Dr Habib Pathan explains the role of epilepsy doctors in Hyderabad who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in general. for the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy in children, paediatric neurologists who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood epilepsy are the best. Let us try to understand the role of the paediatric neurologist in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood epilepsy.
First of all, many times parents are unaware of their child’s condition – for instance, it is difficult for parents to get any hint whatsoever when their child experiences absence seizures for the first time – a type of non-epileptic seizures. Absence seizures thus go unnoticed both by the teachers and parents.
A child neurologist has the expertise to diagnose epilepsy in children. Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are often misdiagnosed as epilepsy. Other conditions in children such as the symptoms due to low blood sugar levels, low blood pressure, abnormal heartbeats, psychological issues and emotional stress resemble seizures. Furthermore, even pseudo seizures often go unnoticed and undiagnosed. Owing to these reasons epilepsy in children is often misdiagnosed.
Therefore, you should go to a child neurologist or epilepsy doctors in Hyderabad who has specialized training, experience and expertise to deal with the underlying neurological problems of your child – to rule out whether the problems are due to epilepsy or something else.
When should you seek a paediatric neurologist help?
If you notice any abnormal behaviour in your child – for instance – your child seems to be daydreaming, stops doing any activity suddenly for a while; blinks or flickers eyelids quickly, looks blank and stares – take him or her to a paediatric neurologist. It could be due to absence seizures.
Read – How to know that a child has absence seizure
If your paediatric doctor, internist or family doctor suspects epilepsy, he will refer your child to a paediatric neurologist.
Some children may get partial seizures, seizures with mild symptoms, non-epileptic seizures and other types of seizures due to high fever and psychological causes as well. When regular paediatricians cannot answer your questions and satisfy your concerns or seems to be uncomfortable in managing your child’s condition – then go to a child neurologist at the earliest.
You must also keep something else in your mind
Remember this – Epilepsy is not always what you think.
The seizures that you notice in your child may not be epileptic though they look quite similar to epileptic seizures.
Such type of non-epileptic seizures are known as Pseudo seizures or Psychogenic Non-epileptic seizures (PNES). They could be due to psychological causes.
Read: Learn everything you wanted to know about Pseudo seizures
PNES look like partial complex seizures (focal impaired awareness) or absence seizures. NES is also known as non-epileptic attack (NEA) or non-epileptic attack disorder (NEAD) or dissociative seizures.
What Does an Epilepsy Specialist or Child Neurologist Do?
The child neurologist may ask a few questions about the child’s personal history of seizures and neurological disorders; mental health issues (depression & anxiety); family history of seizures; previous use of anti-epileptic drugs.
In addition, the doctor will ask about the duration, frequency, number of episodes, warning signs; how did the child felt during and after the seizure; how long did it take for the child to recover and also any activity that the child did and remember during the seizure.
Your paediatric neurologist order additional tests to diagnose the cause of epilepsy in your child. If the diagnosis of epilepsy is confirmed (To confirm the diagnosis, you need to get a brain wave test called an EEG (electroencephalogram), then the doctor will prescribe medicines to prevent frequent episodes of seizures. If medicines use doesn’t seem to help much then the doctor may order special tests to see if your child might need surgery or other forms of treatment.
Learn more about – Comprehensive Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy in Children
If you are searching for epilepsy doctors in Hyderabad, feel free to call, meet or book an appointment with
Dr Habib Pathan
Senior Consultant Paediatric Neurologist
Childhood Epilepsy Specialist