Anaemia
The term simply applies to low 1 lb count in blood. Face looks pale, eyes give vacant and besotted look, breathlessness, exhaustion. Main cause is short supply of iron. In olden times Iron pans were used for cooking which helped in iron supply – when some iron used to get mixed with cooked food while stirring or boiling. A breast-fed baby does not need any iron tonic – if the mother takes folic acid, vitamin B-l 2 or spinach when she can, in turn, supply requisite iron to her baby through her milk. Older children should be given preferably vegetables and fruit juices for the purpose. In some cases oral iron preparations may cause loose motions, hence highly sensitive mothers should cautiously use oral iron preparations. It may be pointed out that iron overload can adversely affect liver functioning – it is equally true in cases of children and elderly people alike.
Nausea and Vomiting
Any food item which cannot be digested, unboiled and polluted water, contaminated food or some infection may cause nausea but, when nausea persists, the child gets relieved, quite often, if the undesirable contacts are vomited out. Continuous vomiting can prove serious and should be controlled, though vomiting of milk, if not persistent, is a common complaint of infants. In such cases milk should be given in lesser quantity and with suitable gaps in – between two milk feeds. Give a liquid compound of boiled water (when cooled) with sugar and some salt, as indicated earlier. Breast-feeding mothers should themselves take mild to moderate doses of anti-emetic drugs (like Perinorm, Avomine etc) but the infant must not be given any such drug.
Undescended Testes, Retracted Testes
It is maintained that testes stay in the abdomen during the 7th month of Pregnancy in the womb, whereafter they migrate down to the scrotum (bag that houses testes). If, however, the testes stay for too long a period in the abdomen, they may degenerate or become cancerous even. But, if they happen to lie too low, they can be pulled down and anchored. Some infants have only one testicle but, even with one testicle, full family life can be achieved, then the same may have to be removed by a surgeon.