When we say Mr. Smith’s heart attack was caused by the stress of retirement, blame our brother’s death on his anguish over being widowed, or nod ruefully when we catch the flu the week we move, we are agreeing to a belief as old as ancient times: that major disruptions in the pattern of life [...]
Tags: General Health
Older people do not move even once, however. In spite of their reputation as migrants, people over sixty-five are the least likely to change residence of adults of any age. Our early twenties, not our sixties, are the time of life when we are most likely to move. As the years pass and we establish [...]
Tags: General Health
If you suspect that your child has a fracture, see your doctor. Most fractured limbs need to be splinted or put into a plaster cast. This enables the bones to unite and mend without being disturbed by any movement. If the fracture is a complicated one, or it is open to the surface, your child [...]
Tags: General Health
BOW LEGS Young babies commonly have marked bowing of their legs, especially if they are of a rather sturdy build. When the child stands with his feet together, the ankles touch but the knees are separated. This is considered to be a normal variant, caused by poor alignment of the bones of the thighs and [...]
Tags: General Health
Scoliosis is an abnormal sideways curvature of any part of the spine, and most commonly occurs in preadolescent girls. The cause of scoliosis in this group of children is unknown. Rarer causes of scoliosis include cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy. Scoliosis is usually discovered during routine screening at school. It rarely causes problems during childhood, [...]
Tags: General Health
Clubfoot is a deformity of the foot which is present at birth. The baby’s foot is turned inward, with the inner edge turned upwards. The calf muscles may be poorly developed. This condition occurs in approximately 1 in 1000 births. The cause is uncertain, but the condition is probably due to an abnormality of the [...]
Tags: General Health
You can help your child to have healthy teeth by ensuring the following: • Check to see if the water in your area is fluoridated. If not, add fluoride supplements to the baby’s diet. Your dentist can recommend the correct dose and form. • Do not let your baby or young child go to bed [...]
Tags: General Health
Nicotinamide, or Vitamin B7, is also widely distributed in most foodstuffs. Lack of this vitamin — and usually wittf an associated lack of riboflavin — produces the disease known as pellagra, and this usually is seen in those whose staple diet is maize and little else. Vitamin B6, or pyridoxine, is required for the proper [...]
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Genteel ladies of the Victorian age were prone to attacks of “the vapors”. Smelling salts, whose pungent odor revived them, was a most necessary constituent of any first aid kit of the time. Syncope, a faint, a vasovagal attack, are all labels for this common condition. A faint occurs when the blood pressure suddenly drops [...]
Tags: General Health
Changes may occur in the cells of the cervix. This is known as dysplasia and can be recognised on the Papanicolaou smear. It is believed these changes may be pre-malignant so that treatment at this stage could prevent the development of cancer. Cancer-in-situ is also detected by the smear. This is cancer at its earliest [...]
Tags: General Health
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