Conditions

Creating a support group for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) caregivers might help to ease the emotional strain they experience and provide hope, information, friendship, sharing, self-advocacy, problem- solving skills and opportunities for personal growth. The first part of the article details intense rehabilitation programme after brain injury. Are there any broad guidelines or tips for family and friends supporting someone with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the near, medium and…

While it is important to help out a close person trying to get out of substance use habits, it is also important to draw lines and explain what you will and will not accept. This is part of the series on substance use shared by the Addictions Research Group team at Sangath India. In this article, they focus on supporting substance use recovery of a loved one.   Part 1 of the series described about What is Substance Use Disorder Part 2 talked of How to overcome a…

The management of Atopic Dermatitis or Eczema can be like a roller coaster. An understanding of the nature of the problem can help prevent the anguish and distress that most patients and their loved ones experience. Childhood eczemas affect not just the child, but the entire family. The role of the dermatologist is not merely to prescribe some salves and lotions, but to educate the family on the care of the child’s skin and lifestyle changes that treatment entails. Adult patients with Atopic…

Treatment of atopic dermatitis depends on the age, sites of involvement and severity of involvement.  In mild eczemas, simple moisturization and preventive measures and care of the skin may be enough. Sometimes, a topical corticosteroid cream is enough. In case itching is severe an oral antihistamine is added. In children care should be taken that the anti histamine does not cause excessive drowsiness which can interfere with the child's studies.   In case the lesions are…

Can Eczema be prevented? Exclusive breast feeding for at least 6 months has been shown to be the best risk reduction factor in the prevention and development of Atopic Dermatitis. Children exclusively breast fed for 4 months or more had significantly less Atopic Dermatitis compared with children receiving partial breast feeding.   Dermatologist Dr Belinda Vaz delves deep into the causes, types and preventive measures for Atopic Dermatitis or eczema in children. 

How is Atopic Dermatitis or Eczema diagnosed? Most dermatologists are able to make a diagnoses of Atopic Dermatitis very easily in a typical patient. A doctor makes a diagnoses of Atopic dermatitis in a child based on clinical features rather than laboratory tests. A detailed history about the nature of the symptoms, when they occur, possible triggers, a family history of allergic diseases, whether the child also has asthma, hay fever or rhinitis, previous treatments taken and a detailed…

Atopic Dermatitis may present differently at different stages of a child's development.  Infancy In infants, Atopic Dermatitis typically starts at around 6 to 12 weeks of age. About 60% of patients develop AD within the first year of life and 85% by the age of 5. The earlier the onset the more likely is a more severe course. The rash tends to be more generalized in younger babies and more localized in older children. It often appears on the cheeks and chin as a patchy facial rash that…

Symptoms vary from patient to patient. Itching is the most common symptom and may be severe and uncontrollable. When the child itches a particular area of the skin, the surrounding skin reacts to light touch by itching (this phenomenon is called allokinesis). Scratching the skin causes the inflammation to increase and makes the rash worse, leading to more inflammation and itching. This is called the itch-scratch cycle. The child often scratches till the skin bleeds. The itching may be so…

There is no one single reason for Atopic Dermatitis. Atopic Dermatitis is a result of a combination of one’s genes, various factors in the environment around us, the way the skin reacts, a defect in the skin’s barrier function and the immune system: Heredity: The genes that one inherits, play a role in the development of Atopic Dermatitis. Children of parents who have Atopic Dermatitis or other atopic conditions like asthma or hay fever are more likely to develop this disorder. It is not…