Recent Posts
Health and Fitness
Return To Blog Listing
Get Healthy information now! It may be sexual health, men's health, skin health, and more..
Recent Posts Tagged With 'health and wellness'
Varicella-Zoster Virus
A member of the family of herpes viruses, which causes the diseases varicella (CHICKEN POX) and herpes zoster (SHINGLES). When the virus enters the upper respiratory tract of a nonimmune host, it produces the skin lesions of chicken pox. The virus th...
Varicella Vaccine
Vaccine against CHICKEN POX that is recommended at any visit at or after age 12 months for any child who has never had the disease. Susceptible people aged older than 13 years should receive two doses, given at least four weeks apart. The vaccine is ...
Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE)
Bacteria infecting children in hospital intensive-care units that resist vancomycin, the most powerful antibiotic available. Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infection represents an increasing public health concern. Enterococci normally live i...
Valacyclovir (Valtrex)
A new antiviral drug used to treat herpes infections. Easily absorbed and converted in the body to ACYCLOVIR, it is available for use by the body in concentrations three to five times greater than that of acyclovir. In the body the drug interferes wi...
Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS)
A cooperative reporting program for vaccine safety that tracks any unusual event that occurs after a vaccination was given. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) is a post-marketing safety surveillance program, collecting information about ...
Urticaria Pigmentosa
An uncommon rash that usually affects the neck, arms, legs, and trunk of children and young adults. The rash consists of reddish-brown spots that turn into hives when they are rubbed hard or scratched. Sometimes the spots will blister. Cause The spo...
Upper Respiratory Infections
Any infection of the upper respiratory system, which can include the common COLD, LARYNGITIS, SORE THROAT, SINUSITIS, or TONSILLITIS....
Typhoid Fever
A serious bacterial infection of the intestinal tract and sometimes the bloodstream caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with Salmonella typhi. An almost identical disease called PARATYPHOID FEVER is caused by a related bacterium. Ty...
Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance
A nonprofit organization formerly known as the National Tuberous Sclerosis Foundation, which was founded in 1974 by four mothers to provide fellowship, generate awareness, and provide hope to those who shared the common bond of TUBEROUS SCLEROSIS (TS...
Tuberous Sclerosis (TS)
A disorder that causes benign growths (“tubers”) on several different organs within the body, including the brain, eyes, kidneys, heart, skin, and lungs; it occurs in about one in 6,000 births. Cause There is a 50 percent chance that a parent wi...
Tuberculosis (TB)
A serious respiratory disease spread from person to person through the air. Children usually contract tuberculosis (TB) from close contact with a diseased adult. Because infants and young children do not have very strong immune systems, they are susc...
Tuberculin Test
A skin test used to determine whether or not a child has been infected with TUBERCULOSIS (TB); the test is used to diagnose suspected cases of tuberculosis, prior to vaccination against the disease. During the test, the skin is first disinfected and...
Trichotillomania
The habit of pulling out the hair, often associated with mental illness or psychotic illness (such as SCHIZOPHRENIA). Hair-pulling may also take place among disturbed children who are anxious and frustrated. Typically, the patient will pull, twist, o...
Trichinosis
A food-borne disease caused by the microscopic intestinal roundworm Trichinella spiralis. Any child who eats undercooked meat of infected animals can develop trichinosis; pork products are most often responsible, although cases have appeared after ea...
Traveler’s Diarrhea
A type of diarrhea that results from eating or drinking water contaminated with feces while traveling in other countries. Up to half of all Americans who visit the tropics pick up traveler’s diarrhea (or “Montezuma’s revenge”) or, in Spanish-...
Traumatic Brain Injury
The common general term for brain injuries that impair thinking as a result of physical trauma severe enough to cause loss of consciousness or damage to the brain structure. Each year, about two million Americans sustain a brain injury—about one ev...
Toxoplasmosis
A disease of mammals and birds, especially the cat, that causes a mild disease in children (and more severe problems in those with impaired immune systems). Cats get the disease by eating infected mice. At least 50 percent of everyone in the United ...
Toxocariasis
Infection with the larvae of Toxocara canis (the common roundworm of dogs and cats). Children between age one and four who eat dirt are at particular risk for this disease. Older children and adults in households with an infected younger child may sh...
Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS)
An uncommon condition caused by infection with Staphylococcus bacteria, characterized by a distinctive skin rash resembling sunburn on the palms and soles of the feet. The condition, first recognized in the 1970s, is associated with the use of certai...
Tourette’s syndrome
A neurological disorder characterized by tics, or rapid, sudden movements that occur involuntarily and repeatedly in a consistent fashion. To be diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, an individual must have multiple motor tics as well as one or more ...
Tonsils
A mass of lymphoid tissue on either side of the back of the mouth that is one of the body’s ways of dealing with invading infections. The tonsils make up part of the lymphatic system, which is an important part of the body’s defense system agains...
Tonsillitis
Infection or inflammation of a tonsil caused by a virus or bacteria. Acute tonsillitis is often caused by a STREPTOCOCCAL INFECTION. If tonsillitis caused by a strep infection is untreated, it may lead to rheumatic fever or kidney disease. Symptoms ...
Toe-Walking
Walking on the toes is common among toddlers first learning to walk, especially during the second 12 months of life. Generally, the tendency is gone by age two, although in some children the habit persists. Intermittent toe-walking is not serious; t...
Toeing in/out
This is a common gait problem in young children. Some babies are born with the condition, but others develop it as they begin walking. Toeing in often occurs with bow legs and can cause problems if it makes a child trip while walking. Toeing out (als...
Tinea Manuum
This RINGWORM infection is most often caused by Tinea rubrum, usually found together with a foot infection. The condition is characterized by thickened outer skin of palms and fingers, especially in the creases of the skin. Treatment Topical antifun...
Tinea
The medical term for ringworm, a group of common fungus infections of the skin, hair, or nails caused by various species of the fungi Microsporum, Trichophyton, and Epidermophyton; it also affects animals. Ringworm is highly contagious and can be spr...
Ticks and Disease
The tiny blood-sucking pests that plague American dogs and cats also can transmit disease to children. These tick-borne conditions include BABESIOSIS, CAT-SCRATCH DISEASE (Bartonella), EHRLICHIOSIS, Colorado tick fever, LYME DISEASE, ROCKY MOUNTAIN S...
Thrush
A yeast infection of the mouth, found often in infants and young children and in those with an impaired immune system. Cause A yeast infection is a fungal infection, but not all fungi are yeasts. In the case of thrush, the yeast that causes the infe...
Throat Culture
A test to determine the type of organism causing disease in the throat (especially STREP THROAT). For this test, a health-care worker obtains a specimen from deep in the throat with a long-handled sterile swab. The specimen is placed on a culture pla...
Thimerosal
A common preservative found in vaccines that, as it metabolizes, can produce ethyl mercury, an organic derivative of mercury. Since the 1930s thimerosal has been added to some vaccines and other products because it is effective in killing bacteria an...
