydration? Dehydration means that the body is losing too much fluid or not taking enough in, usually because of fever, overheating, or diarrhea. It's both preventable and easily treatable, but you need to address the problem right away or it may become life-threatening. How can I tell if my child is dehydrated? These are the most common signs:

How can I tell whether my child is constipated? Don't gauge it by how many trips your child makes to the toilet. Some children need to move their bowels twice a day; others go only once every two or three days. Unless four or more days have passed since your child's last bowel movement, you probably don't need to worry. The important thing is how easily he goes, not how often. If he has large or...

Babies are born to cry. The average infant cries about two hours each day -- enough to announce every wet diaper and hunger pain. And no matter how careful, loving, and attentive parents may be, a baby just might decide to make crying her number-one pastime. If your baby cries more than three hours a day at least three days each week, she's not just fussy -- she's colicky. Colic is the term for ...

Why does my child get so many colds? The common cold (also known as an upper respiratory infection) is caused by a virus. Trouble is, there are at least 200 different known viruses, with new ones occasionally appearing. Children develop immunity to the viruses one cold at a time. Remember all the colds you've had over your lifetime? Your child has to get every one -- and more -- to be immune to ...

What are food allergies? Some bodies -- especially young ones -- react to certain foods as they would to dangerous intruders. Their immune systems unleash a barrage of chemicals against proteins in these foods, causing the misery known as an allergic reaction. If you or your spouse has ever suffered from a food allergy, there's a good chance your child will too. About 5 percent of children under...

How do I know if my baby has a cold? A cold is just the common name for an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus. In other words, if your baby is sniffling, stuffed up, or sneezing a lot, it's probably a cold. Doctors often suggest that moms check the color of their baby's mucus. If it changes from watery to yellow or greenish, it's almost certainly a cold. What's the differenc...

What is Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease? Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFM) is a common childhood illness caused by a virus and marked by painful mouth sores. Symptoms may include blisters in the mouth and small, grayish red blisters on the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet, and sometimes on the buttocks. Rashes on the palms and soles are unusual and are one of the things that distinguish ...

What is heat rash? Heat rash, also known as prickly heat, is a red pimply skin eruption that can appear when your child overheats. It shows up most often in folds of the skin and on parts of the body where clothing fits snugly. These places include the chest, stomach, neck, crotch, and buttocks; if your child wears hats, the rash may even spread across his scalp or forehead. Heat rash most frequ...

What is chicken pox? Chicken pox is a disease marked by an itchy rash that starts out as multiple small red bumps that quickly change into thin-walled water blisters. These blisters develop into cloudy sores, which finally become dry brown crusts. New waves of rashes often spring up over the next two to four days. The disease typically makes children tired and slightly feverish. A germ called th...

What are head lice? They're tiny, wingless, parasitic insects that live on the scalp and suck blood, causing severe itching. The good news is that head lice don't carry diseases; they are more of a nuisance and not a threat to your child's health. How will I know if my child has head lice? There's a good chance a preschool teacher or elementary-school nurse will call with the bad news. But y...

What are hives? Hives are an itchy skin rash -- red, raised bumps with a paler center - triggered by an irritant. They can show up anywhere on your child's body, from the skin to the inside of his mouth, and vary in size from 1/16 inch in diameter to many inches across. Hives, also known as urticaria or wheals, can pop up in one area, fade, and appear in a totally different place within a matter ...

1. Roughly what percentage of childhood poisonings are fatal? a. 50 percent b. 10 percent c. 1 percent d. Far less than 1 percent 2. Which of the following household items is the most harmful if swallowed? a. Liquid dish soap b. Liquid or powdered automatic dishwashing detergent c. Fluoride toothpaste d. Mouthwash 3. Which one of these medicines and supplements fatally poisons the most young c...

Think back to the happiest moments of your childhood. Chances are, you weren't sitting at a desk or finishing up a chore. More likely, you were running around at the park, jumping in a creek, or building a new civilization in your backyard. For kids of all ages, playtime is the highlight of every day. Playtime may be fun and games, but that's not all: Child development experts everywhere agree th...

What causes cancer in children? When a child develops cancer, everyone has the same question: Why? In most cases, there is no obvious explanation. Cells in the body sometimes make mistakes when copying themselves, and some of those mistakes can turn into cancer. A few rare types of childhood cancer -- such as retinoblastoma, a cancer in the retina of the eye -- run in families. In those cases, ch...

What are cold sores? Cold sores, also known as fever blisters, are small red blisters that crop up near the lips or on them. More rarely, they sprout on the roof of the mouth. (Some people confuse them with canker sores, which are painful crater-like sores that appear on the tongue or on the inside of the cheeks.) Despite their name, cold sores actually have nothing to do with colds; they're caus...

What is autism? Autism is a brain disorder that can severely limit a child's ability to communicate or interact with others. National statistics for how many children are affected by autism don't yet exist. However, the National Institute for Mental Health estimates that three to six children out of every 1,000 suffer from autism. The condition strikes boys more often than girls. About half of a...

How do I know if my child is running a fever? Most pediatricians would agree that your child probably doesn't have a fever unless his temperature is higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The average normal temperature in kids is 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees Celsius), but this varies according to the child, the things he's been doing, and even the time of day. (Children's temperatures tend to rise in ...

Can children suffer from depression? Decades ago when baby boomers were still children, parents might have dismissed very real signs of depression as sulkiness or chronic moodiness. Today, doctors know that depression can affect even young children, and sometimes it can follow them throughout their lives. Roughly 7 percent of all children are depressed, studies show, including 2 percent of child...

To date, thousands of children living in the United States today -- and millions of children around the world -- got HIV from their mothers before, during, or shortly after birth. But thanks to aggressive treatments for pregnant women, the number of new cases of childhood AIDS in this country has declined. Children who already have HIV need extensive medical care, including medications to attack t...

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