Traveling and Asthma

Your child's asthma shouldn't stop you from planning a family vacation, sending your child to stay with friends for a week, or signing your child up for sleepover camp. With some careful preparation and communication, you and your child should be able to enjoy all the benefits of life away from home.Before you travel, make sure that your child's asthma is well controlled. If it's been flaring up, you should check in with the doctor. Your child m

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Alcohol (wine, beer, or liquor) is the leading known preventable cause of mental and physical birth defects in the United States. When a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, she risks giving birth to a child who will pay the price — in mental and physical deficiencies — for his or her entire life. Yet many pregnant women do drink alcohol. It's estimated that each year in the United States, 1 in every 750 infants is born with a pattern of phy

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Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease is an illness that involves the skin, mouth, and lymph nodes, and most often affects kids under age 5. The cause is unknown, but if the symptoms are recognized early, kids with Kawasaki disease can fully recover within a few days. Untreated, it can lead to serious complications that can affect the heart. Kawasaki disease occurs in 19 out of every 100,000 kids in the United States. It is most common among children of Japanese an

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Ewing's Sarcoma

Ewing's sarcoma is a cancerous tumor that grows in bones or soft tissue near bones and usually affects adolescents. Named after Dr. James Ewing, the American pathologist who identified the cancer in the 1920s, it can develop anywhere in the body, but most commonly affects the arms, legs, ribs, spinal column, and pelvis. Treatment for Ewing's sarcoma involves a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation. With early diagnosis and pro

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Neurocutaneous Syndromes

Neurocutaneous syndromes are genetic disorders that lead to abnormal growth of tumors in various parts of the body. These disorders usually first appear as skin lesions like birthmarks, but can eventually lead to tumors that affect the central nervous system and other parts of the body. While some conditions can be diagnosed at birth, others don't produce symptoms until later in life. These diseases are caused by the abnormal development of cel

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Asperger Syndrome

Asperger syndrome (AS) is a neurobiological disorder that is part of a group of conditions called autism spectrum disorders. The term "autism spectrum" refers to a range of developmental disabilities that includes autism as well as other disorders with similar characteristics. They are known as spectrum disorders because the symptoms of each can appear in different combinations and in varying degrees of severity: two children with the same diag

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Night Terrors

Most parents have comforted their child after the occasional nightmare. But if your child has ever experienced what's known as a night terror (or sleep terror), his or her fear was likely inconsolable — no matter what you tried. A night terror is a sleep disruption that seems similar to a nightmare, but with a far more dramatic presentation. Though night terrors can be alarming for parents who witness them, they're not typically cause for conce

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Febrile Seizures

Febrile seizures are full-body convulsions caused by high fevers (febrile means "feverish"). They affect kids 6 months to 5 years old, and are most common in toddlers 12 to 18 months old. The seizures typically last for a few minutes and are accompanied by a fever above 102° Fahrenheit (38.9° Celsius). Although they can be frightening, febrile seizures usually stop on their own and don't cause any other health problems. Having one doesn't mean

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Dwarfism

There's been a lot of discussion over the years about the proper way to refer to a child with dwarfism. Many people who have the condition prefer the term "little person" or "person of short stature." For some, "dwarf" is acceptable. For most, "midget" definitely is not. But here's an idea everyone can agree on: Why not simply call a person with dwarfism by his or her name? Being of short stature is only one of the characteristics that make a l

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Milk Allergy

Almost all infants are fussy at times. But sometimes infants are excessively fussy because they have an allergy to the protein in cow's milk, which is the basis for most commercial baby formulas. A person of any age can have a milk allergy, but it is more common among infants. Approximately 2% to 3% of infants have a milk allergy, and they typically outgrow it. If you think that your child has a milk allergy, talk with your child's doctor.

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