What to ask a neurologist at 1 month. Who is a pediatric neurologist, what does he do and what does he treat? Symptoms that you should pay attention to before visiting a pediatric neurologist

A very important specialist is a pediatric neurologist who deals with problems of the central and peripheral nervous system in patients from birth to 18 years of age. According to statistics, every fifth child has functional or organic problems with the central nervous system, which require consultation with a neurologist. Preventing the progression of nerve pathologies in children allows us to avoid irreversible disorders that will significantly reduce the quality of life.

A pediatric neurologist must be a good and competent specialist in his field in order to effectively diagnose and treat relevant pathologies. In children, the nervous system is not perfect for a long time and continues to develop until adulthood, requiring attentive support. A missed pathology can cause disability, but rarely leads to death.

When to contact a pediatric neurologist?

Parents should know what a pediatric neurologist treats and when to seek help. In childhood, when the child’s socialization is in a state of active development, and this process occurs individually, it is difficult to notice any problems in the neurological area. Parents should be alert to the following symptoms, which are a reason to contact a neurology clinic:

• increased excitability of the child, which is manifested by poor falling asleep, shallow sleep, constant awakenings and moodiness;
• for newborns, the neurologist notes a special symptom: trembling of the limbs and head during crying or anxiety;
• frequent, unmotivated regurgitation;
• apathy of the baby, lack of interest in the surrounding reality;
• convulsive syndrome during fever of any origin;
• frequent headaches in older children (in children the subjective symptom cannot be determined in any way, so you should pay attention to the general condition and mood of the child);
• fainting (two or more times within a certain period of time);
• involuntary twitching of muscles of different groups;
• excessive motor activity (it is difficult to assess this on your own, so a pediatric neurologist checks for deviations from the norm using various tests);
• developmental delay in the first year of life, which should be reported to the pediatrician;
• enuresis after the age of 5-6 years;
• stuttering and other speech defects.

Do children need preventive examinations?

In babies under 12 months of age, the pediatrician looks for various deviations from the norm every 4 weeks.

The need for such an approach is due to the fact that parents will not be able to independently assess the physiology of the baby’s development and notice pathological changes in time.

The same situation is with a pediatric neurologist, who is recommended to visit during the following periods:

• one month after birth;
• at 3 months;
• in six months;
• after reaching one year of age;
• at 4-5 years old (pre-school period);
• at 7 years old (junior school);
• at 13-14 (teenage).

A pediatric neurologist monitors the formation of the nervous system until adolescence, where serious hormonal changes occur. Preventive examinations with this doctor allow you to notice violations early and not lead them to a severe course. Besides, a neurologist can detect psychomotor underdevelopment in time or intellectual retardation.

How does an appointment with a specialist work?

At an appointment with a pediatric neurologist, the following things are checked:

• visual reflexes;
• muscle tone and strength;
• coordination;
• superficial and deep reflexes;
• sensitivity disorders;
• development of cognitive functions (speech, memory, etc.).

Additionally, general laboratory tests and specific instrumental techniques may be prescribed, for example, EEG, MRI, ultrasound with Dopplerography of cerebral vessels and others.

Taya, 24 years old 10/10/2016

Good afternoon.

My baby is 1 month old. We haven't had a routine examination yet. This was my first pregnancy and I gave birth without any problems. But at the moment I am worried about poor sleep and frequent crying - day and night. The baby also spits up often (I read that this is bad). Sometimes it seems to me that my son’s chin is trembling (they write that this is also very bad).

I want to contact your clinic, but I think that I need to somehow prepare. What does a neurologist look for in a 1 month old baby? And are any special preparations needed for the inspection procedure?

What other diagnostic tests can be prescribed for symptoms such as ours (poor sleep, crying, frequent regurgitation)? How serious can our situation be?

Good afternoon.

When examining a one-month-old baby, pay attention to the following signs:

· general condition of the child (activity, reaction to others);

· muscle tone and its symmetry;

· condition and color of the skin;

· condition of the head (size of fontanelles, tension of the skin over them);

· level of development (at 1 month, the baby can already briefly concentrate his gaze on a bright, slowly moving object, and also react to loud sounds; particularly “advanced” children can even smile);

· the presence and symmetry of the main reflexes.

No special preparation is required for examining a child at 1 month. The general rule: it is best to examine the baby an hour and a half after feeding (this is especially true in your case, since you complain of frequent regurgitation).

However, it should be taken into account that before the examination, the neurologist conducts a survey, for which certain preparation is also necessary (ask the baby’s grandparents about the development of his parents (as our experience shows, the baby’s fathers and mothers are not always able to tell details about their own infancy)). Information about the presence/absence of neurological diseases in all close relatives will also be useful.

In addition, you will have to talk about the course of pregnancy and childbirth, about the daily routine (how many times a day does the baby eat), about changes in height and weight, and also describe in detail all the symptoms that concern you (how often does regurgitation occur, how many minutes after eating how often does the baby cry, does he calm down after feeding, etc.).

After examination, in your case, an absolutely harmless examination for the baby may be prescribed, which has high diagnostic accuracy and allows for timely recognition of severe disorders.

You can read more about the symptoms that worry you in our article “”.

There is a clear division between medical specialties. Some doctors work with adult patients, others with children. Neurology is no exception, and today there is a pediatric neurologist who deals with the treatment and diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system in children. What does a neurologist treat in children and when is his consultation necessary?

Why is it important to contact a pediatric neurologist in a timely manner?

The body of children is significantly different from that of an adult; the processes of formation and formation of the nervous system in a child begin in the womb, but subsequently, at certain periods, new neural connections are formed, which means additional stress during such processes.

In the modern world, despite the rapid development of medicine, the problem of birth injuries remains relevant. Moreover, there are simply no adequate statistics on the percentage of births of children with neurological disorders, since they prefer to remain silent about them. During childbirth, obstetricians and gynecologists carry out activities that can negatively affect the health of the child, namely, they use specific drugs that speed up/slow down the natural process of childbirth. Due to an incompetent approach to their responsibilities, children are born with asphyxia, which has an extremely negative effect on brain cells and the nervous system as a whole.

After birth, the process of examining a newborn is quite superficial, since a full examination requires much more time than expected. In addition, the pediatrician often does not have a full understanding of the symptomatic phenomena provoked by disorders of the central and peripheral parts of the nervous system. For this reason, many problems from the moment the child is born remain unattended.

It should be understood that most problems are solved much easier in the first years of life than in adulthood, and that is why desperate parents with sick children very often come to see a pediatric neurologist (neurologist).

In order to avoid severe, protracted pathologies of the nervous system, it is advisable to make the first visit to a pediatric neurologist after the newborn reaches one month of life. This will allow us to identify the problem at an early stage and ensure subsequent complete elimination of pathologies.

The doctor will definitely interview the parents. The purpose of the survey is to collect information to make an accurate diagnosis. Typically, the list of questions includes the following:

• What is the baby's appetite?;
• How did the pregnancy and childbirth proceed, did you take medications during pregnancy?
• Does the baby cry often, what are the circumstances?
• The nature of weight gain;
• Frequency of regurgitation;
• Presence/absence of infections and pathologies;
• How does sleep proceed, etc.

What does a neurologist check in children? The pediatric neurologist conducts a comprehensive assessment on several points:

• Diagnoses the presence/absence of reflexes, and also assesses the severity;
• Assessment of muscle tone;
• Assessment of the child’s physical development;

Physical and neuropsychic development occurs at a rapid pace, which largely determines the child’s health in the future. That’s why mother and baby will have to visit the children’s clinic regularly during the first year of life, even if the baby is absolutely healthy.

The purpose of visits to the clinic in the first months after birth is to exclude various congenital diseases in the child, identify early forms of diseases, determine predisposition to them, and also prevent the risk of developing pathologies in the future. In the following months, the main tasks of medical examination are: dynamic monitoring of the baby’s development, timely implementation of preventive and health measures.

In the first month of life, a newborn is examined by a pediatrician at least 3 times. These visits take place at home and are called .

The first visit of mother and baby to the clinic should take place 1 month after the birth of the baby. It is very important that in the first month the child is examined not only by a pediatrician, but also by other specialists - a neurologist, an ophthalmologist, an orthopedist, a surgeon, an ENT specialist - to identify previously undetected congenital diseases.

1 month of life: pediatrician

The most important doctor for a child in his first year of life is a pediatrician. He must examine the child from birth to one year every month.

For children 1 year of age, the clinic allocates a special day once a week, called “infant day”. On this day, all doctors at the medical institution try to see only infants in order to protect young patients from contact with sick children. To find out when you should see a pediatrician for the first time, you need to call the receptionist and find out what day of the week in your clinic is “infant day”, and also find out the office hours of your local doctor.

The pediatrician conducts a monthly anthropometric examination of the baby, i.e. measures his height, weight, head and chest circumference. Based on the data obtained, he makes a conclusion about how well the child is developing and assesses his physical development in accordance with age norms. During the appointment, the doctor examines the baby, assesses the functional state of all organs and systems and gives the mother recommendations on feeding and the baby’s daily routine.

If there are no contraindications, the doctor will issue a referral for routine vaccinations.

At the first appointment at the clinic, the pediatrician must explain to the mother how and when to prevent rickets, talk about hardening measures, and, if necessary, if the baby is bottle-fed, write out a prescription for the dairy kitchen.

Among additional examinations, the doctor may prescribe an abdominal ultrasound for the child, which is performed to identify pathologies of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and an electrocardiogram (ECG).

An ECG is performed as an additional study in the presence of a heart murmur. In addition, the doctor can give a referral for echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart), which will help rule out heart and vascular defects. In case of dysfunction of the cardiovascular system (rhythm disturbances, developmental defects), the child should be observed and treated by a cardiologist.

1 month of life: neurologist

During the examination, the neurologist evaluates the baby’s muscle tone, checks innate reflexes, evaluates neuropsychic development and the formation of motor functions.

A visit to a neurologist at 1 month is very important for the baby’s health, since it is at this age that perinatal problems are most often detected, i.e. arising during pregnancy and childbirth, damage to the central nervous system, such as: syndrome of increased neuro-reflex excitability, syndrome of depression of the central nervous system. If a child has a neurological pathology, it is important to begin treatment in the first months of life, since during this period the nervous system matures, it has a good ability to restore impaired functions and, therefore, deviations in its functioning are reversible and respond well to treatment.

In addition, a neurologist gives a referral for an ultrasound scan of the brain (neurosonography).

This examination is most often performed on children in the maternity hospital. If a repeat examination is required or the child was not examined in the maternity hospital, the examination is carried out at 1 month of life.

Ultrasound of the brain makes it possible to recognize changes in the structure of the brain: vascular cysts, intracranial hemorrhages, malformations, dilatation of the ventricles of the brain (hydrocephalic syndrome), signs of increased intracranial pressure (hypertension syndrome).

1 month of life: orthopedist

An orthopedist examines the baby to identify congenital pathologies, primarily hip dysplasia (their underdevelopment or abnormal development). To do this, he evaluates the separation of the baby’s legs at the hip joints and the symmetry of the buttock folds. Hip dysplasia, detected at an early age, when the child’s joint is not yet fully formed, usually lends itself well to non-surgical correction and does not lead to abnormal formation of the joints and dysfunction of the lower extremities. Also, during the examination, the orthopedist excludes such pathologies as congenital muscular torticollis, dislocations, and congenital clubfoot. In addition to examination by an orthopedist, all children are prescribed an ultrasound of the hip joints to identify or confirm the diagnosis of hip dysplasia.

1 month of life: surgeon

The surgeon examines the child to identify surgical pathologies, such as: hemangiomas (vascular tumors on the skin), umbilical or inguinal hernia (protrusion of tissues or parts of organs through weak points of the anterior abdominal wall), cryptorchidism (undescended testicles into the scrotum) and phimosis (narrowing of the abdominal wall). flesh) in boys.

It is important to diagnose these diseases as early as possible in order to carry out surgical treatment on time and avoid complications. In the case of an inguinal or umbilical hernia, this is strangulation (compression of the hernial contents in the hernial orifice); in case of phimosis, this is inflammation of the glans penis (balanitis, balanoposthitis).

Often in clinics these two specialties (orthopedist and surgeon) are combined by one doctor.

1 month of life: ophthalmologist

The ophthalmologist will check how the child focuses his gaze on an object, examine the fundus of the eye for early detection of retinal pathology, and check the patency of the nasolacrimal ducts. Having discovered the disease in the early stages, the doctor prescribes conservative (non-surgical) treatment for the baby, which helps prevent further dysfunction of the visual organ and prevent the development of complications.

1 month of life: ENT

An ENT specialist can conduct audiological screening in the first month of life for early detection of hearing impairment in a child. If a doctor suspects a hearing impairment in a baby, he must give a referral to a special (audiology) center, where the baby is thoroughly examined to identify hearing loss (hearing loss). The earlier hearing loss is diagnosed, the sooner appropriate treatment and rehabilitation can begin to prevent a lag in the child’s mental and speech development.

2 months of life

At this age, the baby and mother visit only the local pediatrician to assess their health status, indicators of physical and neuropsychic development.

3 months of life: pediatrician

When undergoing medical examination at 3 months, the child, in addition to the pediatrician, should be re-examined by a neurologist and an orthopedist.

At 3 months, the pediatrician not only examines the child, but also gives a referral for a general blood and urine test. Based on their results, the doctor will assess whether the child is healthy and ready for the first routine DPT and polio vaccination. In addition, the doctor may recommend swimming pool exercises for your child.

3 months of life: neurologist

During the examination, the neurologist evaluates the baby’s neuropsychological development, muscle tone, and development of motor skills. If a child is diagnosed with a neurological disease at 1 month of age and treatment is prescribed, the doctor evaluates the dynamics of the disease and the effectiveness of the therapy. The doctor may prescribe a course of massage and therapeutic exercises to correct muscle tone.

An examination by a neurologist during this period is necessary to decide on the possibility of upcoming vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio. After examining the child, the doctor must give his permission for vaccination if the baby has no contraindications from the central nervous system. Carrying out this vaccination to children with neurological pathology can aggravate the course of the disease in the post-vaccination period.
If there are difficulties in making a diagnosis, the neurologist may prescribe a repeat ultrasound scan of the baby’s brain.

3 months of life: orthopedist

During the consultation, the orthopedic doctor clarifies the data from the previous examination and excludes the first signs of rickets in the baby. Rickets is a disease associated with a lack of vitamin D, which weakens not only the bones, but also the muscles of the child.

4 and 5 months of life

At this age, the child is examined by a pediatrician to assess his health status, indicators of neuropsychic and physical development.

6 months of life: pediatrician

At 6 months, if the child is not registered with specialists, he needs to be examined by a pediatrician and a neurologist.

The age of 6 months marks the beginning of complementary feeding, so the pediatrician should tell the mother what foods to start complementary feeding with, in what quantity and at what time to give it.

If there are no contraindications, the doctor will allow the baby to receive the third (last) vaccination against hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio.

6 months of life: neurologist

A neurologist evaluates the dynamics of the child’s psychomotor development.

7 and 8 months of life

At this age, the child is routinely examined by a pediatrician, who evaluates his physical development and rate of height and weight gain. She also gives the mother recommendations on the introduction of new complementary feeding products and adjusts the general complementary feeding schedule, taking into account the individual characteristics of the baby.

9 months of life: dentist

At 9 months, in addition to the pediatrician, mother and baby should visit a pediatric dentist for the first time, even if the baby still does not have a single tooth. It is at this age that it is necessary to monitor the eruption and growth of baby teeth and evaluate the correct formation of unerupted teeth. The dentist will examine the baby’s first teeth and tell you whether the bite is forming correctly and give the mother recommendations for caring for the baby’s oral cavity.

9 months of life: surgeon

During this period, the child must be examined again by a surgeon. It excludes diseases such as inguinal and umbilical hernias. In boys, the external genitalia are carefully examined for the early detection of cryptorchidism (failure of one or both testicles to descend into the scrotum), hydrocele (fluid accumulation in the scrotum), and hypospadias (abnormal location of the urethral opening). If any of these diseases are detected, it is important to carry out surgical treatment as early as possible to prevent the development of inflammatory diseases and infertility in boys.

10 and 11 months of life

At this age, the child is examined by a pediatrician to assess his health status, indicators of neuropsychic and physical development.

One year old baby: pediatrician

After 1 year, the pediatrician will examine the child once every 3 months. If there are indications or chronic diseases, the baby is examined by a specialist according to an individual schedule established by the doctor.
So, at 1 year of age, the baby undergoes the last comprehensive examination in early childhood, which includes consultations with the following specialists: neurologist, orthopedist, surgeon, otolaryngologist, ophthalmologist and dentist.

At the appointment, the pediatrician takes anthropometric measurements of the baby, assesses his physical development, uses palpation (palpation) and auscultation (listening with a phonendoscope) to analyze the functioning of all organs and systems and gives directions for additional examinations.

At 1 year of age, the child needs to have an electrocardiogram, a general blood test, a general urine test, a stool test for worm eggs and a scraping from the perianal folds for enterobiasis.

In addition, at the age of 1 year the baby is given a tuberculin test or Mantoux test. From this age, the Mantoux test should be performed annually.

One-year-old baby: orthopedist

The orthopedist will check the posture, look at how well the baby’s skeleton is developed, how the joints work, and how the child places his foot. Gives mother recommendations on choosing the right children's shoes.

One-year-old baby: surgeon

The surgeon will again examine the baby's tummy to rule out an inguinal or umbilical hernia. In boys, the external genitalia must be examined to exclude pathologies of their development.

One-year-old baby: dentist

The dentist evaluates the number of teeth that have erupted, their condition (absence or presence of caries), and the formation of the baby’s bite.

One-year-old baby: ophthalmologist

The ophthalmologist examines the fundus of the eye, identifies predisposition or deviations in visual acuity from the age norm (myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism), strabismus. If a pathology is detected, the doctor prescribes treatment or glasses correction to avoid further deterioration of vision.

One-year-old baby: ENT doctor

An ENT doctor examines the child’s throat, nasal passages and ears, and gives recommendations to the mother on caring for the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth in order to prevent colds and inflammatory diseases.

One-year-old baby: neurologist

A neurologist evaluates the baby’s mental and motor development.

Health groups

Based on the results of examining the child by specialists, the pediatrician conducts a comprehensive assessment of the child’s health status, based on which he determines the child’s health group.

Health groups are a scale for assessing the health and development of a child, taking into account all the risk factors that influenced him during pregnancy and childbirth, are currently affecting him and are predicted in the future.

There are 5 health groups:

• the first – healthy children with normal physical and neuropsychic development;
• the second – healthy children who have risk factors for the occurrence of pathology, and children with minor functional deviations;
• third – children with chronic diseases in remission (rare exacerbations);
• fourth - children with significant deviations in health: chronic diseases in the stage of unstable remission with frequent exacerbations.
• fifth – children with chronic diseases in the stage of decompensation (frequent exacerbations and severe course of the disease), disabled children.

Based on the health group, for each child the terms of mandatory dispensary observation by specialized specialists are established, an individual health improvement plan (massage, physical therapy, hardening) and treatment of the baby is developed. Taking into account the health group and the severity of the disease, the doctor will recommend a special daily routine and physical education methods aimed at a specific child.

Girls, how tired I am of these doctors with their non-existent diagnoses... I have no strength. I have a healthy child without the slightest deviation, but even he is given all kinds of nonsense, based on nothing. It’s good that you have enough sense not to panic and not fall for this nonsense. Today we saw a neurologist and were given a PEP. For some reason I thought that there are no children without a diagnosis - this is how doctors see our children. They sent us to the NSG... Now until we do it, the pediatrician will not lag behind. I am inserting an article for everyone who believes in neurologists from the first word:

Very often after birth or during , the baby is given many incomprehensible and frightening neurological diagnoses. In addition, parents are frightened by the dire consequences of these diagnoses and are prescribed a large number of quite serious medications and various other treatment methods, which are often not so cheap. We will try to understand the mysterious abbreviations of diagnoses and clarify the situation a little in this material.

About diagnoses...

Child neurology is one of the most complex branches of pediatrics; there is still a lot of overdiagnosis (setting up many redundant diagnoses) and unstudied processes. Research methods are constantly being improved, so every year there is a constant revision of approaches to diagnosis and treatment. Many diagnoses that were made 20 years ago are now not deviations or do not exist at all. These include the mysterious abbreviation PEP.

PEP or perinatal encephalopathy is a diagnosis that does not exist in the entire scientific world, and has long been outdated in Russia. This is not even a diagnosis, but a collective concept characterized by disturbances in the structure and/or function of the brain and nervous system that occur during the period from the 28th week of pregnancy to 7 days from the moment of birth, that is, there is no specific information at all. Moreover, in a literal translation from Latin, the term is deciphered even more simply - “encephalon” - brain, head, “pathos, pathia” - pathology, disorder, or, more simply, “something with the head.” From this we can easily conclude that it is not possible to make this diagnosis for a specific child - because even if a child has diseases of the nervous system and brain in particular, they all have their own clearly classified name according to ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases).

Diseases of the nervous system include hemorrhages, defects, tumors, inflammatory processes, infections and injuries. AEDs are not included in this classification. Many neurologists replace the term AED with GTP of the central nervous system or “hypoxic-traumatic lesion of the central nervous system,” which is the same thing, simply expressed in different terms and does not change the situation.

Where do these diagnoses come from?

The course of pediatric neurology is very complex, pediatricians and neonatologists do not always have full knowledge in the field of child neurology, sometimes mistaking symptoms that are normal for a child for pathology, and there are few or no full-time pediatric neurologists in maternity hospitals. A neurological examination of a baby is a complex matter; its accuracy is influenced by many factors, both external and from the baby.

So, false results can be obtained if the baby is hungry, if he is sleeping and had to be woken up for examination, if he is warmly wrapped up and overheated. If the room is cold or too hot, and even if the doctor is too active in his manipulations. There is no need to talk about the correctness of the examination even in conditions when this is not the first specialist of the day, and the baby is already in a state of stress along with his mother, from walking around offices and standing in lines.

What is not a disease?

Babies in their first year of life have an immature nervous system, and the baby’s brain is formed during the process of growth and development. Therefore, many symptoms of the nervous system that are pathological for adults and older children are normal for young children.

Unexpressed and minor dilations of the ventricles of the brain and the interhemispheric fissure according to the results of neurosonography (ultrasound of the brain) are not pathological. The state of hyperactivity cannot be diagnosed; this is a diagnosis for older children. Persistent regurgitation after feeding is not a sign of damage to the nervous system; it requires observation and examination, but it cannot be unambiguously attributed to neurological problems. A marbled skin color is considered normal - this is when against the background of white skin you can see the presence of red and blue stains and blood vessels, reminiscent of the color of marble slabs. There is no need to worry about standing on tiptoes or walking on toes, especially at the very beginning of developing walking skills.

Often, children under 3-4 months experience tremor (shaking) of the chin when crying or sudden excitement, which is also not a reason for treatment; in addition, this also includes trembling of the hands during crying or fright. There is no need to worry if the child has eyes that roll upward so that a strip of white is visible, or a slight strabismus for up to six months.

The baby's feet and hands may be wet and cool, even if he is well dressed, these are features of the baby's blood circulation. In addition, a fontanel that pulsates or bulges when screaming, a large or small size of the fontanel, and the dynamics of its closure are different for everyone - this only requires observation and control. Meteorological sensitivity is also considered normal for children.

All described conditions require dynamic monitoring by a local police officer. together with a neurologist and nothing more.

What to look for

All babies are individuals from birth, and their development follows their own specific programs, influenced by health, heredity, and even gender. When assessing psychomotor skills and general development, one should pay attention only to the deadlines for the formation of certain skills. Here is an express questionnaire that can serve as a guide when assessing certain symptoms. And what should you pay attention to when in doubt? Serious deviations are periods exceeding one and a half to two months.

When did your baby start holding his head up? – period 1-1.5 months.
- when did the baby start to roll over? – beginning at 3-4 months, active revolutions by six months.
- did the baby play with his legs – grabbing, putting them in his mouth? – for some, starting from 3-4 months, and the general age is 6-7 months.
- when did you start sitting down? They usually sit down from a supine position earlier, and later from a position on all fours; both options are normal - the average time is 6-8 months.
- when did you start crawling, how did you do it? First, the babies sway, standing on all fours, crawl back, then in front. The norm is to crawl on your belly, on all fours and even sideways - the average period is approximately 7-8 months.
- when did you start standing up without support? – usually 9-11 months.
Walking without support usually begins at 9-18 months.
Focusing on average terms, you can immediately notice deviations that require consultation with a specialist.

Consequences…

There are many negative consequences from such diagnoses; overdiagnosis is not in vain for the family. Of course, making such diagnoses related to the nervous system to parents who are far from medicine causes a state of anxiety, if not fear. Parents begin to consider the child inferior, deeply sick, this leads to intra-family instability, parents begin to look for reasons, blaming themselves and their partner. Parents' concepts of the norm change, and when an independent study or consultation with another specialist does not reveal pathology, parents begin to have doubts. Overdiagnosis leads to unreasonable expenses for treatment, doctors and rehabilitation, which are not required.

There may be even more negative consequences for the child. The first thing that has a negative impact is that overdiagnosis leads to more frequent visits to doctors, which undoubtedly increases the risk of contact with sick children and contracting infections, causing stress and fear of the “white coat”.
Second, all these diagnoses lead to the prescription of unnecessary treatment, which sometimes has not been fully controlled in this age group and has side effects, leading to disastrous results.
Third, often actually existing disorders in the nervous system tend to be attributed to PEDs, although the problems are sometimes of a completely different nature, and therefore they are not corrected or treated correctly, which sometimes deepens the disorders even more.

How to monitor your baby?

Almost all pathologies of the nervous system are identified during active monitoring of the baby, and sometimes it takes more than one month to make a final decision about the problem. Therefore, all examinations by a neurologist are carried out within strictly prescribed periods - when the baby reaches key stages in neurological terms - usually the first, third, sixth months and year. However, in case of doubt or the appearance of alarming symptoms, a visit to a neurologist is possible from the very first day of life. If you have doubts about the diagnosis and treatment, you should consult several specialists, fortunately, modern conditions allow this.

Are we treating? Or do we not treat?

In fact, only very real, serious and clearly defined diagnoses require serious drug therapy. These are always drugs aimed at a specific problem - decreased muscle tone for spastic paralysis, anticonvulsants for seizures. But for PEP, broad-spectrum drugs are usually prescribed and are not always tested and have proven effectiveness in children. Many of these drugs are generally prohibited from being prescribed in a clinic setting. They are prescribed only under the constant supervision of a neurologist in a hospital setting and only according to strict indications, as they have a large list of side effects.

So, which drugs should be questioned from their prescriptions? This is a group of vascular drugs - cinnarizine, sermion, cavinton. Then a group of hydrolysates of neuropeptides or amino acids - actovegin, solcoseryl, cortexin, cerebrolysin. Nootropic drugs are unacceptable - piracetam, aminalon, phenibut, picamilon, pantogam. It is also worth questioning the prescription of homeopathy and herbal preparations - valerian, motherwort, lingonberry leaf, bear's ears, etc.

All statements about improving the nutrition of brain tissue are myths; all these drugs are prescribed to most children, but they have not undergone proper research and it is impossible to judge their effectiveness and safety. The use of such drugs will be useless at best. And in some diseases it can cause harm - allergies may occur, including anaphylactic shock, cardiac dysfunction, kidney function, or the nervous system itself, which is being treated.

If the diagnosis or prescribed treatment seems unfounded to you, if you are in doubt, you should always consult with another specialist and in another clinic.