Originally published January 3 2006
Doctors argue infant strokes deserve specialized study
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
ABC News reports on infant strokes, of which 1,000 take place in the United States alone each year, yet the problem does not receive adequate attention in the media or medical journals, according to leading pediatricians.
It looked like a seizure when little Alexzandra Gonzales jerked and then went limp, barely breathing.
It's a common misconception, yet several thousand U.S. children a year suffer strokes and some specialists fear they're on the rise.
Only now are efforts under way to detect strokes faster in these smallest patients and begin figuring out how to treat them, to help rescue their brains.
"It gets short shrift," complains Dr. Raymond Pitetti, assistant emergency medicine chief at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, who developed a "stroke team" for kids, to speed diagnosis after counting an increase in victims in his emergency room.
"There are a lot of knowledge gaps," agrees Dr. John Lynch of the National Institutes of Health, whose research is pointing to possible unrecognized genetic culprits.
Still, Lynch estimates that about 1,000 infants a year suffer a stroke during the newborn period or before birth plus anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 children from age 1 month to 18 years.
The age difference is important, as newborn strokes appear to be distinctly different from those in older babies and children, who are more at risk for repeat brain attacks.
Between 10 and 25 percent of pediatric stroke sufferers die.
Specialists once thought most survivors eventually would recover, because children's brains are much more "plastic" than adults' they're more likely to reroute themselves around damage.
But sobering research now shows more than half will have permanent motor or cognitive disabilities.
"Kids in the end still do better than adults," cautions Dr. Amy Goldstein, a pediatric neurologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, noting that "it's hard to keep a 2-year-old still," while the elderly may not be as motivated for necessary physical therapy.
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