Archive for December, 2008
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
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admin 31 December, 2008
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This serious disorder—once considered to be a rare form of kidney disease—in recent years has become more common as a complication of food-borne infection of ESCHERICHIA COLI 0157:H7. In very young children, between two and seven percent of E. coli 0157:H7 infections lead to this complication. In fact, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is the main cause of kidney failure in American children.
Symptoms
As the bacteria enter the kidneys, causing bleeding and destroying red blood cells, the child becomes pale and tired, with a fever and rising blood pressure. The kidneys shut down and urine is no longer produced.
Treatment
HUS is a life-threatening condition that must be treated in a hospital intensive care unit, where the child receives blood transfusions and is placed on kidney dialysis to allow the organs to recover. Most patients do recover at this point, but a small percentage (about 15 percent) do not and thus require permanent dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Even with intensive care, the death rate from this complication is still between 3 and 5 percent. One-third of the survivors will have abnormal kidney function years later and a few need long-term dialysis. Another 8 percent suffer with other complications, including high blood pressure, seizures, blindness, and paralysis for the rest of their lives.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Hemangioma
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admin 31 December, 2008
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A benign tumor or birthmark caused by an abnormal number of blood vessels in the skin. Hemangiomas may be either superficial, superficial and deep, or deep.
Superficial hemangiomas, known as STRAWBERRY BIRTHMARKS, are bright red protrusions that develop shortly after birth. At about the age of six months the tumor begins to subside and the red color slowly fades; by age seven, the hemangioma completely disappears.
Deep hemangiomas are blue and never clear up by themselves. These are found most often in young children, usually on the head and neck. Deep hemangiomas are composed of dilated veins rather than capillaries and are distinguished by their slow growth and by the fact that they do not disappear.
Treatment
Superficial hemangiomas do not require treatment for any medical reason, but if the marks appear on the face there may be psychological reasons to remove these tumors. Superficial hemangiomas may be removed by pulsed dye lasers, which are most successful in young patients.
Deep hemangiomas subject the child to profound psychological stress and can permanently rob children of their sight, or distort their facial features if present for too long. Systemic corticosteroids may help the lesions shrink, and cryotherapy, electrodessication, carbon idoxide, or argon laser treatments can successfully remove the growths.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Helicobacter Pylori
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admin 29 December, 2008
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A type of bacteria that can cause digestive illnesses, including inflammation and infection of the stomach lining, and peptic ulcer (sores on the lining of the stomach or small intestine). Experts believe that most such infections produce no symptoms, so a child can have an infection without knowing it. When the bacteria do cause symptoms, they are usually either symptoms of gastritis or peptic ulcer disease. Scientists suspect that H. pylori infection may be contagious, because the infection seems to run in families and is more common where people live in crowded or unsanitary conditions.
Symptoms
In children, symptoms of gastritis may include nausea, vomiting, and pain in the abdomen, in addition to stomach ulcers. In older children, the most common symptom of stomach ulcers is a gnawing or burning pain in the abdomen, usually in the area below the ribs and above the navel. This pain typically gets worse on an empty stomach and improves with food, milk, or an antacid medicine.
About 20 percent of children with this condition have bleeding ulcers, causing bloody vomit or black, bloody, or tarry stools. Younger children with stomach ulcers may not have symptoms as clear-cut as those of older children, and their illness may be harder to diagnose.
H. Pylori vs. Campylobacter Pylori
H. pylori was once grouped with the Campylobacter species of bacteria, Campylobacter pylori. Medical researchers have now placed H. pylori in its own category, noting its role in causing gastritis, stomach ulcers, and possibly two types of stomach cancer. In industrialized countries, the infection is rare in children, although risk of infection is higher for persons who live in overcrowded or unsanitary conditions.
Diagnosis
Doctors can make the diagnosis of an H. pylori infection by using many different types of tests. They may look at the stomach lining directly with an endoscope, and take samples of the lining to be checked in the laboratory for microscopic signs of infection and for H. pylori bacteria. They may also conduct blood or a breath test.
Treatment
Doctors treat H. pylori infections using antibiotics. Because the bacteria may not be killed with a single antibiotic, a combination of antibiotics may be given. The doctor will probably also prescribe antacid medication and medicine to block production of stomach acid. If a child has symptoms of bleeding from the stomach or small intestine, these symptoms will be treated in a hospital. Over time, with proper treatment H. pylori gastritis and stomach ulcers (especially ulcers in the duodenum, a portion of the small intestine) can often be cured.
H. pylori infection can be cured with antibiotics. The pediatrician may also give antacids or acid suppressing drugs to neutralize or block production of stomach acids. One way to help soothe the abdominal pain of H. pylori infections is by following a regular meal schedule. This means planning meals so that a child’sstomach does not remain empty for long periods. Eating five or six smaller meals each day may be best, followed by some time to rest after each meal. Aspirin, ibuprofen, or anti-inflammatory drugs should be avoided because these may irritate the stomach or cause stomach bleeding. If a child vomits blood or has vomit that looks like coffee, a doctor should be called immediately.
Prevention
There is no vaccine against H. pylori. Although research suggests that infection is passed from person to person, scientists do not really know exactly how this happens, so it is difficult to present prevention guidelines. However, it is always important to wash hands thoroughly, eat food that has been properly prepared, and drink water from a safe source.
When to Call the Doctor
Stomachaches are quite common in children, and most are not caused by H. pylori bacteria. Still, a doctor should be consulted if a child has any of the following symptoms:
- severe abdominal pain
- bloody vomit
- bloody, black, or tarry stool
- persistent gnawing/burning pain below the ribs that improves after eating, drinking milk, or taking antacids
Categories : Health and Wellness
Heimlich Maneuver
Posted by
admin 29 December, 2008
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The Heimlich maneuver is a series of abdominal thrusts designed to create an artificial cough, which forces a foreign object out of the airway. More than 2,600 children die from accidental choking each year in this country, according to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP).
These accidents are usually attributed to food, liquid, balloons, marbles, or other foreign objects that lodge in the airway and result in suffocation. Children are more susceptible to choking because their airways are narrower than adults’ airways. Foods commonly implicated in choking incidents include nuts, grapes, hot dogs, popcorn, chunks of meat, hard candy, and peanut butter.
The Heimlich maneuver can be performed on an older child or adolescent using this method:
- The helper stands behind the child and locates the bottom rib with the hand.
- The helper moves the hand across the abdomen to the area above the navel, and makes a fist. The thumb side of the fist is kept on the child’s abdomen.
- The helper places the other hand over the fist, pressing into the child’ s stomach with a quick upward thrust until the foreign object is dislodged. The force of the thrust should be adjusted according to the child’s physique. A heavy 15-year-old girl needs a firmer thrust than would a six-year-old child.
- The helper should have someone else call 911 after the Heimlich maneuver begins, or if the child has lost consciousness. The Heimlich maneuver should be continued until the object is dislodged.
- If the child stops breathing, loses a heartbeat, and becomes unresponsive, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) should be started immediately until help arrives.
Heimlich Maneuver on a Baby
The Heimlich maneuver should not be performed on a baby if the baby can cough strongly and breathe, cry, or make a normal voice sound. If the baby cannot do any of these things, there may be a serious airway blockage.
No one should try to attempt to retrieve the object blocking the airway unless it is visible in the mouth. If visible, the object can be swept out with a finger. By attempting to retrieve an object that is not visible, a helper risks pushing it farther down the baby’s windpipe. Someone should call 911 while the helper begins the Heimlich maneuver this way:
On an infant less than a year old:
- The baby should be held face down in the helper’s forearm, with the forearm extended out in front, making sure the baby’s head is lower than its feet.
- With the palm of the other hand, hit the baby’s back, gently but firmly, five times between the shoulder blades.
- Turn the baby face up in the helper’s arm, and perform five chest thrusts, using the third and fourth fingers of the other hand. Repeat steps two and three until the object is expelled.
- If the baby becomes unresponsive, stops breathing, or loses a heartbeat, infant CPR should be started until help arrives.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Heat Rash
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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An irritating skin rash also known as prickly heat that is associated with obstruction of the sweat glands and accompanied by prickly feelings on the skin. The medical term for prickly heat is miliaria rubra, the Latin term for “red millet seeds,” which refers to the appearance of the rash. A milder form of the condition, known as miliaria crystalline, sometimes appears first as clear, shiny, fluid-filled blisters that dry up without treatment.
Symptoms
Numerous tiny, red, itchy spots cover mildly inflamed parts of the skin where the sweat collects, especially in the waist, upper body, armpits, and insides of the elbows. With prickly heat, the child is comfortable sleeping only in cool surroundings. Lack of sleep and intense skin irritation can make the child irritable.
Cause
While doctors are not completely sure of the reason behind the development of prickly heat, it is believed to be associated with trapped sweat.
Treatment
Frequent cool showers and sponging the area will relieve the itch. Calamine lotion and dusting powder may also help to ease the discomfort. Clothes should be clean, dry, starch-free, and loose to help sweat evaporate.
Prevention
Slow acclimation to hot weather will reduce the chance of prickly heat. Avoiding strenuous activities in the heat will also help prevent the problem.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Heat Illnesses
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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Children normally cool themselves by sweating and releasing heat through the skin. Under certain circumstances, such as unusually high temperatures, high humidity, or vigorous exercise in hot weather, this natural cooling system may begin to fail, allowing internal heat to build up to dangerous levels. The result may be heat illness, which can be in the form of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, or heatstroke.
Heat Cramps
These brief, severe cramps in the muscles of the leg, arm, or abdomen may occur during or after vigorous exercise in extreme heat; they are painful but not serious. Children are particularly susceptible to heat cramps when they have not been drinking enough fluids. Most heat cramps do not require special treatment other than a cool place to rest. Fluids should ease the child’s discomfort, and massaging the muscles may help.
Heat Exhaustion
Heat exhaustion is a more severe heat illness than heat cramps. It can occur when a child in a hot climate or environment has not been drinking enough fluids. A child can lose up to a quart of sweat during a two-hour sports game, and children are more susceptible to DEHYDRATION and heat exhaustion than adults; active children who do not drink enough are most at risk.
Symptoms Symptoms can include dehydration, fatigue, weakness, clammy skin, headache, nausea and/or vomiting, rapid breathing, or irritability.
Treatment The child should rest in a cool area, drink fluids, and be encouraged to eat. Clothing should be loosened or removed, and the child should be sponged with cool (not cold) water. A doctor should be called for more advice.
If the child is too exhausted or ill to eat or drink, intravenous fluids may be necessary. If left untreated, heat exhaustion may escalate into heatstroke, which can be fatal.
Heatstroke
Heatstroke is the most severe form of heat illness and is a life-threatening emergency. When significantly overheated, the body loses its ability to regulate its own temperature and fever can soar to 105°F or even higher, leading to brain damage or even death if not quickly treated. Prompt medical treatment is required to bring body temperature under control.
Risk Overdressing for the climate and extreme physical exertion in hot weather with inadequate fluid intake increase the risk of heatstroke. Heatstroke also can occur if a child is trapped in a car on a hot day. When the outside temperature is 93°F, the temperature inside a car can reach 125° in just 20 minutes, quickly raising a child’s body temperature to dangerous levels.
Symptoms Emergency medical help should be obtained immediately if a child has been outside in the sun for a long time and shows one or more of the following symptoms of heatstroke:
- headache
- dizziness or weakness
- disorientation, agitation, or confusion
- sluggishness or fatigue
- seizures
- hot, dry skin
- temperature of 105°F or higher
- loss of consciousness.
Treatment A child with any of the above symptoms should be moved indoors or into the shade, undressed, and sponged or doused with cool (not cold) water.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Heart Problems
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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While most people think of heart disease as an adult problem, more than 40,000 American children are born with a heart defect each year, and others develop heart disease in childhood. Congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect and are the number one cause of death from birth defects during the first year of life. Nearly twice as many children die from congenital heart disease in the United States each year as die from all forms of childhood cancers combined. At present at least 35 different heart defects in children have now been identified.
Still, the outlook for children born with heart disease is slowly improving. The risk of dying after congenital heart surgery has declined from 30 percent in the 1970s to 5 percent today.
Congenital Heart Disease
Most heart disease in children is congenital, which means that a structural problem with the heart was present at birth. Eight out of 1,000 infants will be born with a congenital heart defect—about 35,000 babies each year. Defects range in severity from simple problems—holes between heart chambers, abnormal valves or connections of heart vessels, abnormally narrow heart vessels—to very severe malformations, such as the complete absence of one or more chambers or valves.
Defects appear when a mishap occurs during heart development soon after conception—often before the mother realizes she is pregnant. These defects are usually but not always diagnosed early in life.
Severe heart disease generally becomes evident during the first few months after birth. Some problems trigger very low blood pressure shortly after birth; others cause breathing difficulties, feeding problems, or poor weight gain. Minor defects are most often diagnosed on a routine medical checkup, since these defects rarely cause symptoms. While most heart murmurs in children are normal, some may be due to defects.
Cause The cause of congenital heart problems is often unknown. Although the reason most defects occur is presumed to be genetic, only a few genes have been discovered that have been linked to the presence of heart defects. Rarely the ingestion of some drugs and the occurrence of some infections during pregnancy can cause defects. A maternal viral infection may also produce serious problems. For example, if a pregnant mother gets GERMAN MEASLES (rubella), the infection may interfere with the baby’s heart as it develops or may lead to other malformations. Other viral diseases also may cause defects before birth. Certain conditions that affect multiple organs, such as DOWN SYNDROME, also can involve the heart.
Acquired Heart Disease
Acquired heart disease develops at some point during childhood as a result of infection—a much more unusual type of heart disease. This includes conditions such as KAWASAKI DISEASE, RHEUMATIC FEVER, and infective endocarditis. Children also can develop heart rate problems such as slow, fast, or irregular heart beats, known as “arrhythmias.”
Diagnosis
The echocardiogram is a noninvasive procedure that uses ultrasound to image the structures of the heart. Doctors can obtain much more echocardiographic information in children than in adults. The structure of these hearts is often extremely different from the normal adult heart. Heart surgery texts often devote five times as many chapters to congenital heart problems as they do to adult heart diseases.
Catheterization, a common procedure for evaluating adult heart conditions, is used less often in children because inserting a catheter into a child’s tiny artery carries a much higher risk. Only about one in four children must have the procedure for diagnosis.
Treatment
Because most childhood heart problems require sophisticated care, it is important that these children be treated in a center that specializes in pediatric cardiology. These centers can provide the highly skilled technical expertise needed, specialized diagnostic equipment designed for children, and the social and emotional support needed by the families.
Surgery itself involves much more sophisticated techniques than for adults, because the structure of a child’s heart is so small. Of equal significance is the degree of care necessary to support the child under anesthesia, where medications must be administered precisely matched to the child’s weight.
In the past repairs to a child’s heart were often delayed because the risks were so significant, but today doctors realize delay can interfere with growth and cause FAILURE TO THRIVE. Modern doctors believe that preserving heart function as soon as possible permanently improves the quality of life. Half of all heart repairs in children are now done less than one month following birth.
Prognosis
Virtually all children with simple defects survive into adulthood. Although exercise capacity may be limited, most lead normal or nearly normal lives.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Head Injury
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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Even the mildest bump on the head is capable of damaging the brain. More than a million of these head injuries every year are sustained by children, 30,000 of whom will suffer permanent disabilities. In fact, 60 percent of patients who sustain a mild brain injury continue to have a range of symptoms called “post concussion syndrome” as long as six months after the injury. These symptoms can result in a puzzling interplay of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional complaints that can be difficult to diagnose and that can cause ongoing discomfort and destroy personal lives.
Boys are twice as likely to be injured as girls, especially between the ages of 14 and 24. Children are more likely to incur traumatic brain injury during the spring and summer. Traffic accidents account for almost half of the injuries in school-age children and teens; about 34 percent occur at home and the rest in recreation areas. In young children, abuse is the primary cause of head injury; 64 percent of babies under age one who are physically abused have brain injuries, usually caused by shaking. In children under age five, half of all head injuries are related to falls.
The kind of injury the brain receives in a closed head injury is determined by the type of accident: whether or not the head was restrained on impact, and the direction, force, and velocity of the blow. If the head is resting upon impact, the maximum damage will be found at the impact site; a moving head will experience damage on the side opposite the point of impact. A closed head injury can cause widespread damage as the force of impact causes the brain to smash against the opposite side of the skull, tearing nerve fibers and blood vessels. This type of injury may affect the brain stem, causing physical, intellectual, emotional, and social problems. The entire personality of the child may be forever changed.
Symptoms
The signs following head injury may be elusive, but it is important to understand that symptoms tend to get worse over time. If a child begins to play or run immediately after getting a bump on the head, for example, serious injury is unlikely, but the child should still be closely watched for 24 hours.
Symptoms after a head injury may be caused both from the direct physical damage to the brain and from secondary factors such as lack of oxygen, swelling, and blood flow disturbances.
Both kinds of injuries can cause swirling movements throughout the brain, tearing nerve fibers and causing widespread vascular damage. There may be bleeding in the brain, and swelling may raise pressure inside the skull and block oxygen to the brain.
After a head injury, there may be a period of impaired consciousness followed by a period of confusion and poor memory with disorientation, and problems with the ability to store and retrieve new information. The physical and emotional shock of the accident interrupts the transfer of all short-term memory information just before the accident. This is why some children can remember information several days before and after an accident but not information right before the accident occurred. Indeed, brain scan research indicates that contusions and diffuse injuries associated with mild head injury are likely to affect those parts of the brain that relate to memory, concentration, information processing, and problem solving.
There may be a temporary amnesia following head injury that often begins with memory loss over a period of weeks, months, or years before the injury, diminishing as recovery proceeds. Permanent amnesia, however, may extend for just a few seconds or minutes before the accident; in very severe head injuries, however, the permanent amnesia may cover weeks or months before the accident.
A small minority of children are plagued by symptoms, including headache, dizziness, confusion, and memory loss, which may continue for months. Obvious warning signs include:
- lethargy
- confusion
- irritability
- severe headaches
- changes in speech, vision, or movement
- bleeding
- vomiting
- seizure
- coma
More subtle signs of head injury may also appear gradually, and may include:
- long- and short-term memory problems
- slowed thinking
- distorted perception
- concentration problems
- attention deficits
- communication problems (oral or written)
- poor planning and sequencing
- poor judgment
- changes in mood or personality
Sometimes, certain behavior may appear long after the traumatic brain injury occurs. These behaviors may include overeating or drinking, excessive talking, restlessness, disorientation, or seizure disorders.
Diagnosis
In the past, diagnostic tests were not sensitive enough to detect the subtle structural changes that can occur and persist after a mild head injury. While computerized axial tomography (CAT) scans are widely available in emergency rooms to help diagnose brain bruises, many experts believe these scans may not pick up the subtle damage after a mild head injury. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and PET scan are more sensitive in pinpointing many brain lesions and may be more sensitive in detecting the diffuse shearing and contusions as well.
In many children, however, brain scans cannot detect the microscopic damage that occurs when fibers are stretched in a mild, diffuse injury, as brain axons lose some of their covering and become less efficient. This mild injury to the white matter of the brain reduces the quality of communication between different parts of the brain. In this case, a quantitative electroencephalogram (EEG)—that measures the time delay between two regions of the brain and the amount of time it takes for information to be sent from one region to another—may help to reveal damage. Evoked potential brain tests are not generally used in children with mild head injury because they are not sensitive enough to document physiological abnormalities unless testing is done within a day or two of injury.
Treatment
Only a small percentage of children with mild head injury are hospitalized overnight, and instructions upon leaving the emergency room usually do not address behavioral, cognitive, and emotional symptoms that can occur after such an injury. Patients who do experience symptoms should be seen by a specialist. Unless doctors are thoroughly familiar with medical literature in this new field, experts warn that there is a good chance that patient complaints will be ignored. Parents of children with continuing symptoms after a mild head injury should call the local office of the Brain Injury Association for a referral to a specialist.
Prevention
Head injuries can be prevented by taking appropriate safety precautions, such as insisting that children wear helmets when biking, riding a scooter, skating, sledding, or skiing. Children also should wear seat belts and ride in the backseats of cars.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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A respiratory illness caused by a new strain of hantavirus (a group of viruses carried by rodents) that causes its victims to gasp for air as their lungs fill with fluid. It kills about half the people it infects, usually within a week. Hantaviruses can be found throughout the world, where more than 170 names have been given to the hantavirus infections, including the often-fatal hemorrhagic fever. The syndrome was first diagnosed in the United States in 1993 at a Navajo reservation in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.
Until 1993, hantaviruses around the world had been linked to the development of hemorrhagic fever, but the strain that was discovered in Four Corners provoked a new disease, with debilitating flu-like symptoms and respiratory failure. Today the number of infections with the hantavirus in the United States is rising, reaching 131; almost half have been fatal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 50 of the 131 cases occurred before the Navajo reservation outbreak. Since the Navajo outbreak, more than 100 cases of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome have been reported in 21 states (including New York). In addition, seven cases have been diagnosed in Canada and four in Brazil.
Cause
The hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents responsible for a variety of diseases including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fever. They are not passed directly from human to human. The severity of the illness it causes depends on the strain.
Each hantavirus infects primarily one type of rodent. The Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, Prospect Hill, and Porogia strains are five viruses within the Hantavirus genus, the newly added fifth genus within the Bunyaviridae family. The Hantaan virus was isolated in a Korean lab in 1976 from the lungs of a striped field mouse. The Seoul virus infects domestic rats, and the Puumala virus affects the bank vole. Deer mice carry the U.S. strains.
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) is caused by a hantavirus named Muerto Canyon (Valley of Death) virus for the spot in New Mexico where it was isolated. The disease can be spread by several common rodent species (deer mice, whitefooted mice, and cotton rats) and has been found in 24 states; it is most common in New Mexico, which has had 28 cases; in Arizona, with 21 cases, and in California, with 13 cases. Hantaviruses are not passed directly from human to human.
Scientists believe the outbreak was triggered by climate irregularities associated with the most recent El Niño (the occasional warming of waters in the tropical Pacific). While it is believed that the mice who carry the virus probably were infected for years, the climate-induced explosion in the deer mouse population may have fueled the spread of the disease in humans.
People can become infected with the virus after being bitten by rodents, and many people who have developed the disease live in mice-infested homes. Researchers do not know why some people are susceptible to the infection while others are not. The hantavirus does not appear to be highly infectious, and it almost always occurs in isolated cases. There were only four instances in which more than one case occurred at the same time and place.
Symptoms
Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome begins as a flulike illness with fever and chills, muscle aches, and cough; it can be easily misdiagnosed as HEPATITIS or an inflamed pancreas. The virus goes on to damage the kidneys and lungs, causing an accumulation of fluid that can overwhelm the lungs. The disease is fatal in 40 percent of cases.
Treatment
There is no treatment approved specifically for hantavirus. However, if the infection is recognized early and the child is taken to an intensive care unit, some may do better. In intensive care, patients are intubated and given oxygen therapy to help them through the period of severe respiratory distress. The earlier the child is brought in to intensive care, the better. Patients experiencing full distress are less likely to survive.
Children who have been around rodents and have symptoms of fever, deep muscle aches, and severe shortness of breath should see a doctor immediately. Parents should be sure to inform the doctor that the child has been around rodents, which will alert the physician to look closely for any rodent-carried disease such as HPS. Although the antiviral drug Virazole (ribavirin) is effective in a related disease (hemorrhagic fever) caused by Old World hantaviruses, it is not effective against HPS and is not recommended. Ribavirin is not available for this use under and existing research protocol.
Prevention
For the first time, in October 2003 scientists demonstrated that an experimental vaccine against hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) triggered a strong antibody response—a response that is key to preventing the virus from causing infection. In addition, the antibodies, produced in nonhuman primates that received the vaccine, protected hamsters from disease even when administered five days after exposure.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) cautions homeowners about rodent excretion, even though hantavirus is a rare disease. People should assume that all rodent excretions are infected and should handle the droppings only after spraying them with disinfectant and wearing gloves.
Categories : Health and Wellness
Gum Disease
Posted by
admin 28 December, 2008
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Infection at the roots of the teeth that causes bleeding, receding gums that—if unchecked—can lead to tooth loss.
New research at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry showed that it is possible to treat severe root-level bacterial infections with antibiotics, not surgery. Until recently, most dentists treated gum disease by scraping or planing away the root-level plaque and tartar caused by bacteria. In severe cases, oral surgeons made cuts at the gum line to improve access to the affected roots.
The new treatment includes drug capsules to be taken for two to four weeks (depending on the severity of the problem), followed by as many as three rounds of topical antibiotics by temporarily gluing on experimental drug-impregnated cellulose film into the root surface. Using this regimen, researchers avoided surgery or extraction for 88 percent of patients, including 67 percent of those with teeth identified by other dentists as too infected to save.
Categories : Health and Wellness
