All parents expect their child to start going to school, learn writing and learning and do well in academics. However, children with dyslexia may not be able to progress at school at the same pace as others. The good news is that there are early pointers that can help a parent to identify dyslexia in the early stages. This can be helpful in training and support the child socially to learn and socialise normally.  Dyslexia is a disability that affects both spoken and written language. They have a different learning style and when supported and encouraged, instead of mocked and insulted, they can become avid readers. The following are common 10 indicators of developing dyslexia in children, in general, and at school.

10 Behavioural signs to watch for in general:

The child usually has difficulty concentrating and following instructions
The child is easily distracted, seems to daydream, and tends to forget words.
Poor personal organisation skills and is not very good at time keeping.
May get confused between today, tomorrow, yesterday; east and west; right and left; up and down.
Has difficulty remembering seasons, months and days.
Tends to be doing something to avoid work.
Seems distracted, and  daydream,  does not seem to listen
Requires a lot of effort focusing on things at hand and is constantly tired.
Slow pace of processing in terms of spoken or written language
Often appears withdrawn or lost in his own world.
10 Behaviours to watch for at school:

Poor standard of writing and written work in comparison with oratory skills.
Poor handwriting with badly formed letters.
Confused easily between similar looking letters like m/w, n/u, b/d.
Usually, messes up work by using close but wrong spellings and rewriting the same
Mixes up words by using similar-looking words   quiet and quite, tired and tried.
Same word is spelt differently at different times
Poor motor skills and pencil grip leading to slow, inaccurate writing
Produces a lot of phonetic spelling which does not change with repeated corrections
There is difficulty in blending words together, and struggles a lot when asked to read out loud, can miss out or add words that are familiar in between
Has difficulty connecting the story that is being written or read
As noted, these children have very inconsistent behaviour with very limited understanding of nonverbal communication. If these symptoms go on increasing as they grow, it is advisable to seek professional help so that support can be provided and the condition can be arrested at the early stages.

Dyslexia - 10 Signs Your Child Maybe Suffering From It!

Asperger's syndrome has recently come under the umbrella of autism spectrum disorder. This syndrome usually affects the social skills of the patient, most heavily. The patient may seem normal and even intelligent at first glance. But on closer interaction, several social skill problems will come to the fore including an obsessive focus on certain topics and issues. Repetitive behaviour is also a part of this disease. Let us find out more about asperger's syndrome.

Symptoms: the symptoms usually begin to show up early on in one's childhood. The patient will not be able to make eye contact while speaking with others. Also, a perfectly normal person may seem inordinately shy and reserved during social interactions. This awkwardness may come to the fore in the form of looking for expression cues on other people's faces and even the body language. The patient may not be a very happy and lively soul, with hardly a smile to crack at the funniest of jokes. The lack of emotions or the emotionally numb state is also a major giveaway of the condition. Other symptoms may include a strong aversion towards change in food habits and routine.

Diagnosis: the diagnosis is usually done by mental health specialists like a developmental paediatrician, a psychiatrist, a psychologist or even a paediatric neurologist. These specialists can put the child through a variety of tests that will study the neurological health as well as the speech and emotional behaviour of the child.

Educating the parent: once the diagnosis has been done, the parents of the patient will have to appraised of the condition and its implications. The symptoms and treatment will have to be duly discussed even as the parents are put through training and therapy to learn techniques with which they can help the child in progressing along more normal lines. The therapy will also help the parents deal with the challenge of living with someone suffering from this condition.

Treatment: there are varied forms of treatment that aim at fixing the specific areas and symptoms that the patient is learning to live with. Social skills training, speech and language therapy, cbt or cognitive behavioural therapy and other forms of treatment can help the child overcome many symptoms that come from this condition.

In the course of the treatment, it is important for the child, parent and therapist concerned to realise that there is no single approach that can be applied to all patients suffering from asperger's syndrome. Individual care and therapy will be required for individual cases. At the same time, most of the skills will need to be repeated at home so that the child takes them more seriously.

What Is Asperger's Syndrome?

Sleep problems, which can be defined as a sleeping pattern where the parents are unsatisfied, are one of the leading concerns of parents. Children should get a minimum nine hours of sleep so that their health and brain development can occur. Sleep problems can affect not only their health, but also their social and school life. Any interruption or abnormality in a child's sleeping patterns should be examined by a doctor and parents should make necessary efforts for knowing the actual causes of sleep interruption of their kids.

What are the causes of sleep disorders in children?

    Injuries and accidents
    Behavioural troubles
    Overeating
    Slow-reaction times
    Performance problems
    Mood problems
    Learning, concentration and memory troubles

Commonest signs of sleep troubles in kids:

    Difficulty in falling asleep
    Occurrence of unusual events at the time of sleeping like nightmares or sleep-walking
    Snoring and breathing pauses
    Difficulty in staying awake in daylight
    Daytime performances can be adversely affected

Best methods for dealing with sleep disorders in children:

    Regular bed-timing should be sincerely maintained at night.
    Relaxing routine for bedtime needs to be followed,including story-book reading, getting warm bath and others.
    Noise in the house, especially at night, should be minimized so that unwanted disturbances can be eliminated.
    If the room temperature is pretty comfortable, then your kids can sleep peacefully.
    Giving caffeine in excess quantity, especially before sleeping, should be reduced otherwise the kids will not sleep well.
    Meals should not be provided just before bedtime; rather they should be taken a few hours before sleeping.
    If your kids are so very addicted to different electronic gadgets or devices like telephones, televisions, computers and others, then they might face sleeping troubles. Thus, it is your duty to keep your kids away from this kind of addiction.
    If your kids are too very tired, then do not keep them awake forcibly; rather you should make them sleep immediately so that they can get a relaxed sleep at night.

If you think that sleep disorder has become a serious issue with your kids as well, then nothing can be a better option than consulting any health physician. They can best analyse the underlying cause of this issue with your kids.

How to Deal With Abnormal Sleep Behaviour in Children?

Migraine is a very common form of a headache which strikes nearly 15 % of the population. Females are more prone to migraines. Science has not been able to find the real cause behind migraine attacks and the way it treats these massive headaches is also patchy at best. A migraine occurs for a definite period of time, usually, comes with a warning and paralysing pain.

Ayurvedic view
According to Ayurveda, migraine is a tri-dosha disorder. It occurs when vata or the wind element goes out of sync. Vata controls the nervous system and brain activity. Vata imbalances are linked to many diseases like joint problems, dizziness and it happens because of faulty metabolism, poor elimination, sleeplessness, etc. Pitta the fire element also has a role to play in migraines. It causes dilation of the blood vessels, which brings on a migraine attack.

Ayurvedic physicians can identify which dosha is causing a migraine. If the patient is constipated, has acute pain and has dry skin, his Vata is out of whack. If a patient has nosebleeds, is hypersensitive to light, has burning eyes and is irritable, pitta is out of balance. And if a patient has fatigue, is depressed and has a dull throbbing in the head, he is suffering a Kapha imbalance.

Ayurvedic therapies

Shirolepa: Application of herbal pastes to pacify pitta like sandalwood, camphor, Jatamansi.
Shiro Dhara: Medicated oils are poured on the scalp.
Taila dhara: Oils like ksheerabala taila, chandanadi taila are poured on scalp for calming higher vata imbalances. 
Ksheera dhara: Here cow milk is poured on the scalp to pacify pitta.
Takra dhara:  Also known as buttermilk is poured when there is obstruction to passage of vata.
Kavala graha: Oil pulling done with oils like chandanadi taila and mahanarayana taila.
Shirovasti: Medicated oils are retained on the scalp by wearing a leather cap.
Sneha nasya: Oils like Anu tailam are poured into nostrils.
Apart from there therapies herbs like Kumari or Aloe vera, Amalaki or amala and Bala or Sida cardifolia are very useful as migraine cures. Several Ayurvedic medicines are also very useful in migraine-like-

Pathyadi khada: It is used in the treatment of headaches, earaches, and migraine etc.
Shirashooladi vajra rasa: It is used in the treatment of headache, migraine, tension headache, vascular headache etc.
Bhoonimbadi khada: Used as a cure for fever, cold, sinusitis, headache.
Kamadugha rasa: Used to cure all high pitta conditions.
Godanti Bhasma: 250 mg of this medicine is also given twice a day for immediate relief from migraines.
Patients should also eat warm, nutritive foods like sesame, sweet fruits, cumin, garlic, jaggery and rice for balancing Vata. For balancing pitta, they should stay away from smoking and drinking at the very least.

Migraine - 8 Ayurvedic Remedies For Treating It!

A neurological disorder characterized by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness, and convulsions associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

Role of physiotherapy in epilepsy

It helps improve strength, mobility, and increases the range of motion and sphere of movement.

It helps improve sensory awareness, response, balance, and coordination.

It helps to improve quality of movement and physical performance.

The goals of physiotherapy

To develop strength enough to support one s head upright

To have balance and motor control to maintain their trunk at midline

To use many different muscle groups

To assist necessary motion in their trunk and extremities

The physiotherapists write short-term goals for each of the items on the problem list that need to be covered to help the patient achieve the long-term goals

To understand what the patient is good at and does well

To focus on what he or she capable of doing rather than on what they can t do

To educate and provide awareness with a view to prevent injuries

For example, advice on special swimming equipment to prevent drowning if he/she gets seizures in the pool

Padding out sharp corners in the house to prevent damage if fallen on

Physiotherapy treatment for a healed fracture consists of strengthening muscles that have got weak from being immobilized and stretching muscles that are stiff owing to being in the cast for a long period of time.

How can physical exercise help with seizures?

Physical exercise improves fitness, energy, and mood and even relieves stress. Improving overall health and well-being in this way can help reduce seizures. 

It can also help people feel more in control of their health. 
It also helps release  feel good  hormones into the brain, keeps muscles active, reduces fat levels in the body, and increases oxygen flow to the brain. 
It can also increase the bone density. 
A research showed that regular sessions of aerobic exercise (for example running, walking, swimming, cycling) for 60 minutes, twice a week, for 15 weeks can result in a significant reduction in the number of seizures they had.
Drink water, diluted fruit juice, or squash while exercising to help replace the fluids and body. Do not exercise straight after a meal.
Team sports or group activities such as walking or gardening groups can also be a good way of increasing self-confidence. 
Making new friends may help with any feelings of isolation. 
Most sports, including contact sports like football, hockey, basketball and rugby, have not shown to increase the chance of someone having a seizure, but contact sports come with an increased risk of head injuries, which could affect people with a history of epilepsy. Protective sports headgear helps to reduce this risk.


Epilepsy - Understanding The Role Of Physiotherapy In It!

The primary aim of the treatment in patients suffering from seizure is leasing a seizure-free life without giving way to any adverse effects. This goal can be accomplished in over 60 percent people with the help of anticonvulsants. Some patients also experience adverse effects since they suffer from a seizure which is refractory to medical therapy. Here are some of the common treatment options for seizures:

Monotherapy: Sometimes, monotherapy is given as it reduces the chance of all sorts of adverse effects and even avoids drug interactions. Moreover, this type of treatment approach is much less expensive than polytherapy since many older generation of the anticonvulsant agent comprises of hepatic enzyme which is responsible for reducing the serum level of the concomitant drug which leads to an increase in the dosage level of such medicines.
Social And vocational rehabilitation: People suffering from problems in psychosocial adjustments after the diagnosis may also need social and vocational rehabilitation. Many physicians do not pay enough attention to the consequences that an epilepsy diagnosis may leave on the patient. For instance, people with epilepsy may have a fear of experiencing next attack of seizure and they may be unable to work at heights or drive.
Consulting an expert: It is important to refer patients with intractable spells to epileptologist or neurologist for subsequent workup. A neurosurgical consultation may also be needed when the patient has to be treated surgically.
Importance Of anticonvulsant therapy
Patients who have had already suffered from recurrent attacks of unprovoked seizure may need treatment with an anticonvulsant. This treatment is not recommended until the person has risk factors for suffering from the problem yet again. The primary means of treating seizure is anticonvulsant therapy where the most suitable drug is chosen based on accurate diagnosis of the syndrome as a response to specific anticonvulsants may vary from one patient to another. The difference in response may reflect the various pathophysiologic mechanisms in different types of seizures.

Types of anticonvulsant therapy
Some of the anticonvulsant therapy medication may have multiple action mechanism while some have an only single mechanism of action. Some of the most common variants of the therapy include:

Neuronal potassium channel referred to as KCNQ opener
Blockers of unique binding sites such as perampanel, gabapentin, and levetiracetam
H-current modulators such as lamotrigine and gabapentin
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors such as zonisamide and topiramate
Alpha-amino 3-hydroxy 5-methyl 4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor blockers like topiramate and perampanel.
N and L-calcium channel blockers like zonisamide, valproate, topiramate, and lamotrigine
Even though there are so many types of drugs available, all of them cannot be used for the treatment of seizures. Doctors would evaluate the condition thoroughly before prescribing a medication that can be helpful in reducing the severity of the condition.

Seizures - 3 Ways It Can Be Treated!

Don't wait any longer, manage your Neurosurgeon online with a Lybrate doctor today

Consult for Neurosurgeon - Online and Easy!

FilterClear All

COMMON SPECIALITIES

COMMON ISSUES