A New View On-and Hope For-an Old Disease

摘要

It can start so subtly that most parents don't even notice the telltale signs. A baby's arms and upper body may jerk, or the eyes may dart to the side; the seizure is brief, with muscles momentarily stiffening and then relaxing. It's usually only when their baby gets a bit older that parents notice that the child is having problems with walking or talking. But even then, they will hardly suspect what's behind the symptoms: growths called tubers, sometimes hundreds of them, which have sprouted throughout their child's body. In Laura Jensen's case, the mother from California thought her baby boy's gagging spells were caused by teething, until one episode, when he was 9 months old, made it clear something much more serious was going on. "He made a choking noise, his face turned blue, and his mouth started to pull to one side," she recalls. "I didn't know it was a seizure, but I sure knew it wasn't teething."