Your Health
Mouths of babes:
Minutes count during an allergic reaction, but lifesaving treatment can be delayed if adults don't understand what very young children are trying to tell them.
The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network compiled some ways a young child might describe an allergic reaction.
"This food's too spicy."
"My mouth itches."
"There's a frog in my throat."
"My tongue feels like there is hair on it."
"My lips feel tight."
Visit www.foodallergy.org for other signs and symptoms of a life-threatening allergic reaction. If you suspect your child or one you are caring for is having an allergic reaction, follow her doctor's emergency instructions.
Wake-up call
Here's another reason to kick the fast-food habit: It might be hurting your liver. It's not the burgers and fries themselves that harm this vital organ, experts say. But people who eat a steady diet of fast food often consume too many calories and too much fat and sugar.
Researchers gave mice a diet that was 40 percent fat and loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and didn't let them exercise. Within four weeks, the mice showed an increase in enzymes that signal liver damage.
Doctors are seeing more children and teens with cirrhosis, a serious liver disease linked in adults to alcohol abuse and hepatitis C, said Dr. Brent Tetri of the Saint Louis University Liver Center. He recommends kids who eat a lot of fast food have their liver enzymes checked. A healthful diet and exercise can reverse the damage.
Sweaty hands
It's not the typical conversation you'd expect for Mother's Day. But a nonprofit organization that helps sufferers of chronic excessive sweating is urging moms to have a 10-minute, 10- question talk with daughters who complain about excessive sweating that stains their clothes or soaks their homework papers.
Hyperhidrosis is treatable, but many people -- especially teens -- suffer in silence.
Mothers and daughters may download the 10-question assessment at www.SweatHelp.org. The International Hyperhidrosis Society also offers "Teen Sweat 101"-- a free 50-page, full-color workbook. To get one, contact Support@SweatHelp.org. Put Teen Sweat 101 in the subject line and your complete mailing address in the message.