Preventing & Treating Microcephaly
Microcephaly is a rare medical condition, a neurological disorder in which a baby's head is smaller than normal and undeveloped. It can occur while the infant is still in the womb or manifest within several years of birth. Often the smaller head is accompanied by a smaller brain, and abnormal development of the brain frequently goes along with microcephaly.
The risk of this disorder is increased when the mother is exposed to infections throughout the pregnancy: rubella is one such example. While the severity of the condition varies, it is often found in conjunction with other medical conditions, including balance problems, seizures, and developmental delays. Microcephaly can be treated and prevented in several ways.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy for children provides care and support to those who have difficulty communicating or trouble drinking, eating, and swallowing. While children who lack difficulties other than a smaller than normal head do not require such programs as speech therapy, others require assistance in voice, language, and swallowing abilities. The particular treatment is geared toward a case by case basis as no two children with microcephaly are identical.
The support is guided by the child's symptoms and the particular severity of the disorder. The child must first be evaluated by an expert when there are concerns with expressive and receptive language, speech sound production, and pragmatic skills. The proper therapy geared toward the individual child is then planned out and implemented.
Physical Therapy
For some children with microcephaly, physical therapy is necessary to help improve movement, strength, and coordination. Specific treatments include strengthening exercises useful for treating weakened muscles, proprioception exercises to help the child gain an awareness of the body in space, and balance exercises for the reduction of risks of falling and helping improve movements such as walking. Physical therapy can be challenging with young children, especially if those children are among those with microcephaly that have cognitive impairment. The right experts can help, however, to achieve goals that are realistic with boundless patience and extensive experience.
Occupational Therapy
Children with microcephaly that challenges daily living activities and the caregivers devoted to them will need appropriate rehabilitation services to help them function and develop. At birth, a child begins interacting with physical and social environments in a playful and exploratory way. Eventually, children develop personal activities of daily living through play. These include mobility, feeding themselves, grooming, dressing, and hygiene. Occupational therapy for young children helps them develop these skills so they can be more successful in simple daily life and receive encouragement in these tasks.
Prevent It By Taking Care Of Yourself During Pregnancy
Sometimes, microcephaly just happens. It can be due to genetic problems, including Down syndrome, or problems with the infant's brain getting an insufficient blood supply during pregnancy. At other times, however, it could have been prevented. You can prevent it by taking care of yourself during pregnancy. Avoid malnutrition, for one. Eat a healthy diet and eat sufficient amounts several times a day, as recommended by your physician concerning the appropriate prenatal care for you. Taking prenatal vitamins can also help build your body up appropriately for the burden it must carry. Also avoid situations where you might become infected with cytomegalovirus, rubella, or the Zika virus.
Preventing Environmental Factors
Preventing environmental factors can also be key to preventing microcephaly. For one, certain areas known to be infested with the Aedes species mosquitos that can become infected with the Zika virus and pass on the infection via bites can be avoided. If you live in such an area, where mosquitos also pass on chikungunya and dengue viruses, take immaculate care of your mosquito prevention.
Other environmental factors include substances that might harm the infant such as drugs, alcohol, or chemicals. If you are normally around these substances, check with your prenatal care physician as to which chemicals should be avoided at which stages of the pregnancy, or avoid such environmental factors altogether if possible.