Cardiovascular and Hematologic Disorders in Children

Introduction

Children are not the same as adults. They have different challenges, and their minds and bodies are still developing. As parents, it’s important to recognize that your child is still growing and developing even when things seem like they’re going well. It’s also important for parents to understand how stress can affect their children’s health, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Cardiovascular disorders

Cardiovascular disorders are a broad category of diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels. They include coronary artery disease, stroke and hypertension.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for one-third of all deaths each year.

Congenital heart disease

Congenital heart disease is the most common birth defect, affecting about 5% of babies. The heart has a hole, or an abnormal valve, which can lead to blood not flowing as it should through the body. It also may be too small for proper function or have too many chambers and walls that are irregularly shaped.

The first step in treating congenital heart defects is identifying them early so you can start treatment before serious problems develop later on in childhood or adulthood.

Kawasaki disease

Kawasaki disease is a condition that affects the blood vessels, heart and other organs. It is most common in children under 5 years old, but can occur in older children and adults.

Kawasaki disease causes inflammation of the small blood vessels (capillaries) near your skin’s surface, which leads to capillary leakage into surrounding tissues such as muscles or joints. This can cause pain or swelling at the site where you feel it most acutely on your body such as your face or throat area; these areas may also become red or swollen like shingles (herpes labialis).

Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease of the heart and joints that can occur in children. It usually affects the heart, but it can also affect other parts of your child’s body.

Signs and symptoms of rheumatic fever include:

• Sudden swollen joints (arthritis)

• Fever with rash, sweating and chills that last for at least 2 weeks

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

SLE is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes immune system attacks on the body’s tissues and organs. The most common symptoms of SLE include:

• Rash, itching and redness of the skin

• Fatigue or weakness (especially in the morning)

• Swollen joints that may be tender and painful to touch (swollen fingers are often swollen, not just aching)

SLE can affect anyone at any age but it is more common in women than men. Studies show that about 1% of children under 18 years old have SLE—but if left untreated it can lead to organ damage or death.

Hematologic disorders

Hematologic disorders include anemia and sickle cell anemia. Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells (RBCs) is too low to support normal bodily function. Iron deficiency, folate deficiency, vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiencies may cause anemia. Other causes include medications that interfere with iron absorption or use of diuretics during pregnancy to reduce fluid retention (which can lead to hypotension).

Leukemia

Leukemia is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. It can be caused by genetic predisposition, exposure to other cancers or toxic substances, or immune system problems. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, chills and night sweats along with bleeding and bruising. Treatment options include chemotherapy and radiation therapy as well as bone marrow transplantation (stem cell transplant).

Sickle cell anemia

Sickle cell anemia is a genetic disease that affects red blood cells, causing them to be misshapen and block blood flow. The sickle cell trait is inherited from your parents and can be passed on to children. In healthy people, the hemoglobin in their red blood cells (the protein inside) attaches itself at right angles to the head of their structures—this makes it easy for oxygen-rich liquid (plasma) to flow through the body with each heartbeat. When this happens, we call it “normal” hemoglobin production!

However, if there’s too much damage done during early development or later on when you’re an adult—or both—then these changes may cause your body’s ability to produce normal hemoglobin levels begin failing as well.*

Hemophilia

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder caused by a lack of blood clotting proteins. Hemophilia can be passed from mother to child through the X chromosome, and it can occur in both boys and girls. Boys are more likely to get hemophilia than girls because they inherit one X chromosome from their mothers (and two Y chromosomes from their fathers). Girls have two X chromosomes; however, they also have an extra set of genes on non-sex chromosomes called “XO” or “XXY.” These extra genes cause them to produce less of one type of protein called factor IX than other people do—so when someone has hemophilia with no symptoms like bruises or cuts on their arms/legs because he/she doesn’t have enough factor IX circulating in his/her body at all times then doctors call this type “classic” hemophilia since there isn’t any evidence that another abnormal gene might be causing this condition as well.”

You can motivate yourself without being mean to yourself.

A great way to motivate yourself is by setting goals. Goals are things you want to achieve in your life, and they give you something specific to work towards. For example, if you want more energy than what’s available naturally (and who doesn’t?), then set a goal of waking up at 6am every day so that you can have time for exercise before school starts!

Another great way to motivate yourself is by rewarding yourself when the goals are met. This could be anything from watching an episode of your favorite show or buying something new at Target—it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it makes happy tears stream down your face when those rewards arrive at their destination.

Finally, there’s kindness: being kind towards yourself will help keep those negative thoughts away while also making sure they don’t stick around long enough for any bad habits

to form themselves into habits!

Conclusion

Just remember that you are not alone. If you feel sad, frustrated or angry at yourself, it is normal to feel those emotions. No one expects perfection and we all make mistakes. We hope this article has helped you understand your own needs better so that when the time comes for treatment or self-care, you won’t forget about them because of those pesky feelings!