Archive for June, 2008

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder in which your child’s breathing is repeatedly interrupted throughout the sleep.

Basically, there are three types of sleep apnea: one is obstructive sleep apnea due to the blockage, other is central sleep apnea where there is no blockage but the child’s brain is unable to signal the muscles to breathe and the last is mixed sleep apnea that is a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea.

Usually, babies are most commonly affected with central sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is most common in adults and children above 3 years of age. Down syndrome and other congenital situations make the children more prone to the development of sleep apnea.

Who are at greater risk?

Usually, any baby can develop sleep apnea, but this condition is very common in babies born prematurely. If babies are born up to 37 weeks of gestation period, then the condition is called as apnea of prematurity. If babies are born more than 37 weeks of gestation period, then the condition is called as apnea of infancy [Sleep apnea in obese children].

The more a baby is, the greater the chance to suffer from sleep apnea [Sleep apnea during pregnancy].

The great advances in napkin designs lead to a reduction in severe, irritant napkin dermatitis [Different skin disorders in your baby].

There are four types of napkin dermatitis. So, recognizing the condition as early as possible can help in managing the disease.

4 types of napkin rashes include:

• Candidiasis
• Psoriasis
• Irritant dermatitis
• Seborrhoeic dermatitis

Candidiasis: Most often it is suspected as the main cause of napkin dermatitis. Often it is present if the affected skin is scrubbed, but it stays unclear if it has a pathogenic role. Mainly candidiasis is an infection that normally does not cause disease but it can become pathogenic when your child’s immune system is impaired and unable to fight of infection.

Usually this condition presents as a collarette of thin boils of 1-2 mm in diameter about the circumference of wound, which expands outward.

Psoriasis: This disease is only limited to the napkin area. Usually, the appearance of rash appears in red color with a deficiency of scaling. You will observe typical red plaques with definite border and silvery scales on the edges.