Symptoms: headache; fever; sore, red throat; vomiting; abdominal pain; swollen lymph glands in neck; sandpaper rash. Home care: give aspirin or paracetamol to relieve pain and fever and take the child to the doctor. Precautions -    Keep infants away from groups of children, some of whom may be carriers of the strep bacteria. -    If one child [...]

What is it? A condition in which the eyes don’t look at an object in conjunction. The word ‘squint’ is also used to describe the condition in which children especially screw their eyes up to look at something. This is not really a squint at all but it makes sense to take your child for [...]

The following a probably useful: •     Wash several times a day with bland soap and water. Don’t scrub, wash gently. Dry well with a rough towel. •     Use non-greasy, water-based cosmetics. •     Get into the sunlight as much as possible. Ultraviolet light not only cures but prevents acne. Some people’s acne gets worse in hot [...]

A total inability to urinate usually affects men who are in their 70s and older. If an elderly male relative is unable to urinate and feels a pain in his groin, he should head for the emergency room immediately. This condition is called acute urinary retention and is most often caused when an enlarged prostate [...]

If you think you have an ulcer, you should see your doctor, who will conduct a complete health history and physical exam, which may include a digital rectal exam to detect any blood in the stool. He will also ask you a series of questions to find out about your diet and any medications you [...]

Description and Possible Medical Problems If you have a history of asthma, whether it’s been stable or not, if you begin to wheeze and can’t stop and you are also coughing and feeling short of breath, you are experiencing a series of severe bronchospasms, and you need immediate medical attention. This is a condition known [...]

Description and Possible Medical Problems I recently saw a patient I hadn’t seen for about a year. She seemed a little shorter than the last time she had visited me, and I asked her if she thought she had shrunk. “Oh, yes,” she replied. “My clothes fit differently, and when I stand at my kitchen [...]

Have you ever seen a serious weight lifter with neck muscles that seem to bulge in all directions? It almost looks as though he has no neck, when in fact he’s built up his neck muscles to the point where they’ve reached their peak size. The neck muscles are extremely difficult to develop, so if [...]

The aim of cancer treatment is the complete removal or destruction of all cancerous tissue. In many cases, this can be done before the cancer has caused any damage. Surgery The purpose of cancer surgery is the total removal of all of the cancer. The surgeon cuts away some of the normal tissue as well, [...]

This condition is really a narrowing of the air-passage through the larynx, the voice box in the neck where the vocal cords are located. If the narrowing is severe, the air cannot reach the lungs, and the child begins to choke. The narrowing is caused by spasm and swelling of the larynx. These may be [...]