HOME HEALTH GUIDE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 3, 4 September 1945, Page 3

HOME HEALTH GUIDE

CONVULSIONS (By the Department of Health). Convulsions in infants are not so frequent as they were in years gone by. They are due to many causes. They often occur in the summer season in; young children from indigestion through swallowing very insoluble such as seeds oi skins of fruit, from exccssivc unripe fruit or overindulgence in eating generally. Convulsions may be due to some disturbance of the nervous system, or from gastrointestinal irritation from faulty feed in g ? or constipation. Feverish condition can precipitate a convulsion in young children—pneumonia ? gastroenteritis pelitis middle-ear trouble or the onset of an infectious fever.

Convulsions are not a disease in themselves, they're a symptom of something wrong. In highly strung infants difficult teething may bring on a convulsion —in our grandmothers always put convulsions down to teething when they occurred at that age level. However, that's too restricted.

Convulsions start suddenly. . Tbe child stiffens, may fall ? becomcs bluish and loses consciousness. The eyes roll up under the upper lids ? the hands are and the legs stretched out. After a' few seconds the eyes and limbs begin to twitch. Gradually the movements subside and the child recovers or Tails asleep. Control of bladder and bowel may be lost during the convulsion, and the tongue may be! bitten- | If you have to deal will a convulsion in a child } quickly prepare and put'the child in a warm bath' — preferably a mustard bath—until the twitchings cease. Call your doctor for the child requires a thorough examination. If the convulsions persist ? the doctor will prescribe a sedative drug ? and be can quickly stop a fit by giving a "light anaesthetic. You need the doctor's help in finding the cause unless you are sure it is an isolated occurrence which has followed a definite dietary indiscretion.

STRABISMUS A child with a squinting eye should ' never be the subject of .a 'wait and see if it'll get better' policy. An appointment with an eye specialist should be made as early as possible. A squint or strabismus is< due to a lack of action of one of the muscles of the eyeball, so that an eye either converges or diverges. This throws the vision out of gear and the child may see two objects—one clearly with the good another not so clearly Avith the squinting eye. Such double vision is very awkward and the squinting eye tiyes to blpt its image out. It keeps- on suppressing that image until finally—the vision is not being used—the ability to see correctly with the squinting eye is lost. Often when a squinting eye of long standing is tested for vision it is almost blind. The first'attack on a squint therefore } is to get both eyes working and both seeing clearly. Glasses are provided that hinder the good eye and make the unused squinting ej r e do some seeing again. By this means, an almost blind eye can: be brought up to normal vision again. Recovery is possible up to the age of ten or eleven years but it's very much wiser to start treatment as young as possible. Occlusion—shutting off the good ej r e—has to be supplemented with muscle training of the squinting eye. In fact the child has to be trained to'have single vision again when it uses both eyes. Such treatment called orthoptic, should be done before any operation is planned on a squinting for sometimes operative help Is called on to correct a bad squint. Piemember, don't delay with a squint; it is an immediate job for an eye specialist^