About Landau Kleffner Syndrome: Landau Kleffner Syndrome

Read about Landau Kleffner syndrome and how it affects different people. It can also include depression. Depression not only affects the person who is going through it, but also everyone around them, including friends, family, loved ones, spouses, and children.

What is Landau Kleffner Syndrome

The Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) was discovered in 1957 by Dr. William M. Landau and Dr. Frank R. Kleffner. They did extensive research with regard to the syndrome and identified six children who were suffering from LKS. LKS is a child hood disorder and a child might gradually or suddenly stop talking and also lose the ability to understand when spoken to.

Children who are suffering from the syndrome have abnormal electrical brain waves. Doctors can analyze these brainwaves with the use of electroencephalogram (EEG). Children suffering with LKS also undergo other disorders like depression' hyperactivity and aggressiveness. This syndrome is most commonly seen in children within the age three and seven years. Children may suddenly or slowly have trouble understanding what is said to them and also will lose the ability to speak. Due to this reason most parents and guardians think that their child has hearing problems. Due to the fact that the child is unable to understand what is said to them he/she will also loose the ability to talk and eventually will completely stop talking. Children who have already learnt to read and write will continue to do so. A child suffering from this syndrome might start to communicate using written language or in some cases will develop signs to try and communicate. Even though the lack of communication might be an issue the level of intelligence of a child will probably stay normal. 80 percent of children suffering from LKS will have one or more seizures a day. This will be especially true at night' when the child is asleep.

Treatment is available to try and reduce or control the seizures but it usually does not seem to have much effect on the childs ability to understand and speak. Children with this syndrome learn to use sign language to communicate. The basic issue with this syndrome is to understand what is said to them and to communicate with the out side world. The exact cause of LKS is unknown. Doctors say there can be more than one single reason for the syndrome to occur. The syndrome is not passed down through the family' most of the time a child will seem totally normal before their first seizure. Consulting proper medical attention is a priority in this type of situation. Through the years 1957 to 1990 more than 160 cases have been reported.