Question. My 13 year old has developed breasts in the last 1 month. What is the cause? Answer. The development of breasts in a male child is called gynecomastia. There is the need to differentiate true gynaecomastia (actual breast tissue) from false gynaecomastia (accumulation of fat). Is there a "normal" gynaecomastia? Yes, it can occur in the newborn period. This is due to exposure to estrogens during pregnancy. It may affect only one breast and 5 out of 100 male babies, and the enlarged breast(s) may actually produce milk. Most of the cases resolve in 1 to 2 months, but a few may take up to ..read more

Question. My 8 year old child keeps eating paper, why is this? Answer. What you have described is a medical term known as Pica. Pica involves the eating of non nutritive substances such as paper, paint, ice, sand, wood, charcoal, soap e.t.c. Much younger children (less than 2 years old) tend to experiment with items in their environment, so they are excluded from this definition. Pica must be reviewed in the social and cultural context, as what is appropriate for eating varies from place to place. What causes Pica? Pica may be due to nutritional problems such as low minerals in diet e.g. iron ..read more

Question. My child sleeps too much. Why is this? Answer. Sorry, I will have to ask you my own questions. How old is your child?, what is too much sleep?, what are the circumstances surrounding your child? I think we all know the newborns can sleep for up to 16 hours a day, so i will skip to the older age groups. 1 to 3 years. Average 12 hours. 3 to 6 years. Average 10 to 12 hours. 7 to 12 years. Average 10 hours. Teenagers. 8 to 9 hours. The question is not exactly number of hours spent sleeping but the dynamics of sleep. Children less than 10 years may have about an hour or two of siesta. Thi ..read more

Question. How many children should a woman have? Is there a number recommended by doctors? Answer. Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmm. Where do I start? Short answer is I don't know, this is probably a safer answer too. However, there are issues we must consider when it comes to child bearing and child rearing. 1.The age of the mother: 21 to 35 years appears medically optimal, but some would easily push the upper limit to 45 years. 2. Adequate child spacing: at least 2 years between siblings. Again, mothers have had much less space between child births and the outcome has been good. 3. Educational status of bot ..read more

Question. My 14 year old daughter appears withdrawn and less communicative, what can I do? Answer. Tough question. But if approached carefully and methodically, the answer(s) will be evident. First, we must recognize that this is the period of mid adolescence (13 to 15 years). She is beginning to question what she has been taught. She is at a stage where she starts having her own opinions on issues. At this stage even though she is trying to think independently, there are a lot of gaps, unanswered questions and ultimately some level of confusion. There is also the issue of having to cope wi ..read more

Good day all. Starting today, I and my colleagues will be answering questions relating to child health. These questions can be medical, social, cultural, economic, political e.t.c. Cheers. The post Question and Answer appeared first on Happy Child Happy Doc ..read more

An illness characterized by spasms, and paralysis of the muscles of the body. It is caused by an anaerobic organism (organism that thrives in conditions of low oxygen) – Clostridium tetani. Clostridium tetani is ubiquitous in nature. Children get infected when they have penetrating injuries. Common scenarios include nail injury, injury from rusted iron sheets, broken bottles, rusted razor blades e, t.c Occurs worldwide, but it is more common in developing countries where living and sanitary conditions are generally poorer. The forms include neonatal tetanus (occurs in newborns), cephalic tetan ..read more

Hepatitis B infection is a viral infection that affects the liver. In most patients, it is asymptomatic (no symptoms), while in others it may take the form of an acute, chronic or fulminant (aggressive) infection. For patients who present acutely, symptoms may be non specific and include low grade fever, malaise (feeling of unwell) and loss of appetite. More specific symptoms include yellowish discoloration of the eyes, abdominal pain and vomiting. Most patients will present to the hospital on account of these symptoms. The fulminant form can be described as an accelerated and exaggerated form ..read more

This refers to shortage of oxygen supply to the brain of a newborn that happens around the time tbe baby is born. The causes for this unfortunate event can be grouped into antenatal (during pregnancy), labor related, and immediate post natal period. Fortunately, a lot can be done to prevent this from happening but mothers need to be armed with the right information. ANTENATAL CAUSES Uncontrolled hypertension in pregnancy results in narrowing of blood vessels and subsequent reduction of oxygen supply to the brain of the fetus. Careful and continuous blood pressure checks at regular antenatal cl ..read more

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