Dental & Mouth Concerns
Dental & Mouth Conditions
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
Blog
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Dementias
Brain & Nervous System
Dementias are brain diseases. They result in a decline of all areas of mental ability. This includes learning, memory, problem solving, behaviors, and language.
Signs & Symptoms
Symptoms of most forms of dementia usually appear slowly over time. However, with a certain form, multi- infarct dementia, the onset of symptoms can be sudden. Symptoms of dementia include:
* Poor memory of recent events, etc.
* Making up stories to explain memory loss
* Getting lost in familiar settings
* Not being able to finish tasks
* Decreased energy
* Social withdrawal or depression
* General confusion
* Behaviors that are paranoid, anxious, irritating, childlike, or rigid
* No interest in personal hygiene, grooming, or dressing oneself
* Unclear speech
Causes & Care
Primary or True Dementias
The origin of the dementia is in the brain itself. Examples of this type are:
* Alzheimer’s disease. This is the most common type of dementia.
* Multi-infarct dementia. This is due to blocked blood vessels in the brain. Often the cause is a stroke.
* Parkinson’s disease
* Pick’s disease. This is like Alzheimer’s disease, but has different changes in the brain.
* Huntington’s disease. This is an inherited disease. Dementia symptoms usually start in middle age. Facial tics and other uncontrolled movements also occur.
* Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. This is caused by a virus that lies dormant in the body for years. When the virus is activated, the dementia progresses quickly.
* Multiple sclerosis. With this, scar tissue in the brain can prevent the normal travel of nerve impulses used for mental function. Dementia with multiple sclerosis is rare, though, and may occur with the end stage of this disease.
Secondary Dementias
* Depression
* Alcohol problems
* Reactions to certain medicines
* Poor nutrition. Lack of vitamin B12.
* Hypothyroidism
* Dehydration
* Head injuries
* Infections, such as HIV which causes AIDS or syphilis
* Brain tumors
{Note: A recent study found that older Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are nearly two times as likely to have dementia than their peers who do not have PTSD.}
Dementias need medical diagnosis and treatment. When another condition, such as depression, is the cause and is treated with success, the dementia can be cured. For others, such as Alzheimer’s disease, there is no cure. The goal of treatment is to treat symptoms and provide safety and comfort.
Self-Care
The person with dementia needs to:
* Follow a simple daily routine
* Limit activities
* Wear an ID tag
* Be kept in a safe environment
* Have labels put on objects
* Eat a well balanced diet and drink plenty of fluids
* Have regular sensory stimulation, like touching, exercising, etc.
Caretakers should:
* Assume a non-combative approach to difficult behaviors. Steer the person into another activity.
* Give medicines as advised by the person’s doctor and report and review medicines with the doctor and/or pharmacist.
* Get home care, respite care, hospital, or nursing home care, if needed.
When to Seek Medical Care
Contact Doctor When:
* You are unable to care for someone with dementia or he or she is too agitated or hostile to control.
* A medical evaluation is needed for a person with symptoms of dementia.
Get Immediate Care When:
Any of the “Stroke Warning Signs” are present.
Delirium
Delirium is mental confusion, behavior changes, etc. that develop in a matter of hours to a day or so. Delirium is a symptom of another condition, such as:
* A high fever
* Pneumonia or other infection
* Diabetes
* Substance abuse or withdrawal
* Misuse or withdrawal of certain medicines
Immediate medical care is needed for delirium so the cause can be found and treated.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Dehydration
First Aid
Dehydration is when the body loses too much water and needed minerals (electrolytes).
Signs & Symptoms
For Severe Dehydration
* Severe thirst (sometimes).
* Sunken and dry eyes. Tearless eyes. (Infants may not show this sign.)
* Dry mouth, tongue, and lips.
* No urine or a low amount of urine that is dark yellow.
* Sunken fontanelle (the soft spot on an infant’s head).
* Headache. Feeling lightheaded, especially when getting up quickly.
* Dry skin that doesn’t spring back when pinched.
* Feeling dizzy. Confusion. Severe weakness.
* Increase in breathing and heart rate.
Causes
* The body does not get enough fluids for it’s needs.
* Too much water or other body fluids and electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, are lost. This can result from: Repeated episodes of diarrhea and/or vomiting; heavy sweating; heat exhaustion; or heat stroke.
Treatment
Fluids and electrolytes must be replaced. If this can’t be done by mouth, they are given through an IV solution.
Questions to Ask
Self-Care / First Aid
* If vomiting isn’t present, adults and children over age 12 should drink about 2 cups of fluid per hour. Fluids of choice are: Sports drinks; flat cola; clear sodas; broths; popsicles; and gelatin.
* If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, or a history of stroke, you should find out what fluids your doctor prefers you take when you need to replace lost fluids.
* For children under 2 years old, consult your child’s doctor about the amount and type of fluid to give. Ask your child’s doctor about using over-the-counter products that give fluid and electrolytes. Examples are Pedialyte and Infalyte.
* For children over 2 years old, give up to 1-1/2 quarts of fluid per day.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Daily Defense Against Dandruff
Skin Conditions
Dandruff is harmless. But it can be annoying to have white flecks accumulate on the clothes on your back and shoulders.
Dandruff (or seborrheic dermatitis, in medical terms) affects the scalp and eyebrows – areas of the skin where oil glands are most active – leaving them oily and flaky. Unchecked, dandruff can collect around your ears and cascade down your neck and back.
While dandruff seems to run in families, no one knows exactly what causes it. Possible contributing factors include:
* Stress.
* Infrequent shampooing.
* Oily skin in general.
* Extremes in weather (hot and humid or cold and dry conditions).
Whatever the cause of your dandruff, thorough, daily shampooing is the most successful home treatment. To make shampooing more effective:
* Wash your hair thoroughly to loosen scaly skin, but be gentle, taking care not to scratch or irritate the scalp and increase the risk of infection. Change shampoos if the one you’re using isn’t helping or stops working after you’ve used it awhile.
* Use an antidandruff shampoo. Over-the-counter shampoos with selenium sulfide are often effective for mild cases. More severe dandruff may require a prescription medication containing coal tar or a scalp lotion with cortisone, which is rubbed into the scalp.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Croup
Children’s Health
Croup causes swelling around vocal cords and airways. Children usually get croup between 3 months and 5 years of age. It is a scary, but not usually dangerous condition. Croup often occurs several days after a child has mild symptoms of a cold.
Signs & Symptoms
* A cough that sounds like a seal’s bark.
* Hoarseness.
* A harsh, crowing noise with breathing in.
Symptoms of croup can also be like symptoms of more serious problems. These include:
* Something can be stuck in your child’s windpipe.
* Epiglottitis. This is a bacterial infection that can cause the back of the throat to swell up. If the throat is blocked, breathing in is very difficult. Severe respiratory distress can result. Signs of epiglottitis are:
– Drooling.
– Hanging the head down.
– Sticking out the jaw to breathe.
– Fever.
Causes
Croup is usually caused by a certain virus. Other viruses, allergies, bacteria, and inhaled foreign objects, can mimic croup.
Treatment
Self-care measures can treat symptoms. Croup usually goes away in 3 to 7 days. It is usually worse at night. Emergency care is needed for severe problems breathing.
Questions to Ask
Self-Care / Prevention
* Don’t panic. You can help your child stay calm if you stay calm. Hold your child to comfort him or her. The windpipe may open up a little if your child relaxes. Call your child’s doctor or get immediate care if you are not sure what to do.
* Go into the bathroom with your child and close the door.
– Turn on the hot water in the sink and shower. Let the steam fill the room.
– Don’t put your child in the shower. Sit with your child. (Don’t sit on the floor.) Read a book or play a game with your child. This will help pass the time.
– Open the window to let cool air in. This helps make more steam.
– Stay in the bathroom about 10 to 15 minutes.
* If it is cold outside, instead of using the bathroom to make steam, put a coat, etc. on your child and take him or her outside to breathe the cold night air.
* Use a humidifier in your child’s room. Use warm, distilled water, not tap water. Clean the humidifier every day. Put a humidifier on your furnace. Change the filter often.
* Give your child a clear liquid. Warm it first. Warm liquids may help loosen the mucus. Give babies under 6 months old water or electrolyte water, such as Pedialyte, if okay with your child’s doctor. Give water, apple juice, etc. to a child who is 6 months old or older.
* Try to keep your child calm. Croup symptoms tend to get worse if your child is crying and upset.
To Help Prevent Croup and Other Infections
* See that your child’s immunizations for diphtheria (DTaP), measles (MMR), and H. influenzae type b (Hib) are up-to-date.
* Follow prevention measures inColds & Flu.
Resources
The American Academy of Pediatrics
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Crohn’S Disease
Abdominal & Urinary Conditions
Help for an Inflammatory Bowel Disorder
The lower section of your small intestine is called the ileum. It’s connected to your colon. When the ileum (and sometimes the colon) becomes chronically inflamed, the condition is called Crohn’s disease. Early symptoms include:
* Cramps and pain on the lower right side of the abdomen, usually after a meal.
* Diarrhea.
* Slight fever.
* Nausea.
* Loss of appetite and weight loss.
* Sores in the anal area. At times, rectal bleeding. Joint pains.
* Fatigue.
Most cases of Crohn’s disease are diagnosed in persons younger than 30, but can occur in persons older, too.
Crohn’s disease tends to run in families and is more common among Caucasians, especially Europeans and people of Jewish heritage. (Doctors also suspect environmental factors may be partially to blame.)
Crohn’s disease is quite unpredictable: It comes and goes, triggering attacks off and on for months or years. Nevertheless, treatment is fairly successful and consists of medications – usually aspirin-like drugs, corticosteroids, immune modifiers, and possibly antibiotics, should an infection occur. Doctors recommend bed rest, especially during severe attacks, use of a heating pad to relieve abdominal cramps, and drinking as many liquids as possible to prevent dehydration.
(About 70 percent of those with Crohn’s disease undergo surgery. But it’s usually not a cure: Crohn’s tends to recur in another portion of the intestine.)
Certain foods like milk, eggs, or wheat may irritate the intestines, and avoiding these foods in all forms seems to help control flare-ups (although it doesn’t cure the condition). Avoid drinking alcohol-it, too, irritates your system. As for other dietary measures, a diet high in vitamins, protein, and carbohydrates and low in fiber is standard treatment.
Note: Crohn’s disease can mimic other intestinal diseases and can only be diagnosed by a physician. If you experience any of the symptoms described, get medical attention.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Cpr
First Aid
Conventional CPR ─ Chest Compressions and Rescue Breaths {Note: Doing Hands-Only CPR is advised for persons not trained in CPR. Take a training course in CPR to learn how to do it the right way. Find out about training course in CPR to learn how to do it the right way. Find out about training atwww.cpr.heart.org.} Do CPR when the person is not responsive, is not breathing, and does not have a pulse.
Hands Only CPR
This is giving chest compressions with no rescue breaths. It can be used for adults and teens who suddenly collapse.
Hands-Only CPR is not for:
* All infants and children.
* Adults and teens who have collapsed due to near-drowning, a drug overdose, or breathing problems.
* Adults and teens who are already unconscious and not breathing normally when found.
Hands-Only CPR – 2 Steps:
1. Call 9-1-1 or get someone else to call!
2. Push hard and push fast in the center of the chest. Give 100 compressions per minute, such as to the tune of “Staying Alive” by the Bee Gees. Keep this up until an automated external defibrillator (AED) is used or EMS arrives.
See the Hands-Only™ CPR video atwww.cpr.heart.org.
CPR for Adults & Teens
Shout for help! Call or have someone else call 9-1-1 and get an automated external defibrillator (AED) if one is nearby. If another person is around, one of you stay with the person. The other one call 9-1-1 and get the AED. Follow the 9-1-1 dispatcher’s advice. Do CPR until the AED is used or EMS takes over.
1. Begin Chest Compressions:
* Kneel at the person’s side. Place the heel of one hand ½ inch above where the ribs join the breastbone. Place your other hand on top of this one. Using the heels of your hands, depress the middle of the chest between the nipples at least 2 inches, but not more than 2.4 inches deep. Keep your arms straight. See image A.
* Push hard and push fast! Give at least 100 chest compressions in one minute. Relax pressure completely after each compression.
Image A
2. Open the person’s airway.
With one hand, tilt the person’s head back. With 2 fingers of your other hand, lift the chin up. See image B. If the airway is blocked, tilt the person’s head gently and slowly until the airway is open.
Image B
3. If the person is breathing, keep the airway open.
Look for other problems.
4. If the person is not breathing, take a normal, (not deep) breath, and give him or her “Rescue Breaths.”
* Pinch the nose shut. Forming a tight seal, place your mouth over the person’s open mouth. See image C.
* Give 1 full breath for 1 second. If the chest doesn’t rise, repeat head tilt chin lift. See image B. Give the 2nd full breath for 1 second. Look to see if the person’s chest rises.
Image C
5. Give cycles of 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths, without a break, until the person starts to move, an AED is used, or EMS provides care.
Children Ages 1 to Puberty
Shout for help! If you are alone, do CPR for 2 minutes before you call 9-1-1. If the child does not appear to have a serious injury, carry the child to nearest phone and call 9-1-1! Put the phone on speaker mode. Follow the dispatcher’s advice. If you are not alone, someone start CPR; someone else call 9-1-1 and get an AED, if one is nearby.
1. Place the child on his or her back.
2. Start Chest Compressions:
* Put one hand on the child’s breastbone right between his or her nipples.
* Using the heel of your hand (or both hands like in image A under Adults & Children Who Reached Puberty) push straight down about 2 inches (at least one-third of the depth of the child’s chest). See image D. Let the chest rise back up after each push.
* Push hard and push fast! Give at least 100 chest compressions in one minute. Relax pressure completely after each compression.
Image D
3. Follow steps 2, 3, 4, and 5 under CPR For Adults and Children who Have Reached Puberty on this page.
{Note: Chest compressions alone are better than doing nothing, but it is best to give chest compressions plus rescue breaths. Why? Airway problems are the main cause of cardiac arrest in infants and children.}
Babies Up to 1 Year Old
1. If you are alone, do CPR for 2 minutes before you call 9-1-1.
If the child does not appear to have a serious injury, carry the child to nearest cell or other phone and call 9-1-1! Put the phone on speaker mode. Follow the dispatcher’s advice. If you are not alone, someone start CPR; someone else call 9-1-1!
2. Start Chest Compressions:
* Put the tips of your middle and ring fingers on the baby’s breastbone right between his or her nipples. See image E.
* Slip your other hand underneath the baby’s back for support.
* Push straight down about 1½ inches (at least one-third of the depth of the baby’s chest). Push at a rate of at least 100 compressions per minute. Let the chest rise back up after each push.
Image E
3. If the baby is not breathing, or you are not sure he or she is breathing, give Rescue Breaths:
* Cover the infant’s mouth and nose with your mouth, forming a tight seal.
* Give 1 full breath for 1 second. Look to see if the chest rises. Give the 2nd full breath for 1 second and look to see if the chest rises.
* If the chest does not rise, go back to giving chest compressions. See step 2 listed above. After 30 more compressions, try rescue breaths again. {Note: If you can’t give rescue breaths, just keep giving chest compressions.}
4. Give cycles of 30 chest compressions and 2 rescue breaths, without a break.
Do this until the baby starts to move or until EMS provides care.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Covid-19
Respiratory conditions
COVID-19 (COVID) is a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Most people recover within a few weeks. Older people and those with certain underlying medical conditions are more likely to become severely ill. Safe and effective vaccines are available to protect against COVID infections.
Signs & Symptoms
Symptoms may be mild or severe and appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. Symptoms may include:
* Fever or chills
* Cough
* Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
* Fatigue
* Muscle or body aches
* Headache
* Loss of taste or smell
* Sore throat
* Congestion or runny nose
* Nausea or vomiting
* Diarrhea
Post-COVID conditions include a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems for some people. They may occur four or more weeks after first being infected.
How COVID Spreads
* Breathing in air when close to an infected person who is breathing out air that contains the virus. People who are closer than 6 feet from the infected person are most likely to get infected.
* Having these virus particles from an infected person land on the eyes, nose, or mouth.
* Touching eyes, nose, or mouth with hands that have the virus on them.
Risk Factors for Severe Illness
Severe illness means needing hospitalization, intensive care, a ventilator to help breathe, or even death.
* Older people: The risk increases for people older than 50. People older than 85 are most likely to get very sick.
* People with certain underlying medical conditions: Examples include cancer, chronic kidney disease, and chronic lung disease, such as asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension. Others include dementia, diabetes, heart disease, HIV infection, weakened immune system, liver disease, overweight and obesity, sickle cell disease, smoking, and substance use disorders.
* Women who are pregnant.
Treatment
* Most people have mild illness from COVID and can recover at home.
* Get medical care immediately if you have trouble breathing or have any other emergency warning signs. Treatment may include medications and hospitalization to slow the virus, reduce an overactive immune response, support for the body’s immune function, or treat complications.
* One example of a medication used for treatment is monoclonal antibodies, which may help the immune system recognize and respond more effectively to the virus.
* Tell your close contacts that they may have been exposed to COVID so they can take precautions to protect their health, and the health of others close to them.
Prevention
Get vaccinated, including a booster shot, if recommended. This includes people who already had and not had COVID. These vaccines are safe and effective. They help protect against severe disease and death from variants of the virus. You may have side effects after vaccination, which is normal and should go away in a few days.
Use these following guidelines to help further prevent infection:
* Follow your local public health department’s recommendations to stay safe, especially if you live in or visit an area where there are high numbers of COVID cases.
* Follow guidelines issued by your workplace and local businesses.
* Wear a mask if you are not fully vaccinated when you are in indoor public places or crowded outdoor settings. You may also be recommended to avoid these areas.
* If you are fully vaccinated, you may also be recommended to wear a mask:
– When in areas of high numbers of cases
– If your age or an underlying medical conditions puts you at an increased risk for severe illness
– If someone in your household has a weakened immune system, is at increased risk for severe illness, or is unvaccinated.
* Wear a mask in planes, buses, trains, airports, stations, and ride-sharing services.
* Stay 6 feet away from others who do not live in your household. If possible, avoid close contact with people inside your household who are sick.
* Avoid indoor spaces that do not offer fresh air from the outdoors.
* Clean high touch surfaces regularly.
* Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Or use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. This includes:
– Before eating or preparing food
– Before touching your face
– After using the restroom
– After leaving a public place
– After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
– After handling your mask
– After changing a diaper
– After caring for someone who is sick
– After touching pets
* Cover coughs and sneezes. If wearing a mask, put on a new, clean mask as soon as possible. If you are not wearing a mask, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue, or the inside of your elbow.
* Limit the number of visitors and the time spent inside.
* Improve ventilation (air flow) in your home, especially when there are visitors. Open doors and windows if safe to do so. Filter the air in your home, using pleater furnace filters and change them every three months. Turn on bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans as well as other fans.
* Monitor your health daily. Be alert for symptoms, especially if you have been in a public setting and unable to keep a physical distance of 6 feet.
* If you have close contact with someone who has COVID, fully vaccinated people should wear a mask around others for 10 days and get tested at least 5 days after exposure. Unvaccinated people should quarantine. Stay home for 5 days, wear a mask around others and watch for symptoms. Get tested at least 5 days after exposure. If negative, you can leave your home but continue to wear a mask around others until 10 days after exposure. All people should get tested if they have symptoms.
Triage Questions
Self-Care
* Stay home, except to get medical care. Stay in a specific room away from other people and pets in your household. Use a separate bathroom, if available.
* Monitor your symptoms carefully. Follow care instructions from your doctor and local health department.
* Your doctor may recommend taking medications, like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, to reduce fever. Other medications may also be recommended or prescribed that you can take while staying at home.
* Get rest and stay hydrated.
* Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Immediately wash your hands.
* To find out where you can get tested, contact or visit the website of your local, state, or tribal health department.
* Wear a mask over your nose and mouth if you need to be around other people or animals, inside or outside your home.
* Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. This includes:
– After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
– Going to the bathroom
– Before eating or preparing food
* If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.
* Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces every day in your “sick” room and bathroom. If other people clean these areas, they should wear a mask and disposable gloves.
* Do not share dishes, eating utensils, towels, or other bedding with other people in your home.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Covid-19 Vaccine Myth Busters
Respiratory conditions
If you are still deciding whether the COVID-19 (COVID) vaccine is right for you, here is some accurate vaccine information to help clear up some common myths and rumors you may have come across while gathering information.
Can COVID-19 vaccines cause variants?
COVID vaccines do not create or cause the COVID virus to become a variant. New variants happen because the virus is constantly changing through a natural process. This process is called mutation. Even before the vaccines were developed, there were already several variants of the COVID virus. Plus, moving forward, variants are expected to continue to emerge as the virus continues to change. COVID vaccines can help prevent new variants. With high vaccination coverage, the spread of the virus is reduced so it has fewer opportunities to change into a new variant.
Is the mRNA vaccine considered a vaccine?
mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, are vaccines. They trigger your immune system to respond to fight the COVID virus. Although these vaccines are new, their research and development has been ongoing for decades. These types of vaccines teach your cells to make a “spike protein,” which is found on the COVID virus. Your body recognizes this protein does not belong and works to get rid of it. Your body does this by making antibodies to fight against the virus as if you were infected with the virus. This immune response is what protects you from getting infected if the real virus enters your body.
Do COVID vaccines contain microchips?
COVID vaccines do not contain microchips. Vaccines are not given to track your movement. They are given to fight against COVID infection. Vaccines work by stimulating your immune system to produce antibodies, as if you were exposed to the virus that causes COVID. Once vaccinated, you develop immunity to COVID without getting the disease first.
Can the COVID vaccine cause you to be magnetic?
A COVID vaccine will not make any part of your body magnetic. COVID vaccines do not contain any ingredients that can produce an electromagnetic field on your arm where you receive the injection. All COVID vaccines do not contain metals.
Do the COVID vaccines shed any of their components?
Vaccine shedding can only occur when the vaccine contains a weakened, live version of the virus. None of the COVID vaccines approved in the U.S. contain the live virus.
Will the vaccine alter my DNA?
COVID vaccines do not change your DNA in any way. Both kinds of vaccines (mRNA and viral vector type vaccines) send instructions from your genes to your cells. These instructions tell your cells how to start building protection against the virus that causes COVID. The material from either type of vaccine does not enter the nucleus of the cell, which is where DNA is kept, so it cannot alter the DNA.
Is it safe for me to get a COVID vaccine if I plan to have a baby one day?
COVID vaccination is recommended for people who are trying to get pregnant now or in the future. There is no evidence that COVID vaccines lead to problems trying to get pregnant, for women or men.
Is natural immunity from COVID infection better than immunity from the COVID vaccine?
Getting a COVID vaccine is safer and more dependable in building COVID immunity than getting sick with COVID first. Having COVID can offer some protection from future illness. But, the amount of protection may vary depending on how mild or severe the illness was and their age. Plus, getting COVID can lead to severe illness.
Does the COVID vaccine affect mammogram results?
Getting the COVID vaccine can cause normal and temporary swelling of the lymph nodes in the underarm. This may cause mammogram results to appear abnormal for a period of time after vaccination. Ask your doctor how long you should wait after vaccination to get your mammogram.
Can the COVID vaccine make me sick with COVID-19?
None of the approved vaccines in the U.S. can make you sick with COVID because they do not contain the live virus that causes COVID. When you get the vaccine, it teaches your immune system to identify and fight the virus. Sometimes, this process can produce symptoms, such as fever. These symptoms are normal and signal that your body is building protection.
Will the vaccine cause me to test positive?
None of the approved vaccines cause you to test positive on the viral tests, which are used to see if you have a current infection. If your body develops an immune response after you receive the vaccine (which is the goal) you may test positive on some antibody tests. Antibody tests will show that you had a previous infection and that you may have some level of protection against the virus.
Will the vaccine provide 100% protection?
COVID vaccines will not protect you 100%. No vaccine does, just like virtually no medical treatment is 100% effective, 100% of the time. The vaccine gives you very significant benefits. It vastly reduces the likelihood of you getting COVID and helps protect you from severe illness or death, even if you do get COVID. However, at this time, CDC recommends everyone ages 12 and older get a booster shot. That’s because studies now show vaccine protection against the virus and the ability to prevent infection likely decrease over time, especially if variants of the virus emerge.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine
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Coughs In Children
Children’s Health
Signs, Symptoms & Causes
Coughing can be a sign of many problems. Your child’s body uses coughing to clear the lungs and airways. Coughing itself is not the problem. What causes the cough is the problem. Children usually get coughs from an infection in the nose and throat.
Here are some other reasons for your child to cough:
* Asthma.
* Bronchitis. This is a respiratory tract infection.
* A cold or the flu.
* Croup.
* Measles.
* Smoking or secondhand smoke.
* Swollen adenoids. (This can lead to an infection.)
* Whooping cough. A vaccine for this is part of the DTaP shot.
How to treat a cough depends on what kind it is, what caused it, and the other symptoms. Treat the cause and make the pain better.
Questions to Ask
Self-Care
* Give your child plenty of liquids, like water and clear soup. These help loosen mucus and soothe a sore throat. Fruit juices are good, too.
* Use a cool-mist vaporizer, especially in the bedroom. Use distilled (not tap) water. Put a humidifier on the furnace. Keep them very clean. Remember to change the filter on the humidifier.
* Sit with your child in the bathroom with the shower running. The steam can help thin the mucus. (If your child has asthma, do not follow this tip.)
* Raise your child’s head when resting if he or she has a cold or respiratory infection.
* Put your child’s head lower than his or her chest if the infection is in the lungs.
* Ask your child’s doctor or pharmacist what kind of cough medicine is O.K. to give your child.
* Make your own cough medicine. Mix 1 part lemon juice and 2 parts honey. (Don’t give this to children under 1 year old.)
* Have your child suck on cough drops, hard candies, or suckers. Give suckers that have safety loops instead of hard sticks. (Don’t give these to a child under 5 years old.)
* If your baby coughs after eating:
– Have your baby sit up when he or she eats.
– If your baby drinks from a bottle, burp your baby after each ounce of formula. Burp the baby every few minutes when breast-feeding.
– Don’t lie the baby down after feeding.
* Don’t smoke. Keep your child away from secondhand smoke. Tell your child not to smoke.
* Keep your child away from chemical gases that can hurt their lungs.
* When your child is better, promote exercise on a regular basis. Your child’s breathing muscles will get stronger. Your child will fight infection better, too.
* Keep your child’s shots up-to-date.
* For fever and aches, give your child acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Make sure you give the right kind and dose for your child’s weight.
* If your child gets bronchitis easily, keep him or her away from air pollution as much as you can. Use air conditioning and air filters. Have your child wear a filter mask over his or her nose and mouth if needed. Keep your child inside when air pollution is heavy.
* Call the doctor if your child doesn’t get better in 24 hours.
(Note: Do not give aspirin. Aspirin and other medicines that have salicylates have been linked to Reye’s Syndrome.)
To Help Prevent a Cough and Choking from Something Caught in the Throat or Windpipe
* Keep coins, paper clips, balloons, and small toy parts out of the reach of babies and small children. Anything that is small enough to fit through the center of a paper towel roll is a choking hazard for babies and small children.
* Watch your child when he or she eats. For a child less than 4 years old, give foods that are soft and cut up. Don’t give foods in the list below to a child less than 4 years old.
– Peanuts and other nuts.
– Popcorn.
– Hot dogs (even when cut in round pieces).
– Raisins and other dried fruit.
– Raw carrots.
– Chewing gum.
– Peanut butter from a spoon.
– Hard candy, sunflower or pumpkin seeds. (Wait until a child is age 5 years old to give these.)
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine