My 2 year old son started with a fever over 2 weeks ago for 2 days.  Then
followed by a mild cold/cough.  Cough started as a dry, then moist, and now
over 7 days later it has settled into a thick mucous sounding productive
cough.   Took him to the doc, they heard minimal sounds in there, but
prescribed antibiotics because it has been so long.  Now about a week after
the docs and almost done with antibitics –  cought is still thick sounding
yet productive cough.  The thing is he sleeps fine through the night and
during his nap, no coughing, but when he wakes up, he has a coughing sessoin
that lasts about 45.  Not gagging, but constant coughing trying to get out
the mucuous.  THen subsided during the day with random coughing not too bad,
until he wakes up from a nap, then that nasty 45 minute attack.  I think I
will take him back to the doc, but I would appreciate your expert opinions
too and perhaps what I can do to give him some relief.  I find most cough
medicines dont work.

What do you think?
Ps.  he has naturally huge tonsils , has been on antibiotics for about a
week, and still not getting over this cough.

Thanks for your diagnosis

Purchase Starbucks coffee through my site and a donation will be made
to cancer research.

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Thank you for your support.

Barb

http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5m-ocd1.html

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive Compulsion and Tics Linked to Sore Throats [LINK]
_________________________________________________________________

By Pauline Anderson
The Medical Post, May 21, 1996
_________________________________________________________________

New York — It’s not all in their heads.

Parents who suspected their child’s strep throat caused subsequent
development of obsessive compulsive (OC) or tic disorders can rest
easy now that research finally confirms this relationship.

The mounting evidence pointing to a link between group A
Beta-hemolytic streptococci and these disorders could eventually lead
to a means of identifying children at risk and the use of preventive
therapy.

The research is so convincing that Dr. Susan Swedo, acting scientific
director at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and head of
the NIMH’s section on behavioral pediatrics, said she believes a
throat culture is in order for both the child and family members when
a child presents with acute onset or exacerbation of OC or tic
symptoms.

"Our studies and others on obsessive compulsive disorder are truly
proof that these are neurobiological illnesses, that what was
previously thought to be due to punitive toilet training is now known
to be associated with changes in your brain chemicals, patterns of
responsiveness of glucose metabolism, and now perhaps to be triggered
by an autoimmune reaction."

The evidence shows in susceptible children, the strep infection
triggers the autoimmune response, which affects the basal ganglia and
can lead to symptoms of OC or tic disorder including Tourette’s
syndrome.

About 1% of children suffer from OCD and up to 15% of grade-school
children have some sort of tic disorder, although true Tourette’s is
very rare, said Dr. Swedo.

Several studies involving antibiotics and immunological treatments in
these children were described by Dr. Swedo during the American
Psychiatric Association annual meeting here. She called some treatment
responses "miraculous".

The studies involve children with PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune
neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections).
To be included in the studies, these kids must have had at least one
strep infection, abrupt onset of symptoms or frequent symptom
exacerbations, and onset before puberty.

These children can display obsessive symptoms including washing,
checking, hoarding, arranging, symmetry rituals and various compulsive
movements. They usually are "squirmy, fidgety" and unable to sit
still, said Dr. Swedo.

One of the red flags for PANDAS is sudden onset, she said. "Nearly all
the patients tell us that the symptoms have exploded in severity on a
specific day or week … They say they went to bed fine and woke up
the next morning and had (a compulsion) to check."

It’s sometimes difficult to make the connection between strep and
onset of OC symptoms because the "dramatic explosion of symptoms" may
not occur until one or two weeks after their strep throat, said Dr.
Swedo.

She described a "classic example" of one little girl whose compulsive
fear of AIDS began when she saw a wrapped hypodermic needle while
visiting the doctor; when her medical records were examined, it turned
out that the reason she was at the pediatrician’s in the first place
was because of a strep throat.

Dr. Swedo said she and colleagues have studied over 50 children (36
boys and 14 girls) who fit the PANDAS profile. The mean age of onset
of symptoms for these children was 6-1/2 years for tics and 7-1/2
years for OCD, and their mean age at presentation was about 9-1/2
years, said Dr. Swedo.

The rate of comorbidity in these 50 children was high: 82% met
criteria for tic disorder at some point in time, about three-quarters
met criteria for OCD, and 42% met criteria for attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The researchers are taking a number of steps to try to piece together
the puzzle of PANDAS. One step involves a study of penicillin
prophylaxis. "If you can keep the child from getting a strep infection
then you should be able to keep them from getting exacerbations," said
Dr. Swedo.

Preliminary data on 27 children who completed an eight-month,
double-blind crossover trial of penicillin prophylaxis are encouraging
in improving symptom severity. "Nineteen of the 27 parents chose the
penicillin as their favorite (treatment over placebo), and asked that
their child remain on the penicillin following treatment," said Dr.
Swedo.

Not only were OC and tic symptoms curtailed with treatment, but their
hyperactivity symptomatology also improved, said Dr. Swedo. These
symptoms went from being "almost intolerable" to having only some
inattention and some impulsivity.

The research group is also conducting a randomized controlled trial of
immunoglobulin treatments in seriously affected children to study the
effect of this treatment on the autoimmune reaction affecting the
basal ganglia. The treatment involves plasma exchange or intravenous
immunoglobulin (IVIG).

At the end of a year, all seven of the children who received either
IVIG or plasma exchange had a greater than 80% reduction in symptom
severity. The average length of remission was 42 weeks.

These children were also treated prophylactically with penicillin.
"These treatments are so invasive that we don’t want to take a chance
that they would get another strep infection," said Dr. Swedo.

Parents of these children were also encouraged. Four rated their
children as very much improved, one as much improved and only two
rated it as minimally improved after one year. All said they would go
through the treatment again if their child had serious symptoms.

Dr. Swedo said the determination of at risk status for OC following
strep infections may involve several factors. These may include
genetics (about 17% of the parents of children with PANDAS had one or
both parents with OCD), neurodevelopment (a birth trauma that makes
the basal ganglia more susceptible to another insult), immunological
factors, or even a "mutated" strep bacteria.

The PANDAS research is intricately related to that of Sydenham’s
chorea, a form of rheumatic fever which has also been linked to strep
infections and immunological responses. Dr. Swedo said children with
PANDAS perhaps have a "dual vulnerability" in that they inherited a
genetic propensity towards rheumatic fever and a propensity towards
OCD which is manifested early on as PANDAS.

Dr. Swedo said the biological marker for rheumatic fever may be useful
in determining a "broader scale" of at risk status for these other
children.

"In an ideal world, you would identify the child at risk before they
ever got their first strep infection, prophylax them against it and
keep them from having onset of symptoms," said Dr. Swedo. "We’re not
there yet (but) … our data suggest that it may be possible within
the next few years."

Dr. Swedo said she welcomes Canadian patients who fit the PANDAS
profile. For more information, call (301) 496-5323.
_________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 1996 Maclean Hunter Publishing Limited
Reprinted with permission.
_________________________________________________________________

Internet Mental Health (www.mentalhealth.com) copyright © 1995-1997 by
Phillip W. Long, M.D.
_________________________________________________________________

http://tinyurl.com/cbczu

<>
children with ADHD had significantly higher blood iron levels
<>

J Nutr Biochem. 2004 Aug;15(8):467-72. Related Articles, Links

Dietary patterns and blood fatty acid composition in children with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in Taiwan.

Chen JR, Hsu SF, Hsu CD, Hwang LH, Yang SC.

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University,
Taipei
110, Taiwan.

Nutritional factors may be relative to attention-deficit hyperactive
disorder
(ADHD), although the pathogenic mechanism is still unknown. Based on
the work
of others, we hypothesized that children with ADHD have altered dietary
patterns and fatty acid metabolism. Therefore, the aim of this study
was to
evaluate dietary patterns and the blood fatty acid composition in
children with
ADHD in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The present study found that 58
subjects
with ADHD (average age 8.5 years) had significantly higher intakes of
iron and
vitamin C compared to those of 52 control subjects (average age 7.9
years) (P <
0.05). The blood total protein content in subjects with ADHD was
significantly
lower than that in control subjects (P < 0.05). On the other hand,
children
with ADHD had significantly higher blood iron levels compared to the
control
children (P < 0.05). Additionally, plasma gamma-linolenic acid (18:3
n-6) in
children with ADHD was higher than that in control children (P < 0.05).
Concerning the composition of other fatty acids in the phospholipid
isolated
from red blood cell (RBC) membranes, oleic acid (18:1n-9) was
significantly
higher, whereas nervonic acid (24:1n-9), linoleic acid (18:2n-6),
arachidonic
acid (20:4n-6), and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) were significantly
lower in
subjects with ADHD (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that there were no
differences in dietary patterns of these children with ADHD except for
the
intake of iron and vitamin C; however, the fatty acid composition of
phospholipid from RBC membranes in the ADHD children differed from that
of the
normal children.

PMID: 15302081 [PubMed - in process]

————————————————————————–

http://tinyurl.com/aarx4

1: Med Hypotheses. 2005 Nov 29; [Epub ahead of print] Links

Anti-lactoferrin toxicity and elevated iron: The environmental
prerequisites which activate susceptibility to tuberculosis infection?

Purdey M.

High Barn Farm, Elworthy, Taunton, Somerset TA4 3PX, UK.

The maintenance and multiplication of Mycobacteria tuberculosis (TB)
and many other species
…

You can’t tell.

So listen to your kids, they can and will tell.

Take care,
spike

You could also ask the cool lady who runs this site what she thinks.
Or ask her partner he also can help.
http://www.inpsyte.ca/

don’t let your kids see this page, it’s like telling them there is no Easter
Bunny.
http://thevandalnextdoordeaththreatsandmore.asar-intl.com/

Come check out and help mold the newest message board on the web!
Areas for TTC, Pregnancy, Babies, etc – as well as a ton of other
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/index.php?feed=Science&article=UPI-1-…
3-14520200-bc-ageofautism.xml

The Age of Autism: Videos
By DAN OLMSTED

Do parents know what they’re talking about? That has turned out to be a key
question in the debate over autism and its possible causes and cures.

The most recent case in point: a study last month from the University of
Washington Autism Center that examined first-birthday videos of infants
later diagnosed with autism. Described as "the first objective evidence of
regressive autism," the study found marked differences in behavior between
the first and second birthdays in children later diagnosed as regressive
cases — in which an initial period of normal development is followed by a
loss of social and communications skills.

Among other indicators, there was a clear decline in complex babbling and
word use between the first and second birthdays. Those children babbled and
used words much more frequently at age 1 than children later diagnosed with
early, non-regressive autism.

In addition, children with regressive autism had other impairments that
didn’t show up at age 1, but were clearly visible a year later. By their
second birthdays, they were no longer pointing, responding to their names
or looking at other people — all hallmarks of autism.

The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, is interesting
on its own terms, in that it documents regression for the first time, more
than 60 years after autism was first recognized. (The researchers said
about a quarter of autism cases are considered regressive.) Some previous
studies have suggested that parents simply missed early signs the child was
different from birth.

"Once again, this study provides objective evidence that parents are good
reporters on what is happening with their children," said Geraldine Dawson,
director of the University of Washington Autism Center. "It underscores the
importance of professionals to listen to parents."

That is the larger significance of the study, because the current debate
over autism can be characterized, with only slight exaggeration, as a
debate between parents and professionals.

On one side are parents who say they have witnessed their children slip
away from them at some point in the first two years of life. On the other
are professionals who treat autism as a mostly genetic disorder present
from birth.

That divide was captured in a recent New York Times front page headline:
"On Autism’s Cause, It’s Parents Vs. Research."

The idea that autism is always innate began with the very first cases. Leo
Kanner, the leading child psychiatrist of his day, made the first autism
diagnoses among 11 children born in the 1930s. He was emphatic that every
one of those children was autistic from birth, as evidenced by a lack of
interaction with parents; Kanner made a great deal of the children’s
general lack of an anticipatory "shrug" or tensing when being picked up.

As outlined in a previous Age of Autism, a re-examination of those cases
suggests Kanner may have painted them with too broad a brush. Looking at a
new disorder that manifested so early in life, he might have interpreted
all the evidence as suggesting autism was, as he put it, "inborn." In that
column, we asked a pediatrician who treats autistic children to review
those first cases, and she told us she suspects several might, in fact,
have been regressive.

In one of those cases, Kanner quoted the mother as saying the child lost
touch beginning at about age one, but Kanner, the professional, appeared to
discount that first-hand observation by the parent rather than adjust his
hypothesis to account for it.

The University of Washington study is careful to point out it drew no
conclusions about whether vaccines might have triggered autism in the
regressive cases; even mentioning that issue shows how relevant the study
might be to the debate over whether an environmental trigger — and in
particular a mercury-based preservatives in vaccines — was responsible for
a huge increase in autism diagnoses in the 1990s. The preservative was
phased out of most childhood vaccines beginning in 1999.

Some parents say their children began regressing after suffering bad
reactions to vaccines — fever, fitfulness, prolonged high-pitched
screaming and sleeplessness. What’s more, some say their child’s autism
improved — even disappeared — after treatments designed to augment the
body’s ability to get rid of heavy metals like mercury.

Last month, we found the very first child diagnosed with autism, who still
lives in the small Mississippi town where he was born in 1933. We learned
Donald T., as Kanner identified him, had a life-threatening attack of
juvenile arthritis in 1947, for which he was treated with gold salts. The
arthritis cleared up — and his autistic symptoms improved — in what his
brother described as a "miraculous response" to the medicine.

We couldn’t find any writings by Kanner that mention this incident,
although Donald’s family clearly made a connection between the treatment
and improvement in his autistic symptoms. Like the new University of
Washington study, "it underscores the importance of professionals to listen
to parents."

If they did, perhaps we would know a lot more about autism.

This ongoing series on the roots and rise of autism welcomes reader
comment. E-mail: dolms…@upi.com

Copyright 2005 by United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

Heart disease in siblings big risk predictor
Researchers yesterday said a sibling’s heart disease is potentially a
greater risk predictor for the nation’s deadliest disease than whether
a parent had it, and that shared genes or similar childhood diets are
likely to blame.
at http://www.washtimes.com/national/20051228-122207-2968r.htm

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http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/autism.htm

Chemicals and pollutants detected in human umbilical cord blood

http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php

Body Burden – The Pollution in Newborns
A benchmark investigation of industrial chemicals, pollutants and
pesticides in umbilical cord blood

"In a study spearheaded by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in
collaboration with Commonweal, researchers at two major laboratories
found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in
umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born in August and September of
2004 in U.S. hospitals. Tests revealed a total of 287 chemicals in the
group. The umbilical cord blood of these 10 children, collected by Red
Cross after the cord was cut, harbored pesticides, consumer product
ingredients, and wastes from burning coal, gasoline, and garbage."

Mercury (Hg) – tested for 1, found 1
Pollutant from coal-fired power plants, mercury-containing products,
and certain industrial processes. Accumulates in seafood. Harms brain
development and function.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – tested for 18, found 9
Pollutants from burning gasoline and garbage. Linked to cancer.
Accumulates in food chain.

Polybrominated dibenzodioxins and furans (PBDD/F) – tested for 12,
found 7
Contaminants in brominated flame retardants. Pollutants and byproducts
from plastic production and incineration. Accumulate in food chain.
Toxic to developing endocrine (hormone) system

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) – tested for 12, found 9
Active ingredients or breakdown products of Teflon, Scotchgard, fabric
and carpet protectors, food wrap coatings. Global contaminants.
Accumulate in the environment and the food chain. Linked to cancer,
birth defects, and more.

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and furans (PBCD/F) – tested for 17,
found 11
Pollutants, by-products of PVC production, industrial bleaching, and
incineration. Cause cancer in humans. Persist for decades in the
environment. Very toxic to developing endocrine (hormone) system.

Organochlorine pesticides (OCs) – tested for 28, found 21
DDT, chlordane and other pesticides. Largely banned in the U.S. Persist
for decades in the environment. Accumulate up the food chain, to man.
Cause cancer and numerous reproductive effects.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) – tested for 46, found 32
Flame retardant in furniture foam, computers, and televisions.
Accumulates in the food chain and human tissues. Adversely affects
brain development and the thyroid.

Polychlorinated Naphthalenes (PCNs) – tested for 70, found 50
Wood preservatives, varnishes, machine lubricating oils, waste
incineration. Common PCB contaminant. Contaminate the food chain. Cause
liver and kidney damage.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – tested for 209, found 147
Industrial insulators and lubricants. Banned in the U.S. in 1976.
Persist for decades in the environment. Accumulate up the food chain,
to man. Cause cancer and nervous system problems.

Source: Chemical analyses of 10 umbilical cord blood samples were
conducted by AXYS Analytical Services (Sydney, BC) and Flett Research
Ltd. (Winnipeg, MB).