Convulsions cannot be detected with a lab test – Dr Brew

 

Dr Yvonne Brew, a pediatrician at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, has said there is no specific laboratory test to determine whether a child is prone to convulsions or not.

She advised parents of children with neurodevelopmental conditions to be observant and report any unusual movements to doctors to enable them get the right medication for their children.

“Epilepsy is treatable, there are medications to help persons with epilepsy, once your child has epilepsy, and your child should be on medication” Dr Brew said.

Dr Brew who run the Neurodevelopmental clinic at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital, was speaking at an information session on seizures organized by the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy organization.

She said doctors depend on the information given by parents to know the type of seizures that a child has and to know which specific medication to give.

There are a lot of good epilepsy medications on the National Health Insurance List, Dr Brew said, urging parents to take advantage of that and get the right medications for their children.

Dr Brew however admitted that there are limited number of trained medical doctors specialized in neurodevelopmental disabilities, hence some doctors may not know how to properly treat a child with the conditions in their clinics.

She also explained that once a child get a seizure more than once especially if the child has a neurodevelopmental condition, the child is epileptic and should be treated as such.

“Seizures are the same as convulsions,” Dr Brew added.

The Special Mothers Project’s informational session on seizures gave the parents an opportunity to interact with a medical doctor outside the hospital session which allowed a lot of parents to ask a lot of questions.

The occasion was also used to present some items and an unspecified amount of money to some parents who have recently lost their children due to seizures.

Mrs Salomey Okoh, a member of the Special Mothers Project donated assorted mobility equipment to some of the children who needed it.

Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers Project expressed gratitude to Dr Yvonne Brew for the education and thanked all those who donated monies to make the programme a success.