We are all familiar with words about vitamins and mineral. Are they really needed, in the societies where we have plenty of food and a wide variety of vitamins and minerals are organic compounds required in very small quantities for cell function and also for growth developement and body metabolism . This keeps us in good health.
there are 13 types of vitamins that we know so far they can be divided into two groups fat-soluble and water-soluble. The fat-solubl A,E,D,and K.The water-soluble ones are B group and these contain B1 B2 B3 B5 B6 B9(folic acid) B12.
Normally if you have milk green leafy vegetables fruits legumes meat fish nuts all your vitamin needs are met.Some of these vitamins are synthesised within over body for example vitamin K it is synthesised in the large intestines by microbes. Bile salts are needed for this absorption you may have heard how newborn babies are given vitamin K at birth this is because their gut is sterile and therefore they cannot synthesise vitamin K.
Vitamin K is required by the liver for production of clotting factors and its deficiency can lead to bleeding problems. Babies born with vitamin K deficiency can get the bleeding disease of the newborn and therefore it is recommended that newborn babies are given vitamin K in the dose of 1 mg at birth.
The other important vitamin is Folic acid in pre pregnancy stage in the dose of the 400 µg per day from three months prior to getting pregnant and 12 weeks during pregnancy. This has been shown to prevent fetal abnormalities particularly of the nervous system in the newborn.
Besides these two special needs if we eat a healthy diet including fruits and vegetables it meets all our requirements of vitamins and minerals we need not to spend hundreds of dollars.
Underneath the tongue there is a string of tissue that attaches the tongue to the mouth. If this tissue is short then there is difficulty for the tongue to move around and then this causes difficulty in breast feeding,and later on maybe speech. The baby has trouble latching on to the breast and slips off while feeding. The baby may not gain weight. The mother gets frustrated and gets painful nipples. The diagnoses is usually made at the routine intial examination of the newborn baby,by putting the finger in the mouth and feeling the cord like structure below the tongue. It occurs in 4 to 11 percent of babies. Some doctors do not believe that this needs any treatment,however if there are feeding diffuculties it is easier to snip it. A very fine scissors is used and the baby is supported so it does not move. No anesthesia is required. There is no bleeding. Sometimes there is a blood vessel in this and you have to be careful to watch this. I have generally found that there is immediate improvement after the tongue tie is snipped. Mostly a frustrated mother leaves my office with a big smile.
