Thursday, April 3, 2008

Child Abuse and Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome (MBPS)


Please read this it may save a child:
During my career as a Physician Assistant and having worked in several Emergency Rooms I have encountered unfortunate situations with child abuse. These have to be the hardest cases and scenarios to deal with because there is seldom a true or definite sign of physical abuse. Only when the cases are very clear where the child has been battered severely can this be definitely called a case of child abuse.

We all know that child abuse can be done in many forms and not only through physical abuse. There are many forms of psychological and emotional abuse as well. And again these are very unfortunate cases because these children are often missed and go on to having more abuse inflicted on them for several years. However, there is also another form of abuse which is not so quickly recognized and for that matter not many are even aware that it exists, and this is called Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome also known as MBPS.

Examples of MBPS cases are usually presented as a young child that is hospitalized more than 30 times in his or her 6 years of living. They are diagnosed with asthma, pneumonia, unexplained fevers and mysterious illnesses. Physicians are unable to determine a cause of illnesses. Another example could be that of a child at the age of 10 has been admitted to the hospital more than 200 times. He or she has gone through numerous surgeries for unexplained abdominal pains and diarrhea. The child at times has vomited for no apparent reason and has also developed unexplained fevers and malaise.

These unfortunate children were the result of MBPS. Please read more on this...

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