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Ailmemts & Remedies Pediatric

Oh, that earache!

Ear infections frequently develop in children and is one of the commonest infections in childhood. A staggering 75 per cent of children have at least one episode of ear pain and infection by the time they reach the age of three.

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Most ear infections occur when the weather changes or if there is an infection going around in school.
Most ear infections are acute and are accompanied by excruciating pain, and occur when the weather changes or if there is an infection “going around” in school. Although the child may not to be able to accurately express or localise the discomfort, most parents suspect there is an earache because the child has fever and pulls or tugs at the ear. Sometimes, however, it manifests itself only with unexplained irritability or continuous nerve-wracking screaming. Hapless parents cannot localise the symptoms and are forced to seek emergency medical care.

Most ear infections start innocuously as a viral infection with fever, a runny nose and irritability. There is a three-pronged connection among the nose, throat and the middle ear. As long as all the connections are open, there is very little chance of an ear infection despite an upper respiratory infection. If any connection is blocked, pressure and secretions build up behind the ear drum, causing pain. Later, these secretions can remain stagnant in the middle ear and lead to an infection.

Ear infections often settle by themselves with symptomatic treatment. Frequent (two-hourly) administration of saline nose drops unblocks the nose. Paracetamol administered as dispersible tablets, drops or suspension (10-15mg/kg/dose) every four to six hours reduces the pain and fever. A mild anti-histamine syrup dries up the secretions. Sometimes, anaesthetic (not antibiotic) eardrops may be required to ease the pain. But the technique of administration is very important for the drops to be effective. The child should be placed on a flat surface, not on a pillow or on the lap. The affected ear should face upwards. The outer ear should then be gently pulled upwards and the drops administered. This will not help with the infection but will definitely ease the pain.

About 80 per cent of the antibiotics used worldwide are prescribed for “colds, coughs and ear infections”. They do not work against viral infections, nor do they shorten the course of the disease or prevent progress to a bacterial infection. A wait and watch policy for viral ear infections helps avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

It is advisable, however, to consult a paediatrician immediately if the child is less than six months old, or has some other complicating illness.

If the pain and fever persist even after 72 hours, a secondary bacterial infection may have occurred. This needs appropriate antibiotics in the correct dose and duration. The medication should not be stopped just because the child looks better. Nor should the same antibiotic be purchased OTC (over the counter) and be self administered for a subsequent infection.

Children are more likely to develop recurrent ear infection

* If the early feeding is improper. Breast milk protects from infection, especially during the first six months of life.

* If the head is not raised while feeding. A prone position or placing a bottle of milk in a sleeping baby’s mouth may lead to an ear infection.

* If solids are force fed to an uncooperative child while lying down.

There is also a marked increase in the number of ear infections in children exposed to cigarette smoke. Most ear infections subside with no sequalae.

Certain cases of acute infection require urgent attention —

* When there is a suspicion of short-term mild hearing loss. This can persist if the fluid in the ear does not clear.

* If the infection becomes chronic, leading to damage to the bones and other structures in the middle ear. This can lead to permanent hearing loss.

* If the infection spreads to the mastoid, a bone behind the ear.

* Eventually, pus may extend into the brain and cause abscesses.

Surgery may have to be considered if the infection becomes chronic, with persistent effusions from both ears for three months or from one ear for six months. There are two procedures — myringectomy or tympanostomy, whereby a tube may have to be inserted into the ear drum.

A hole in the ear drum may need to be closed with a skin patch. Eventually, the tonsils and adenoids may need to be removed.

Two of the common bacteria causing ear infections belong to the Pneumococcal and H Influenzae groups. The Hib and pneumococcal vaccines, if administered to children, reduce the incidence of ear infections.

This is because the vaccine incidentally lends immunity against 55 per cent of the organisms that cause an ear infection. These vaccines also have a multiplier effect — they increase herd immunity, that is, they protect other children and elders in the community against bronchitis, pneumonia and ear infections caused by these common organisms.

From: Dr Gita Mathai’s writing (Telegraph ,Kolkata,India)

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Pediatric

Healthy Eating Habits for Kids

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With childhood obesity in North America tripling over the past 20 years, what kids are eating has become a major concern. Here are some ideas to help establish a pattern for a healthy lifestyle:

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Teach your children how to eat right.

1. Do set a good example for your child to copy. Share mealtimes and eat the same healthy foods.

2. Do discourage snacking on sweets and fatty foods. Keep plenty of healthy foods, such as fruits, raw vegetables, low-fat crackers, and yogurt, around for children to eat between meals.

3. Do allow children to follow their natural appetites when deciding how much to eat.

4. Do encourage children to enjoy fruits and vegetables by giving them a variety from an early age.

5. Don’t give skim or 1-percent-fat milk to children under the age of 5 unless your doctor prescribes it; at this stage, children need the extra calories in whole milk.

6. Do ask children to help prepare meals. If parents rely mostly on convenience foods, children may not learn to enjoy cooking.

7. Don’t add unnecessary sugar to drinks and foods.

8. Don’t accustom children to extra salt by adding it to food or placing the shaker on the table.

9. Don’t give whole nuts to children under the age of 5, who may choke on them. Peanut butter and chopped nuts are fine as long as the child is not allergic to them.

10. Don’t force children to eat more than they want.

11. Don’t use food as a bribe.

12. Don’t make children feel guilty about eating any type of food.

Easy, Healthful Snacks
Stock up on healthful snacks that children and teenagers can nibble on throughout the day.
Breads and crackers with spreads such as peanut butter, low-fat cheese, canned tuna or sardines, and lean cold cuts.

Rice cakes and whole-grain crackers or breadsticks.

Fresh and dried fruits.

Yogurt.

Sticks of carrot, celery, or other raw vegetables, and cherry tomatoes with nutritious dips.

Plain popcorn.

Breakfast cereals.

Water, milk, or fruit juice.

From:Foods That Harm, Foods That Heal

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Positive thinking

Spring Brings The Yellow Miracles

Daffodils
Some things on this earth look as if they were designed to bring happiness to the hearts of humans. The daffodil, with its bright yellow coloring and green stem, is one such creation. The daffodil makes its appearance in the spring, abundant and inexpensive, bringing gladness as sure as sunshine itself to whoever is lucky enough to receive a single stem, or a bunch, of these delicate yellow miracles. It is as if the sun has shed a layer of skin and fashioned a flower out of it….click & see

Color psychologists suggest that too much yellow can be too stimulating, but in small doses it inspires hope and good cheer. The daffodil is a perfect-sized package of yellow for anyone feeling glum or energetically low. It can spur us to action or simply imbue us with a feeling of optimism as it vibrantly glows in our homes or on our desks at work. The daffodil’s presence is ideal in any region where sunshine is scarce as it seems to carry the sun in the soft flesh of its petals. The bulbs are not expensive, and the flowers give so much that you may decide to plant a few in your yard or in a window box. Then again, you may simply wait until they arrive in neat little bundles in the grocery store or flower shop. They are usually very reasonably priced, so you can afford to spoil yourself, and those you love, with a large bouquet.

A daffodil placed under the windshield wiper of a loved one’s car says, “Be happy! Spring has sprung! I love you!” A collection of stems gathered and placed in a Mason jar can be left on someone’s doorstep to remind them of the simple beauties that abound in this life. Don’t forget to bless yourself with a vase of these bright blossoms on your kitchen table or nightstand. Every time you see them, you will be filled with the happiness and warmth of the sun.

Source:Daily Om

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News on Health & Science

‘High temp leads to infertility’

NEW DELHI: Researchers recorded the temperature changes to the scrotum caused by laptop use among 29 healthy male volunteers aged between 21 and 35 and found that just sitting with thighs pressed together, caused scrotal temperatures to rise by 2.1 degrees C.

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The AIIMS study also found that majority of men who were exposed to high temperature at their work places welders, dyers, blast furnace workers, cement and steel factories are also more prone to infertility. All this happens because even small changes in temperature have a negative effect on sperm production.

Testes are located outside of the body, suspended by the spermatic cord within the scrotum. This allows for more efficient and fertile sperm production.

The temperature of the testes is usually three degrees lower than the core body temperature (37 degrees C or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Even one degree elevation in testicular temperature leads to 14% depression of spermatogenesis.

“Not only has quantity of sperm production declined in males across the world, there has been a decrease in mortility (sperm movement) and morphology (shape and structure) of the sperms.

“There has been a 2% decrease in quality of male sperm annually. Also, 40% men in the reproductive age group are at present recording a quantitative and qualitative decline in sperm quality,” Dr Dada said. The study also found that nearly 20% of infertile men with low sperm count, or oligospermia, harboured genetic abnormalities.

The abnormality either involved sex chromosomes or autosomes or micro deletions in the ‘Y’ chromosome, said Dada. The ‘Y’ chromosome harbours the gene critical for germ cell development and differentiation, without which a person will have no sperms or will have very low sperm count.

Related Stories :

Tight jeans could reduce fertility

Male infertility on the rise

Infertility strikes in the 20s

In Audio: Wanna be a dad? Beware of...

Source:The times of India

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Herbs & Plants

Pipal

Pipal tree (Ficus religiosa), a native tree of India, held sacred by the Buddhists, who believe that Gautama Buddha received enlightenment under a Bo tree at Bodh Gaya. The Bo tree attains great size and age; the leaves, which hang from long, flexible petioles, rustle in the slightest breeze. Pipal is also spelled peepul or pipul.

The botanical classification of the  tree is:

Botanical Name : Ficus religiosa Linn
Family Name: . Moraceae
vernacular Name: Sans– ashvatthah ,Hind – pippal , Eng – sacred tree , Bengali -Asotha
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Urticales

Habitat: Native to India, Grows in Bangladesh,Burma, Sreelankha and Thiland

Common Names: bodhi tree, pippala tree, peepul tree, peepal tree or ashwattha tree

Description of the Plant:

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Large tree. Flower color red. Flowers in February. Fruits in May / June. Widely found in uplands and plain area.The Sacred Fig Ficus religiosa, also known as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), Pipal (Peepul) or Ashwattha tree, is a species of banyan fig native to India, southwest China and Indochina east to Vietnam. It is a large dry season-deciduous or semi-evergreen tree up to 30 m tall and with a trunk diameter of up to 3 m
The leaves are cordate in shape with a distinctive extended tip; they are 10-17 cm long and 8-12 cm broad, with a 6-10 cm petiole. The fruit is a small fig 1-1.5 cm diameter, green ripening purple
The peepal is one of the best known trees of India. The peepal is considered very sacred and venerated by the Hindus & the Buddhists. It is mentioned in the Vedas & Epics. The saints (rishis) of yore meditated under it. It was under the peepal tree that Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment & that particular tree came to be called “Bodhi”, the “Tree of wisdom”. In the popular Indian fold core, the peepal is considered as a female to the male Banyan. Peepal tree grows to large proportions. The tree is found wild in the forests on the lower slopes of the Himalayas, Orissa & in central India. It also grows in most parts of India, especially on the banks of rivers & lakes.

Plant Parts Used: All parts of the Pipal tree, including roots, bark, leaf and fruit, are useful

Healing & curative properties: –
The leaves of peepal tree are useful in many common ailments. Its leaves are laxative and a tonic. They relieve feverish feeling of coolness. They are also useful in arresting secretion or bleeding. In such cases, about 50 ml of raw juice of the leaves or 1 teaspoon of powdered dried leaves can be taken with water.

Heart diseases: –
The leaves of the peepal are used in the treatment of heart diseases. The leaves are infused in water at night. Distilled the following morning & then stored in white bottles. About 15 mg of this infusion is administered thrice daily. It is highly effective in relieving palpitation of the heart & cardiac weakness.

Constipation: –
The leaves of peepal should be dried in the shade & powdered. Pills are made by adding the required quantity of a solution of anise & jaggery with water. One pill taken with warm milk at bedtime ensures proper bowl movement, the following morning. In the same way, the fruits can be dried in shade, powdered & mixed with an equal quantity of sugar. This compound in doses of 4 to 6 GMS, taken at bedtime with milk, serves the same function.

Dysentery: –
Equal parts of tender leave, coriander leaves & sugars are chewed slowly to relieve the condition.

Bruises: –
The leaves of peepal ground fine, mixed 25 gms of jaggery and made into 8 pills. One pill taken daily with milk can also relieve pain due to injury.

Mumps: –
Peepal leaves smeared with ghee, warmed over a fire & bandaged over the inflamed part (mumps) to get relieve.

Boils: –
A leaf of peepal smeard with ghee can be banged like worm on the boil. If there is any pus formation, it will burst, if it is in preliminary stages, the growth will subside in initial stage itself.

Other uses: –

In Ayurveda a peepal grown on a cemented wall , with its roots still not reaching the ground, is a specific treatment for serious disease of the neck.A plaster- like paste prepared by rubbing its roots with water can be applied on the affected glands. A popular remedy for excessive urine output amongst jaundice patience is to soak a piece of tender bark of the peepal in water overnight & allow the water to be taken the following morning. According to Hakeem Hashmi, peepal fruits dried in shade & powdered are helpful in sexual disorders such as spermatorrhoea, nocturnal emissions & premature ejaculation.

As per Ayurveda:
Sacred fig is madhura, kasaya and sheetaveerya; subdues deranged function of kapha and pitta; useful in the treatment of dyscrasia and burning sensation of the body. The ripe fruits exert immediate action in the diseases of female genital organs

Parts used: bark, leaves, tender shoots, fruits, seeds, latex

Properties and uses:
The bark is astringent, sweet, cooling and aphrodisiac. and an aqueous extract of it has an antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aurells and Escherichia coli. It is used in the treatment of gonorrhoea, diarrhoea, dysentery, haemorrhoids and gastrohelcosis.

Bark is found efficacious in gonorrhoea; pulverised bark is applied externally on unhealthy ulcer and wounds to promote granulation; efficacious when rubbed with honey and applied to aphthous sores of children. Infusion of the bark is astringent.

The bark has an acrid bad taste; useful in inflammations and glandular swelling of the neck.

A paste of the powdered bark is a good absorbent for inflammatory swellings and good for burns.
Leaves and tender shoots have purgative properties and are also recommended for wounds and skin diseases.

Tender and fresh leaves found beneficial when used along with butter-fat to cover the inflammatory areas of ulcer; oil, medicated with the leaves, cures earache when used as eardrops

The old leaves soaked in water stop vomiting.

Fruits are laxative and digestive; the dried fruit pulverised and taken in water cure, asthma: seeds are refrigerant and laxative.

The fruit is purgative, aphrodisiac; checks vomiting

The latex is good for neuralgia,. inflammations and haemorrhages.

All the parts are bitter, sweetish, acrid, cooling; useful in diseases, of the blood, vagina, uterus; given in leucorrhoea, burning sensation, biliousness, ulcers.-

The ripe fruit is cooling; alexipharmic; good for burning sensation, foul taste, thirst, biliousness, diseases of the blood and heart.-

The root is good for gout; the root bark is useful in stomatitis, to cleanse ulcers, as an astringent in leucorrhoea, to promote granulatlons.-The young bark is useful in bone fracture.-
The root bark is aphrodisiac and good for lumbago.-
The seeds are said to be cooling and alterative. The seeds are useful in urinary discharges

The leaves and young shoots are used as a purgative, and an infusion of the bark is given internally in scabies.
A paste of the powdered bark is used. as an absorbent in inflammatory swellings.

The dried fruit, pulverized and taken in water for a fortnight, removes asthma, and produces fruitfulness in women. Water in which the freshly.burnt bark has been ,steeped is said to cure cases of obstinate hiccup.

In cracked foot the juice is employed.
The powder of the dried bark is used in fistula in ano;
The juice of the bark is used as a mouth wash for toothache and for strengthening the gums.

Disclaimer:The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplements, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.
Reources:

www.hashmi.com, en.wikipedia.org

Miracles of Herbs

http://www.ayurvedakalamandiram.com/herbs.htm#pashanabheda

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