Strokes for kids

What causes ischemic stroke in children? • Blood clots form in the heart and travel to the brain. This can be caused by • At least 10% of children with sickle cell disease suffer a stroke. In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells can’t carry oxygen to the brain. Blood vessels leading to the brain may have narrowed or closed. • The American Stroke Association and the National Institutes of Health recommend that children with SCD between the ages of 2 and 16 be screened annually with transcranial doppler (TCD) ultrasound. TCD is a simple, painless test that can determine whether children with SCD are at a high risk for stroke. Regular blood transfusions can reduce stroke risk in these children by more than 90%. • What causes hemorrhagic stroke in children? • When a blood vessel in the brain ruptures, blood can't reach its destination. As a result, the brain is deprived of oxygen, which may lead to permanent brain injury. • Will my child get better? Each child recovers differently from stroke. Prompt medical treatment and rehabilitation therapy can maximize recovery. In general, younger people recover more abilities than older people. What are the effects of stroke? The effects of stroke in a child are generally the same as in an adult. The most common effects are: • • • • • • •

Children can play a vital role when a stroke occurs by recognizing the signs of a stroke and calling 911 immediately. Studies show that simple, age-appropriate education can significantly raise stroke awareness in children and encourage fast action. Holland Hospital joins with leading stroke educators in encouraging everyone, including children, to learn and practice BE FAST for stroke recognition. Holland Hospital Stroke Center is committed to increasing stroke awareness among all ages throughout the communities we serve. With that goal, we offer onsite educational presentations, as well as resource materials for use by teachers, group leaders and parents. Stroke Presentations Our community health educators are available to provide in-person stroke education, designed specifically to engage younger audiences with visual (see), auditory (hear) and kinesthetic (do) teaching methods. To learn more about hosting a brief presentation on stroke for your class or youth group, please call Holland Hospital's Healthy Life Programs at (616) 394-3344. Working Together If you plan to provide stroke education for children, we would be happy to answer your questions or assist you to help make it a success. After your program, let us know how it went and what ideas or additional resources you’d like to share with other educators. Thank you for working with us to make stroke education for children a priority! This content is solely intended as general information and an education resource...

What Are Strokes? A stroke (sometimes called a "brain attack") happens when blood flow to the ischemic (ih-SKEE-mik) stroke, these substances can't get to the brain and brain cells die. This can permanently damage the brain and make a person's body stop working as it should. In a hemorrhagic (heh-meh-RA-jik) stroke, a blood vessel in the brain breaks, flooding the brain with blood and damaging brain cells. Who Gets Strokes? Many of us think that strokes only happen in adults, especially older adults. But kids can have strokes too. Although they're less common in kids, strokes can happen in children of all ages, even those who haven't been born yet. Strokes in children most often happen within the first month after birth. These are sometimes called perinatal (or neonatal) strokes. Most perinatal (pair-ih-NAY-tul) strokes happen during delivery or right after delivery when the baby doesn't get enough oxygen while traveling through the birth canal. Strokes also can affect older kids. But most of these are caused by another condition that stops the flow of blood to the brain or causes bleeding in the brain. What Causes Strokes? Finding the cause of a stroke in a child can be hard. Strokes in adults often happen because of high blood pressure, diabetes, or atherosclerosis. The risk factors for stroke in children are more varied. Ischemic strokes are the most common type in children. They're usually related to: • lack of oxygen during birth • a heart defect the baby is born with...

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Certain fundamental skills need to be developed before a child even picks up a pencil. These include the skills described in these sections: fine motor strength thumb opposition crossing the midline pincer grasp finger isolation eye-hand coordination hand arches bilateral coordination upper body strength in-hand manipulation Many children develop these skills naturally, just by being children and doing what children do: Engage in play. Some children need an extra boost for a variety of reasons. The list of activities below will help sort out appropriate activities by age group . 0 to 1 year During this first year of life, most infants are working on fundamental movement skills such as head control, rolling, coming to sit, learning to crawl, then cruising and eventually walking. Their hands are evolving from a primarily fisted position to reaching toward objects and touching them, then putting things in their mouths and transferring objects between hands. They are learning to grasp with all fingers together , and by age one most will be able to grasp with just a thumb and index finger (pincer grasp). They can also throw a ball and other objects, drop and pick up toys, and feed themselves finger foods. Here is what is important during this first year: • Provide lots of tummy time opportunities when Baby is alert and active. This will help develop neck, shoulder and core strength . It helps them to get ready to push up, roll over, sit up, crawl and stand. Tummy time prepares ...