Babies 0-28 days old are defined as newborns. Newborn babies may cry and become restless due to many different situations.
What are Neonatal Diseases?
After 40 weeks of pregnancy, mothers may be worried about the health of their babies. In this period when both the baby and the parents are trying to keep up with the new order, the symptoms of the disease and some situations that are expected to be in healthy babies can be confused. Anxiety and worry, which can be seen more in the first birth, can cause the baby to feel restless. In this article, you can find detailed information about common diseases in newborns.
Babies aged 0-28 days are defined as newborns. Newborn babies may cry and become restless due to many different situations. This situation, which causes stress to parents who care about their children's health, sometimes arises from a normal situation that is expected to be seen in newborns, and sometimes it may occur due to a real health problem. Disorders such as jaundice, thrush, host, umbilical hernia, colic, congenital hypothyroidism can be seen frequently in newborns.
What is Jaundice in Newborns?
Jaundice, also known as neonatal jaundice, is one of the most common health problems among infants. Although jaundice, which is seen in about 70% of premature babies, goes away on its own, it can cause serious health problems in some cases. Therefore, if jaundice is noticed, a doctor should be consulted immediately. In addition to premature or late birth, malnutrition and genetic factors can also cause jaundice. Bilirubin (BIL) in the blood occurs when red blood cells (red blood cells, erythrocytes, RBCs) break down.
The task of bilirubin degradation passes from the placenta to the liver at birth. The liver, which has not yet completed its development, may be insufficient to remove bilirubin from the body in a healthy way. This situation is also related to the presence of more hemoglobin in the baby's blood in order to carry the small amount of oxygen to the tissues in the mother's womb. After the birth, the amount of oxygen entering the baby's body returns to normal, so the baby's body does not need such a large amount of hemoglobin. . Thus, hemoglobin degradation begins in the liver. Neonatal jaundice, which is caused by elevated bilirubin in the body, is characterized by the accumulation of bilirubin in areas such as the skin, the inner part of the cheeks, and the white part of the eye.
The symptoms that develop due to jaundice increase as the disease becomes more severe. Initially, the whites of the eyes, face, trunk, legs and arms are affected. Finally, skin color changes are seen on the palms and soles. Jaundice, which causes the skin to turn yellow, also causes symptoms such as increased sleepiness in newborns, difficulty in sucking, and differentiation in the color of urine and stool. Yellowing of the skin, which can be noticed more easily under daylight or white light, can occur for many different reasons. Jaundice is divided into two separate groups, physiological and pathological.
Physiological jaundice caused by bilirubin deficiency occurs 2 to 4 days after birth and resolves spontaneously in about 7 to 10 days. Pathological jaundice may be caused by blood group incompatibility between mother and baby, deficiency of enzymes such as G6PD (glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase) and pyruvate kinase, urinary tract infection and thyroid hormone deficiency.
What is Thrush in Newborns?
Thrush is caused by the proliferation of a type of oral fungus called candida albicans, which normally lives in the oral flora. Thrush, which can be a cause for concern for parents giving birth to their first child, causes a baby's tongue to appear white. Thrush, which is seen in babies fed with breast milk or formula, causes a decrease in the baby's desire to suck.
Thrush, which can cause symptoms such as weight loss, restlessness, irritability and mild fever, is treated with medication as it is a type of fungal infection. Drops that should be used for 7-10 days are effective in the treatment of thrush. If the mother also has thrush on the nipple, the mother also needs to be treated. Thrush should never be cleaned by hand. To prevent thrush, the baby's gums can be cleaned with a clean, soft and damp cloth. In addition, products such as pacifiers and baby bottles must be boiled before use after cleaning.
What is a host?
The host disease, which is defined as infantile seborrheic dermatitis in the medical language, is a disease in the hair, eyebrows, It is characterized by scaly rashes on the ears and forehead. The disease, which causes mothers to think that they cannot take good care of their babies and clean them well, is actually caused by the hormones in the baby's body. In other words, the reason for the formation of the host is that the hormones passed from the mother to the baby while in the mother's womb trigger the production of fat in the baby.
A host disease occurs when the oil formation sticks to the head area after it dries. Scales formed due to host disease should never be plucked or scraped. After the regional massage with natural oils such as almond oil or olive oil, the crusts can be cleaned with a soft product such as an ear stick or toothbrush. The shampoo in which the baby is washed should be changed and shampoos specially produced for baby care should be used. If these methods are applied for two weeks, if the host disease does not improve or if additional symptoms such as itching and restlessness are observed, a physician should be consulted. due to non-combination. Although this space, which usually forms in the lower part of the belly button, is usually closed before birth, in some babies, the space may not close, leading to hernia formation. A hernia that occurs in the 1st to 2nd week after birth can cause swelling in the abdomen when the baby cries or coughs. This condition, which does not cause the baby to feel pain, usually heals by itself when the baby is 1 year old.
However, if the hernia has not healed even though the baby is one year old, surgical intervention is required. In the presence of hernia, tightly wrapping the baby's abdomen or placing hard objects such as money on the area will not cure the disease. On the contrary, such applications may cause different infections.
What is Colic?
Colic, which can also be defined as gas pain, often starts in the 3rd week after birth. This situation, which often causes the baby to cry heavily in the evening hours, can cause parents to worry a lot. In the presence of colic, the exact cause of which is unknown, the baby wants to suckle constantly, but sucking does not relieve gas pain. When the baby starts crying cannot be placated. The crying attacks that stop from time to time start again after a short time. Crying spells often end when the baby burps.
In order for a baby who cries constantly because of gas pain to be diagnosed with colic, he must have bouts of restlessness, spasms and crying lasting more than 3 hours a day for 3 days a week. In the presence of colic, which is characterized by symptoms such as stretching the back, making fists of the hands, and swaying of the arms and legs during crying, the baby's face also turns red due to crying. Although colic is not a health problem, many different ailments can cause a baby to cry like this. Therefore, in the presence of a crying crisis, the baby should be taken to the doctor for examination.
What is Congenital Hypothyroidism?
The disease, also known as congenital hypothyroidism, is one of the common endocrinological problems seen in every 3,000 to 4,000 babies. . The disease, which can also be defined as congenital thyroid hormone deficiency, can cause a series of problems such as impaired mental development, growth retardation and slowing of metabolism in newborns. Depending on the slowdown in metabolism, symptoms such as abdominal distension, constipation, coarse facial features, tongue enlargement, deepening of the voice, umbilical hernia, and prolonged jaundice can be seen in the baby.
However, these symptoms are seen in only 10% of babies with congenital hypothyroidism. For the early diagnosis of this disease, which causes many health problems in advancing ages, blood is taken from the heel of the baby as soon as it is born. Thanks to the screening, the disease is detected in the early period and its treatment is planned.
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