Wednesday, April 21, 2010

UNDERSTANDING THE SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN CHILDREN (PART III)

For now there is no cure for sickle cell disease, except thorough divine healing. There are innumerable testimonies of how sickler children have been healed by God. This article aims at highlighting simple home remedies for managing the sickle cell crises.

The leaves of Telfaria occidentalis or fluted pumpkin are reputed to enhance the formation of healthy red blood cells. For this reason, it is commonly used in preparing simple home remedies for sicklers. Go here and read more articles on health related issues.

To prepare this home remedy, the leaves and vines of this vegetable are crushed or pounded in a mortar. A little quantity of water is added as the leaves are being pounded. After the pounding, it is strained to extract the water from the crushed leaves. This extracted water is mixed with milk or any nutritious drink such as maltina. The mixture is given to the sickler child to drink on regular basis. It may be repeated weekly. The parents would have to watch and make sure the child drinks the mixture. Tell someone about this article. Visit this blog regularly for articles of this kind.

In addition, the leaves of this vegetable are also used as vegetable in cooking soup along with other nourishing ingredients such as fish and meat.

The principle behind this treatment is that since red blood cells are rapidly destroyed in sicklers, there is a need to replace the cells as rapidly as they are destroyed. This preparation serves this purpose very well because this vegetable contains folic acid, which is good for blood formation while milk is a valuable source of vitamin B12, which prevents anemia.

It is known that the crises in sickle cell patients occur when the cells clump together and therefore not able to pass through blood vessels quickly. The child should be allowed to drink plenty of fluid all the time. This helps to keep the red blood cells free and thereby permit free flow of blood through any blood vessel.

Moreover, the child should be given folic acid and vitamin B-complex daily as this help to enhance the formation of healthy red blood cells. The child should never be exposed to extreme weather conditions such as low temperatures or any stressful exercises, which will lead to a high demand for oxygen, and he should be allowed sufficient rest

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UNDERSTANDING THE SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN CHILDREN (PART II)

The symptoms of the sickle cell disease may vary with individuals, but there are some signs that are common to the sickle cell patients. These common symptoms are presented below.

Periodic Episodes of Pain: It is common for sickle cell children to complain of pains in their legs, hands, etc. The pains are more common with the joints. These pains occur whenever the sickle cells block the free flow of blood to any organ. The frequency of these pains varies from one child to the other. Any stressful condition may trigger these pains or crises.
Swollen feet and hands: The toes and fingers of sicklers may become swollen. Pains may accompany these swellings. It may last for some days before the swelling subsides. The swelling and pain is due to the fact that the sickle cells cannot pass through tiny blood vessels easily. If you enjoy this article, tell someone about it and visit my blog for more articles.
Frequent bouts of infection: In children, the commonest is cough and malaria. Sicklers easily succumb to attack by malaria parasites. This is because the red blood cells are fragile and they are therefore easily destroyed by the malaria parasite, leaving the child anemic.
Anemia: Red blood cells of sickler children do not last long. They only live for about two to three weeks, thus there is need for frequent replacement of these cells. The sickler is therefore chronically and frequently short of enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to various parts of the body.
Stunted growth: Sickler children usually have stunted growth. Nutrients needed for growth are carried round the body through the blood. A shortage of healthy red blood cells can result in slow growth in children. Also, there are indications that nutrients are not fully utilized by the body of sicklers. This is partly responsible for the slow growth. It usually delays puberty in teenage children. These symptoms begin to manifest as from the fourth month after birth. Affected babies may not crawl or walk at the right time. Do you have friends who are sicklers? Refer them to this article and click here for more articles on health matters.
Impaired vision: There are research reports that some sicklers may have impaired vision. This is as a result of the blockage of the blood vessels which supply eyes with blood and nutrients. This leads to a damage of the retina of the eyes, leading to poor vision.

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