Understanding the Brain and Nervous System of Children
- Posted on- Aug 31, 2015
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Every parent expecting a child wants to have a healthy child and fortunately in most cases this becomes a reality. However, in some other unfortunate cases a newborn can be born with a brain or nervous disorder. While disturbing, it should never be forgotten that there have been major strides in the neurological field when it comes to children. Never assume that the child is doomed and there is no hope. Find out all you can about what your child is suffering from so that you will be in a better position to choose options and make decisions regarding this, when you need to.
Neurological Disorders: Is your child at risk?
Most often when neurological problems are present the doctors see the symptoms right at birth. Then there are some conditions that although present don't manifest themselves at once but a bit later in their lives. Full term babies face much less risk of complications than the premature babies born before 37 weeks. This doesn't mean that all preemies suffer neurological disorders. During a delivery, complications may arise where the baby is deprived of oxygen for a short period of time and this result in high risk of brain or nervous complications.
When one suffers from neurological disorders it could be a disease, injury or even disorders. The following factors can have an adverse affect on the brain.
How does the brain and nervous system work?
- Interruption to the normal blood flow to the brain
- Defects in the normal structure of the brain
Having a basic idea of how the brain functions will keep you alert and help you know if your child has any signs that are not normal. But if you don't know the difference between normal and not so normal behaviour how can you do a comparison?
Think about what your brain does. In fact, that is one of things it does, it allows you to think. Plus it lets you feel. And, it is your brain that allows you to learn and retain what you learn. Without your brain working normally you wouldn't be able to walk or talk properly. You should also be aware that your brain also plays a vital role in the way your heart beats, how you digest your food, and the amount of your stress
Many factors and a variety of diseases can directly or indirectly affect the brain. Should you notice something not right in these areas, obviously you should seek out medical attention for your child
. It would then be up to the neurologist to determine if the problem is a neurological one or if there is some other cause.
Talking about the nervous system, it is like a bunch of telephone wires all working at the same time to deliver messages from the brain to all parts of the body. In turn the body sends messages back to the brain the same way.
Frequent Headaches: Is your child suffering from migraines?
One of the most common complaints a child may have is a headache. In fact they may be experiencing pain in regions of the face, mouth and throat. Being as there is pain in a variety of areas there have been a variety of headaches categorized.
There can be many reasons for headaches in children. Most often the cause of the headaches is not serious. Sometimes headaches can come from another cause such as a neck injury
or even a sinus infection
. In order to treat the headache, the primary cause has to be attended to. Children will sometimes tend to suffer headaches from tension or even some medications or in the early teens they can get headaches from hormonal changes
Migraine headaches are actually one of the most common types of headaches
that children will suffer from. They will complain about pain on one side of the head. This can become alarming to parents who aren't familiar with migraine headaches. These headaches can get to the point where the child may vomit or feel light headed. At times there may not be any headache at all. These symptoms can also be caused by many other factors, so you really should get your child diagnosed properly and not assume any headache as migraine. Another thing, migraines in children
don't last nearly as long as they do in adults.
Other Issues of Concern
As explained earlier there are several other types of headaches as well with various causes. The symptoms may often help in diagnosing the potential cause of the problem. No matter what the cause or severity, headaches should not be ignored and should really be diagnosed by a neurologist
particularly if they are reoccurring. Trauma is another area that should be monitored carefully as well. A child suffering from a concussion
for example may not exhibit symptoms right away or complain of a headache. Other signs of this can be vomiting or being lethargic. These symptoms require immediate medical attention