Host: You must have heard the term Breath Holding Spell, what is a Breath Holding Spell and how do you know that is something more serious.
Monita Mendiratta: So Breath Holding Spell can occur in infants and children, young children, where they may actually, just as the term refers to, hold their breath for several seconds. Usually doesn't go on to minutes, because the child would pass out, and also it triggers the brain to open their airway and force them to take a deep breath in, that can occur during times of agitation, irritability, anxiety, and what you may see is very frightening, you may see a child that's literally just holding their breath and turning shades of reds and purple to blue, and the best thing to do is, just to try to console the child and relax the child, and eventually the child should take a deep breath.
Host: I have also seen Breath Holding Spell from the seizures, what would you look for or ask, when you know this is probably not a Breath Holding Spell kind of seizure?
Monita Mendiratta: Typically with seizures the child is unresponsive, and can be unresponsive even for several minutes after the spell, whereas with the breath holding spell, your child is conscious and is crying often, is aware of what's going. Whereas with the seizures they are typically not.
Host: I thank you very much.
Monita Mendiratta: Sure.
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