9 Preventable Childhood Injuries

Whenever I hear that a child has fallen out of a window or drowned in a hot tub, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions: sorrow for the family who lost their child in such a tragic way and anger because a child’s death could have been prevented.

According to WakeMed Health & Hospitals, preventable injuries are the number one killer of children ages 14 and under in the United States. The North Carolina based healthcare system asserts that “90% of these injuries could be prevented if families took the simple steps necessary to protect their children.”
The Center for Disease Control reports that over 12,000 children died during the period of 2000-2006 as a result of an unintentional injury.  Parents and nannies must work together to create a safe environment for children to explore and interact with their world. While all safety risks can’t be eliminated, they can certainly be minimized to reduce the likelihood of a child becoming victim to a preventable injury.
Whether you are a parent or a nanny, it’s vital that you are familiar with preventable injuries and take steps to protect the children in your care.
Preventable injuries include:
Crib Suffocation – Infants can become suffocated by crib bumpers, soft bedding, loose blankets, and cuddly toys.  Removing bumpers, using a sleep sack, and putting the baby to bed with nothing else in the crib can help prevent suffocation.
Window Falls – Children can climb onto windowsills and fall out of open windows. Keeping windows closed and locked when not being used for ventilation, installing window guards with a quick release system, removing furniture to discourage climbing to look out of the window, and supervising children when in rooms and areas with windows can help to prevent window falls.
Drowning Deaths – From a few inches of water in a bathtub, to kiddie pools, to in ground swimming pools and large bodies of water, always practice touch supervision when children are in and around water. Never assume someone else is watching your child. Always stay within an arm’s reach to prevent drowning.
Heatstroke – Especially in young athletes, the risk of heatstroke is a real concern. Keeping children hydrated, having planned water breaks, reducing activity when the heat index is high, and cooling overheated children down quickly can help prevent heatstroke in children.
Hyperthermia – As of August 2012, 15 children have already died from hyperthermia as a result of being left in a vehicle, according to the San Francisco University the Department of Geo Sciences website. Preventing deaths from vehicle related hyperthermia is easy: never leave a child in a motor vehicle unattended. Parents and nannies should commit to always checking the backseat before leaving the vehicle.
Burns – “Keep your pot handles turned in” is more than just a catchy public service announcement tune; it’s a way to prevent accidental burns. Keeping hot liquids out of the reach of children, setting your water thermostat to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and keeping kids away from cooking surfaces and grills can help prevent accidental burns.
Crashes – It’s estimated that 80%-90% or more of car seats are installed wrong or are used incorrectly. A correctly installed and used car seat can help prevent injury or death to children who are in a motor vehicle accident. Always have a certified passenger safety technician check your seat installation to be sure it is being installed and used correctly.
Poisoning – Access to harmful medications and chemicals can be prevented. You should always store medications and chemicals out of sight and out of the reach of children. Store medications in locked boxes and store cleaning supplies in locked cabinets. Many women carry around medication with them. Be sure to keep the pocketbooks of visitors out of reach to children to prevent accidental access.
Lawn Mower Accidents – Many dads consider having junior help mow the lawn a real bonding experience. According to the Children’s Trust of South Carolina, there are 68,000 injuries related to lawn mowers each year. From driving the ride-on mower to helping push the foot propelled mower, each year children die and suffer serious injuries that result in amputation as a result of helping to mow the lawn.
Parents and nannies should work together and be proactive in preventing unintentional injuries. Take regular assessment of the places the child spends the most time and ensure that the appropriate measures have been taken to create an age-appropriate area that promotes free exploration while minimizing the risk of preventable injuries.
Don’t let a child you love become a statistic. While not every serious injury can be prevented, many of them can.
 P.S. This post was  proposed to me for publication by Nancy Parker,  I'm therefore publishing it by her invitation and under her permission. See also the link below fore more information:

 http://www.enannysource.com/blog/index.php/2012/08/07/9-preventable-childhood-injuries/

Not only for joke

Miss Julia Gnuse, "The Illustrated Lady" didn't start tattooing her body for joke but for need of covering the scars a troubling skin's disease left on her body.
And tattoo after tattoo she has won the Guiness World Record as most tattoed woman in the World having the 95% of her body pictured and colured by tattoos.
Best wishes and compliments to Miss Gnuse for her new record.
To know more on the DM on line:

The world's most tattooed woman flaunts her body artBy Mail Foreign Service

What began as a bid to cover up a nasty skin condition has resulted into a Guiness World Record for an American who has been named the most tattooed woman in the world.
Julia Gnuse - nicknamed the 'illustrated lady' - has 95 per cent of her body covered in ink, ranging from jungle scenes and cartoons to her favourite actors.
Miss Gnuse, from California, started getting tattoos on her legs after developing a skin condition called porphyria, which causes the skin to blister when exposed to sunlight.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1281753/The-Illustrated-Lady-Woman-tattoos-world-flaunts-inked-body.html#ixzz0pOBOd3KI

Are you tanoressic?

The neologism has an awful sound. As matter of fact it stays to indicate a very bad disease which affects hundreds of young girls, leading to death one handred a year of them only in Great Britain.

It beats those girls whe expose their bodies to UV beans in order to get tanned.

The practise leads to a psicologist dependance and needs a real help from mental head to get rid of.

To know more go to the DM on line trhough link at the bottom of the page

Tanaholics: Sunbed sessions are now 'as addictive as alcohol or drug abuse'
By Jenny Hope

Sunbeds remain an irresistible atttraction for many people despite repeated health warnings, a survey has revealed.
Girls and young women who use them regularly have been described as addicts getting their fix.
Researchers claim that such tanning leads to behaviour on a par with alcohol or drug abuse. They said heavy users may even need help from mental health specialists to kick the habit.

Addicted: researches say some women need counselling to help them stop using sunbeds
Sunbeds are blamed for at least 370 cases of melanoma skin cancer and 100 deaths each year in the UK. Melanoma has become the most common form of cancer for young women, with one aged in her 20s diagnosed each day.
Concern over 'tanorexic' teenagers has led to laws banning under-18s from using sunbeds, which are expected to come into force in England and Wales by the end of the year.
Coin-operated booths will be outlawed after several children suffered serious burns using them without supervision.



For the latest study, 421 college students filled in a questionnaire normally used for drink and drug addicts which had been adapted to check for addiction to sunbeds.
Among 229 students who used them, the average number of visits in the past year was 23 - once every two or three weeks.
Two out of five students met the criteria for tanning addiction on at least one measure.
Students rated as tanning addicts were also likely to score highly on use of alcohol, cannabis and other substances, as well as have more anxiety symptoms.
Researchers Catherine Mosher and Sharon Danoff-Burg, based in New York, said repeated exposure to UV light on sunbeds led to 'behaviour patterns similar to those observed with substancerelated disorders'.
US researchers said doctors may have to treat sunbed addicts for possible mood disorders if they want to help wean them from the tanning habit.
They added: 'Despite efforts to educate the public about the health risks, recreational tanning continues to increase among young adults.
'In addition to appearance enhancement, motivations include relaxation, improved mood and socialisation.'
In the Archives of Dermatology journal, the researchers wrote that doctors may have to treat sunbed addicts for possible mood disorders to wean them off tanning. However, Gary Lipman, chairman of The Sunbed Association, dismissed the study, saying: 'There are so many flaws I am surprised it was published.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said previous research suggesting that 'feel-good' chemicals were released in response to sunlight might explain why some find tanning addictive. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1267323/Tanning-bed-users-addicts-getting-fix-researchers-say.html#ixzz0ldm6PC4U

So weak, so macho

"Weak macho" might sound as an oxymoron but is not.

According to a scientific research, infact, men show less strenght than women, under certain circumstances, because of their preference to face any risk.

That's for a sort of a compensation law that moves resources from a human sector to another in order to allow men's prediliction for risky behaviour.

Read more by Fiona Macrae on DM on line

"Watching a chap battle a bout of man flu is not a pretty sight.
With his snuffly nose, hacking cough and hangdog expression, there's no surprise that women are regarded as the more stoic of the sexes.
But what is it that makes men such sickly sorts who take to their beds at the first sign of a sniffle?
Ironically, it's apparently all down to the inherent masculine drive for adventure and danger.
According to Cambridge University researchers, modern man's ancestors had a predilection to risky behaviour (which is still seen today in anything from getting into fights to having affairs).
This tendency would have made the male system more vulnerable to becoming ill.
It could have gone down the obvious path of evolving stronger immune systems to beat off bugs.
But this would have put men at risk of developing various auto-immune diseases caused by the immune system going into overdrive.
It would also have zapped resources needed for other bodily processes, including reproduction.
So nature opted for a weaker immune system, ushering in the man who thinks a cold is the flu and a headache a migraine.
Other research has shown that men take more time off work for colds and flu than women and that the sexes are targeted and infected by different parasites when holidaying in the tropics.
Dr Olivier Restif, whose man flu theory is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggested tailoring vaccination campaigns to take into account men's greater vulnerability.
He said: 'If you could identify the differences you may want to treat men and women differently."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1260180/Why-man-flu-isnt-fault-hes-macho.html#ixzz0j4YtCPuX