Three must-know things about three important things.

Failure to thrive

Failure to thrive describes a child who is not growing adequately. This is usually measured relative to age-peers using standardised growth charts for height, weight, and head size.

  • The causes for failure to thrive include genetic abnormalities, psychological (family, social, emotional) factors, medical conditions (serious illnesses like cancers and others), and poor diet (often linked to poverty but potentially also to abuse or neglect).
  • Poor or delayed growth is almost always associated with a delay in reaching developmental milestones (sitting, standing, walking, talking, etc.).
  • Failure to thrive is a very serious scenario because the potential causes are often quite serious.

 Fever

Fever describes an abnormally raised body temperature. Any oral thermometer reading over 37.5 Celsius is considered a fever.

  • By far the most common cause of fever is an infection such as flu, gastroenteritis, pneumonia, etc. Almost all infections cause fever.
  • Menstrual cycle (slight increase in second half of cycle), environmental factors (usually obvious), immunisations (only some), and teething can all cause low grade fevers, rarely higher than 37.8C.
  • Some children develop febrile seizures from a high fever. This is rarely indicative of actual epilepsy but does point to the importance of controlling fever in children (appropriate clothing and Panado at the correct dosage are the best and simplest approaches if you cannot see a doctor)

Fibromyalgia

This mysterious condition is characterised by varying body pains with no identified cause, causing it to be considered somewhat psychosocial in its causality (although such is not proven per se).

  • Fibromyalgia is often associated with sleep problems, fatigue and cognitive or memory problems. The pain is very variable and will typically migrate around the body over time, affecting many areas.
  • Fibromyalgia is often associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and with tension headache, both of which are also thought to have psychosocial dimensions.
  • The treatment of fibromyalgia is quite variable since no one approach has been optimal. Exercise and adequate rest are both important. Simple painkillers may help. Antidepressants have been tried with mixed but sometimes-positive results. Fibromyalgia remains a frustrating condition rather often.

Written by Dr Colin Burns