Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020672 (hypothermia)
 17,327 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although the figure of unreported cases of neglected children is much higher than that of physical ill-treatment of children, neglect has rarely received attention, in most cases only when traces of physical ill-treatment were proven at the same time. Symptomatic are in the first place intense emaciation as well as dry puckered, scaly and extremely dirty skin, lack of subcutaneous fatty tissue and of Bichat's fat pad, matted hair, aged face, sunken eyes, and eczema from urine with ulcerations in the buttock and thigh regions. In addition one finds signs of localized hypothermia or rickets. My own observations cover 54 cases in which neglect and malnutrition have caused the death of the children involved. All the children had been living in extremely bad social conditions. The backgrounds of the children's mothers were also socially poor. Most of the mothers were too young to fulfill their duties. The fathers, where known, were alcoholics, unwilling to work and seldom cared for their family. They too were often too young to cope with their role as father. In this day and age, which has provided us with a much better understanding of the importance of the early development of the child for its later social attitude, mothers with all their problems and difficulties should not be left on their own. Motherlike behaviour is not necessarily programmed with the birth of a child. Mother duties must be learned as early as possible. This process should begin during pregnancy at the latest. A few proposals will be made.
 ...
PMID:The death of children following negligence: social aspects. 85 87

To focus attention on the problem of infant mortality in Lebanon, data were compiled on infant mortality from 1978 to 1986 at the American University of Beirut Medical Center. Causes of death are analyzed for 602 males and 398 females. 54.9% deaths occurred at 1 month of age and 77.4% died within the 1st year. Autopsies were performed on .7%. 37.7% of all neonatal deaths were due to neonatal diseases such as hyaline membrane disease, asphyxia neonatorum, immaturity, necrotizing enterocolitis, hemorrhage, hemolysis, meconium aspiration, and kernicterus. Better prenatal care would reduce this group, or the administration of corticosteroids to the mother 24-48 hours prior to delivery, as well as rapid resuscitation at birth and prevention of the 5 curses: hypoxemia, hypoglycemia, hypothermia, hypotension, and acidosis. Although unavailable in Lebanon, administration of surfactants through an endotracheal tube would also help. Infections constitute 25.1% of deaths; many are preventable through adequate public health measures and strict personal hygiene, i.e., diseases such as sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, gastroenteritis, hepatitis, encephalitis, and 1-2 cases of the following: diphtheria, measles, peritonitis, tetanus, tuberculosis, cytomegalis inclusion, herpes, parathyphoid, pertussis, poliomyelitis, and shigellosis. Congenital diseases were 21.6%. In utero diagnosis could prevent some diseases and in utero treatment is possible for hydrocephalus and hydronephrosis. Screening programs postnatally could lead to treatment. 5.9% were malignancies such as leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, histocytosis, Wilm's tumor, Ewing sarcoma, and Hodgkin's disease. Early diagnosis is critical if mortality is to be reduced in this group, but medical advances are still needed. 2.9% are miscellaneous diseases such as poisoning, rheumatic diseases, marasmus, Reye's syndrome, nephrosis, rickets, and epilepsy. Most of these diseases are preventable, except for rheumatic inflammation of the heart. Recommended necessary steps to reduce infant mortality are: prenatal care, diagnosis and screening, intrauterine surgery; resuscitation and intensive care centers with modern equipment and trained personnel; national vaccination and screening programs; adequate public health measures and hygiene; parental education; and well-equipped hospitals to serve all regardless of income level.
 ...
PMID:Pediatric mortality: an avoidable tragedy. 251 28

Although the figure for unreported cases of neglected children is much higher than that of physical ill-treatment of children, neglect has rarely received attention, in most cases only when traces of physical ill-treatment were proven at the same time. Symptomatic are in the first place intense emaciation as well as dry puckered, scaly and extremely dirty skin, lack of subcutaneous fatty tissue and of Bichat's fat pad, matted hair, aged face, sunken eyes, and eczema from urine with ulcerations in the buttock and thigh regions. In addition one finds signs of localized hypothermia or rickets. My own observations cover 80 cases in which neglect and malnutrition have caused the death of the children involved. All the children had been living in extremely bad social conditions. The backgrounds of the children's mothers were also socially poor. Most of the mothers were too young to fulfill their duties. The fathers, where known, were alcoholics, unwilling to work and seldom cared for their family. They too were often too young to cope with their role as father. In this day and age, which has provided us with a much better understanding of the importance of the early development of children for their later social adaptation, mothers with all their problems and difficulties should not be left on their own. Mothering behaviour is not necessarily programmed with the birth of a child. Mothering duties must be learned as early as possible. This process should begin during pregnancy at the latest. A few proposals will be made.
 ...
PMID:[The neglected child]. 309 34