We say that a child has muscular dystrophy but in actual fact it is an umbrella term for many different diseases. The muscular dystrophies (MD) are a group of more than 30 genetic diseases characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles that control movement. Some forms of MD are seen in infancy or childhood, while others may not appear until middle age or later. The disorders differ in terms of the distribution and extent of muscle weakness, age of onset, rate...

There has been a noted increase in the number of cases of measles in recent years, this is thought to be as a result of parents deciding not to have their child immunised due to the controversy over the MMR vaccine.Measles is caused by a virus that is spread by droplets. The virus is passed on through direct contact with someone who's infected, for example by touching or kissing them, or through breathing in contaminated air. It's fairly easy to catch if you haven't been vaccinated and come...

Heat rash takes the form of tiny blisters which appear in newborn babies. It's often caused by the sweat glands which are not fully developed in babies, and can become blocked if the baby is too hot. This is why heat rash is commonly seen in newborn babies during summer. It may also appear during a fever, or simply when a baby has been overdressed.SymptomsIt takes the form of pinkish blebs or small blisters which usually appear over the face, neck and in skin folds, especially in the nappy...

Remember the nit nurse, thankfully those days of ritual humiliation and terror are gone but the down side is that if your child has head lice it may take a while before they notice, its a good idea to check every time you wash their hair those little buggers can arrive at any time.Head lice often called nits unsurprisingly given the name like to live on heads, they are extremely common in children, often first noticed due to the presence of eggs in the child’s hair. they are spread from...

the first thing to know about eczema is that it is a common condition in childhood it affects a fifth of the children in the UK, the good news on this statistic is that 75 % of those children grow out of it by puberty.CausesIt is thought that eczema has a genetic basis and tends to run in families. It is often associated with other conditions such as asthma or hay fever. Children with eczema have dry, sensitive skin which is easily irritated by certain chemicals (such as soaps or bubble bath...

Ear infections are one of the most common illnesses in babies and young children. Most ear infections are middle ear infection, young children are more prone to these types of infections, because the tubes which connect the throat to the middle ear are softer and shorter. This means that germs can reach the middle ear more easily than in older children, whose tubes are longer and more vertical. In younger children the tubes are prone to getting blocked, so that there is less ventilation into...