ALLERGIES: HYPERACTIVITY (PLUS-TWO REACTION)
One of the major forms of plus-two reactions is hyperactivity. This is also sometimes called hyperkinesis. Far more common in males than females, it is marked by distractability, inappropriate responses, and irritability. Supercharged and jittery behavior can occur at any age but is particularly common among children. It is often accompanied by aggressive actions, temper tantrums, poor schoolwork, and sometimes by overweight. This was first described in 1947.This sort of behavior has become increasingly common among children, and many theories have been advanced to account for it, ranging from Freudian interpretations of family life to the incrimination of television violence. Often, however, the problem is an allergic/addictive response to some food eaten in a compulsive fashion or to some chemical encountered in the course of everyday life. Removal of these substances and overall environmental control can often help such children in a dramatic way.
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THE BASIC CONCEPTS OF ALLERGIES: THE WATER SUPPLY
Water is something we all take in, every day. It is obvious that the quality of that water will have a bearing on health and well-being. To prevent the spread of infectious diseases, such as typhoid fever, our cities began adding the chemical chlorine to the drinking water in 1912.
Chlorine was admirably effective in stopping the spread of infection. But, as a historian of this topic notes, “In discovering that drinking water could be purified by different filters, and made doubly safe through chlorination, interest in pollution declined.”6 Thus, there was very little reaction when two allergists, S. H. Watson and C. S. Kibler, showed, in 1934, that chlorinated drinking water could cause asthma in certain susceptible individuals.7
Chlorine is, in fact, a common cause of symptoms in individuals who are generally susceptible to chemicals. For this reason, in my special diagnosis and treatment facility, the Ecology Unit (Chap. 17), patients are given spring water to drink and treat chlorinated tap water as a “suspect” beverage. Some patients also react to swimming in chlorinated pools or even breathing their vapors. Some people are made sick by standing over a tub of steaming water in a closed bathroom. The contribution of fluoridation to this problem has simply not been studied adequately to permit us to make any definite statements about it.
In some parts of the country, the water is very “hard” (that is, saturated with mineral salts) and difficult to use in washing. There is a tendency in these areas to soften all water entering the kitchen or the laundry room with chemical water softeners. This is one of the built-in hazards of present-day home construction. If the softened water is drunk, it is apparently tolerated by many but a minority may become highly susceptible and be made ill by it.
The solution is to use softened water for all other purposes, but only unsoftened water for drinking and cooking. This requires having an extra tap in the kitchen. Some patients have a separate tap of unsoftened and filtered water, which is the only kind they use for internal consumption.
Even a “safe” source of water can easily become polluted. Certain wells, known to have been approved for use by chemically susceptible persons at one time, have since become chemically contaminated, as judged by several patients with this type of problem who are no longer able to use waters from such sources. The same holds true for several recently diagnosed patients.
Ideally, drinking waters should be rotated in the same way as foods. Of the recently hospitalized patients whom we have tested, approximately 70 percent reacted to one or several of the seven different waters which we routinely employed in testing. As with foods, a currently tolerated water may eventually become the source of individual reactions at some later time, especially if it is abused. Unfortunately, water rotation often is not practicable, since many locations lack an adequate variety of water supplies.
It should be said in summary that, as with other aspects of the food and chemical susceptibility problem, no two patients are found to have exactly the same water problem. For instance, there is no readily available water which seems to agree with all chemically susceptible patients, and a water which is agreeable to one person may be a major cause of symptoms in another. In short, the water problem remains not only highly individualized, but is also a common cause of persistent unexplained symptoms in otherwise controlled patients.
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CHILDREN’S HEALTH: DISLOCATED ELBOW
A dislocated elbow (Malgaigne’s subluxation) is a condition in which the bones are out of their proper place in the joint. Actually, a dislocated elbow is not completely out of place. Therefore, it is more properly called a “subluxation” (partial dislocation). It is also known as “nursemaid’s elbow.” It is the only common dislocation in young children. It frequently occurs between one and three years of age; it is rare beyond age four.
The elbow contains two separate joints. The larger is a hinge joint that allows the forearm to bend and to straighten in relation to the upper arm. The smaller, less obvious joint of the elbow is between the upper ends of the two bones of the forearm (radius and ulna). This smaller joint allows the forearm to rotate, to turn the palm up and down. It is this smaller joint (radioulnar joint) that is partially dislocated when there is a sudden yank on the child’s hand or wrist. It may occur when a parent tries to save the child from a stumble or fall. It may also occur when a child is swung around by the wrists in a game or when the child tries to grab a handhold to prevent falling.
Signs and symptoms
When an accident causes a dislocated elbow, there is immediate pain. The pain may be felt anywhere from the elbow to the wrist. The child refuses to use the affected arm, clutching it against the side with the good arm. The child holds the affected arm with the palm of the hand facing back. Attempts to turn the palm forward cause pain. Swelling of the wrist and hand develops several hours later. If you know that the arm has been yanked and the child holds the arm with palm facing back, a dislocated elbow is a likely cause. However, if you do not know that the arm has been pulled, you may not realize the cause of the problem. A dislocated elbow is commonly mistaken to be an injured wrist.
Home care
The first time you suspect your child has a dislocated elbow, have a doctor treat it.
A dislocated elbow tends to occur again, however. There is a simple procedure for correcting a dislocated elbow, which parents can frequently do themselves. Your doctor may teach you the procedure if the elbow becomes dislocated often. If this manoeuvre is done within a few hours of the accident, a sharp snap or click is heard and actually felt near the elbow. The child is immediately relieved of pain and can use the arm freely.
Caution: Do not attempt to correct a dislocated elbow unless you have been taught the correct procedure by a doctor.
Precautions
• Do not use the procedure for correcting a dislocated elbow unless the symptoms exactly fit the description and you are sure the arm has been yanked. A fracture (break) of a forearm bone can produce similar symptoms. • A dislocated elbow should be treated as soon as possible. If the elbow is dislocated for more than a few hours, correcting it may be more difficult because of the swelling; then for one to two days after correction, the arm may still be sore and not fully usable. • After an elbow is dislocated, the joint remains susceptible to another dislocation for three to four weeks. Be careful.
• Make a habit of lifting your child by the upper arms or under the armpits. Do not lift a child by pulling on hands, wrists, or forearms.
Medical treatment
Your doctor will determine if the elbow is dislocated and may request an X ray to be sure there are no broken bones. (Sometimes, positioning the arm for the X ray returns the dislocated bone to its proper place.) After the diagnosis is certain, your doctor will correct the dislocation using the standard procedure mentioned.
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