Q: If your child seems completely disinterested or even scared to do their math homework, they may have anxiety towards the subject. Your child may say something like "I'll never be good at math" and assume that they just don't have the intelligence for the subject. Pay attention to your child's behavior and see if they get upset specifically when they have to do math or if there is some other reason for their behavior that day. Positive reinforcement is a great way to help your child overcome math phobia. Instead of being negative when they get something wrong, talk through the problems with them and emphasize the aspects that they got correct. Point out the skills that they have mastered and stay positive about the ones that still need some work. Hire a tutor so they can get one-on-one help in a positive, confidence-building learning environment. Talk about math in a positive way. If your child gets an answer wrong, have them look at the problem again, without berating them for the mistake. There are several ways you can foster a positive learning environment for studying mathematics, or any other subject, for that matter: Remind your child that math skills aren't learned automatically and that everyone learns at a different rate. Let your child set up a study environment that suits them, within reason. While you may not want to allow visual distractions such as the TV or internet, your child may prefer background music, or to study on the floor supported by pillows instead of sitting at a desk. Allow calculators and computers for doing the actual calculations, but encourage your child to learn to set up the problem without assistance. If your child is having trouble with math, working longer at it usually won't solve the problem. Extended study without a break can lead to frustration. Take a short break to let your child process the information and avoid prolonged frustration. Taking a step back to find out what the problem is and developing an alternate approach is a better way for your child to learn and understand. It is very easy to become overwhelmed when presented with a problem set or test with 30 questions in it. You never sit down and try to read a whole book all at once, so why would you try to do that with math? Encourage your child to focus on one question at a time. If they come across a problem that is particularly difficult, tell them to skip it and come back to it later. Answering the easier questions will build their confidence for when they get to the harder ones. Mathematics plays a role in many aspects of life, such as cooking (ratios and proportions), sports (scorekeeping), home upkeep (calculating quantities of building materials and paint, budgeting), and others. Showing the practical uses of math may motivate your child to learn math instead of fear it. Try to turn math problems into games while doing daily household activities. To help a child struggling with math, you need to know how it's being taught in his or her classroom. It may be that your child needs more attention than is possible in the classroom, or your child may learn math better if taught it a different way. Discuss the matter with your child's teacher, who can help you plan a suitable way to supplement your child's education. Your child may think about problems differently than you do. Encourage them to solve problems in the way that makes the most sense to them. In addition to the calculator and computer, there are a number of math teaching aids to assist in performing basic calculations, including finger calculation methods such as Chizanbop and devices such as Cuisenaire rods, Dienes blocks, and Napier's rods. You can learn about these and other methods from the website of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and other sources. The NCTM website features a section devoted to helping parents and other family members help their children learn math, including an overview of how math is currently taught. Coupled with math anxiety is the belief that math is not a "fun" subject. In fact, math can be fun if approached the right way. Games such as Battleship and mancala teach logical thinking skills, while games such as Yahtzee teach number recognition, probability, and strategy. There are also a number of educational games available through the NCTM website. Puzzles such as magic squares teach pattern recognition and logical thinking while reinforcing calculation skills, and also show some of the interesting relationships between numbers in our mathematical system. Math humor helps students take themselves less seriously while taking math itself seriously. Math humor can come in the form of cartoons, jokes (such as the number 7 being cannibalistic because "7 ate 9"), or even song parody (such as the original author of this article parodying the Five Man Electric Band's song "Signs" as "Sines," about the difficulties of learning trigonometry). Your child may have a tendency to come home and complain that they just aren't as good at math as one of their classmates. Try to discourage this type of talk and let them know that they just learn at a different pace. Math is not a competition. Avoid making statements around your child that may give them the impression that you are comparing them to their own classmates or siblings.
A: Recognize the signs of math phobia in your child. Reinforce your child's sense of intelligence and skill. Create a supportive environment for learning math. Schedule study breaks. Encourage your child to tackle math one problem at a time. Show your child the positive uses of math. Get to know your child's teacher and their teaching methods. Familiarize yourself with math teaching aids. Support the positive aspects of math with games, puzzles, and humor. Encourage your child to not compare their abilities to their classmates.

Q: Mitral stenosis often presents with a heart murmur that can be heard when your doctor listens with his or her stethoscope. Although this is not enough to diagnose mitral stenosis, it is suspicious of a heart problem and would be an indication for your doctor to order further investigative tests. A chest x-ray is normally one of the first tests your doctor will order, if he or she suspects a lung and/or a heart problem, such as mitral stenosis. A chest x-ray allows your doctor to examine your lungs for fluid build-up (called "pulmonary edema") which may go hand-in-hand with mitral stenosis. Your doctor can also evaluate for enlargement of any of the chambers of your heart, such as the right atrium, which may also be a sign of mitral stenosis. A chest x-ray is also useful in ruling in or ruling out other heart or lung conditions that may present similarly to mitral stenosis. It is for this reason that it is normally one of the first investigative tests that is ordered. In the evaluation of heart or lung problems such as mitral stenosis, an ECG (sometimes accompanied by an exercise stress test) can be helpful. An ECG is able to detect the amount of "stress" on the heart in various situations. In order to confirm the diagnosis of mitral stenosis (or of any other form of valvular heart disease), an echocardiogram is needed. The first type performed will normally be a TTE (transthoracic echocardiogram). In a TTE, the ultrasound probe is placed on the outside of your chest. It then projects a real-time, colored, moving image of the heart on a screen, where the doctor can look at the structure of your heart as well as the flow of blood with each heartbeat. The color in the TTE can help indicate the flow of blood. A TTE may be sufficient to observe and confirm the diagnosis of mitral stenosis. If it is not, a TEE (transesophageal echocardiogram) may be ordered. In a TEE, rather than the ultrasound probe being placed on the outside of your chest, it is inserted into your esophagus. Your esophagus is much closer to your heart anatomically, so a TEE can provide a much more detailed view than a TTE, which can aid in the diagnosis of mitral stenosis.
A:
Have your doctor listen for a heart murmur with a stethoscope. Get a chest x-ray. Consider an ECG (electrocardiogram). Receive an echocardiogram to definitively diagnose mitral stenosis.