G Bala Bhaskara Reddy

Abstract

Introduction: Anemia in children may be due to a single cause or multiple causes and affects the child’s health as well as their physical and cognitive development, immunity, thereby making them more sensitive to infections and mortality. Materials and Methods: 150 children were subjected to clinical examiantions and investigations such as complete blood picture, hemoglobin and hematocrit estimation, ova and cyst identification hematological examination and biochemical reactions such as serum iron, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation was done. Results: 42% were males and 58% were females in the present study. Most of the children (34%) were between the ages of 12-23 months, followed by 22.7% between 1 -11 months old and 18.7% were between 24–35 months. Diarrhoea was the chief complaint in 16%, 10% with respiratory tract illness and 4.7% with asthma. The nutritional status of most of the patients was normal. Conclusion: Diet which is deficient in iron and its supplements is the main cause for anemia in the children below 5 years. Adequate education regarding the importance of health hygiene and sanitation along with importance of the proper nutrition is of utmost importance to the parents of these children and to the pregnant women. Keywords: Anemia, children, Nutritional diet.

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Abstract

Introduction: One of the most commonly encountered hormonal disturbances in the pediatric age group is thyroid dysfunction, out of which hypothyroidism the most common one. This study was done to assess the clinical and the etiology of thyroid disorder in children. Materials and Methods: 118 children from the ages 0 to 15 with suggestive features of hypothyroidism such as prolonged jaundice of the newborn, features of cretinism, physical and mental growth retardation, obesity, constipation were included into the study. Apart from demographic and familial details, blood was collected for the detection of T3, T4 and TSH. Results: There was a slight preponderance of females over males (1.4:1 ratio). Out of the total children included in the study, euthyroid was seen in 65.3%, 27.1% had hypothyroid and 7.6% had hyperthyroidism. Most of them (66%) were non goitrous hypothyroidism, where as 12% cases were hypothyroid with goiter. 2% were with goiter among the hyperthyroid cases and 20% without goiter. Out of the causes of thyroid disorders, the most common was acquired hypothyroidism in all the cases. Goitre was seen in 11 of the patients with euthyroid, 5 in patients with hypothyroid and in 1 patient with hyperthyroid. Conclusion: Understanding the risk factors, signs and symptoms are very essential to prevent this condition. Education to the parents is also needed. Keywords: Hypothyroisim, Hyperthyroidism, Thyroid dysfunction, Children.

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