What is a syndrome?
A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that, added together, suggest a particular medical condition. In epilepsy, examples of these signs and symptoms would be things like the age at which seizures begin, the type of seizures, whether the child is male or female and whether they experience difficulties with learning.
If a child is diagnosed with a particular syndrome, it allows doctors to provide more information about what is most likely to happen to them in future years, not only from the point of view of the epilepsy but also in relation to other features such as learning skills.
In the UK there are support groups for parents of children with some types of syndrome. Details of the support groups can be obtained from the following
Contact
Support for families with disabled children.
Freephone helpline: 0808 808 3555
Email: helpline@contact.org.uk
Website: contact.org.uk
Epilepsy Action has a website for children with epilepsy - Just for kids
Our thanks
Epilepsy Action would like to thank
- Dr Richard Appleton, and Dr Rachel Kneen, consultant paediatric neurologists at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, UK and
- Dr Stewart Macleod, consultant paediatric neurologist at Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, UK.
They have kindly prepared the information on these pages. It is based on their own research, experience and expertise.
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