Williams Syndrome - Treatment

Treatment

There is no cure for Williams syndrome. Suggestions include avoiding taking extra calcium and vitamin D, and treating high levels of blood calcium, if present. Blood vessel narrowing can be a significant health problem as well, and is treated on an individual basis. Physical therapy is helpful to patients with joint stiffness and low muscle tone. Developmental and speech therapy can also help children and increase the success of their social interactions. Other treatments are based on a patient's particular symptoms.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual cardiology evaluations for individuals with Williams syndrome. Other recommended assessments include: opthalmologic evaluations, an examination for inguinal hernia, objective hearing assessment, blood pressure measurement, developmental and growth evaluation, orthopedic assessments on joints, muscle tone, and ongoing feeding and dietary assessments to manage constipation and urinary problems.

Read more about this topic:  Williams Syndrome

Famous quotes containing the word treatment:

    The motion picture made in Hollywood, if it is to create art at all, must do so within such strangling limitations of subject and treatment that it is a blind wonder it ever achieves any distinction beyond the purely mechanical slickness of a glass and chromium bathroom.
    Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)

    Our treatment of both older people and children reflects the value we place on independence and autonomy. We do our best to make our children independent from birth. We leave them all alone in rooms with the lights out and tell them, “Go to sleep by yourselves.” And the old people we respect most are the ones who will fight for their independence, who would sooner starve to death than ask for help.
    Margaret Mead (1901–1978)

    [17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.
    C. John Sommerville (20th century)