Kawasaki Disease (KD), also known as Kawasaki Syndrome and Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome, is a genetic disorder that involves the inflammation of the blood vessels. When a child is born, if he has the trait for KD, he will probably show the symptoms around age four and five. The disease has been known to stay within families with Japanese backgrounds but can involve anyone. In the
KD and acute rheumatic fever are the leading cause of acquired heart failure in children. The coronary arteries are mainly affected, but weakening of the coronary wall may also take place during the first cycle of KD. If this occurs, a blood clot may form which could block the artery, but this may lead to a heart attack. If a heart attack does take place, the aneurysm may burst depending on the blood sugar level but this happens infrequently. If a heart attack does not take place, the heart, or the pericarditis, may inflate. Unusual functions of the heart are one of the other side effects that may occur.
Kawasaki Disease: What Is It?
By the time a child is two years old, he/she will have crawled 93 miles.
"We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness...is love...."
-Mother Teresa
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