What are the signs of different types of Childhood Cancer?Written by Michael Monheit, Esquire, Monheit Law, PC
Bone Cancers - pain in a bone
- swelling or tenderness around a bone or joint
- interference with normal movements
- weak bones, leading to fractures
- fatigue, fever, weight loss, anemia
Leukemia - lethargy, weakness, paleness,
- dizziness
- back, leg, and joint pain,
- headache, trouble standing or walking
- easy bruising, unusual bleeding,
- frequent nose bleeds, bleeding gums, petechiae (red pinpoints on skin)
- repeated, frequent infections
- fever that lasts for several days
- loss of appetite, weight loss
- swollen lymph nodes, bloated or tender stomach, swollen liver or spleen
- night sweats
- irritability
Neuroblastoma - lump or mass in abdomen, chest, neck, or pelvis
- loss of appetite, nausea, weight loss, stomach pain, constipation, difficulty urinating
- changes in eyes: black eyes, a droopy eyelid, a pupil that doesn't constrict, vision problems
- pain in chest, difficulty breathing, persistent cough
- pain or numbness in lower extremities, limping, inability to stand, stumbling
- bone pain, fever, irritability, listlessness
- backaches (backaches in children are not usual)
Wilms Tumor - abdominal swelling and/or pain
- nausea
- vomiting
- constipation
- loss of appetite
- fever of unknown origin
- night sweats
- abnormal urine color or blood in urine
- malaise
- Brain Cancers
- a seizure not related to high fever
- staring, repetitive automatic movements
- persistent vomiting without any known cause (projectile vomiting), nausea
- progressive weakness or clumsiness; neck tilt, squint
- walking, balance problems
- precocious puberty; growth retardation
- sleep apnea
- vision problems
- headache, especially that wakes child up at night or is early in morning
- pain, especially back pain, which should be taken seriously in a child
- changes in personality, irritability, listlessness
- excessive thirst and excessive urination (rare, if tumor is pressing against pituitary)
| | Why diets don't work for most peopleWritten by Michelle May M.D.
If you are like most people, losing weight is at top of your New Year’s resolutions. But if you are like most people, you have a hard time sticking to a diet. We have all been bombarded with information about eating right and exercising so you already know fundamental principle of weight loss: number of calories you eat must be less than number of calories you burn. But despite all of information available on countless ways to accomplish this, you and millions of others still battle your weight. The diet “experts” may recommend counting calories, exchanges, points, grams, or ounces. The diet may require you to eat pre-packaged food or meal replacements. There may be strict meal plans or complicated food regimens to follow. Some methods even eliminate entire food groups—or solid food all together. Diets often tell you that there are forbidden foods or magical food combinations, and they often impose food rules that most people do not, cannot, or should not follow for very long. And of course, rules are always changing! Accurate statistics are very hard to come by but it is widely quoted that 90-95% of dieters regain their lost weight. Whatever true numbers, if dieting was truly effective, your problem would have been solved with first one! Lets look at why diets aren’t answer for most people. Your Body is Programmed to Survive While it seems that diets often backfire, this is simply result of your body adapting to being under-fueled. Your body has primitive, complex survival mechanisms that help keep you alive during limited periods of starvation. However, now that food is abundant and readily available, most modern “famines” are result of self-imposed diets. Your body just doesn’t realize that you are doing this on purpose! Initially you lose water and fat. However, since muscle burns calories, some of your muscle mass may be given up to lower your metabolism and “save you” from starvation. And though it seems unfair, as you lose weight, your lighter body may not need as many calories. As a result, you burn fewer calories each day and your weight loss slows down. This is frustrating “plateau” that dieters so often experience. If you return to your previous eating habits when diet is over, your body quickly replaces its fat stores. But unless you are actively exercising, you will not regain majority of muscle tissue you lost during diet. Ultimately, this causes you to have a lower metabolic rate and a higher body fat percentage than before diet. This explains irony that most people are less healthy than before they tried to lose weight by going on a diet!
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