Factors influencing appearance of centers of ossification during early childhood

534

THE

JOURNAL

OF

ALLERGY

Growth disturbance manifests iting height of more than 10 mm. and poor posture. self in many ways. White lines or grooves occur on the nails if disturbance has been felt in the last six or eight months. Bone scorings, although not confined to allergic causes, are found and persist for one or two years; these are demonstrated by x-ray. Demineralization also occurs, and maturation, as shown by skeletal development, is likely to be delayed. The soft tissues have an altered appearance roentgenologically. They lose their clear demarcations and become hydrated. With improvement in the allergic state, Simulthe child may lose weight at first, which is really a loss of excess tissue fluid. taneously, the subcutaneous tissues are better differentiated from each other roentgenologieally. There is interference with facial growth. If allergy is active in the first year, the face is narrow, the palate high, the upper teeth protrude, and the molar region is flat. Allergy in the second and third years may not lead to a narrow face, but only to a flat one deficient in anterior growth. Mucous membrane well as small follicular lower lid.

changes lead granulations

Asthma leads to two winged-scapula type. and

types

A better understanding other changes in the

Factors Influencing Francis,

C. C.:

of

of the course

Appearance Am.

J. Dis.

to the gelatinous adenoid in the conjunctiva of deformities-the allergic of his

barrel

child results development.

chest

from

of Centers of Ossification Child.

59:

1006,

and the

the

mucous polyps, outer half of

or the

pigeon-breast,

appreciation

During

as the

Early

of these

Childhood.

1940.

This report derives from the same group of children as the previous report. Francis finds epiphyseal ossification a more delicate objective indication of constitutional health than height and weight. Gastrointestinal sensitivity as shown by mild eczema, even when so well controlled that no retardation of growth occurs, will, The amount of available mineral in nevertheless, retard epiphyseal ossification. the diet also influences the degree of epiphyseal ossification, and, consequently, infants fed cows’ milk have a more advanced rating than breast-fed babies.

A Study of Two Hundred the St. Louis Area. II. Robinson,

E. C.:

Am.

and Forty Breast-Fed and Artificially Incidence of Rashes and Gastrointestinal J. Dis.

Child.

59:

1002,

Fed Infants in Disturbances.

1940.

In a study of 240 infants over a period of twenty months it was found that breast-fed babies had the lowest incidence of both diarrhea and rash. There was less diarrhea when evaporated milk was used than when whole milk was given. Although the difference was not striking, rashes were more common when irradiated evaporated milk was used than when nonirradiated evaporated milk was given.

Environment

and Skin Disease.

Hellier,

F. F.:

Brit.

J. Dermat.

& Syph.

52:

107,

1940. The author takes infantile eczema as an example of a purely constitutional disease and discusses the variation in incidence of it in and around the city of Leeds. He has studied the relationship of this condition to temperature, barometric pressure, the degree of wind, and the electric potential. He concludes that, while such factors may influence the incidence of eczema to some degree, they are not prime factors. Rather, he found the spring peak to be attributed to the general increase in skin irritability at that time.