Diffuse brain changes in a child

Diffuse changes in the brain affecting its bioelectrical conductivity can be detected at any age. However, the reasons causing them may differ slightly.

For example, diffuse brain changes in newborns are usually associated with processes occurring before birth or at the time of delivery. These may be intoxications (including alcohol abuse, smoking, drug abuse), infections, stress factors, and radioactive radiation affecting the mother's body during the period of formation of the fetal nervous system. The risk of giving birth to a child with brain abnormalities is also increased in those mothers who during pregnancy experienced severe fluctuations in blood pressure and temperature, who had a placental abruption with impaired fetal nutrition and respiration, prolonged labor or umbilical cord entanglement.

Fetal trauma during pregnancy or childbirth is also considered a risk factor for diffuse changes in the baby's brain. The traumatic factor can affect the brain in the subsequent periods of the baby's life as well. The nervous structures of the fetus are formed even before birth (already at 5-6 months of age the cerebral cortex acquires its characteristic gyrus), but the formation of the CNS continues until 16-17 years of age, so concussions in childhood and adolescence have more severe consequences than in adulthood.

The same can be said about the infectious factor, which is most dangerous during the critical periods of CNS development, which fall on childhood. Infections of the nasopharynx in children quite often pass to the brain, causing inflammation of the brain membranes and brain matter, accompanied by edema of tissues, due to which their bioelectrical conduction is disturbed. With prolonged exposure to infection there is toxic damage to nerve cells (neurons that make up the brain parenchyma and are responsible for the transmission of impulses) and their death, which necessarily affects the further neuropsychiatric development of the child, causing various abnormalities in the formation of higher mental functions.

During childhood, the child's brain is most sensitive to the impact of negative factors, both external and internal. Therefore, diseases that are quite safe for an adult may cause brain dysfunction in a child, especially if there is a hereditary factor (for example, some relatives of the child suffer from cerebrovascular disorders).

Considering such a neurological disease as epilepsy, scientists have come to the conclusion that in the absence of organic brain lesions, the disease is most likely provoked by genetic factors transmitted by inheritance. In this case, diffuse or local changes in the brain, characteristic of acquired epilepsy, will not be detected, but there is an increased excitability of brain neurons (BEA dysfunction).

Acquired epilepsy, which is caused by congenital metabolic disorders, brain malformations, cranial trauma, hypoxia and its consequences in the form of cerebral ischemia, is characterized by changes in the structure of the brain matter, determined by ultrasound (in early childhood neurosonography) and tomography, as well as BEA abnormalities on the encephalogram.

Diffuse brain changes in children can be either temporary or permanent. Inflammatory processes in the brain and its membranes can cause temporary changes in the structure and conductivity of nerve tissue. However, it is important to realize that the longer the tissue swelling continues, the higher the risk of fibrotic changes that will cause permanent conduction disturbance and reduced intelligence.

The risk of developing such complications in meningitis and encephalitis is higher at an early age. And not only because it is the most sensitive period to the negative impact. But also due to the fact that a small child is not yet able to adequately assess their condition, to talk about their well-being, to say what bothers him. A child who can not talk or does not understand the meaning of the word pain, can not tell others that he has a headache, and repeated dizziness and falls parents can write off to the baby's legs are not strong. The child begins to whimper and cry, thus expressing his condition, but his "language" is not quite understood by adults.

For this reason, it is very important for parents to carefully observe the activity of their baby. If the child has become overactive or, conversely, lost interest in games and the world around him, it is already a reason to seek medical advice. Frequent "gratuitous" tears are also an alarming signal, especially if the child was previously characterized by a calm temperament and was not prone to caprice.

It is clear that excitement in the baby can cause new toys or people, unfamiliar events, familiarity with new phenomena of the world around, but this is a temporary phenomenon. The same can be said about some lethargy, which can cause a large flow of information, fatigue, somatic disease. But if this condition in the baby is maintained for several days, it is unlikely to be called normal. Young children (up to three years) are characterized by high cognitive activity (they feel, smell, knock, examine everything), and its decrease is considered as a pathological symptom.

At an older age, play is considered the main (leading) activity of a child. If the preschooler has lost interest in toys and games with adults and peers, it is imperative to pay attention to this. Complaints about headaches in this situation should not be regarded as an attempt to refuse to fulfill the request or requirement of an adult. It is quite possible that the child does have a headache due to diffuse changes in the brain, affecting his or her well-being, performance, physical and mental activity. [1]

At school age, suspicious symptoms can be considered as failure to achieve (or its sharp decline), increased fatigue, gradual loss of previously acquired skills and difficulties in forming new ones, speech disorders, motor disorders, inadequate behavior.

In adolescence, it is worth paying attention to frequent migraines, fluctuations in body temperature (they may indicate dysfunction of midbrain structures), pathological urges (especially of a sexual nature), lack of basic shyness, inappropriate behavior. Such deviations in this period of child development can be noted in healthy children, but their persistence should prompt reflection. It is better to be reassured once again than to harm the child by carelessness, missing the opportunity to correct the defect.

But before you diagnose a child, you need to understand that in the process of ontogenesis there are age-related changes in the bioelectrical activity of the brain, which is also important to consider when examining.