There are many infant formulas, and infant baby foods, that are supplemented with DHA and ARA. The FDA is still encouraging formula makers and scientists to keep studying the potentially beneficial effects of adding DHA and ARA to infant formulas.
Toxoplasma gondii is a one-celled parasite that sometimes causes devastating effects on unborn children if their mothers become infected for the first time during their pregnancy.
Infections of the urinary tract are common in young children. Bacteria may enter the urinary tract from the opening and travel upward. Less commonly, they may enter the urinary tract through the bloodstream.
Undescended testicles can occur in any boy, but they are far more common among those who are born early. Sometimes they occur as a complication of hernia repair surgery.
Ticks are a family of bloodsucking arachnids. They are related to mites, such as those that cause scabies, but are larger. They are related to spiders, but have shorter legs.
Generally, internal tibial torsion is a result of normal positioning of the baby in the tight space of the uterus. Some degree of tibial torsion is normal throughout infancy.
Tuberculosis, or TB, is a disease caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It can infect any part of the body, but classically attacks the lungs.
Warts are infections caused by viruses that are present everywhere, making them among the most common of all childhood skin conditions. The culprit will be one of more than 70 types of human papillomaviruses (HPV).
Vomiting is a complex, coordinated, automatic reflex. An increase in saliva production may occur just before vomiting. Retching signals the beginning of the vomiting event.
Children who suck their thumbs are able to begin at an early age to meet their own need for sucking. These children fall asleep more easily, are able to put themselves back to sleep at night more easily, and sleep through the night much earlier than...
Tetanus, also called lockjaw, is caused by a toxin created by a bacterium found in the soil. When this germ gets into an open cut or wound, an unprotected person can contract tetanus, which creates serious muscle spasms that can be strong enough to...
Temper tantrums are expressions of intense, immediate frustration. They occur most frequently at an age when children’s verbal skills are inadequate to express their roiling emotions.
Herpangina is the name of a painful mouth infection, usually with a fever. Even though the name sounds like herpes, almost all of the many viruses that cause it are coxsackieviruses or other enteroviruses—not herpesvirus.
Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, a member of the herpesvirus family. Chickenpox is one of the most contagious childhood illnesses. The disease is usually mild, although serious complications sometimes occur.
Celiac disease is a food sensitivity to gluten, which is protein found primarily in wheat, rye, and barley. In those affected, an immune response to gluten damages the lining of the small intestine.
The lens of the eye is our window to the world. Normally, this lens is crystal clear, transmitting and focusing light. A cataract is cloudiness of the lens.
Bronchitis is inflammation of the large airways in the chest and pneumonia is inflammation of the lung. Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the smaller airways connecting the two.
Breath-holding spells are perhaps the most frightening of the common, benign behaviors of childhood. Desperate parents often want to splash cold water on the child's face, start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or even begin CPR.
We know that hepatitis B virus (HBV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) can live in children’s blood, urine, and/or saliva. All of them can be transmitted by blood—blood from an infected individual entering the...
