Brain Inflammation in Children
Link Between Brain Inflammation In Children and Chronic Illness
Severe inflammation in early childhood is a clinically known risk factor for developing certain diseases. Scientists discovered that inflammation alters the development of vulnerable brain cells, and this could have mechanistic links to neurodevelopmental disorders. Learn more from this short video from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Children Need To Be Seen & Heard
Diagnosing most illnesses requires a patient to recognize and describe their symptoms. This can be extremely difficult for children and teens because they may not understand what they are feeling and find the words to describe their symptoms. Because children often have limited vocabularies and experience the world very differently from how adults do, children describe symptoms very differently as well.
If there is/are more than one child in the home and one has brain inflammation, the child’s siblings may be at a higher risk of developing a neuroinflammatory condition. They are considered “at-risk” because the condition causing their sibling(s) symptoms could run in their family. Watching for symptoms could help ensure an earlier diagnosis and better treatment of neuroinflammatory health conditions.
Understanding Conditions Affecting Children
Brain inflammation in children and teens can lead to a range of associated conditions, that can significantly impact their lives. Understanding these conditions is critical for their support. Below, we highlighted a few examples of associated conditions and their indicators.
Long COVID and Children
Current research estimates that approximately 25% of children who get COVID-19 develop Long Covid. That means nearly 6 million children could be impacted. Research is critical to understanding these symptoms, diagnosis, and best treatments.
The symptoms of Long COVID we know about now vary person to person and can be difficult to tell apart from similar symptoms of other medical conditions. From a cough or fatigue to mood changes or trouble concentrating, based on what we know now, these symptoms could point to Long COVID or a host of other illnesses or issues.
It’s important to us to drive better diagnosis and treatment options for children and adults, but children are often excluded from clinical research. That’s why Brain Inflammation Collaborative is committed to including pediatric patients in clinical research.
Source: JAMA , Cleveland Clinic
The Path to the Right Diagnosis and the Best Care for Children
Brain inflammation resulting from autoimmune processes, infections, allergies, or an injury can trigger common mental health symptoms like depression, anxiety, OCD or even mood and behavioral changes. These mental health symptoms can lead to misdiagnosis, causing confusion and delayed care that treats the right illness.
Few real-world, long term studies have looked these disorders and how they differ from the other disorders with which they are often mistaken. Even fewer studies have addressed risk factors for development and progression of these syndromes.
unhide® facilitates a patient’s disease through electronic, patient reported and clinician-submitted data collection. unhide® also helps follow at-risk siblings of participants using similar tools, working to identify risk factors.
