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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Is Your Child Having Acanthosis Nigricans #SaveLife

I once have a classmate whom I thought, because she is fat, she has this kind of a dark skin condition in her neck. I thought it's normal for a chubby girl like her.

Upon seeing a post from my FACEBOOK feed, I've found out that it is not normal, but a sign of having a problem with DIABETES too! Aside from obesity it can be co-related with Insulin Resistance such as diabetes mellitus.

Acanthosis Nigricans is a brown to black discoloration of skin, it looks like a LINEA NEGRA(a dark line appears on the abdomen of a pregnant woman during tri-mester), but in this case the dark line of an Acanthosis Nigricans patient is poorly defined as a velvety hyperpigmentation of skin, usually found in a body folds like armpits, neck, groin, navel, or forehead.

Acanthosis Nigricans(AN) is commonly found with children with elevated blood insulin level(diabetes). Though it is not an INFECTION nor a CONTAGIOUS disease, some experience a mild itchy(but tolerable), it is harmless. It is not dangerous in these cases, but what makes it a problem is when children suffer low-esteem and self confidence knowing about their appearance.




A condition that often associated with kids obesity, overweight and diabetes. At a very young age they cannot easily accept the fact that they have this.

WHAT TO DO:

As parents, with children who have AN, consult a doctor so that we can easily determine if it is a serious condition.

  1. Diagnose >>> Blood Test and X-rays
  2. Treatment >> There will be changes of skin here, and there is no treatment for that. But according to studies, children with AN it will require NO TREATMENT at all, for some, dark skin will eventually fade on its own.

Eventually, kids treatment will always focus in their health weight diet and get a plenty of exercise.





TO SAVE:

Let us all encourage our children to have a good eating diet and choose a healthy lifestyle. I know this is hard to do for us as parents, but several studies show that if we guide our children in proper eating habit as well as with exercising, it can lessen or in some cases it can prevent or reverse them to have an AN.

And to boost their confidence, you can apply creams or lotions prescribe by dermatologists, just to help lighten skin and to avoid teasing them from their classmates & friends.

AN children should be given extra support and understanding. Promote and disseminate that their condition is not contagious and having that kind of skin is not to be ashamed of, give them back their CONFIDENT.


Reviewed by: Patrice Hyde, MD



17 comments:

  1. Wow I didn't knew anything about this condition.thanks for this informative post.

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  2. Thi I a serious condition! Kudos to you for spreading awareness about it!

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  3. I've seen the condition in diabetic adults as well. Regular check ups and a healthier lifestyle is imperative.

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  4. I have never noticed such brown stains around the neck before, I mean none of my fat friends have them but I read that a change in the skin color is normally a sign there is a change happening within the body so we must pay attention to our body signals and take prevention or get immediate medication in the initial stage of the disease.

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  5. What a very information post! I had no idea about this, will certainly share this around! Sim x

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  6. I saw that post circulating and never thought much of it until I see your post again! Maybe I should verify with my doctor friend to see if it's true!

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  7. I really appreciate this post cos it has increased my store house of health knowledge. This is the first time I'm hearing about Acanthosis Nigricans.

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  8. Since I am diagnosed having diabetes when I was 23 years old. Since then, I always tell my children not to follow good eating habit. Good thing none of them suffers from AN..

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  9. This is a good info. I've seen people with this type of skin. I also thought it's normal for the fat guys. Tsk tsk tsk. This is worth sharing.

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  10. oh my, this would be very useful for whenever i have kids. learnt something new

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  11. Yes, we sometimes see this condition in our overweight friends and assume its just normal accumulation of melanin in the thick folds of their skin. This is a very informative post.

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  12. Very informative post. I knew someone has this but he is so skinny. Not sure whether it is a same thing..

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  13. Since it mainly affects kids, regular check up is important. Early detection can really help in easing it.

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  14. This is so important! I hope when I have kids I'll have the foresight to treat this if it ever happens. :)

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  15. This is an enlightening post. Have noticed such marks on others before but never knew exactly why.

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  16. Yes this is true. Diabetes is one of the illness that filipinos have.

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  17. I've seen the post too, I shared it with my sis-in-law because I noticed my nephew have the similar color on his neck. There's no harm in checking since he's still young and chubby talaga. - KarenT

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