Kawasaki Disease, A Simple Guide To the Condition, Treatment And Related Diseases

By Kenneth Kee

Kawasaki Disease is a childhood disease
The disease occur in children of all ages
It typically cause fever and lymph node swellings
Mostly it causes the skin to start peeling.

Patients present with first with fever then skin and eye dryness
There may be also swelling of feet and hand with redness
There is also sore throat with sometimes tonsillar swelling
This is followed by red rash with skin peeling

Diagnosis is by symptoms and elimination of other diseases
Electrocardiography may be done to check on heart myopathy
Complications are vasculitis, coronary heart disease and arthritis
There may be also blood vessel aneurysm and myocarditis

Treatment is usually with immunogammaglobulin
Aspirin is also used under proper doctor’s supervision
Corticosteroids is useful to treat arthritis and myocarditis
Most children make a full recovery after about 3 weeks

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

Interesting Tips about the Kawasaki Disease

A Healthy Lifestyle

1. Take a well Balanced Diet

2. Suspected cases should be treated as early as possible because of possible heart complications
a. Bed rest in isolation ward

b. Adequate fluids

c. Antipyretic medicines such as paracetamol for fever

d. Aspirin may be given (in spite of the danger of Reyes Syndrome) to prevent blockage of the coronary artery of the heart.

e. Injections of gamma globulin are the main treatment for Kawasaki disease.

f. Corticosteroids is useful to reduce complications such as arthritis and myocarditis

Prognosis of Kawasaki Disease is generally good.

Most children make a full recovery after about 3 weeks.

Myocarditis and arthritis may last for 6 to 8 weeks.

Coronary artery disease improves gradually over 1 year

3. Keep bones and body strong

Bone marrow produces our blood

Eat foods rich in calcium like yogurt, cheese, milk, and dark green vegetables.

Eat foods rich in Vitamin D, like eggs, fatty fish, cereal, and fortified milk.

Eat food rich in Vitamins B and C such as green vegetables and fruits

Zinc and other minerals are important to the body

4. Get enough rest and Sleep

Avoid stress and tension

5. Exercise and stay active.

It is best to do weight-bearing exercise such as walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing, or lifting weights for 21⁄2 hours a week.

One way to do this is to be active 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week.

Begin slowly especially if a person has not been active.

6. Do not drink more than 2 alcohol drinks a day for a man or 1 alcohol drink a day for a woman.

Alcohol use also increases the chance of falling and breaking a bone.

Alcohol can affect the neurons and brain cells.

7. Stop or do not begin smoking.

It also interferes with blood supply and healing.

Chapter 1

Kawasaki Disease

What is Kawasaki Disease?

Kawasaki Disease is a childhood disease which was first seen in Japan which typically causes fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, and symptoms affecting the skin and mucous membranes.

Approximately 3000 children with Kawasaki disease are hospitalized annually in the United States.

Kawasaki disease is a rare childhood illness that affects the blood vessels.

It occurs mainly in children below 5 years.

It is most common in children ages 1 to 2 years and less common in children older than age 8.

It does not spread from child to child (is not contagious).

The disease happens most often in the late winter and early spring.

The symptoms can be severe for several days and can look scary to parents.

But then most children return to normal activities.

One of its notable features other than high fever and skin peeling is the complication of the disease on the arterial system of the heart.

Introduction

Chapter 1 Kawa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 20, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311464651

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Kawasaki Disease,

A

Simple

Guide

To the Condition,

Treatment

And

Related Diseases

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2015 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes the disease Kawasaki Disease and Its Treatments and Related Diseases or in vernacular terms

(What You Need to treat Kawasaki Disease)

This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

Ode to Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki Disease is a childhood disease

The disease occur in children of all ages

It typically cause fever and lymph node swellings

Mostly it causes the skin to start peeling.

Patients present with first with fever then skin and eye dryness

There may be also swelling of feet and hand with redness

There is also sore throat with sometimes tonsillar swelling

This is followed by red rash with skin peeling

Diagnosis is by symptoms and elimination of other diseases

Electrocardiography may be done to check on heart myopathy

Complications are vasculitis, coronary heart disease and arthritis

There may be also blood vessel aneurysm and myocarditis

Treatment is usually with immunogammaglobulin

Aspirin is also used under proper doctor’s supervision

Corticosteroids is useful to treat arthritis and myocarditis

Most children make a full recovery after about 3 weeks

-An original poem by Kenneth Kee

Interesting Tips about the Kawasaki Disease

A Healthy Lifestyle

1. Take a well Balanced Diet

2. Suspected cases should be treated as early as possible because of possible heart complications

a. Bed rest in isolation ward

b. Adequate fluids

c. Antipyretic medicines such as paracetamol for fever

d. Aspirin may be given (in spite of the danger of Reyes Syndrome) to prevent blockage of the coronary artery of the heart.

e. Injections of gamma globulin are the main treatment for Kawasaki disease.

f. Corticosteroids is useful to reduce complications such as arthritis and myocarditis

Prognosis of Kawasaki Disease is generally good.

Most children make a full recovery after about 3 weeks.

Myocarditis and arthritis may last for 6 to 8 weeks.

Coronary artery disease improves gradually over 1 year

3. Keep bones and body strong

Bone marrow produces our blood

Eat foods rich in calcium like yogurt, cheese, milk, and dark green vegetables.

Eat foods rich in Vitamin D, like eggs, fatty fish, cereal, and fortified milk.

Eat food rich in Vitamins B and C such as green vegetables and fruits

Zinc and other minerals are important to the body

4. Get enough rest and Sleep

Avoid stress and tension

5. Exercise and stay active.

It is best to do weight-bearing exercise such as walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing, or lifting weights for 2½ hours a week.

One way to do this is to be active 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week.

Begin slowly especially if a person has not been active.

6. Do not drink more than 2 alcohol drinks a day for a man or 1 alcohol drink a day for a woman.

Alcohol use also increases the chance of falling and breaking a bone.

Alcohol can affect the neurons and brain cells.

7. Stop or do not begin smoking.

It also interferes with blood supply and healing.

Chapter 1

Kawasaki Disease

What is Kawasaki Disease?

Kawasaki Disease is a childhood disease which was first seen in Japan which typically causes fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, and symptoms affecting the skin and mucous membranes.

Approximately 3000 children with Kawasaki disease are hospitalized annually in the United States.

Kawasaki disease is a rare childhood illness that affects the blood vessels.

It occurs mainly in children below 5 years.

It is most common in children ages 1 to 2 years and less common in children older than age 8.

It does not spread from child to child (is not contagious).

The disease happens most often in the late winter and early spring.

The symptoms can be severe for several days and can look scary to parents.

But then most children return to normal activities.

One of its notable features other than high fever and skin peeling is the complication of the disease on the arterial system of the heart.

Kawasaki disease can harm the coronary arteries which carry blood to the heart muscle.

Most children who are treated recover from the disease without long-term problems.

What is the cause of Kawasaki Disease?

The cause of Kawasaki Disease is believed to be an infection although no causative organism has been found.

An autoimmune disease has been suggested as the cause of the Kawasaki disease.

What are the Symptoms of Kawasaki Disease?

The triad of symptoms which are common to Kawasaki Disease are:

1. Fever with headache lasting for more than 5 days

2. Swelling of one or more lymph nodes in the neck

3. Blotchy red rash over the entire body with typical skin peeling in the second week of illness

Symptoms of Kawasaki disease include:

4. Sore throat with sometimes tonsillar swelling

5. Dry cracked swollen,