If your young child has ever awakened in the middle of the night crying, having difficulty breathing, and with a cough that sounds similar to that of a barking seal, then you are already familiar with a childhood illness commonly known as croup.

Personally, I didn’t have any idea what croup was until my then 2-year-old son woke up during the middle of the night with this horrible, horrible cough. I couldn’t believe this loud barking noise was coming out of my sweet son. He was having such a hard time breathing that I rushed him to the emergency room and spent four to five hours there having his chest x-rayed and having a doctor look at him, only to find out that he had croup. this emergency room trip cost almost $1,000.

His symptoms lasted only two days and then they were completely gone. About six months later he woke up in the middle of the night with the same cough, but this time I knew what to do and didn’t have to take him to the doctor. He recovered quickly on his own after two sleepless nights. I want to share our experience so if it happens to you, you also will know what to do.

First of all, croup is most often caused by the same viruses that cause the common cold. Two kids can get the same virus, and one will get croup and the other may not. My other son has never had any symptoms of croup. some children seem to be more prone to this illness than others. Research has shown that children born early or who have breathing problems such as asthma are more prone to getting croup.

Croup is most common in children under three years of age. the younger the child, usually the worse the symptoms are. there are some things you can do at home to relieve these symptoms.

Your child may or may not have symptoms before the coughing occurs. both times my son was sick he did not have any cold symptoms before the cough. However, both times his twin brother was sick first, so we knew he was exposed to a virus. After the coughing episodes, he displayed common cold symptoms (e.g., runny nose, coughing).

The barking cough is the result of a narrowing of your child’s air passage. the effect of this is worsened by your child’s crying. the harder they cry, the harder it is to breathe. if your child is crying, try to calm him or her down as quickly as possible.

If you see at any point that your child is having too much difficulty breathing, and it appears he or she is not getting enough oxygen, you should immediately go to the emergency room. if it appears your child is breathing okay but you cannot get the cough under control, there are things you can do to help shrink the air passageways.

Cool-mist humidifiers will put moisture into the air and help your child breathe more easily. Steam from a hot shower will also help reduce symptoms. during winter months, taking your child out into the cold, even if it is the middle of the night, is often the best way to get relief for your child fast. for some reason this croup cough only acts up at night. I was told at the emergency room that bringing my son out into the cold to take him to the hospital had almost eliminated his symptoms before he got there!

If none of these things work, as a last resort, there are medications a doctor can give your child to reduce the swelling that is causing the cough. Symptoms generally only last a couple of nights then disappear. it is a good idea to sleep in the same room as your child while they are experiencing this cough. one night of hearing your child cough like this and trying to catch their breath would cause you to not let them out of your sight! the second time my son went through this I slept in our guest room with him with the humidifier in the room and he was able to get comfortable enough to sleep. the next day you wouldn’t even have known he was sick except for a little bit of a runny nose.

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of five. for resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit Christian-Parent.com

Newswise — People with systemic lupus erythematosus are 1.15 times as likely to develop cancer as the general population and more than 2.5 times as likely to develop hematologic malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukemia, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta.

Systemic lupus erythematosus, also called SLE or lupus, is a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, lungs, nervous system, and/or other organs of the body. the most common symptoms include skin rashes and arthritis, often accompanied by fatigue and fever. Lupus occurs mostly in women, typically developing in individuals in their twenties and thirties – prime child-bearing age.

Some studies have shown a link between lupus and cancer risk, and researchers recently aimed to make more precise estimations of this risk. They observed 13,492 people with lupus from 24 medical centers for an average of nine years, for a total of 118,359 patient-years (number of patients multiplied by number of years of observation), and compared these participants to people without lupus.

During the course of this study, 632 cases of cancer were noted, and the data concerning hematological cancers—cancers that affect the bone, blood and lymph nodes—was the most striking: researchers found that people with lupus were 3.2 times more likely to develop lymphomas than the general population and 3.4 times more likely to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, specifically. They also found that people with lupus were 1.7 times greater risk of developing leukemia.

“These results more precisely define cancer risk in SLE [than previous studies], highlighting a higher risk of hematological malignancies – both lymphoma and leukemia,” says Sasha R. Bernatsky, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Divisions of Rheumatology and Clinical Epidemiology, at McGill University, a medical scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, and co-principle investigator in the ongoing study along with Ann E. Clarke, MD, and Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, Dr.PH. “However, the news may not be all that bad, considering that hematological cancers remain a rare event – one in every 1,250 patient-years of follow-up for these patients. Just what is driving the risk of cancer in SLE is still unknown, but we currently suspect that disease activity plays a role, although drug exposures have not been ruled out.”

Study participants also demonstrated an increased likelihood of developing lung cancer (1.2 times as likely as the general population), cervical cancer (1.6 times more likely), vulvo-vaginal cancers (2.8 times more likely), and liver cancer (2. 2 times more likely). the study also shows that people with lupus who are younger than 40 have a particularly high risk, as they are 1.7 times more likely to develop cancer than the general population.

On the other hand, participants did display a significantly decreased risk of developing hormone-sensitive cancers, including breast cancer (0.7 times as likely as the general population), endometrial cancer (0.49 times the likelihood), and ovarian cancer (0.56 times the likelihood).

“The lower risk of several hormone-sensitive cancers may invoke the possibility of alterations in the metabolism from estrogen and/or other hormones,” Dr. Bernatsky explains. “But, because female SLE patients may be at higher risk for cancers and pre-cancerous changes of the uterine cervix, they should try to undergo pap testing regularly once they become sexually active, especially if they take immunosuppressive drugs.”

The American College of Rheumatology is an international professional medical society that represents more than 8,000 rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals around the world. Its mission is to advance rheumatology. the ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier meeting in rheumatology. For more information about the meeting, visit rheumatology.org/education. Follow the meeting on twitter by using the official hashtag: #ACR2010.

###Editor’s Notes: Dr. Bernatsky will present this research during the ACR Annual Scientific Meeting at the Georgia World Congress Center at 5:30 PM on Monday, November 8 in Room B 402. Dr. Bernatsky will be available for media questions and briefing at 8:30 AM on Tuesday, November 9 in the on-site press conference room, B 212.

Learn more about living well with rheumatic disease as well as rheumatologists and the role they play in health care.

Presentation Number: 731

Further Defining Cancer Risk in Systemic Lupus: Updated Results in an Expanded International Multi-Centre Cohort.

Sasha R. Bernatsky (McGill UHC/RVH, Montreal, QC, Canada)Ann E. Clarke (Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada)Michelle a. Petri (Timonium, MD)Murray B.Urowitz (The Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada)Paul R. Fortin (Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada)Dafna D. Gladman (Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada)Søren Jacobsen (Rigshospitalet – 4242, Copenhagen, Denmark)Susan Manzi (20West Penn Allegheny Health system, Pittsburgh, PA)Graciela S. Alarcon (Oakland, CA)Ellen M. Ginzler (SUNYDownstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY)ChristineA. Peschken (Univ of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada)Mary Anne Dooley (Capital Health and Dalhousie University, Chapel Hill, NC)John G. Hanly (Queen Elizabeth II Health Services Center, Halifax, NS, Canada)Ola Nived (University Hospital, Lund, Sweden)Gunnar K. Sturfelt (17UCL Div of Medicine, Room 331, 3rd Floor, Lund, Sweden)Jean-Luc Senecal (Notre-Dame Hospital, M-4243, Montreal, QC, Canada)Jeremy Labrecque (McGill University, Montreal, Canada)Elizabeth M. Turnbull (McGill University Health Ctr, Montreal, QC, Canada)Jennifer L. F. Lee (RI McGill Univ Health Ctr, Montreal, QC, Canada)Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman (Northwestern University, Chicago, IL)

Purpose: Our previous collaborative effort demonstrated an association between systemic lupus (SLE) and cancer, driven primarily by lymphoma risk. we aimed to more precisely estimate cancer incidence rates in SLE, compared to the general population. we also present results stratified by age group.

Methods: we assembled an expanded multi-centre international cohort of clinically confirmed SLE patients. Patients at each center were linked to regional tumor registries to determine cancer occurrence. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated as the ratio of observed to expected cancers. Cancers expected were determined by multiplying person-years in the cohort by the geographically matched age, sex, and calendar year-specific cancer rates, and summing over all person-years.

Results: the 13,492 patients from 24 centers were observed for a total of 118,359 patient-years, with an average follow-up of 9 years. within the observation interval, 632 cancers occurred. the data confirmed an increased risk of cancer among patients with SLE. For all cancers combined, the SIR estimate was 1.15 (95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.06-1.24), and for all hematologic malignancies combined, the SIR was 2.53 (95% CI 2.05-3.07). regarding specific types of hematological malignancies, increased risk was demonstrated for all lymphomas (SIR 3.21, 95% CI 2.48-4.07) as well non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma specifically (SIR 3.41, 95% CI 2.61-4.39), and for leukemia (1.69, 95% CI 1.00-2.67). we also demonstrated an increased risk of lung cancer (SIR 1.24; 95% CI 1.00-1.53), cervical cancer (SIR 1.65, 95% CI 1.09-2.41), vulvo-vaginal cancers (SIR 2.80, 95% CI 1.12-5.77), and hepatic cancer (SIR 2.18, 95% CI 1.16-3.73). meanwhile, a significant decreased risk was seen for hormone-sensitive cancers, including breast cancer (SIR 0.70, 95% CI 0.58, 0.85), endometrial cancer (SIR 0.49, 95% CI 0.27, 0.83), and ovarian cancer (0.56, 95% CI 0.28, 0.97). When SIR estimates were stratified by age, SLE patients in the youngest age group (