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Heart Screening in Children and Teenagers
Dr Nick Barnes • August 13, 2019
Screening can significantly reduce the risk of sudden death from heart disease
Many parents will be all too aware of tragic stories that appear periodically in the media reporting the sudden death of a seemingly perfectly fit and well child whilst exercising, understandably provoking the question 'Should we have our child screened?'. Mercifully, these cases are very rare, but screening can play a useful role in reducing risk significantly, although not completely. A simple history assessment, examination, ECG and heart ultrasound can detect many of the dangerous heart structural and electrical rhythm abnormalities, years before they become symptomatic. Charitable organisations such as 'Cardiac Risk in the Young' (www.c-r-y.org.uk) have well established successful screening programmes, and in some countries e.g. Italy, it is mandatory for all young people engaged in organised sport to undergo screening, significantly reducing the risk of young sudden cardiac death. If you would like your child screened, please contact my personal assistant on 07306 785007 or at enquiries@privatepaediatrician.co.uk
Read more about the charity 'Cardiac risk in the Young'
Practical health advice for your child from a private paediatrician
The thought of one's child being infected with COVID can be frightening, but virtually all recover very quickly without the need for any specific treatment, admission to hospital or long term consequence. With such a wealth of information available on-line it can difficult to know where to start to access reliable advice. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (rcpch.ac.uk) has some excellent free resources for parents, including guidance on vaccination for 12-15 year olds, the use of anti-inflammatory medicines and which children and young children are considered to be clinically vulnerable during the pandemic. The site www.nhs.uk also has a helpful dedicated section on COVID 19 in children that includes a description of typical symptoms and how to get help when you need it.
Much has been written about the safety of immunisations, and the internet is awash with fact, opinion and misinformation. If you are having any doubts about immunising your child, read more...
Department of Health guidance suggests that you should start weaning your baby at around 6 months of age. Whilst I certainly recommend that to most families, babies with reflux may benefit from starting a little earlier, perhaps from as early as 4 months of age. Solids tend to stay down better than milk in refluxing babies, and this is a phenomenon we try and take advantage of in very young babies for whom adding carobel (a starch-based thickener) to their milk can often help reduce vomiting significantly.
An area that causes confusion and uncertainty is when to wean babies born prematurely, as the evidence for when to start solids in this group is sparse. Should you wait until they are 6 months old? Or 6 months past their due date? Certainly the degree of prematurity is important, and a baby born 3 months premature will behave very differently to one born just a few weeks early. Whatever their age, it is certainly important that a weaning baby is able to hold their head steady supported in a high chair.