Health Library

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• When Can Kids Return to Sports After a Concussion?

  After a concussion, athletes often ask how soon they can start playing again. Usually, they can return to sports when all symptoms are gone and a health care provider gives the OK.

• When Can Kids Go Back to School After a Concussion?

  Within a few days of a concussion, most students are ready return to school. Here's how parents can help.

• What if My Child Was Exposed to Lead at School or Daycare?

  If your child’s school or daycare reported lead in their drinking water, here are some things to consider that can help you decide what to do.

• Vagus Nerve Stimulator Therapy for Epilepsy

  Vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) therapy is a treatment for epilepsy. It helps prevent or shorten the length of seizures.

• VP Shunts

  A VP shunt is a small plastic tube that helps drain extra cerebrospinal fluid from the brain. Most VP shunts are placed to treat hydrocephalus.

• Multiple Sclerosis

  Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease that affects the central nervous system. The symptoms of MS vary depending on which nerves are affected.

• Lyme Disease

  Lyme disease can affect the skin, joints, nervous system, and other organ systems. If Lyme disease is diagnosed quickly and treated with antibiotics, most people feel better quickly.

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): Brain

  A brain MRI, a safe and painless test that produces detailed images of the brain and the brain stem, can help detect cysts, tumors, bleeding, and other problems.

• Medulloblastoma

  Medulloblastoma is a type of brain tumor. Most brain tumors in children are medulloblastoma.

• Migraine Headaches

  Migraine headaches can cause severe pain and other symptoms. Read about migraine causes, treatments, prevention tips, and lots more.

• Myasthenia Gravis

  Myasthenia gravis (or myasthenia) happens when voluntary muscles get weaker. Treatments can help symptoms.

• Newborn Brachial Plexus Injuries

  During childbirth, a brachial plexus injury can happen if the baby's neck is stretched to one side.

• Pompe Disease

  Pompe disease is a rare genetic condition that makes muscles get weaker over time.

• Spastic Cerebral Palsy

  Kids with spastic CP have stiff muscles in the upper part of the body, the lower part, or both.

• Spina Bifida

  Spina bifida is a birth defect in infants that involves the incomplete development of the spinal cord or its coverings. Learn more about spina bifida. Learn More.

• Seizures

  Seizures are caused by a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain. Find out what you need to know about seizures and what to do if your child has one.

• Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA)

  Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a condition that causes muscle weakness and atrophy. There's no cure, but therapy and other treatments can help most people who have SMA.

• Strokes

  A stroke happens when blood flow to the brain stops, even for a second. Often, kids who have a stroke can learn to use their arms and legs and speak again through brain retraining.

• Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

  Kids with temporal lobe epilepsy have seizures that start in one of the temporal lobes of the brain. Seizures usually get better with medicine.

• Tourette Syndrome

  Tourette syndrome is a condition that causes uncontrolled sudden, repetitive muscle movements and sounds known as tics.

• Generalized Tonic-Clonic Seizures

  During a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, the person loses consciousness and has stiffening and jerking of the muscles. These seizures usually are generalized, starting on both sides of the brain.

• Gliomas

  A glioma is a type of brain tumor that starts in glial cells, which support the nerve cells of the brain and spinal cord. Doctors treat most gliomas with surgery alone or combinations of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

• Guillain-Barré Syndrome

  Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is a rare medical condition that affects the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. Luckily, most people who get GBS recover.

• Headaches

  Headaches affect kids as well as adults. Learn about common causes and when to talk to a doctor.

• Hydrocephalus

  Often called "water on the brain," hydrocephalus can cause babies' and young children's heads to swell to make room for excess cerebrospinal fluid. Learn how this condition is managed.

• Infantile Spasms

  Infantile spasms is a seizure disorder in babies. The spasms usually go away by age 4, but many babies go on to have other kinds of epilepsy later.

• Intractable Epilepsy

  Intractable epilepsy is when a child's seizures can't be controlled by medicines. Doctors may recommend surgery or other treatments for intractable seizures.

• Is There a Connection Between Vaccines and Autism?

  Find out what the experts have to say.

• Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy

  Kids with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy have myoclonic seizures that usually begin during the teenage years. Seizures may happen less often in adulthood, but medicine will likely be needed for life.

• Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy

  A ketogenic diet is a strict high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that can reduce, and sometimes stop, seizures.

• Lead Poisoning

  Long-term exposure to lead can cause serious health problems, particularly in young kids, so it's important to find out whether your child might be at risk for lead exposure.

• Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

  Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a rare type of epilepsy. Children with the condition have several different kinds of seizures.

• Focal Impaired Awareness Seizures

  During a focal impaired awareness aware seizure, the person isn’t aware of what is going on around them.

• Focal Aware Seizures

  Focal aware seizures is a seizure that happens while a person is awake and alert and aware of what is going on.

• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

  If a woman drinks alcohol during her pregnancy, her baby could be born with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which causes a wide range of physical, behavioral, and learning problems.

• Febrile Seizures

  Febrile seizures are full-body convulsions caused by high fevers that affect young kids. Although they can be frightening, they usually stop on their own and don't cause any other health problems.

• Fainting

  Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness. Someone who has fainted will usually recover quickly.

• Epilepsy Surgery

  Epilepsy surgery is an operation done on the brain to reduce or stop seizures.

• Epilepsy

  Epilepsy causes electrical signals in the brain to misfire, which can lead to multiple seizures. Anyone can get epilepsy at any age, but most new diagnoses are in kids.

• Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy

  Dyskinetic CP, or athetoid CP, is a type of CP. Kids with dyskinetic CP have trouble controlling muscle movement.

• Craniopharyngioma

  A craniopharyngioma is a rare type of benign brain tumor. Most people treated for a craniopharyngioma are cured.

• Burner (Stinger)

  Burners (or stingers) are injuries to the nerve network in the shoulder, arm, forearm, hand, and fingers. They're pretty common in sports and usually go away quickly.

• Absence Seizures

  An absence seizure is a type of generalized seizure. During this type of seizure, the person is not aware of what is going on around them.

• Abusive Head Trauma (Shaken Baby Syndrome)

  Abusive head trauma is the leading cause of death in child abuse cases in the United States. It happens when someone shakes an infant.

• Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM)

  Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) is a rare but serious condition that affects the nervous system.

• Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

  Kids with ataxic CP have trouble with balance. They may walk with their legs farther apart than other kids. And they can have trouble knowing exactly where something is.

• Bell’s Palsy

  Bell's palsy is a temporary weakness or paralysis of the muscles on one side of the face. Though it can be alarming, it typically goes away in a matter of weeks.

• Benign Rolandic Epilepsy

  Kids with benign rolandic epilepsy have seizures that involve twitching, numbness, or tingling of the face or tongue.

• Brain and Nervous System Cancers

  These cancers are the most common type of cancer in children. When discovered early, they often can be cured.

• Cerebral Palsy (CP)

  Cerebral palsy (CP) affects a child's muscle tone, movement, and more. This article explains causes, diagnosis, treatment, and coping.

• Cerebral Palsy (CP) Center

  Learn all about cerebral palsy (CP), one of the most common congenital disorders of childhood. Help your child or teen manage the condition, and find the help and services that kids with CP are entitled to.

• Cerebral Palsy: A Parent’s Guide (Video)

  Are you raising a child with cerebral palsy? This guide offers advice, resources, and support so that you can help your child reach his or her full potential.

• Cerebral Palsy: Parents Talk (Video)

  Get advice from parents raising kids with cerebral palsy. Learn what works, what doesn’t, and what helped these families the most.

• Cerebral Palsy: Shannon’s Story (Video)

  Shannon has cerebral palsy, which limits many abilities. But her wheelchair and her communication device give her the freedom to explore, and a voice to be heard.

• Chiari I Malformation

  Many kids with this brain condition aren't bothered by it. Those who have symptoms can often find relief with medicines or surgery.

• Concussions

  Concussions are serious injuries that can be even more serious if kids don't get the time and rest needed to heal them completely.

• A to Z: Bell’s Palsy

  Learn about complications of viral infections and conditions that can affect the face and nervous system.

• Tuberous Sclerosis Complex

  Tuberous sclerosis complex is a genetic condition that causes the growth of benign tumors. Symptoms can range from mild to severe.

• Sanfilippo Syndrome

  Sanfilippo syndrome is a rare condition in which the body can't break down certain carbohydrates (sugars) in the blood, leading to serious problems in the brain and nervous system.

• RASopathies

  RASopathies are a group of genetic conditions caused by problems in the RAS pathway, which is one way cells in the body communicate.

• Neurofibromatosis Type 1

  Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic condition that causes benign tumors in and under the skin, often with bone, hormone, and other problems. Learn more about how it's diagnosed and treated.

• Neurocutaneous Syndromes

  Neurocutaneous syndromes are genetic disorders that lead to tumor growth in various parts of the body. Learn how to maximize the quality of life for children with these diseases.

• Legius Syndrome

  Legius syndrome is a rare genetic condition. Kids who have it have multiple café-au-lait spots on their skin and might be slower to walk, talk, and reach other milestones than most kids.

• Ataxia-Telangiectasia

  Ataxia telangiectasia is a rare genetic condition. Children with the condition have uncoordinated movements that get worse over time.

• Costello Syndrome

  Costello syndrome is a very rare disorder that affects multiple organ systems. It causes causes problems that affect a child's heart, muscles, bones, skin, brain, and spinal cord.

• Cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) Syndrome

  Cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome is a rare genetic condition. It affects the heart, facial features, and skin.