Children with heart disease are living active lives say experts

Doctors explain when to worry about diarrhoea, eating habits.

KARACHI: Early diagnosis and treatment can go a long way in ensuring that children born with congenital heart diseases live active lives as they grow older.

Experts at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) shared their views on infant and children illnesses, treatment and nutrition at a session to mark World Children’s Day on Wednesday.

Consultant paediatric cardiologist at AKUH Dr Babar Hasan detailed some of the procedures which could help children lead fuller lives. These include total anomalous venous return repair, tetarology of the fallot repair with a valved transannular patch, percutaneous atrial and ventricular septal closures.

Speaking of other illnesses, diarrhoea was identified as the most common infectious disease in infants.

A consultant with AKUH on paediatric infectious diseases, Dr Farah Qamar said young breastfed infants with diarrhoea could pass between three to 10 stools per day. In comparison, toddlers and children could have one to two bowel movements during a 24-hour period.

A major cause of concern when infected with diarrhoea is dehydration which can be treated with oral rehydration solutions, experts advised.

Contrary to popular belief, doctors suggested that medication such as antibiotics or antidiarrhoeal are not necessary as treatment and rather could prove harmful.

However, Qamar warned children with bloody diarrhoea or those who show signs of moderate to severe dehydration must be provided with medical attention immediately.

Help should also be sought if children refuse to eat or drink and have periodic abdominal pain which lasts longer than two hours.

“The most common complaint that we hear from mothers is that their one-year-old has stopped eating,” said Dr Maqbool Qadir, a consultant paediatrician and neonatologist at AKUH.

“As long as your child is active, developing adequately and has some weight gain, parents should be reassured that their child is growing normally,” he added.

A record of their height and weight over time plotted on a growth chart is a better indicator of whether there really is a health problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2011.