The Health Care Blog

Children Headaches

September 22nd, 2009 -- Posted in Migraine | No Comments »

Children and teenagers also suffer from a variety of headaches, with most of the headaches caused by viruses, such as the common cold or flu.

When to Seek Help

Most parents might be concerned that their child’s headache could be due to something more serious, like meningitis or a brain tumor. To help ease your worries, a visit to the doctor is required if your child has a headache with the following symptoms:

• continuous vomiting
• irritability
• confusion
• lethargy
• breathing problems
• weak or rapid pulse
• not hungry or thirsty
• a stiff neck
• difficulty in walkingpersonality changes

When a child who regularly suffers from headaches and has already been checked by a doctor suddenly complains that a particular headache is worse than usual, it is time for another visit to the doctor, especially if the child seems more ill with it. Common causes of headaches in children could be the following:

Upper Respiratory Infection

It is possible for a headache to be present if your child has a cold, sore throat or infected sinuses. If the headache becomes intense or worse, and the child starts to develop a fever, consult a doctor.

Migraines

Children can have something called a Classic Migraine, which doesn’t start off with headaches. Rather, your child can first have frequent bouts of vomiting and an upset stomach, known as a gastric migraine. Over a period of months, this gastric migraine then develops into the classic headaches.

Similar to adults, children with classic migraine have the following symptoms:

• Feeling sick
• Being sick
• Blurry vision
• A headache on one side of the head
• Changes in sight and smell that signal a migraine is coming on, known as an aura

Children can also have Common Migraines, which may appear like ordinary headaches without the changes in vision or getting sick. Common migraines can be remedied with sleep. It is also quite common for kids with migraines to have other family members that have them.

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches are a type of headache that can also be frequent in children, which is probably an indication that they are stressed out. A tension headache is described as a dull ache that happens daily and do not go away at all with sleep.

Eyestrain

When children going to school usually complain of headaches and not being able to see the board properly, eyestrain is most probably the cause. A solution would be to have your child’s vision checked. The headaches stop once the child ‘s vision has been corrected with the right lenses.

Meningitis

Meningitis is a type of dangerous infection. It is best to seek help immediately if you think your child may have meningitis. Common symptoms to watch out for are:

• Stiff neck
• Dislike for the light Fever
• Being sick
• Rash
• Rapid pulse
• Irritability
• Lethargy
• Seizures

Intravenous antibiotics will be given if the meningitis is bacterial, and careful observation will be required if it is found to be viral in nature.

Brain Tumor

Headaches caused by a brain tumor is probably every parent’s worst fear for their child. Some of the warning signs are:

• Suffering frequent or severe headaches than usual
• Vomiting
• Seizures
• Waking up with a headache each morning
• Having a headache that prevents the child from sleeping
• Having a headache that feels worse when lying down
• Having a headache that feels worse when coughing or sneezing
• Seeing double
• Problems with walking
• Personality changes

If you are concerned that your child’s headaches may be caused by a brain tumor, have your child checked by a doctor who can make a full evaluation.

Tips For A Good Diabetes Diet

September 3rd, 2009 -- Posted in Diabetes Melitus | No Comments »

Many people believe that diabetics require a special diabetes diet and that they must avoid certain foods altogether, or replace them with specially formulated “Diabetic” or “Dietetic” items purchased from health food stores. This is not the case and diabetics can eat exactly the same food as everybody else.

This said, because diabetes is a metabolic disorder and is associated with the control of glucose within the bloodstream, diabetics do need to pay particular attention to their diet and ensure that they are receiving a correctly balanced diet.

One question that often arises is that of just what sort of foods diabetics should be looking for when it comes to creating a balanced diet. Well, here are tips for a good diabetes diet:

1. Include a good range of both fruit and vegetables and try to avoid sticking to your two or three favorites. The color test is a good one to apply here. Try to ensure that the range of fruit and vegetables that you are eating spans the colors of the rainbow. So, include a wide range such as oranges, bananas, apples, carrots, red cabbage and beans. Also, include vegetables that are low in starch, or starch-free, such as spinach and broccoli.
2. Eat whole grain rather than processed food and choose things like brown rather than white rice and whole wheat spaghetti.
3. Include fish in your diabetes diet at least twice a week. Fish is an excellent source of protein and also contains a number of essential oils. For preference, boil, steam, bake or grill fish but try to avoid frying fish and, especially, frying fish in batter.
4. Choose lean cuts of meat and roast, grill, bake, braise or stew meat rather than fry it. A good tip when buying meat is to choose cuts that include the word “loin” such as pork loin or sirloin. When cooking poultry and wildfowl you should remove the skin before serving and should avoid particularly fatty meats such as duck.
5. Select non-fat dairy products such as skimmed milk and non-fat cheese and yoghurt. Although these products are a very healthy option many people find that they simply lack any real taste and, for many, this is a difficult option. If this is the case then meet the problem half way by choosing low-fat rather than non-fat products and compensate for this by using them sparingly in your diabetes diet.
6. Avoid high calorie sweetened drinks, particularly those that are carbonated, and try to drink more water and natural fruit juices. Also be careful not to consume too much tea or coffee and add only as much sugar as in necessary for taste. You’ll be surprised just how easy it is to cut out sugar entirely from things like tea and coffee if you try and you’ll end up enjoying both just as much as you did previously.
7. Cut back on desserts and, while it’s fine to eat cake and ice-cream from time to time try to include such items in your diet just once or twice a week rather than every day. In addition, ease yourself away from full cream ice-cream and cakes to lower fat alternatives.

At this stage you are probably saying to yourself that this simply looks like a normal healthy eating routine and doesn’t seem to address the issue of diabetes specifically. Well, you’re quite right. There is no such thing as a “diabetic diet” and all that is required to control diabetes in terms of diet is a simple and sensible habit of eating a good balance of healthy foods.