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Medications
There are different types of OHI these are the common ones
ADD and AH/HD
Although it is a common practice to try pills before insulin, you may start on insulin based on several factors, including the following:
• How long you have had diabetes
• How high your blood glucose level is
• What other medicines you take
• Your overall health
Because diabetes pills seem to help the body use insulin better, some people take them along with insulin shots. The idea behind this "combination" therapy is to try to help insulin work better.
Epilepsy
There is no known cure for epilepsy. But medications can control seizures in most people. These medicines do not actually "fix" the problems that cause seizures. Instead, they work by stopping the seizures from occurring. Before suggesting treatment with a seizure medicine (also called an antiepileptic drug or AED), your doctor usually has made a diagnosis of epilepsy. It is important to openly discuss with your doctor the pros and cons of the different medicines that are available to treat your kind of epilepsy.
What are the goals of treatment with medication?
• No seizures
• No unwanted side effects
How do I reach these goals?
While these goals cannot be achieved in everyone, improve your chances by following these steps:
• Be open and honest with your doctor about your seizures and their impact on your life.
• Be open and honest with your doctor about troublesome effects from medication and their impact on your life. Don't just accept unwanted effects.
• Follow your doctor's instructions faithfully. Do not stop taking any seizure medicine or change the amount you take unless the doctor tells you to do that. If you often forget to take your medicine, be honest with the doctor about that, too.
• If you cannot communicate with your doctor comfortably or if you are not satisfied with the outcome after following your doctor's instructions for a reasonable period, get a second opinion from another doctor.
Heart conditions
A congenital heart defect may have no long-term effect on your child's health — in some instances, such defects can safely go untreated. Sometimes they aren't even discovered until adulthood.
Some heart defects, however, are serious and require treatment soon after they're found. Depending on the type of heart defect your child has, doctors treat congenital heart defects with:
• Procedures using catheters. Some children and adults now have their congenital heart defects repaired using catheterization techniques, which allow the repair to be done without surgically opening the chest and heart. In procedures that can be done using catheterization, the doctor inserts a thin tube (catheter) into a leg vein and guides it to the heart with the help of X-ray images. Once the catheter is positioned at the site of the defect, tiny tools are threaded through the catheter to the heart to repair the defect.
• Open-heart surgery. In some cases, your child's doctor won't be able to fix your child's heart defect using a catheter procedure. In these cases, your child's doctor may perform open-heart surgery to try to repair your child's heart defect. These surgeries are major medical procedures and may require a long recovery time for your child.
• Heart transplant. If a serious heart defect can't be repaired, a heart transplant may be an option.
• Medications. Some mild congenital heart defects, especially those found later in childhood or adulthood, can be treated with medications that help the heart work more efficiently.
Long-term treatment Some children with congenital heart defects require multiple procedures and surgeries throughout life. Although the outcomes for children with heart defects have improved dramatically, most people, except those with very simple defects, will require ongoing care, even after corrective surgery.
• Lifelong monitoring and treatment. Even if your child has surgery to treat a heart defect, your child's condition will need to be monitored for the rest of his or her life by a pediatric cardiologist initially, and then an adult cardiologist. Having a congenital heart defect can affect your child's adult life, as it can contribute to other health problems. As your child ages, it's important to remind him or her of the heart condition that was corrected and the need for ongoing care. Encourage your child to keep his or her doctor informed about the heart defect and the procedures performed to treat the problem.
• Exercise restrictions. Parents of children with congenital heart defects may worry about the risks of rough play and activity even after treatment. Although some children may need to limit the amount or type of exercise, many can participate in normal or near-normal activity. Your child's doctor can tell you which activities are safe for your child. If some activities do pose distinct dangers, encourage your child to participate in other activities instead of focusing on what he or she can't do. Although every child is different, most children with congenital heart defects grow up to lead healthy, productive lives.
• Infection prevention. Depending on the type of congenital heart defect your child had, and the surgery used to correct it, your child may need to take extra steps to prevent infection. People who've had congenital heart defects sometimes have an increased risk of a serious infection of the lining of the heart and heart valves (infective endocarditis), and may need to take antibiotics to prevent infection before additional surgeries or dental procedures. Those who are most likely to have a higher risk of infection include people whose defect was repaired with a prosthetic material or device, such as an artificial heart valve. Ask your child's cardiologist if preventive antibiotics are necessary for your child.
Hemophilia
While there's no cure for hemophilia, most people with the disease can lead fairly normal lives.
Hemophilia treatment varies depending on the severity of the condition:
• Mild hemophilia A. Treatment may involve slow injection of the hormone desmopressin (DDAVP) into a vein to stimulate a release of more clotting factor to stop bleeding. Occasionally, desmopressin is given as a nasal medication.
• Moderate to severe hemophilia A or hemophilia B. Bleeding may stop only after an infusion of clotting factor derived from donated human blood or from genetically engineered products called recombinant clotting factors. Repeated infusions may be needed if internal bleeding is serious.
• Hemophilia C. The clotting factor missing in this type of hemophilia (factor XI) is available only in Europe. In the U.S., plasma infusions are needed to stop bleeding episodes.
Regular preventive infusions of a clotting factor may help prevent bleeding. This approach may reduce time spent in the hospital and away from home, work or school and limit side effects such as damage to joints. Your doctor or child's doctor can train you to perform infusions of desmopressin or the clotting factor at home, work or school.
Another class of drugs called antifibrinolytics is sometimes prescribed along with clotting factor replacement therapy. These medications help prevent clots from breaking down.
If internal bleeding has damaged joints, physical therapy can help them function better. Therapy can preserve their mobility and help prevent frozen or badly deformed joints. In cases where repeated bouts of internal bleeding has damaged or destroyed joints, an artificial joint may be needed.
For minor cuts If you or your child experiences a small cut or scrape, using pressure and a bandage will generally take care of the bleeding. For small areas of bleeding beneath the skin, use an ice pack. Ice pops can be used to slow down minor bleeding in the mouth.
Lead poisoning
he first step in treating all degrees of lead poisoning is to remove the source of the contamination. If you can't remove lead from your environment, you may at least be able to reduce the likelihood that it will cause problems. For instance, sometimes it might be better to seal in, rather than remove, old lead paint. Your local health department can recommend ways to identify and reduce lead in your home and community.
For children and adults with relatively low lead levels, simply avoiding exposure to lead may be enough to reduce blood lead levels.
Treating higher levels For more-severe cases, your doctor may recommend:
• Chelation therapy. In this treatment, you take a medication that binds with the lead so that it's excreted in your urine.
• EDTA therapy. Doctors treat lead levels greater than 45 mcg/dL of blood with a chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Depending on your lead level, you may need more than one treatment. In such severe cases, however, it may not be possible to reverse damage that has already occurred.
Rheumatic fever
The goals of treatment for rheumatic fever are to destroy any remaining group A streptococcal bacteria, relieve symptoms, control inflammation and prevent recurring episodes of rheumatic fever.
Treatments used for rheumatic fever include:
• Antibiotics. Your child's doctor will prescribe penicillin or another antibiotic to eliminate any remaining strep bacteria that may exist in your child's body. After your child has completed the full antibiotic treatment, your doctor will begin another course of antibiotics to prevent recurrence of rheumatic fever. This preventive treatment usually continues until your child is at least 20 years old. If an older teenager has had rheumatic fever, he or she may continue taking the antibiotics past age 20 to complete a minimum five-year course of preventive treatment. People who experienced inflammation of the heart when they had rheumatic fever may be advised to take the preventive antibiotic treatment much longer or even for life.
• Anti-inflammatory treatment. Your doctor will prescribe a pain reliever, such as aspirin or naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), to reduce inflammation, fever and pain. If symptoms are severe or your child isn't responding to the anti-inflammatory drugs, your doctor may prescribe a corticosteroid, such as prednisone.
• Anticonvulsant medications. If the involuntary movements of Sydenham chorea are severe, your doctor may prescribe an anticonvulsant, such as valproic acid (Depakene, Stavzor) or carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Equetro, others).
Long term care Discuss with your doctor what type of follow-up and long term care your child will need. Heart damage from rheumatic fever may not show up until many years after the acute illness. Your child should be informed that he or she had rheumatic fever, and when an adult should discuss this with his or her doctor
Sickle cell anemia
• Antibiotics. Children with sickle cell anemia may begin taking the antibiotic penicillin when they're about 2 months of age and continue taking it until they're 5 years old. Doing so helps prevent infections, such as pneumonia, which can be life-threatening to an infant or child with sickle cell anemia. Antibiotics may also help adults with sickle cell anemia fight certain infections.
• Pain-relieving medications. To relieve pain during a sickle crisis, your doctor may advise over-the-counter pain relievers and application of heat to the affected area. You may also need stronger prescription pain medication.
• Hydroxyurea (Droxia, Hydrea). When taken daily, hydroxyurea reduces the frequency of painful crises and may reduce the need for blood transfusions. It may be an option for adults with severe disease. Hydroxyurea seems to work by stimulating production of fetal hemoglobin — a type of hemoglobin found in newborns that helps prevent the formation of sickle cells. Hydroxyurea increases your risk of infections, and there is some concern that long-term use of this drug may cause tumors or leukemia in certain people. Your doctor can help you determine if this drug may be beneficial for you.
Tourette syndrome
Medications - No medication is helpful to everyone with Tourette syndrome, none completely eliminates symptoms, and they all have side effects to be weighed against the benefits. However, some medications can be used to help control or minimize tics or to control symptoms of related conditions, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These may include:
• Drugs that block or deplete the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, such as fluphenazine or pimozide (Orap). Used to control tics, these medications may have side effects such as weight gain and a dulling of the mind.
• Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox) injections. For simple or vocal tics, an injection into the affected muscle may help relieve the tic.
• Stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin, others) and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine, others). These are used to help increase attention and concentration for people with ADHD.
• Central adrenergic inhibitors, such as clonidine (Catapres) or guanfacine (Tenex). Typically prescribed for high blood pressure, these drugs may help control behavioral symptoms, such as impulse control problems and rage attacks. Side effects may include sleepiness.
• Antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem, others). These may help control the symptoms of OCD.
Source Retrieved 4/24/2012
ADD and AH/HD
- The most common type of medication used for treating ADHD is called a "stimulant." Although it may seem unusual to treat ADHD with a medication considered a stimulant, it actually has a calming effect on children with ADHD. Many types of stimulant medications are available. A few other ADHD medications are non-stimulants and work differently than stimulants. For many children, ADHD medications reduce hyperactivity and impulsivity and improve their ability to focus, work, and learn. Medication also may improve physical coordination.
- However, a one-size-fits-all approach does not apply for all children with ADHD. What works for one child might not work for another. One child might have side effects with a certain medication, while another child may not. Sometimes several different medications or dosages must be tried before finding one that works for a particular child. Any child taking medications must be monitored closely and carefully by caregivers and doctors.
- Stimulant medications come in different forms, such as a pill, capsule, liquid, or skin patch. Some medications also come in short-acting, long-acting, or extended release varieties. In each of these varieties, the active ingredient is the same, but it is released differently in the body. Long-acting or extended release forms often allow a child to take the medication just once a day before school, so they don't have to make a daily trip to the school nurse for another dose. Parents and doctors should decide together which medication is best for the child and whether the child needs medication only for school hours or for evenings and weekends, too.
Although it is a common practice to try pills before insulin, you may start on insulin based on several factors, including the following:
• How long you have had diabetes
• How high your blood glucose level is
• What other medicines you take
• Your overall health
Because diabetes pills seem to help the body use insulin better, some people take them along with insulin shots. The idea behind this "combination" therapy is to try to help insulin work better.
Epilepsy
There is no known cure for epilepsy. But medications can control seizures in most people. These medicines do not actually "fix" the problems that cause seizures. Instead, they work by stopping the seizures from occurring. Before suggesting treatment with a seizure medicine (also called an antiepileptic drug or AED), your doctor usually has made a diagnosis of epilepsy. It is important to openly discuss with your doctor the pros and cons of the different medicines that are available to treat your kind of epilepsy.
What are the goals of treatment with medication?
• No seizures
• No unwanted side effects
How do I reach these goals?
While these goals cannot be achieved in everyone, improve your chances by following these steps:
• Be open and honest with your doctor about your seizures and their impact on your life.
• Be open and honest with your doctor about troublesome effects from medication and their impact on your life. Don't just accept unwanted effects.
• Follow your doctor's instructions faithfully. Do not stop taking any seizure medicine or change the amount you take unless the doctor tells you to do that. If you often forget to take your medicine, be honest with the doctor about that, too.
• If you cannot communicate with your doctor comfortably or if you are not satisfied with the outcome after following your doctor's instructions for a reasonable period, get a second opinion from another doctor.
Heart conditions
A congenital heart defect may have no long-term effect on your child's health — in some instances, such defects can safely go untreated. Sometimes they aren't even discovered until adulthood.
Some heart defects, however, are serious and require treatment soon after they're found. Depending on the type of heart defect your child has, doctors treat congenital heart defects with:
• Procedures using catheters. Some children and adults now have their congenital heart defects repaired using catheterization techniques, which allow the repair to be done without surgically opening the chest and heart. In procedures that can be done using catheterization, the doctor inserts a thin tube (catheter) into a leg vein and guides it to the heart with the help of X-ray images. Once the catheter is positioned at the site of the defect, tiny tools are threaded through the catheter to the heart to repair the defect.
• Open-heart surgery. In some cases, your child's doctor won't be able to fix your child's heart defect using a catheter procedure. In these cases, your child's doctor may perform open-heart surgery to try to repair your child's heart defect. These surgeries are major medical procedures and may require a long recovery time for your child.
• Heart transplant. If a serious heart defect can't be repaired, a heart transplant may be an option.
• Medications. Some mild congenital heart defects, especially those found later in childhood or adulthood, can be treated with medications that help the heart work more efficiently.
Long-term treatment Some children with congenital heart defects require multiple procedures and surgeries throughout life. Although the outcomes for children with heart defects have improved dramatically, most people, except those with very simple defects, will require ongoing care, even after corrective surgery.
• Lifelong monitoring and treatment. Even if your child has surgery to treat a heart defect, your child's condition will need to be monitored for the rest of his or her life by a pediatric cardiologist initially, and then an adult cardiologist. Having a congenital heart defect can affect your child's adult life, as it can contribute to other health problems. As your child ages, it's important to remind him or her of the heart condition that was corrected and the need for ongoing care. Encourage your child to keep his or her doctor informed about the heart defect and the procedures performed to treat the problem.
• Exercise restrictions. Parents of children with congenital heart defects may worry about the risks of rough play and activity even after treatment. Although some children may need to limit the amount or type of exercise, many can participate in normal or near-normal activity. Your child's doctor can tell you which activities are safe for your child. If some activities do pose distinct dangers, encourage your child to participate in other activities instead of focusing on what he or she can't do. Although every child is different, most children with congenital heart defects grow up to lead healthy, productive lives.
• Infection prevention. Depending on the type of congenital heart defect your child had, and the surgery used to correct it, your child may need to take extra steps to prevent infection. People who've had congenital heart defects sometimes have an increased risk of a serious infection of the lining of the heart and heart valves (infective endocarditis), and may need to take antibiotics to prevent infection before additional surgeries or dental procedures. Those who are most likely to have a higher risk of infection include people whose defect was repaired with a prosthetic material or device, such as an artificial heart valve. Ask your child's cardiologist if preventive antibiotics are necessary for your child.
Hemophilia
While there's no cure for hemophilia, most people with the disease can lead fairly normal lives.
Hemophilia treatment varies depending on the severity of the condition:
• Mild hemophilia A. Treatment may involve slow injection of the hormone desmopressin (DDAVP) into a vein to stimulate a release of more clotting factor to stop bleeding. Occasionally, desmopressin is given as a nasal medication.
• Moderate to severe hemophilia A or hemophilia B. Bleeding may stop only after an infusion of clotting factor derived from donated human blood or from genetically engineered products called recombinant clotting factors. Repeated infusions may be needed if internal bleeding is serious.
• Hemophilia C. The clotting factor missing in this type of hemophilia (factor XI) is available only in Europe. In the U.S., plasma infusions are needed to stop bleeding episodes.
Regular preventive infusions of a clotting factor may help prevent bleeding. This approach may reduce time spent in the hospital and away from home, work or school and limit side effects such as damage to joints. Your doctor or child's doctor can train you to perform infusions of desmopressin or the clotting factor at home, work or school.
Another class of drugs called antifibrinolytics is sometimes prescribed along with clotting factor replacement therapy. These medications help prevent clots from breaking down.
If internal bleeding has damaged joints, physical therapy can help them function better. Therapy can preserve their mobility and help prevent frozen or badly deformed joints. In cases where repeated bouts of internal bleeding has damaged or destroyed joints, an artificial joint may be needed.
For minor cuts If you or your child experiences a small cut or scrape, using pressure and a bandage will generally take care of the bleeding. For small areas of bleeding beneath the skin, use an ice pack. Ice pops can be used to slow down minor bleeding in the mouth.
Lead poisoning
he first step in treating all degrees of lead poisoning is to remove the source of the contamination. If you can't remove lead from your environment, you may at least be able to reduce the likelihood that it will cause problems. For instance, sometimes it might be better to seal in, rather than remove, old lead paint. Your local health department can recommend ways to identify and reduce lead in your home and community.
For children and adults with relatively low lead levels, simply avoiding exposure to lead may be enough to reduce blood lead levels.
Treating higher levels For more-severe cases, your doctor may recommend:
• Chelation therapy. In this treatment, you take a medication that binds with the lead so that it's excreted in your urine.
• EDTA therapy. Doctors treat lead levels greater than 45 mcg/dL of blood with a chemical called ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Depending on your lead level, you may need more than one treatment. In such severe cases, however, it may not be possible to reverse damage that has already occurred.
Rheumatic fever
The goals of treatment for rheumatic fever are to destroy any remaining group A streptococcal bacteria, relieve symptoms, control inflammation and prevent recurring episodes of rheumatic fever.
Treatments used for rheumatic fever include:
• Antibiotics. Your child's doctor will prescribe penicillin or another antibiotic to eliminate any remaining strep bacteria that may exist in your child's body. After your child has completed the full antibiotic treatment, your doctor will begin another course of antibiotics to prevent recurrence of rheumatic fever. This preventive treatment usually continues until your child is at least 20 years old. If an older teenager has had rheumatic fever, he or she may continue taking the antibiotics past age 20 to complete a minimum five-year course of preventive treatment. People who experienced inflammation of the heart when they had rheumatic fever may be advised to take the preventive antibiotic treatment much longer or even for life.
• Anti-inflammatory treatment. Your doctor will prescribe a pain reliever, such as aspirin or naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), to reduce inflammation, fever and pain. If symptoms are severe or your child isn't responding to the anti-inflammatory drugs, your doctor may prescribe a corticosteroid, such as prednisone.
• Anticonvulsant medications. If the involuntary movements of Sydenham chorea are severe, your doctor may prescribe an anticonvulsant, such as valproic acid (Depakene, Stavzor) or carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Equetro, others).
Long term care Discuss with your doctor what type of follow-up and long term care your child will need. Heart damage from rheumatic fever may not show up until many years after the acute illness. Your child should be informed that he or she had rheumatic fever, and when an adult should discuss this with his or her doctor
Sickle cell anemia
• Antibiotics. Children with sickle cell anemia may begin taking the antibiotic penicillin when they're about 2 months of age and continue taking it until they're 5 years old. Doing so helps prevent infections, such as pneumonia, which can be life-threatening to an infant or child with sickle cell anemia. Antibiotics may also help adults with sickle cell anemia fight certain infections.
• Pain-relieving medications. To relieve pain during a sickle crisis, your doctor may advise over-the-counter pain relievers and application of heat to the affected area. You may also need stronger prescription pain medication.
• Hydroxyurea (Droxia, Hydrea). When taken daily, hydroxyurea reduces the frequency of painful crises and may reduce the need for blood transfusions. It may be an option for adults with severe disease. Hydroxyurea seems to work by stimulating production of fetal hemoglobin — a type of hemoglobin found in newborns that helps prevent the formation of sickle cells. Hydroxyurea increases your risk of infections, and there is some concern that long-term use of this drug may cause tumors or leukemia in certain people. Your doctor can help you determine if this drug may be beneficial for you.
Tourette syndrome
Medications - No medication is helpful to everyone with Tourette syndrome, none completely eliminates symptoms, and they all have side effects to be weighed against the benefits. However, some medications can be used to help control or minimize tics or to control symptoms of related conditions, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). These may include:
• Drugs that block or deplete the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, such as fluphenazine or pimozide (Orap). Used to control tics, these medications may have side effects such as weight gain and a dulling of the mind.
• Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox) injections. For simple or vocal tics, an injection into the affected muscle may help relieve the tic.
• Stimulant medications, such as methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin, others) and dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine, others). These are used to help increase attention and concentration for people with ADHD.
• Central adrenergic inhibitors, such as clonidine (Catapres) or guanfacine (Tenex). Typically prescribed for high blood pressure, these drugs may help control behavioral symptoms, such as impulse control problems and rage attacks. Side effects may include sleepiness.
• Antidepressants, such as fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem, others). These may help control the symptoms of OCD.
Source Retrieved 4/24/2012