Diabetes, Meningitis, Down's Syndrome, Food Allergies, Food Intolerance, Tuberculosis, Dyslexia, How To Know When Your Baby Is Ill & Online Health Information

TEDDY BEARS AIM TO REDUCE THE STRESS OF DIABETES

The Diabetes Research Foundation has introduced an innovative toy to the UK, a teddy bear, named either Rufus or Ruby which can be adopted by a family with a child with type I diabetes. Type I diabetes is needs several insulin injections a day to treat it and is often diagnosed in young children. This bear is special because it has injectable patches on its fur and children and parents can practice giving injections of insulin into these patches.

The Diabetes Research Foundation was set up by a group of parents to “fund excellence in research” into type I diabetes. They raise substantial amounts of money and have links to the top diabetes specialists in the UK.

The new innovation is called KIDSAC and gives children with diabetes a rucksack with a storybook, and a blood glucose meter in it. It also gives them the chance to adopt a Rufus or Ruby bear. As well as allowing children to practice injecting and to learn about rotating injection sites it gives them a chance to play with a toy that has some of their problems – and also allows them to feel that their condition is not as strange or unusual as they might otherwise feel, especially if they don’t know anyone else who is affected.

Being diagnosed with type I diabetes is a frightening time for any family, particularly when young children are involved. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation says that the rate of diagnosis of type I diabetes is increasing at 3 to 4 % per annum and that this is most marked in the under 5-year olds. They are suddenly faced not only with a life-threatening condition but also with giving daily injections and calculating the amount of insulin needed by doing regular blood tests. This little bear should hopefully bring some comfort to both parents and children and increase confidence both in giving injections, but more importantly helping the child to feel that they are still normal and that their toys reflect their life as they do for children without diabetes.

Contact the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation through their website – they have regular fundraising events and welcome donations. You can also read all about KIDSAC.

For background information see our section on diabetes.

MENINGITIS OUTBREAK

A nursery in Colne, Lancashire has had an outbreak of meningitis. A local disease control expert says that the risk of further cases occurring in the nursery is extremely small. But all parents should know the signs of meningitis, particularly as it often start just with a fever and being a bit unwell – read our section on meningitis.

DOWN’S SYNDROME AND LONGEVITY

A report in the Lancet medical journal this week says that the average life expectancy for people with Down’s syndrome has risen from 25 years in the early 1980’s to 49 years today, with some people affected by this genetic condition living to their 60s. This is partly due both to better medical care and to increased access to it for people with Down’s. A generation ago they were frequently denied life saving surgery or medicines. The authors of the report also suggest that the increased life expectancy may be due to the fact that they are more likely to be cared for at home rather than put into institutions.

To read the article you need to register at The Lancet : Current Issue. Also see ‘Babies with Down's can expect to reach 60’ from the Daily Telegraph. For information read our section on Down’s syndrome.

FOOD ALLERGIES – ARE WE OVERREACTING?

In this week’s Archives of Disease in Childhood there is a report on fatal food allergies saying that deaths are not increasing as has been commonly reported. This may of course be due to better diagnosis and treatment but it is reassuring that in the last 10 years only eight children aged under 16 years of age have died from food allergies with no children under the age of 13 years dying from peanut allergy. There was one death from an overdose of the adrenaline used to treat the allergy, which is worrying as so many young children with peanut allergy are being given adrenaline to carry around. Milk allergy caused four of the deaths. Unfortunately children with asthma have a far higher risk of dying from food allergy – presumably because the fatal event in food allergy is severe airway narrowing – the same as you get in asthma. David Reading of the Anaphylaxis Campaign says that the reason may be that parents take such good care of children under the age of thirteen.

Read ‘Childhood food allergy deaths not increasing’ in the Telegraph.

ALLERGIES AND SPECIAL DIETS BECOME TRENDY

The Guardian this week reported on the fact that up to a third of people think they have a food allergy or intolerance where in reality fewer than two in a hundred do. They got their information from Datamonitor. They also say that our increased obsession with organic food is because we selfishly feel that they are better for us and our families rather than thinking about the planet as a whole. Similar findings were reported by the British Nutrition Foundation recently - read their Adverse Reactions to Food fact file which explains the medical terminology used and the figures. Read Datamonitor's report, and also ‘Allergies and special diets become trendy’ from the Guardian.

RISE IN TUBERCULOSIS IN LONDON

Another report in this week’s Archives of Disease in Childhood says that cases of TB have been rising in children in London, doubling in ten years. Most of these cases were brought into London from countries with a lot of TB. If this trend continues there may be a move to increase vaccination in babies; currently, most children in Britain are vaccinated after the age of ten years but children in areas with high infection rates or in high-risk families are offered the vacation at birth. The study was run by the Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre.

Read our section on tuberculosis.

BREATH TEST FOR DYSLEXIA

The Daily Mail today reports on a breath test to help children with dyslexia. The research, from Oxford University follows on from reports that a lack of fish oil in children’s diets could be causing or aggravating autism, dyspraxia and dyslexia in some children. This could be due to a diet low in fish oils or malabsorption of the oils from the gut. The children breathe into a meter which measures the breakdown products of fatty acids in their breath. Children with high levels may be using up their own fatty acid stores more than usual and may benefit from a course of fish oil or evening primrose oil. The Dyslexia Research Trust is funding the research. We are apparently eating a lot less oily fish than we used to a generation ago. Good sources include trout, mackerel, herring and sardines. The researchers think that affected children are best treated with the highly refined oils found in dietary supplements. If you are interested you can read about The Dyslexia Research Trust or contact them for information. Also read our section on dyslexia.

HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOUR BABY IS ILL

The NHS Direct site is starting to get a few interesting articles online – although often when you search for a particular illness it fails to find anything. Parents may like to read ‘NHS Direct - How do I know when my baby is ill?’. A report in a recent British Medical Journal said that NHS Direct costs £45 million a year in ‘additional theoretical costs’ and asks what you would do if you had £45 million to spend on health care in the UK – I don’t think that most people would choose to spend it on a website. The whole issue was devoted to health information on the Internet and revealed that most of the information was good, contrary to many doctor’s expectations. Unlike a lot of websites, all of Tigerchild’s health information is written by a paediatrician and we’d love to hear of any other topics that you’d like covered - contact us at healthtopics.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Non-health news that may be of interest to Tigerchild parents:

Grandmothers may be paid to care for their grandchildren to enable single mothers to get back to work – see coverage from the Guardian.

The Office of Fair Trading is cracking down on bizarre health claims on websites. These apparently included an ‘enriched urine treatment for incurable illnesses’ and a device to cure viral infections including AIDS, hepatitis and cancer - the mind boggles. Read about it at OFT - Bogus Health Claims on the Internet.

The Daily Telegraph has had two excellent parenting articles this week:

‘Parental guidance: meal times’ is a very funny article on how to get your children to behave at mealtimes – but also very sensible.

‘All aboard the baby train’ gets several new mothers to review the plethora of books about pregnancy and childbirth – definitely worth reading before you buy.