EDmedblog. Health News and Information

Polio, also known as poliomyelitis or infantile paralysis, is an infection of the spinal cord that can, in 1 to 2 percent of cases, lead to paralysis or death.

Outbreaks of polio do still occur in this country, and infants should receive two or three doses of live vaccine (Sabin, containing types 1, 2, and 3). The first dose should be given at two months, with the second and third doses separated by intervals of six weeks to two months. This vaccine is given by mouth, not as an injection. A booster dose should be given at the age of four to six years. Children who were not immunized in infancy should receive a total of three or four doses, depending on their ages. The Sabin vaccine is undoubtedly safe for children.

Adults who are not immune and who plan to travel to a country where polio is uncontrolled should also be immunized. In fact, all adults should be immunized against this disease. Some medical authorities believe that the risk of an adult being exposed to polio is minimal, and therefore adult immunization is unnecessary. However, too many cases of polio have occurred in adults over the age of 30 to make this argument acceptable.

The Sabin vaccine does carry a slight risk of polio for adults. However, the Salk vaccine (which is a dead vaccine) does not. Adults who are not immune should receive an initial series of Salk vaccine to acquire temporary immunity, followed by a full series of Sabin vaccine for permanent protection.

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Athlete’s foot is an infection of the skin of the feet. It is caused by one of several funguses that grow best in moisture. The mildest cases cause itching, scaling, and cracking between the toes, particularly between the fourth and fifth toes. Athlete’s foot may spread to the sole of the feet as small blisters and scaling. In severe cases it may spread to the ankles and legs. It may invade and deform the toenails. Scratching may cause additional (secondary) infections. The condition is most common during adolescence, but it may occur at any age—even occasionally in infants.

Signs and symptoms

The scaling and cracking appearance of the feet and the itching that accompanies it are symptoms that may indicate athlete’s foot.

Home care

Apply fungicidal ointment once or twice a day (half strength for delicate skin). Or you may use ointments containing undercylenic acid or tolnaftate (available without a prescription). To decrease sweating of the feet, avoid rubber-soled or plastic-soled shoes. Use cotton socks to absorb moisture. White socks may be best since some dyes can irritate the skin.

Caution: Many “incurable” cases of athlete’s foot are not athlete’s foot itself but contact dermatitis caused by the treatment. Contact dermatitis is a skin rash or inflammation caused by some irritating substance. In some people, the ointments used to treat athlete’s foot may cause such irritation; the athlete’s foot fungus is actually cleared up, but the skin remains irritated. If treatment for athlete’s foot does not relieve the symptoms, check with your doctor to determine if the skin irritation is contact dermatitis.

Precautions

• Continue treatment until the skin is completely clear; funguses not completely treated flare up again.

• If improvement is not prompt and lasting, see your doctor; you may have a skin condition that is not athlete’s foot. Many athlete’s foot medications can cause contact dermatitis in some people.

Medical treatment

Diagnosis is confirmed by scraping the skin and then culturing the fungus or identifying the fungus under a microscope. Your doctor may prescribe other fungicidal ointments or lotions or a fungicide taken by mouth. If a secondary infection has developed, your doctor may prescribe oral antibiotics and soaking in a solution of potassium permanganate or aluminum sulphate and calcium acetate.

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Why should I have regular check-ups with a specialist or diabetic clinic?

The aim in care of diabetes is to keep you healthy all the time and to make sure you grow normally. It may be that you feel well but that there are early signs of something going wrong which a doctor could pick up and help you correct before you actually felt ill. It is helpful for your doctor to keep in touch with you, because if any problems do arise with your health, he will then know you and your diabetes well enough to be able to advise you more easily and efficiently. It will also make it easier perhaps for you to discuss minor’ difficulties and problems with him if you see him regularly and know him well.

Diabetes care involves a certain amount of self-discipline and, for some people at least, regular medical supervision helps to develop this. Finally, by attending a diabetic specialist or clinic regularly you will be sure that you will benefit from any new developments in special care for diabetes, because it is part of the job of specialist doctors and clinics to keep abreast of all research and new developments in treatment.

I am an adolescent girl. Will my periods upset my diabetes?

Menstrual periods won’t upset your diabetes, but your diabetes could be a little unstable during the period. This is of no importance and it is usually best to leave the insulin dose unchanged.

I am a teenage girl, and even though I am keeping to my exchanges I am getting fat. What can I do?

It may seem unfair to be getting fat when you are already on a diet. But a diet for a child with diabetes is not designed to make you lose weight, and it may be that you do not need as much food as you used to. You must first ask yourself whether you are being accurate with your exchanges; there is always a possibility that you are being a bit generous with measurements or having an extra exchange now and again without really meaning to. Are you having too much butter or other fatty foods? Are you taking enough exercise, or do homework and television take up most of your leisure time?

If you feel sure you are being careful with your diet, and being as active as you can, yet despite this you are getting fatter, then you should discuss it with your doctor. It may be that you need a reduction in your diet, but you should not cut down the number of exchanges without first consulting your doctor because you will probably need to adjust your insulin. If you get very hungry and find it hard to keep to your diet, the dietitian may be able to suggest more filling foods that will satisfy your appetite without giving so many calories.

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