newsletter Feb06

the 2nd newsletter, Jan 2007

How to fight morning sickness

Most women suffer from nausea during the first three months of pregnancy according to research. In some cases, nausea is even the first symptom of the pregnancy, and is often before the period is missed. The cause is mainly due to the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy and the transitory psychological reactions of women to the changes that maternity imposes. There are also a series of factors among which an excessive production of estrogens, allergies to substances produced by the embryo and a lack of vitamin B6 in the woman's organism. A "natural" discomfort therefore, that doesn't harm the baby in any way and something that can be alleviated using "natural" solutions.

Eating little and often is, for instance, the first antidote to fight morning sickness in a simple and natural manner. The sickness is mainly felt when the stomach is empty and, splitting food into many small meals, can often be very effective. If the nausea appears in the morning it is recommended to eat something before getting out of bed to absorb as much secretion from the gastric juices as possible: nuts, crackers or biscuits with jam or honey will be fine. It is also important during meals to eat slowly and to chew the food well; choose carbohydrates and foods which are rich in vitamin B6 such as carrots, bananas, bran, rice or tuna. If the nausea leads to vomiting it is essential to reinstate the lost liquids by drinking a lot. Preference should be given to water, but if this increase the discomfort, you can resort to the fruit juices and milk. Also carbonated drinks can help the bowel and increase the sugar in the blood, but the ones with high caffeine content are not recommended. Avoid fried, spicy and hot foods that can intensify the symptoms. It is better to stick to light and natural flavours. The smell of mint, for instance, has soothing properties for stomach problems. Keep a packet of mints with you so you can eat some if necessary. Also ginger is a valid ally for pregnant mothers. It can be found in many types of biscuits and tea, or can be eaten fresh, or used in an infusion. You can also use a bottle of essential oil of ginger and pour some drops of it in a handkerchief, to sniff if needed.

Strong perfumes and smells should be kept well away from the nose where possible: they increase the feeling of nausea and the perception of an unpleasant smell will be long lasting. For the same reason ask your partner not to use perfumes and, naturally, not to smoke. It is important to spend a lot of time resting to avoid tiredness can increases the feeling of discomfort. The use of integrators and anti-nausea medicines requires a medical checkup and recommendation by your doctor: "do-it-yourself" remedies do not always reconcile the needs of both mother and child.

Especially if the causes of a problem are related to emotional factors. It is not uncommon, in fact, that the nausea is the external symptom of a psychological discomfort, due to the unconscious fear of the pregnancy, to the puzzling uneasiness when thinking of the birth, or simply the comprehensible awareness of a life that is radically changing. The remedy in these cases is simply time and, naturally, your ability to give yourself that time. To become aware of your fears, of your anxieties, of your weaknesses. To learn to share your thoughts with those people who can help you. To find strength to calmly overcome the uneasiness of today by travelling with your mind towards the great joy of tomorrow.

Small, tender, delicate. So delicate that it seems so strange to see his little face covered in small spots. Yet, as strange as it may seem, it is something fairly common. Acne is a problem that mainly affects teen-agers but, in 20% of cases, it is also seen on the delicate skin of newborn babies. The cause is mainly in the presence of some hormones which are "inherited" from the mother before being born or produced by the foetus during the final period of pregnancy. Their action is however transitory and the trouble is destined to disappear quickly and spontaneously without any particular intervention. The main point is to treat the baby's skin with extreme care and attention. Attention which after all must be reserved to the skin of all children. With or without acne.

Blackheads, whiteheads and pimples that appear on the forehead and cheeks and, not uncommonly, on the neck and chest. This is infantile acne. It is caused by the obstruction of a duct of the "sebaceous glands", organisms that produce the oils necessary to lubricate and to protect the skin. As in the juvenile form, the male foetal hormones called "androgens" and, according to some research studies, also the maternal placenta hormones that the child inherits during his intrauterine life are responsible for blocking the duct. The formation of pimples is also linked to the child's endocrine system that "experiments" its functions, exceptionally producing the same hormones. Unlike the adolescent phase, however, it is a transitory production and quantitatively insignificant. Which means that the duration of the disturbance is limited in time and doesn't represent a problem or a risk to the child's health. Infantile acne must not be considered as a sign of predisposition to developing juvenile acne: no research has found any relation to the presence of the disturbance in the neonatal phase and its inevitable reappearance at a more advanced age.

There is no reason, therefore, to be unduly alarmed: it is simply a momentary flaw which usually goes away by itself, without the need for any cure. It is important, however, to cleanse his skin well with delicate oils and cleansers, specific for infants. During the winter season it is recommended to use moisturizing and protective creams with zinc oxide that reduce the risk of chapping and redness caused by the cold and the wind. Avoid using in all cases products which are commonly used by adults. Children's skins are thin, fragile, and unprotected by the immunitary system making them particularly delicate. And for this reason they must be treated with exceptional delicacy. Without exaggerating, however. If the small child has acne, it is useless and inopportune to make him wear gloves to prevent him from scratching himself: pimples are not itchy and there is no danger that contact can spread the infection to other parts of the body.

If you are lucky it is his favourite teddy. But he can also end up tasting "tasting" coins, shoes, plants, medicines, soap and anything else he can get his hands on. During the first few months a child is prepared to taste even the most repellent substances in order to satisfy his "hunger" for knowledge. The problem is that a sharp movement or a cough is all it takes for him to then swallow a small object, without counting the risks involved in eating toxic substances. A danger to be avoided, there is no doubt about it. Whilst respecting, nevertheless, the natural need of a child to grow: putting everything in his mouth represents a natural instinct that all children have as they grow, and need to "taste" the world that surrounds them.

With they start to crawl the environment to be explored no longer has any limits. Four little steps are enough to discover a universe that until now had been totally unexplored, new things to look at, to touch, to grab and, finally, to put in his mouth. It doesn't matter if it is food, a toy or a shoe. What pushes the child to put everything he can get his hands on into his mouth is mainly an instinctive need of knowledge, a natural desire to explore the surrounding world and to take ownership of it, discovering through his mouth the characteristics of the objects, their shape, their consistence and their taste. There is also the matter of the natural suction instinct, though at a minor level, which is a constant part of the behavior of many children throughout all the growth phases: sucking is relaxing, reassuring, gratifying. A child searches for his mother's breast to feed, but also because sucking gives him comfort and relief. Putting an object in his mouth means t rying to reconstruct, on his own, the feeling of comfort and relief that suction gives. The psychological level is also associated, in this phase, with the need to soothe the pain caused by teething. Children also put the widest variety of objects in their mouth in the hope of being able to calm the pain and they are quite capable of spending hours nibbling at anything they can find.

In this latter case the problem can be solved by giving a child who shows the continuous desire to bite, a toy in soft rubber which has cooling liquid inside: when kept in the fridge they offer the child some relief, as the cold helps the swelling to go down. In any case however a child's need "to put things in his mouth" must be respected and ever opposed. One can obviously be careful, but never intrusive. And, the worse way to be intrusive is to over-worry: a child has to live his own experiences and protecting him obsessively from possible dangers, simply builds a sensation of insecurity around the child that will not help him in his development. Equally ineffective, is trying to dissuade him by reasoning with him and warning him of the dangers: it is unrealistic to expect a child of a few months old to understand the risks related to any form of activity. It is better, where possible, to prevent the risks. Watching over him with discretion is the first form of protection to put into action. The second is to offer the child an environment without dangers. Buy safe toys, checki ng that they have no small detachable pieces. Regularly check those he plays with, verifying you that they are in good condition and that they are not starting to lose pieces: car wheels, eyes and noses on cuddly toys, buttons on doll's dresses. Perform a "reclamation" of the house, eliminating objects and dangerous substances from his path.

And, above all, store medicines and detergents well out of reach in closed cupboards.

"Kinetosis". This is the name of the unpleasant discomfort which many children suffer from when they are on things that move: a merry-go-round, a swing, a ship, or, more commonly, a car. Nothing serious, obviously. It is a most common disturbance, which occurs for many reasons, none of which, however, are related to important physical problems. For those who suffer from it, it is nevertheless very annoying indeed: a journey of just a few kilometres can turn into an odyssey, a long trip can turn into a nightmare.

Children over two years of age are most struck by travel sickness, in particular way those who suffer from gastro-oesophageal reflux, that makes children more prone to the disturbance. No child is nevertheless immune from the possibility of encountering discomfort whilst travelling. It is caused, in fact, by the excessive stimulation of the sensitive structures which control the balance and which are found in the vestibular apparatus (inner ear). The stimulation is caused by irregular movements or postures, repeated accelerations or decelerations, oscillations, curves and braking of the means of transport. Also visual stimuli have however an important role: when the body is passively transported and the landscape flows by his side, the contradictory stimuli can confuse and alter the vestibular apparatus, which leads to the characteristic symptoms of travel sickness: a pale face, cold sweat, weakness, dizziness, increased salivation, nausea, vomit, fainting.

It is possible to find a remedy and the best solution is above all prevention. In the more serious cases it is possible to use specific products against Kinetosos, after consulting your paediatrician, but in most cases it is sufficient to pay a little extra attention before and during the trip. Liquid foods in the stomach increase the discomfort, and so does a lack of air in the vehicle and an incorrect position of the child who is not able to watch the road. It can be useful therefore to make sure the child sets out on a full stomach, but without exaggerating. During the trip it is recommended not to offer him drinks but offer him something to eat instead, every now and again, a bread stick, a cracker or a crust. It is also important to leave the car windows open slightly to allow the air to circulate and, naturally, to avoid smoking in the car. It is also essential that the child travels following all the safety regulations, looking forwards, watching the road and no t looking out of the side windows. Make some stops along the way so the child can stretch his legs and feel better, One last tip: if you remain in silence for a long time this will allow him to focus more on the fear of being ill.

Songs, tales and games will be a good expedient to distract the child and allow you to continue on your travels in a more peaceful manner.

If lice appear on his head

This can happen even to the cleanest of children: children have endless chances to socialise in life and it is during this physical contact that a louse can pass from one head to another. It is impossible to prevent it happening, there is no use getting upset. Once the presence of the undesired guests has been assured, one simply has to deal with the matter without uncalled for embarrassment: the problem has to be resolved in a suitable manner to avoid the "annoying itching" from spreading.

Pediculosis is an invasion by minuscule bugs known as "lice" whose main characteristic is that they live by sucking the blood of the individual that hosts them. Once the lice arrive on the head they attach themselves to the base of the hair and, twenty-four hours after fertilisation, the female begins to lay the "nits": eggs which are extremely difficult to remove from the hair on which they have been laid and which are easily visible to the naked eye. The possibility that these annoying bugs may appear on the head of small children is not remote. In Italy the percentage of individuals with pediculosis is 2.5% with a higher percentage in larger cities. But among children between 3 and 12 years of age this percentage, according to some estimates, reaches 10%. The reason is simple. Usually lice are caught through contact and this is obviously more common in places which share rooms for games and gym. Then there is the fact that children's skin has a lower lev el of function of the sebaceous glands, for physiological reasons. This in itself represents an "invitation" to the lice, that prefer for biological reasons "to live" on this type of skin. The length of the hair is not conclusive either, but can nevertheless represent a problem when trying to find the lice nits and during their elimination. Itching is without doubt the main symptom of pediculosis, although it is not always present: according to recent studies 53% of all patients are an asymptomatic carrier. A careful examination of the scalp, with the naked eye or using a magnifying lens, makes it easy to spot the presence of the eggs (the adults can not be seen); make sure your don't confuse pediculosis with other similar troubles such as dandruff. The first difference is, in any case, the fact that dandruff comes away easily, whilst the nits are very difficult to remove.

The treatment is mainly based on the use of products containing anti-parasitical substances, easily found at the pharmacy. Lotions, creams and gels are nevertheless better than powders and shampoos, because they remain in contact with the hair and with the eggs for longer, and therefore are able to act more profoundly. To make it easier to remove the nits, it is useful to comb the hair with a fine tooth comb , better if wet.

One treatment is enough, in most cases, to kill both the bugs and their eggs. One last tip: once you have established that your child actually does have head lice, it is important, before anything else, to notify the school or the gym where the child goes and keep him at home to avoid spreading the lice to school companions. Without being ashamed, without blaming the child and without making a fuss. It has now been proved that personal cleanliness has nothing to do with the risk of getting lice, whilst not warning schools and gyms means being responsible for not stopping the spread of the complaint.

Self-confidence at risk with dyslexia

Leonardo da Vinci, Julius Caesar, Einstein, Marconi. Symbols of our history, of culture, of science. Unquestionable geniuses and all... "dyslexic". Something, to be honest, that should not be a surprise: dyslexia has nothing to do with lack of intelligence. It is simply related to the difficulty of writing and reading which, according to recent research, is exclusively due to genetic and biological factors. A dyslexic child has no sensorial perceptive deficiency, and neither a psychological disorder. The only true discomfort is how the child deals with unwanted intervention or an inadequate approach to the problem by his parents. Parents must recognize the problem, learn to accept it and face it in the most opportune manner: this is how parents can help a child to overcome the problem without losing confidence in his own capabilities.

The mixup of letters with similar or specular lines such as "m" and "n" or "p" and "q", slow reading, words read in place of others which are similar, phonological mistakes, unclear handwriting and, not uncommonly, difficulty in doing calculations, counting and memorizing numbers. These are the main symptoms of dyslexia which, according to medical literature, can be divided into two main types: visual and aural. In the first case the child perceives the difference between the sound of two phonemes but doesn't know how to associate them to the corresponding written words. In aural dyslexia, on the contrary, the child recognizes a different form of writing for every letter, but he is not able to combine the phonemes to the respective sounds.

Two opposite problems but, it appears, with the same origin: according to recent research by the paediatric hospital "Bambino Gesu" in Rome, among the causes of dyslexia, for the most part still uncertain, there is a dysfunction of the cerebellum that in subjects with dyslexia remains constantly active rather than, as normally happens, stopping its functions which allows the other parts of the brain to act as soon as it has learned a concept. A fascinating theory that, the experts explain, gives hope for finding an easier solution for the problem. Provided that, nevertheless, the interventions are timely. And timely, therefore, must be refer also to the recognition of the problem.

Very often a dyslexic child risks being defined as hyperactive or, on the contrary, mentally retarded. In some cases his learning difficulties are ruled out by teachers and parents as attempts to get out of school work. A dangerous and very wrong analysis if the child is to be recovered. Excessive vivacity, indifference, refusals to do school work are very often a sign of a problem that starts when the child is faced with incomprehensible signs and illegible numbers and his desire to learn is turned into an endless nightmare. The child realises, before his parents, that he has great difficulty studying. It doesn't take long for a dyslexic child to lose confidence in himself that can then lead to idleness, aggressiveness, lack of concentration and attention. And it doesn't take long until the discouragement turns a surmountable uneasiness into a chronic learning disorder. The first step to take therefore is to avoid underestimating the behaviour of children. Small child ren are hardly ever able to explain the reasons for their behaviour. It is up to the parents to understand what is hidden behind their uneasiness. Needless to say that reproaches or punishments will get you nowhere. Also avoid attitudes that can extremely compromise his happy upbringing: sentences like "you do it on purpose", "you never understand", "when I was you age...", do nothing more than destroy the little self-confidence he has, and increase the feelings of inadequacy and frustration in the child. On the contrary, a child suffering from dyslexia needs understanding, motivating, and gratification when he makes achievements. And, above all, precise intervention that can count on the constructive collaboration between the school and the family.