A Waldorf Guide to Children's Health

Preface 17
First Aid and accident prevention 42
Symptoms of Illness in Childhood
1. Pain
1.1 Headache 22
1.2 Teething pains 25
1.3 Earache 25
1.4 Eye pain: conjunctivitis 27
1.5 Sore throat and neck pain 28
1.6 Chest pains 31
1.7 Abdominal pain 32
1.8 Musculoskeletal pain 39
1.9 Phimosis, hydrocele, undescended testicle 40
1.11 Emotional pain 49
2. Fever and its Treatment 51
2.1 Typical fevers 51
2.2 What causes fever?
2.3 Taking your child’s temperature
2.4 Signs of fever; treating fevers
3. Respiratory Diseases
3.1 Nasal congestion 61
3.2 Viral infections: colds and flu 63
3.3 Young children’s susceptibility to infection
3.4 Enlarged adenoids and tonsillitis
3.5 Hay fever
3.6 Breathing noises and cough
3.7 Respiration as an expression of psychological activity 75
4. Vomiting, Diarrhoea and Constipation 77
4.1 Vomiting and diarrhoea 78
4.2 Chronic constipation 81
4.3 Learning to digest 83
5. Skin Diseases and Rashes 85
5.1 Appearance of the skin
5.2 Skin conditions in newborn babies
5.3 Fungus infections
5.4 Bacterial skin infections
5.5 Viral skin infections
5.6 Insect bites and skin parasites
5.7 Allergic and toxic skin reactions
5.8 Chronic allergic skin reactions
6. Allergic Sensitivity 107
6.1 Immune response as a learning process 107
The ability to learn as a preventive measure 108
7. The ‘Childhood Illnesses’
7.1 Measles 112
7.2 German measles (rubella) 115
7.3 Scarlet fever (scarlatina) 116
7.4 Roseola (three-day fever, exanthema subitum) 118
7.5 Fifth disease
7.6 Other infections with red skin rashes
7.7 Chickenpox (varicella) 121
7.8 Mouth ulcers (Herpes simplex stomatitis) 122
7.9 Mumps (epidemic parotitis) 123
7.10 Whooping cough (pertussis) 124
7.11 Diptheria
7.12 Glandular fever
7.13 Infectious hepatitis, type A 127
7.14 Infectious hepatitis, type B 127
7.15 Lyme disease (borreliosis) 128
8. Meeting Challenging Problems 141
8.1 Children in hospital 141
8.2 Disabled or chronically ill children 144
8.3 Diabetes mellitus in childhood
8.4 Childhood cancers
8.5 AIDS – a challenge
8.6 Finding purpose
8.7 The purpose of childhood illnesses
8.8 Ethical issues
8.9 Constitution treatment
9. Preventing Illness and Promoting Health 157
9.1 How does health develop? 158
9.2 Promoting health of the soul and spirit 160
9.3 Hygiene and the immune system
9.4 Toughening up, climate cures, sauna
10. Prevention and Immunisation 167
10.1 Government recommended immunisations 170
10.2 What do vaccinations do? 168
10.3 Tetanus (lockjaw) 172
10.4 Diphtheria 173
10.5 Hemophilus influenzae type B bacteria (Hib) 173
10.6 Whooping cough (pertussis) 174
10.7 Poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis) 176
10.8 Chickenpox (varicella) 176
10.9 Rubella (German measles) 177
10.10 Mumps 178
10.11 Measles 179
10.12 Tuberculosis (BCG vaccine) 181
10.13 Respiratory Syncitial Virus (RSV)
10.14 Tuberculosis
10.15 Hepatitis A 181
10.16 Hepatitis B 182
10.17 Pneumococcal vaccination 183
10.18 Meningococcal Vaccines 183
10.19 Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) 184
10.20 Flu (influenza) 185
10.21 Tick-borne encephalitis 185
10.22 Preventing tooth decay 188
10.23 Preventing rickets 190
10.24 Vitamin K prophylaxis: Preventing serious clotting disorders in infants 193