Ravina Sewani

Allergic reactions towards celery are triggered when the body perceives the proteins in celery as a threat.Allergic reactions to celery may range from Oral Allergy Syndrome to severe allergic reactions.Allergic reactions towards celery are very rare but it is better to always stay careful. Symptoms:<ul><li>Nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing or dry cough</li><li>Eczema (a dry, itchy rash) or hives (reddish, swollen, itchy areas on the skin)</li><li>Redness of the skin around the mouth or eyes</li><li>Itchy mouth, ear canal or lip swelling, odd taste in the mouth</li><li>Nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea or stomach pain</li><li>Severe reactions include loss of consciousness, chest pain, turning pale, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, or anaphylaxis.</li></ul> Diagnosis:Seek help from a healthcare expert to get your chid diagnosed of the celery allergy. The doctor will examine your child’s symptoms, medical history, family history, and may suggest a few tests like skin prick tests, blood tests or Oral Food Challenge. Precautions:<ul><li>Develop a habit of reading food labels for the ingredients. Teach your child the same.</li><li>Teach your child to mention about the allergy whenever he/she goes to visit someone.</li><li>Avoid consuming all forms of celery (raw or cooked) including celeriac (the root of celery), celery seeds or celery salt (used for flavouring).</li><li>Inform your child's school of your child's allergy to celery. You can provide your child’s school with necessary medicines and adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI) as the school might need these when your child shows allergic reactions suddenly.</li></ul> Foods to avoid:Canned soup, stock cubes, crisps, mar-mite, sandwiches, and salad

Celery is a marshland plant with long fibrous stalk. Even though celery allergy is not very common, it is better to stay aware.

Celery allergy

Samiksha Choithani

Good dental health includes cleaning teeth regularly.<ul><li>For an infant, using a soft cotton cloth is a better option. Wrap the cloth around your finger and clean the teeth and mouth using your finger. Get started with a soft toothbrush when the child turns 2. Use only rice-sized fluoride toothpaste.</li><li>Brush your child’s teeth twice a day, in the morning and before going to bed. For the babies of 6-9 months offering water to drink between the feeding is considered to be a better choice to keep their mouth clean.</li><li>After the age of 3, start using pea-sized toothpaste to clean the teeth. This amount of fluoride toothpaste is considered safe for children and helps to prevent tooth decay.</li></ul> Brushing properly:<ul><li>Get a small, child-sized, soft-bristled toothbrush. Soak the brush in warm water for a few minutes before brushing to make the bristles softer.</li><li>Apply a rice sized paste on the brush and get started with proper brushing habit, gradually increase the amount of toothpaste.</li><li>Brush the teeth for 2 minutes; concentrate on space between the teeth and black portion on the tooth. This is an area where cavities often first develop.</li><li>Replace toothbrush after 3 to 4 months and never share it with others.</li></ul>&nbsp;If your child does not like to brush his/her teeth try this:<ol><li>Become a role model and start the practice in early years of childhood. If you want your child to develop good dental care routine start brushing your teeth in front of kids twice a day.</li><li>If toothpaste is the cause of concern, try to eliminate it for a few days. Let the child brush the teeth with a wet brush, this is just to develop the habit of brushing once they get used to it you can get started with a small amount of toothpaste.</li></ol> Never lose your patience, remember this will make things difficult for both you and your child. Narrate stories and try to make it a fun loving activity rather than a daily practice.

Brushing habits should start in early years of childhood.

When and How to get started with brushing?

Perfume allergy or alternatively known as fragrance allergy is the body's allergic reaction towards fragrances used in perfumes, deodorants, detergents, cosmetic products, soaps, shampoos, and cleaning products. The allergy is towards the ingredient of the fragrance rather than the fragrance itself. Because fragrance is found everywhere, it is quite difficult to keep your child away and protected from fragrance at all times. Fragrance allergy is one of the main causes of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). Allergic contact dermatitis causes eczema and blistered skin at the contact points. After the acute phase, the skin turns scaly and takes some weeks to be repaired. Some children are sensitive to fragrances while some are allergic to them. Both are different from each other. Fragrance/Perfume Sensitivity:Perfume sensitivity, is a reaction to something that irritates your body. Sensitivity doesn’t necessarily trigger an immune system response. There might be a rash on your baby's skin which goes away after a few hours. The body usually gets rid of the irritant via sneezing so your child might sneeze a bit. A few mild symptoms of a perfume sensitivity can include:<ul><li>sneezing if the perfume is sprayed near the face and airways (nose, mouth, and throat)</li><li>itching, running, or stuffiness of nose</li><li>nasal mucus dripping down the back of the throat</li><li>persistent cough</li><li>headaches</li><li>nausea</li></ul> Fragrance/Perfume Allergy:An allergy towards a fragrance/perfume means that your body identifies the ingredient in the perfume as a foreign substance. The body then releases an inflammatory reaction to help fight off the substance as if it’s a bacterial or viral invader. This immune system response develops itchiness or a rash. Symptoms of Fragrance Allergy:<ul><li>mild to severe headache</li><li>burning sensation on skin</li><li>skin irritation, itching, and rashes</li><li>sneezing, coughing and runny nose</li><li>breathing difficulties, dizziness, and fatigue</li><li>muscle aches</li><li>watery, red, and itchy eyes</li><li>wheezing</li><li>inability to concentrate</li><li>swelling</li><li>nausea and vomiting</li></ul> Fragrance allergy also triggers migraine attacks in children suffering from migraines. Here are some severe, emergency symptoms to watch out for:Swelling in mouth, lips, or tongueAnaphylaxis Prevention:<ul><li>Try your best to keep your child away from the sources of fragrance.</li><li>Use fragrance less products for your kids.</li></ul> Diagnosis:A patch test is the best way to confirm an allergic reaction towards fragrance, and it is commonly performed in a dermatologist’s office. Patch testing helps to identify which substances may be causing an allergic reaction in a patient. Treatment:<ul><li>Medications</li><li>Topical creams</li><li>Light therapy: Blue or red light can help eliminate any bacteria irritating your child's skin or to reduce the immune system response.</li><li>Moisturising lotion or cream</li></ul>

Allergic reactions to fragrance/perfume are common than we know. Proper precautions will make your child's life easier.

Perfume allergy

If your baby has green, foamy or frothy, explosive stools and pain, it might be a case of lactose overload. Lactose overload can happen when your baby gulps a very large quantity of breastmilk either due to a long gap between the feedings or due to an oversupply of milk. Healthy babies are able to break down the lactose in normal volumes of milk. The presence of fat in the milk ensures the slow movement of milk through the gut. But if your baby consumes a lot of milk that is relatively low in fat, it can rush through the digestive system without being digested. This can cause the problem of gas causing pain and frothy stools. If you suspect lactose overload, try to check your baby's latch. Try different positions to feed your baby if you have a problem of oversupply of milk. Try frequent feeds as your baby to avoid build up of watery low fat milk. If the problem persists, you know what to do, head straight to your doctor.

Lactose overload happens when the milk is not digested properly.

Lactose Overload

Dr Chintan Solanki

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects children. It mainly affects a child’s social communication which includes language as well as an emotional response to any situation. Children with autism also show some repetitive and restrictive behaviour. One-third of all children who have autism, suffer from intellectual disability, meaning they have a low IQ or mental retardation. Autism is not a life-threatening problem. Its severity ranges from mild to severe and early diagnosis and intervention can help in a better way.Children with autism have a trouble understanding what others think and feel. They cannot express themselves properly either with words, facial expressions, or gestures. Children with autism develop uneven skills. They might have a problem in communicating but they might be good at maths, art, or music. Symptoms:<ol><li>Lack of eye contact</li><li>Repetitive behaviour, example repeating phrases or rocking back and forth</li><li>Higher sensitivity to sounds, sights, smells, touch which might seem ordinary to others</li><li>Not looking at things when someone points at something</li><li>Not paying attention to what the other person is saying</li><li>Trouble adapting to changes</li><li>Some might also get seizures</li></ol> The symptoms usually appear before the child turns 3 or sometimes are evident from birth. Causes: Though the exact causes are not clear, here are a few factors which increase the chances of autism:<ul><li>Genetics of the child</li><li>Older parents</li><li>Pregnant woman exposed to drugs</li><li>Maternal metabolic conditions - like diabetes and obesity</li><li>Autism runs in the family</li></ul> Risk Factors: Children of all races can get autism but certain factors increase the risk. They are:<ul><li>Child's sex: Boys are about four times more likely to develop autism than girls.</li><li>Family history</li><li>Other disorders</li><li>Preterm birth</li><li>Parents' ages: More research is required but children born to older age parents are more likely to develop autism.</li></ul> Diagnosis: 2 step diagnosis for children Step 1: Developmental screening - The doctor will examine whether your child's basic skills like leaning, speaking, behaviour, and movement are on track or not. These developments should be routinely checked at the age of 9 months, 18 months, 24 months, and 30 months. Step 2: If your child shows signs of a problem on step 1 screenings, (s)he might have to undergo a hearing, vision, and genetic testing. By now, you will be advised to work with a child psychologist. Prevention: There is no way to prevent autism development in children. But mothers can live a healthy lifestyle, avoid drugs and alcohol during pregnancy. These will reduce the chances of autism development. Treatment:The treatment patterns which work for one child might not necessarily work for others. Your child's doctor will specially design a treatment plan for your child.&nbsp;Autism cannot be cured but the following treatments are helpful: Main treatment is Psycho-social intervention. It includes different types of behaviour therapy, cognitive therapy, speech therapy, social skill therapy and special school arrangements. Medicines can help to counter different symptoms like irritability, hyperactivity, depression or some of the repetitive behaviours. Behaviour therapy: Behaviour therapy is a collective term for several types of therapies used to treat mental health disorders. The treatment focuses on unhealthy behaviours and aims to change them. Behavioural therapy can be used to treat depression, anxiety, panic disorders, anger issues, autism, ADHD, etc. The several types of behavioural therapies are – cognitive behavioural therapy, cognitive behavioural play therapy, aversion therapy, system desensitisation.&nbsp;Cognitive therapy: It is based on the concept that the way we think about things affects us emotionally. It is based on present thinking rather than past experiences. Speech therapy: Speech-language therapy addresses challenges with language and communication. It can help people with autism improve their verbal, nonverbal, and social communication. The overall goal is to help the person communicate in more useful and functional ways.Goals of speech therapy include improving the spoken language, learning nonverbal skills such as signs or gestures, or learning to communicate using an alternative method (such as pictures or technology). Examples of the skills that speech therapy may work on include:<ul><li>Making clearer speech sounds</li><li>Matching emotions with the correct facial expression</li><li>Responding to questions</li><li>Matching a picture with its meaning</li><li>Modulating tone of voice</li><li>Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) - for some children with autism, it's easier to communicate through pictures or technology rather than speaking.</li></ul> Social Skills Therapy: Social skills therapy work on improving communication with friends, family members, at school, and more. Your child's psychologist might arrange group therapy for this particular skill development. Depending upon your child's autism intensity, your child's psychologist will layout the treatment plan for your child. Moreover, your child's doctor might also suggest parent training for you and your spouse. Safety precautions: Secure your house, irrespective of the child's age. Keep sharp objects away, keep harmful objects out of reach. You can use monitoring technology to stay assured about your child's safety. FAQs regarding ADHD: Can autism be cured?Autism is a lifelong disorder. The improvement depends on many factors like severity of the problem, time of diagnosis, IQ of the child and the interventions done. Children with normal IQ and mild to moderate autism can live a normal life with timely intervention. Any food can help with autism?There is no evidence that any particular food can help better autism. Do all children with autism have a low IQ?No, only one-third of all autistic children have low IQ. Many children with autism have some extra skills and more than average IQ. To whom should I consult for autism?If you see any symptoms of autism in your child, it is best to consult a psychiatrist. For an initial consultation, you can visit your child’s paediatrician as well. Can a child with autism live a normal life?Yes, many autistic children can live a normal life provided their IQ is normal and the intervention for social communications is done properly. Is autism a genetic problem?Yes, there are pieces of evidence that genetic factors are involved in aetiology (causes) of autism but it is not the only factor. There are others like immunological, neurological and developmental factors also involved. Can a child with autism go to a normal school?If the IQ of a child is normal, (s)he can definitely go to a normal school.

Here are Autism Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Precautions, Risk factors, Prevention, Diagnosis, and FAQs.

All about Autism

Dr Aliraza Khunt

Palak Vyas

Prachi Shah

Chewing may start around 6-9 months. By 10 months, your baby should be given textured food and opportunity to chew. Babies can do light chewing till 1.5 years as they still lack molar teeth. There can be several reasons behind a child not chewing its food properly:<ul><li>Late introduction of food</li><li>Delayed development of motor skills (jaw, tongue, swallowing)</li><li>Disinterest in food because of test, texture, or flavour</li><li>Boredom of same food</li><li>Allergy</li><li>Consumption of milk three times</li><li>Big portions</li><li>Distraction</li></ul> Please refrain from the following behaviour:<ul><li>Generally, parents put on child's favourite cartoon or TV programme and feed their child. For parents, the only concern is to make the child eat sufficient amount of food so as soon as this is done, they think that their part of duty to feed the child is over.</li><li>This is where children get into the bad habit of eating while watching T.V. When a child eats in front of the screen, (s)he does not know what (s)he is eating. The child will also not chew the food properly.</li><li>If a child observes that his/her parent is taking a sandwich in their hand while going to office and eats moving around the house or watches television while eating, the child will learn the same. The child models their parents’ behaviour and thus (s)he doesn’t chew properly. Either they eat too slow or just gulp without chewing.</li></ul> For improvement, take the following steps:<ul><li>When a child eats food on their own, proper chewing habit develops easily. This way the child becomes independent and learns to do his/her own thing. So encourage them to eat their food on their own.</li><li>Make it a point to have a family meal time where everyone eats together.</li><li>Vary the type of food, food's texture to keep the food interesting for your child.</li><li>Instead of a screen, tell them stories or talk to them while feeding them.</li><li>Make sure there is sufficient gap between meals. When the child is not hungry, (s)he does not chew the food properly. Take this as a sign that your child is not hungry.</li><li>You can constantly keep telling them about the importance of chewing process and help them develop this habit by following it yourself.</li><li>Eat with them, but in a different plate. When a child watches you eating calmly and properly, (s)he learns the same.</li></ul>

Kids tend to skip chewing and try to swallow the food directly. Do not get angry, try to be patient and address the problem.

Helping child to chew food properly

<ul><li>Eating inedible things is because of nutrition deficiency.</li><li>The child can develop such kind of tendency to keep sucking or eating odd things may be due to the deficiency of micro-nutrients.</li><li>Now, if there is any deficiency and the parent comes to know and gives him/her supplements, the child can easily get rid of the habit, because it was out of deficiency of say iron or calcium.</li><li>But when the habit continues, sometimes the parent glorifies this behaviour of child in front of people, e.g. “see how my child eats mud without anyone noticing him/her, (s)he has mastered this trick”. When this happens,&nbsp;the child gets the attention and enjoys it and doesn’t want to leave the habit.</li><li>The child does it again and again just to seek attention. Whereas in other cases, if the parent punishes the child very harshly, the child gets into the rebel mode and repeats this unwanted action again and again to harass his/her parents.</li><li>What a parent can do is just be compassionate and distract the child, get the child into activity where his/her hands are occupied and in such way gradually the child will get rid of the habit.</li><li>Another underlying reason for kids to develop such tendencies can be the pica syndrome. It is a psychological disorder where children develop such harmful eating habits.</li></ul>

Many children develop a habit of eating things like - limestone, pencil lead, mud, paper, chalk, or clay. Kids don't do this out of habit but because of the deficiency of nutrients in their body.

Eating inedible things like chalk, clay and sand

Dengue fever is a disease caused by a virus. This virus lives in mosquitoes. The virus can cause fever, headaches, rashes, and pain throughout the body. Most cases of dengue fever are mild and go away on their own after about a week. When a mosquito infected by dengue virus bites a person, the person can get affected by dengue fever. The virus can't spread directly from person to person. In rare cases, dengue fever can lead to a more serious form of the disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). DHF can be life-threatening and needs to be treated right away. It can be fatal sometimes. Common signs and symptoms of dengue fever include:<ul><li>Symptoms of dengue fever are generally mild in younger children and those who have the disease for the first time.</li><li>High fever, possibly as high as 105°F (40°C)</li><li>Pain behind the eyes and in the joints, muscles and/or bones</li><li>Severe headache</li><li>Pink rashes over most of the body</li><li>Mild bleeding from the nose or gums</li></ul>Symptoms can start anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito, and typically last for 2 to 7 days. Diagnosis: If you think your child might have dengue fever, call a doctor right away. You should also call a doctor if your child has recently been to a region that has dengue fever and has a fever or severe headache. The doctor will ask about your child's medical history and recent travels, and send a blood sample for testing. Treatment:No specific treatment is available for dengue fever. Mild cases are managed with lots of fluids to prevent dehydration and getting plenty of rest. Pain relieving medicines can ease the headaches and pain associated with dengue fever. Most cases of dengue fever go away within a week or two and won't cause any lasting problems. If someone has severe symptoms of the disease, or if symptoms get worse in the first day or two, seek immediate medical care. Prevention:<ul><li>There's no vaccine to prevent dengue fever. The best protection is to prevent bites by an infected mosquito. Be sure to:</li><li>Use screens (mosquito nets) on doors and windows, and promptly repair broken or damaged screens. Keep doors and windows shut.</li><li>Have kids wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, shoes, and socks when they go outside.</li><li>Use insect repellent as directed on kids.</li><li>Limit the amount of time kids spend outside during the day, especially in the hours around dawn and dusk, when mosquitoes are most active.</li><li>Keep surroundings clean. Mosquitoes breed easily when there is water around. They lay their eggs in water, so get rid of unclean water around you.</li></ul> Natural Remedies for Dengue Fever:<ul><li>Drink sufficient Water</li><li>Juice of Papaya Leaves</li><li>Chew Basil Leaves</li><li>Neem Leaves</li><li>Orange Juice</li></ul>

Here are Dengue Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Prevention, Diagnosis, and Remedies.

All about dengue

Common spices allergies are of mustard, garlic, and coriander. Out of these, allergic reactions to mustard are the most common.Common seed allergies are of sesame, poppy and sunflower seeds.Allergy to mustard causes reactions in skin, lungs, and digestive tracts and affects sinuses as well.In the case of seeds and spices, there are two possibilities – true allergic reaction and non-allergic response. Hence it becomes important to distinguish between the two. True allergy is caused by an immune response to the proteins present in the spices or seeds and can be life-threatening.Non-allergic responses are rashes, teary eyes, runny nose, burning sensation in the mouth, and coughing after inhalation. This is usually self-resolving. Symptoms:<ul><li>Nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing or dry cough</li><li>Eczema (a dry, itchy rash) or hives (reddish, swollen, itchy areas on the skin)</li><li>Redness of the skin around the mouth or eyes</li><li>Itchy mouth, ear canal or lip swelling, odd taste in the mouth</li><li>Nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea or stomach pain</li><li>Severe reactions include loss of consciousness, chest pain, turning pale, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, or anaphylaxis.</li></ul> Diagnosis:Get your child diagnosed by a healthcare expert. For diagnosis, the paediatrician will evaluate your child's medical/family history, existing conditions like asthma, eczema and other food allergies; along with a skin prick test, blood test or Oral Food Challenge. Precautions and treatments:<ul><li>Your healthcare expert may prescribe adrenaline auto-injector for children with a history of anaphylaxis. The paediatrician might also prescribe just medicines if the allergic reactions of your child are mild.</li><li>Avoid foods containing the seeds or spices to which your child is allergic.</li><li>Keep a habit of reading the food labels for ingredients.</li><li>Inform your child’s school about your child’s allergy problem.</li><li>Mustard may be used as a whole, in powdered/paste form or as a sauce in sandwiches and sesame may be used as whole seeds, as oil, or in cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products. Hence, be careful about these products.</li></ul>

Read the article to know what to look out for in case your child has seed allergy.

type 1 diabetes health concerns

Following article(s) will help solve your concern.