Is such a disease curable? Yes, if taken in time; you can arrest its progress.
Do they ever die of rickets? Very seldom, but they do not stand other diseases very well.
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When and what shall I do for it? If you recognize the condition, have the baby attended to immediately by a physician. The food should be changed—such children require fats; very little starchy or sweet foods allowed. A baby ten to twelve months old can suck a piece of boiled bacon for a few minutes every day. Fruit juices can be given early, raw meat juice once a day. Give him his tub bath daily, and if he is apt to take cold easily he should have a little cold water dashed over his chest and spine, followed by a gentle brisk rubbing to start up the circulation. Sun baths are beneficial. Place the baby directly in the sun with his back to it, for an hour every day. Give him plenty of air and sunshine, both indoors and outdoors.
Medicine.—Cod liver oil is an excellent remedy with the hypophosphites. Cod liver oil alone with calcarea phosphoricum 3X (homeopathic) is splendid treatment also. The whole treatment must be continued for months—calcarea phos. four times daily.
SCURVY.—This disease is sometimes seen in infants. It attacks infants who have been fed for a long time on a proprietary food or else on milk that has been over sterilized. Nursing children seldom have it, or those who have been properly fed on modified cows' milk. Babies who are delicate and poorly nourished are more subject to it. The first symptoms a mother notices is that it seems to hurt very much when his legs are touched; sometimes both hurt, and then again only one is painful; at other times the arms will be most painful and again both arms and legs seem to pain alike. So it goes on; the joints enlarge somewhat and sometimes little red spots appear just under the skin and very often the gums will become red and spongy; this is especially noticeable around the incisor teeth of the upper gums, if they have already appeared. Rheumatism is very rarely seen so early and with that, there is generally fever.
Treatment.—A cure is soon affected. Stop the patent food at once, or if the milk has been sterilized, it must be discontinued and the baby put on unsterilized milk diluted to the proper strength for his special age. Strained juice of an orange should be given him every day; if under six months he can have the juice of one-half an orange; over that the juice of one orange. This is given in intervals during the day. Beef juice is good, about two ounces in twenty-four hours. Smaller amount if necessary. Improvement is noticed twenty-four to forty-eight hours after treatment.
MALNUTRITION. (Marasmus).—Marasmus is a term applied to infants who grow thinner and thinner. No matter how much or little they eat there is a constant wasting or fading away of the body.
What are the causes? Syphilis, tuberculosis, chronic vomiting, persistent loose bowels, poor assimilation of the food. Marasmus is really a later and more severe form of malnutrition.
Symptoms.—He looks shriveled, the skin is dry, eyes are sunken, anemia is marked, the belly is much distended, while the other parts of the body seem to be all bones and no flesh; he is constantly whining and fretful, has a tired and anxious expression most of the time; under six months it is hard to cure.