Information about the EEC-Syndrome of our son

Image via Wikipedia

We wanted to share some information about the EEC-Syndrome (Ectrodactyly-ectodermal-dysplasia-cleft-Syndrome) of our son as there is a high possibility that he might have this kind of genetic disorder.

I bet you know some persons who "suffer" from the same condition. Mainly these are the persons with cleft lips/palate which gets to be operated while they are babies or young toddlers.

Timmy doesn't have the cleft lips but he has only nine fingers and they are split in the middle (imagine a lobster's claw).

As we will go back to Germany in a few weeks, we have to make several decisions on who shall perform the surgeries and if we should perform the surgeries as there are always risks for such small babies.

The information about the surgery which we got from the Hospital in Kuala Lumpur looks like this:

• several hours for each operation
• at least 2 or 3 operations for each hand
• healing process takes several weeks

We will publish tomorrow a video from one of the biggest EEC-Syndrome self-help groups in America.

There you can see how the kids hands, mouth and feet will look like before the surgery, after the surgery and during the healing process.

(Just saw that Jessica Simpson seems to be an ambassador for Kids with cleft lips and palate. She is supporting "Operation Smile" a foundation who provides free surgeries for those kids.)

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3-Day-Fever: The 1st severe viral infection for our son

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The scientific name of the three day fever is Roseola Infantum or exanthema subitum. 3-day fever is a mild viral illness of sudden onset and short duration that most commonly affects young children, generally under two years old.

The early sign of 3 day fever (roseola infantum) is a sudden high fever (can go up to 40 degrees) and that normally lasts for three to five days. When the fever disappears, the rash will appear. This usually begins on the trunk, spreading to the legs and neck. The rash may last for few days.

There is no specific treatment or vaccines for Three Day Fever (roseola infantum), it usually goes away without any treatment.

These few days, Timmy was infected by Roseola Infantum, he had suddenly a very high fever after we came back shopping from midnight 12/04/2010 on. During the fever time, it wasn't easy to make him sleep and he cried very often. We used wet and cold wash cloth to mop his chest, back, armpit, legs and head, in order to reduce his high temperature. We did not know what caused his high fever, there was totally no sign of it (or perhaps we did not notice it).

Thanks to Monica from Turn-u-off for her tip to use ice packs (we haven't been sure if this would be too cold for him but it was definitely good for reducing his fever!)

About 2 days later (around 15/04), the fever was gone, and the rash showed up the first time on his head. Initially we thought it's some bites from ants (at that time we did not know about Roseola Infantum). But the rashes showed up more and more. It covered the neck, slowly to the chest and back, finally his arms and legs were covered. Honestly, it's scary to see that, and for sure it is the first time we experience this. These rashes are totally different which Timmy had several weeks ago.

Then I immediately checked from the internet about the symptoms, and finally found out it must be the 3 day fever. Then i was relieved to read that after the rashes, Timmy will be recovered. I checked the english information for my hubby to know about this sickness (my information was in chinese). After reading it, both of us felt no more so worried.

Here, i will post the photos. Don't be shocked when you see the photos.

12/4 - Timmy was already inactive in the mall.

13/4 - Having high fever (up to 40 Celsius).

16/4 - Fever was gone, rashes appeared, started from head & neck.

16/4 - During the night, rashes getting more and more on the body (not itchy, no scratching!)

17/4 - No more like red dots, just covered with red rash.

18/04 - After getting again nearly 39 Celsius fever (during the night) the rash is nearly invisible since the afternoon (no pic yet)

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Asthma: BPA and Folate could be the reason!

A new study shows that mice who are pregnant and have been exposed to BPA -a common controversial chemical which hides in plastic bottles and aluminium lining of food and beverage cans- are more likely to let their babies develop Asthma in their future life!

A second study suggests that the intake of Folate during pregnancy might lead to Asthma from the age of 3 in case you took too much. As Folate is usually important during pregnancy because it can prevent neural tube defects it seems that it's the same with every vitamin supplement - Taking more doesn't necessarily mean it's better for the health!

Picture from Flickr
More: BPA may raise risk of Asthma in kids

Choking - Danger for your kids!

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a new policy statement on choking as choking is the leading cause of injury and death amongst children, most likely if they are 4 years and younger!

Facts about choking

• Food, coins and toys cause the most choking related incidents
• In the USA every five days a child will die from choking on food
  
• Only toys are regulated to have warning labels because of choking hazards - no regulations for high risk foods
  
• Many "kid friendly" foods like pop corn, grapes and nuts are potentially dangerous!
• Greatest risk comes from Hot dogs as they can block exactly the airway of little children

Preventing your kids from choking

• Do not give children younger than 4 any round, firm foods unless they have been cut into very small pieces.
• Cut hot dogs lengthwise and cut grapes into quarters. This changes the dangerous round shape that can block a young child’s throat.
• Do not give toddlers other high risk foods, such as hard candy, nuts, seeds and raw carrots.
• Never let small children run, play or lie down while eating.
• Keep coins and other small items out of reach of young children at all times.
  
• Carefully read warning labels on toys before giving them to young children.
  
• To check if a part of a toy is too small, use a small parts test device, which is available at many toy stores.
  
• Additionally, parents and caregivers should learn first aid for choking and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event a choking episode occurs.

Take care of sugary soft drinks!

A new study claims that drinking sugary soft drinks 2 times and more a week don't only lead to dental problems but can even lead to pancreas cancer!

The risk of regular soda drinkers is 87 % higher than persons who drinks instead fruit juices.
The theory behind this new finding is that sugar may give the fuel for the growth of cancerous cells in the usually insulin producing pancreas.

More: Study links sugary soft drinks to pancreas cancer | Reuters

Autism risk: Age of mother & father could make a difference

I guess everyone knows about the risks of a late-in-life pregnancy. Now with a new study published it gets more and more into a direction that

1. the age of mother and father and
   
2. even a certain age difference between mother and father

can lead to risk not only the Down-Syndrome in a newborn child but also an autistic child in the future.

The older a mother gives birth to a baby, the more likely it will develop autistic characters. A 40 year old mother has a 50% greater chance of having an autistic child than a mother in the age of 25 - 29 years.

The risk of fathers which are older than 40 years is only significant higher if the mother is younger than 30 years. The risk is twice as likely that the kid will develop autism signs than if the father would be 25 - 29 years young.

Read more about it on: Reuters - Age of mother affects child's autism risk: study

Bed sharing reduces men's brain power :)

A Austrian study found that if men sharing a bed with a bed mate it affects their mental ability the next day.

Although the men reported they had slept better with a partner, they fared worse in the tests, with their results suggesting they actually had more disturbed sleep.

Both sexes had a more disturbed night's sleep when they shared their bed.

But women apparently managed to sleep more deeply when they did eventually drop off, since they claimed to be more refreshed than their sleep time suggested.

Their stress hormone levels and mental scores did not suffer to the same extent as the men.

But the women still reported that they had the best sleep when they were alone in bed.

Bed sharing also affected dream recall. Women remembered more after sleeping alone and men recalled best after sex.

"Historically, we have never been meant to sleep in the same bed as each other. It is a bizarre thing to do.

"Sleep is the most selfish thing you can do and it's vital for good physical and mental health.

"Sharing the bed space with someone who is making noises and who you have to fight with for the duvet is not sensible.

More on BBC News: Bed sharing "drains men's brains"

Dirt can be good for children!

Researchers from the School of Medicine at University of California, San Diego, found a common bacterial species, known as Staphylococci, blocked a vital step in a cascade of events that led to inflammation which can be found in mud :)

Normal bacteria living on the skin trigger a pathway that helps prevent inflammation when we get hurt, the US team discovered.

A spokeswoman for Allergy UK said there was a growing body of evidence that exposure to germs was a good thing.

"Rates of allergy have tripled in the UK in the last decade. One in three people now has some kind of allergy.

"Some of this might be that people are better informed. But a lot of it is genetic as well as down to our environment," she said.

More can be found on BBC News - Dirt can be good for children, says scientists
Picture from Flickr