Pediatric Health Concerns

There are a number of health concerns children face in the world today. The most common chronic childhood disease today is tooth decay. Children may face health issues that include ADHD, Arthritis, Asthma or Allergies, Autism, Blindness or Deafness. There are several chronic childhood diseases children may experience. Diabetes can affect children. Ear infections are a common childhood malady. Some children are born with birth defects, and some develop heart conditions. Newborn screening is an issue that parents need to be aware of, as well as childhood obesity. There are some different skin conditions that children may experience.

ADHD

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a condition of the brain. ADHD affects a child's behavior and is one of the most common, chronic behavioral conditions found in children. Nearly all children have periodic behavioral issues, but children who have ADHD experience consistent and severe issues that interfere with their life. There are treatment options available to help children with ADHD.

Arthritis

One estimate suggests that nearly 294,000 children who are younger than eighteen have Pediatric Arthritis and Rheumatologic conditions such as Polyarticular Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). Other forms of Pediatric Arthritis include Pauciarticular Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, Systemic Onset Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis, There are several additional forms of Arthritis that can affect both girls and boys.

Asthma

Asthma and Allergies are among the most common of chronic childhood diseases children experience. Five million American children are affected by Asthma alone, causing them to miss out on sports, school and additional activities. Recognition and understanding of asthma and allergy, 'Triggers,' in children who are affected by Asthma and Allergies is important. Knowing what triggers an asthma attack or allergic reaction in a child can prevent an attack. It is also important for family members to understand the medications a child is taking and help to manage their symptoms.

Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a group of brain disorders that are related. ASD affect children's social and communication skills, as well as their behavior. About one in one-hundred and fifty children is diagnosed with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Education regarding Autism is essential to the care of a child with ASD.

Blindness and Deafness

The fourth most common disability among children in America involves a Vision disorder. Vision disorders are the leading cause of impaired conditions in childhood. According to recent studies, only twenty-one percent of all preschool children are being screened for vision problems; a mere fourteen percent receive any form of comprehensive vision examination.

Hearing disability is another health concern among children. The most common congenital condition in America is hearing loss. Thirty-three infants are born each day with some level of hearing loss in the United States.

Common Childhood Illnesses

There are several illnesses commonly experienced during childhood, with symptoms that range from mild to serious. Children may contact a virus or infection, experience vomiting, or develop a fever. Children get nose bleeds at times, or car sickness. They may also catch a common cold. Children also develop things such as Croup, Sinusitis, Bronchiolitis, Tonsillitis, or may experience Febrile Seizures.

Diabetes

Children may be affected by Diabetes Type 1 or Type 2, which can occur at any time - even during their first year of life. Infants and toddlers with Diabetes often have a diagnosis that is delayed because their symptoms are not specific. The diagnosis may not come until the child is very sick because of the vague symptoms. Diabetes prevents the child's body from turning glucose into the energy it needs; their body does not process food through the production of enough insulin.

Ear Infections

Millions of children visit doctors each year as a result of ear infections, which are common in young children. Acute Otitis Media (AOM) involves inflammation and intense symptoms and signs of infection; it is the most common bacterial illness doctors prescribe antibacterial medications for in America. Otitis Media Effusion (OME) is still more common, with ninety-percent of all children experiencing OME prior to school age; usually between six months and four years of age. Children who have had colds or viral infections experience OME, which usually clears up on its own.   

Birth Defects and Genetics

Although most children are born without any medical problems or birth defects, some are born with body chemistry, body structure, or brain development differences. These differences may lead to difficulties with the child's development, health, school performance, or social interactions. The field of Pediatric Genetics is involved in the identification of both the causes and the natural history of genetic disorders in children. Pediatric Geneticists help families to identify and manage their child's health care needs in children with genetic disorders.

Heart Conditions  

Children may face various heart health issues. High blood pressure, rapid heart beat, heart murmurs, and other heart issues are something parents need to be aware of. Conditions such as Duchene or Becker Muscular Dystrophy are others that a physician can assist a parent in understanding more fully. There are Pediatric Cardiovascular Centers available to assist parents with children who have heart conditions.  

Hospital Care  

There are bacteria and viruses found in the human environment nearly everywhere, and the human body is able to protect us most of the time against these things. At times we do need hospital care when a form of bacteria or a virus has attacked our immune system, causing illness. Some of the things that may require hospital care include flu, Rotavirus, Hepatitis B and C, Kawasaki Disease, and Lyme Disease. Others include RSV, Whooping Cough, Meningococcal Disease, and Tuberculosis.

Newborn Screening

Shortly after a child is born in America, they are screened for a number of different genetic disorders. Conditions such as Mental Retardation, or even the death of the child, may be prevented by performing Newborn Screening. The screening involves using heel stick blood spot samples which are submitted to a laboratory for testing. The child's parents are notified if there is either a problem, or if the test needs to be done again. Currently, the different States in America run Newborn Screening programs. There is an effort underway to establish a national consensus on the types and number of disorders screened for, as well as the guidelines and procedures used in Newborn Screening programs.

Childhood Obesity

Children and adolescents who are overweight or obese risk a number of different health problems including Asthma, Sleep Apnea, Joint Pain, and Skin Infections. Additional health risks to children who are overweight or obese include Diabetes Type 2 and Hypertension. Childhood Obesity can present immediate health problems, as well as lead to chronic health issues. Children who are overweight or obese may experience depression, low self esteem, and lower self confidence than other children.

Skin Conditions  

Children and adolescents may experience many different skin conditions. Skin conditions such as diaper rash and infections, dry skin, and hives are common. Children may contact lice, or develop eczema, or get sunburned. Insect bites and pimples are something that many young people experience. Skin cancer is something that affects a number of children.

Child Disability and Health

Further Information Regarding Pediatric Health Concerns

Puberty a Gateway to Heart Disease
Puberty a Gateway to Heart Disease for Canada's teens - One in five young teens has high blood pressure. Elevated cholesterol levels increasing at alarming rate.

Internet Addiction in Children
Although the Internet has become one of the most significant information resources for adolescents, addiction to the Internet can negatively impact school performance, family relationships and adolescents' emotional state.

One Million Premature Babies per Year
More than one million infants die each year because they are born too early, according to the just released White Paper, The Global and Regional Toll of Preterm Birth. The highest preterm birth rates in the world are found in Africa, followed by North America.

Progressive Infantile Scoliosis Responds Well to Casts
When parents are told their babies scoliosis needs treatment, they often try bracing first. If that fails, they need surgery to place metal rods in their backs with spinal fusion later on. These children face the risk of complications from the surgery and their backs and chests may be stiff for life.

Pediatric Care Adverse Drug Events
An 11-year national analysis at Children's Hospital Boston shows that side effects or accidental overdoses of medications are a common complication of outpatient care in children, generating more than half a million additional visits per year, particularly in children age 4 and younger.

Screening Lowers Severe Jaundice Risk in Babies
Screening all newborns for excessive bilirubin in the blood can significantly decrease the incidence of severe jaundice which, in extreme cases, can lead to seizures and brain damage, according to researchers at UCSF Children's Hospital and Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research in Oakland, CA.

Childhood Bone Cancer - New Hope
Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have shed new light on Ewing's sarcoma, an often deadly bone cancer that typically afflicts children and young adults.

Smoking and Binge Drinking Threat to Teen Health
As teens head back to school, health teachers may want to revise their lesson plans. Temple researchers have found that kids who engage in heavy drinking will more than likely also engage in heavy smoking, and they say educators can help combat the trend by addressing both topics as one health risk.

Delays in UK Child Brain Tumour Diagnosis
A new study by scientists at The University of Nottingham's Children's Brain Tumour Research Centre, funded by the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, shows that prolonged and slow diagnosis can make long term survivors of childhood brain tumours up to 10 times more likely to suffer disability.

Pesticides Linked to Childhood Cancer in Washington
A new study by researchers at the Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center finds a higher level of common household pesticides in the urine of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer that develops most commonly between three and seven years of age. The findings are published in the August issue of the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring.

Infants Should be Screened for Developmental Hip Dysplasia
Developmental hip dysplasia is the most common congenital defect in newborns. The condition occurs when a hip joint is shallow, unstable or when the joint is dislocated. Infants with the condition are often at risk of developing arthritis of the hip as a young adult. A new study published in the July 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) finds that screening all infants for hip dysplasia can significantly decrease their chance of developing early arthritis.

Why Parents Miss Children's Immunizations
Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital researchers report findings at Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting According to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, there are several factors that contribute to children missing immunization visits.

Breakthrough Work On Salt Iodization to Prevent Brain Damage
Dr. Basil S. Hetzel is the recipient of the 2009 Pollin Prize in recognition of his discovery that maternal iodine deficiency can cause brain damage in newborns, and for orchestrating an effective global campaign in support of salt iodization programs aimed at eradicating iodine deficiency disorders.

Drug Inhibits Acute Leukemia Cell Growth
Researchers from the Children's Cancer Hospital at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have discovered how to turn off a certain receptor that promotes the growth of leukemia cells.

Sandhoff Disease Information
Sandhoff disease is a rare, genetic, lipid storage disorder resulting in the progressive deterioration of the central nervous system.

Rett Syndrome Information
Rett Syndrome, one of the MECP2 gene-related disorders, is a progressive neurologic disease in girls characterized by normal birth and apparently normal psychomotor development during the first six to 18 months of life.

Infantile Pompe Disease Information
Pompe disease is a rare (estimated at 1 in every 40,000 births) inherited and often fatal disorder that disables the heart and muscles. It is caused by mutations in a gene that makes an enzyme called alpha-glucosidase (GAA).

Niemann-Pick Disease - Type A
Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) refers to a group of inherited metabolic disorders known as the leukodystrophies or lipid storage diseases in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance (lipids) accumulate in the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and the brain.

Metachromatic Leukodystrophy Information
Metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD) is a hereditary degenerative disease transmitted as an autosomal recessive, due to sulfatase a deficiency, with excess accumulation of sulfated lipids responsible for metachromasia in various tissues.

Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome Information
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome (LNS) is a rare, inherited disorder caused by a deficiency of the enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT).

Krabbe Disease - Infantile
Krabbe disease is one of a group of genetic disorders called the leukodystrophies. These disorders impair the growth or development of the myelin sheath, the fatty covering that acts as an insulator around nerve fibers, and cause severe degeneration of mental and motor skills.

Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy
Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy (INAD) is a rare, inherited neurological disorder. It affects axons, the part of a nerve cell that carries messages from the brain to other parts of the body, and causes progressive loss of vision, muscular control, and mental skills.

Gaucher Disease Information
Gaucher disease (GD) is an inherited metabolic disorder in which harmful quantities of a fatty substance called glucocerebroside accumulate in the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow, and sometimes in the brain.

Farber's Disease Information
Farber's disease (FD) included in a group of inherited metabolic disorders called lipid storage diseases, in which excess amounts of lipids (oils, fatty acids, and related compounds) build up to harmful levels in the joints, tissues, and central nervous system.

Cerebro Oculo Facio Skeletal Syndrome
Cerebro oculo facio skeletal (COFS) syndrome is a pediatric, genetic, degenerative disorder that involves the brain and the spinal cord that begins before birth.

Short-rib Polydactyly Syndrome Gene Identified
After 12 years of searching, UCLA scientists have tracked down the first known gene mutation responsible for a heartbreaking disorder that kills newborn babies. Published in the April 1 online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics, their findings will allow for earlier testing of embryos at risk for the disease.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Children
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a document entitled: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: Guidelines for Referral and Diagnosis. This document established a general consensus among medical professionals, on what constitutes a diagnosis in the USA.

Osgood-Schlatters Disease
Discovered in 1903 by Dr. Robert Bayley Osgood and Dr. Carl Schlatter, Osgood-Schlatters Disease is often found among young athletes and children, mainly affecting boys and girls between 10-16 years of age. Pain, swelling, and inflammation are symptoms that typically characterize Osgood-Schlatters Disease.

Decline in Child Kidney Function Identified
The findings indicate that the level of kidney impairment, the cause of kidney disease, and race are linked to proteinuria the presence of protein in the urine. The results provide new information regarding the importance of proteinuria and the factors associated with its development in the largest group of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) ever studied.

Cleft Lip Defect in Infants
On the average, one in every one thousand babies are born with a defect known as cleft lip and/or palate. A cleft lip is a split that runs through the center of the lip and may extend into the nostril. A cleft palate may separate the soft and hard muscular tissues and /or the entire roof of the mouth. A child may be born with either defect or a combination.

Severe Pediatric Epilepsy Disorder Cause Found
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that convulsive seizures in a form of severe epilepsy are generated, not on the brain's surface as expected, but from within the memory-forming hippocampus.

Childhood Arthritis - Too Many Children Face the Pain
The alarming number of Canadian children and adolescents struck by arthritis debunks the common myth that arthritis is just a disease of the elderly, according to The Arthritis Society. Affecting about 1 in 1,000 Canadians under the age of 16, juvenile arthritis (JA) is a leading chronic disease among kids in this country.

Classifying Concussions in Kids
It's estimated that more than a half million kids in the U.S. go to the hospital each year with a concussion. That's an average of a kid per minute - every minute of every day. Some concussions are worse than others but it might surprise you to know that almost all of them are treated the same. New research is pointing toward a more sophisticated way of diagnosing and treating concussions in kids.

SIDS - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, also known as SIDS is the sudden, unexplainable death of a child who was in a healthy condition. SIDS occurs mostly in infants between the ages of one month and one year. It claims the lives of one in every two thousand babies per year. There has been a decline since previous years due to research on the topic, which has lead to prevention breakthroughs.

Childhood Cancer Types
Information regarding childhood cancers including leukemia's and forms of liver cancer in children.