FOOD ALLERGIES ON THE RISE IN KIDS

(PressMediaWire) SOUTHBURY, CT — The National Center for Health Statistics reported recently that the number of children diagnosed with food allergies has spiked eighteen percent in the last ten years. So what can you do to find and treat these allergies in your own kids?

Dr. Armen Ketchedjian, author of the book Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery, explains that the best way for parents to keep track of their child’s changing health needs is to keep up with regular appointments with the pediatrician and to log any sudden changes in temperament or physical condition following a meal.

“Pediatricians use these regular visits as a way of establishing a baseline for your child’s state of health,” says Dr. Ketch, as he is called by his patients. “It’s important that parents show up to these appointments and notify the pediatrician of any unusual activity.”

Dr. Ketch added that laboratory tests can verify most allergies but that pediatricians are also a good resource because they are trained to notice any differences in physical health that should raise a red flag. Symptoms associated with an allergic reaction include:

hives
wheezing and other lower respiratory problems
vomiting
nausea
stomach cramps

In his book, Dr. Ketch advises that most allergic reactions will express themselves in anywhere from the first minute following a meal to a few hours afterward. He recommends that parents set an appointment with their child’s pediatrician following these incidents, especially if the reaction was severe enough to warrant a hospital visit.

Will It Hurt? helps educate parents about pediatric surgery. It is an easy-to-read resource that will give you, your child and your family the help and reassurance you need to make the surgical experience as stress-free as possible.

Listed in The Guide to America’s Top Anesthesiologists by the Consumer Research Council of America, Dr. Ketch trained at Cornell Medical Center, with a fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a pain management elective at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has also worked to help develop new techniques in ambulatory anesthesia, taught medical students and residents, and cared for more than 10,000 patients.

Dr. Ketch is also the author of the children’s book Golden Apples (winner of the 2008 Reviewer’s Choice Award), a beautifully illustrated book that aims to help educate children about the dangers of drug abuse.

For more information, contact the author directly at support@dr.ketch.com.

WARREN ENTERPRISES, LLC and author Dr. Armen G. Ketchedjian chose Arbor Books, Inc. (www.ArborBooks.com) to design and promote Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery. Arbor Books is an internationally renowned, full-service book design, ghostwriting and marketing firm.

(Will It Hurt? A Parent’s Practical Guide to Children’s Surgery by Dr. Ketch; ISBN: 0-9815373-0-8; $14.95; 172 pages; 5½” x 8 ½”; soft cover book with illustrations; WARREN ENTERPRISES, LLC)