Reviewed By:
Unnati Patel, MD, MSc (Family Medicine)
Dr.Patel serves as Center Medical Director and a Primary Care Physician at Oak Street Health in Arizona. She graduated from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine prior to working in clinical research focused on preventive medicine at the University of Illinois and the University of Nevada. Dr. Patel earned her MSc in Global Health from Georgetown University, during which she worked with the WHO in Sierra Leone and Save the Children in Washington, D.C. She went on to complete her Family Medicine residency in Chicago at Norwegian American Hospital before completing a fellowship in Leadership in Value-based Care in conjunction with the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, where she earned her MBA. Dr. Patel’s interests include health tech and teaching medical students and she currently serves as Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.
Yuta Sasaoka, MD (Pediatrics)
Dr. Sasaoka graduated from the Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine. After working in the Department of Pediatrics at Hakodate Municipal Hospital, the Emergency Center at Hakodate Municipal Hospital, and the Department of Emergency Medicine at Tokyo Metropolitan Children's General Medical Center, he joined the Sapporo Medical University Advanced Emergency Medical Center in April 2020. Dr. Sasaoka is well versed in pediatric emergency medicine, covering a wide range of pediatrics and emergency medicine. He is also a certified AHA-PALS instructor and focuses on pediatric secondary life support education at the Hokkaido Training Site.
Content updated on Apr 4, 2024
Following the Medical Content Editorial Policy
Worried about your symptoms?
Start the West Syndrome (Infantile Spasm) test with our free AI Symptom Checker.
This will help us personalize your assessment.
By starting the symptom checker, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Motor stereotypies such as head shaking, nodding
Cognitive delay
Blacking out
My body is jerking
Weak
Unintentional and repetitive muscle movements such as head shaking or nodding
Problems with growth
Not seeing your symptoms? No worries!
With a free 3-min West Syndrome (Infantile Spasm) quiz, powered by Ubie's AI and doctors, find possible causes of your symptoms.
This questionnaire is customized to your situation and symptoms, including the following personal information:
Biological Sex - helps us provide relevant suggestions for male vs. female conditions.
Age - adjusts our guidance based on any age-related health factors.
History - considers past illnesses, surgeries, family history, and lifestyle choices.
Your symptoms
Our AI
Your report
Your personal report will tell you
✔ When to see a doctor
✔︎ What causes your symptoms
✔︎ Treatment information etc.
A type of epilepsy (recurrent seizures) that occurs in young children. These are more commonly called infantile spasms (IS) because they are seen most often in the first year of life, typically between ages 4 and 8 months. They often look like a sudden bending forward of the body with stiffening of the arms and legs lasting for one to two seconds; some children arch their backs as they extend their arms and legs. Spasms tend to happen when the infant wakes up, and often happen in many clusters, with hundreds of seizures per day. It results from damage to the developing brain, with various causes like chromosomal abnormalities (e.g. Down's syndrome), brain malformations, or brain infections.
Many underlying disorders, such as birth injury, metabolic disorders, and genetic disorders can give rise to IS, making it important to identify the underlying cause. In some children, no cause can be found. Treatment aims to reduce seizure frequency. Options for treatment include hormone therapy, a ketogenic diet, and anti-seizure medications.
Infantile Spasms - National Institute of Health
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/infantile-spasms#:~:text=What%20are%20infantile%20spasms%3F,ages%204%20and%208%20months.Male, 30s
I got more answers in one minute through your site than I did in three hours with Google.
(Sep 29, 2024)
Male, 20s
My experience was great. I was worried, but the symptom checker helped me narrow down what it might be. I feel a little relieved compared to when I first started, and it gives me a starting point for what my symptoms could mean.
(Sep 27, 2024)
Male, 50s
The questions asked and possible causes seemed spot on, putting me at ease for a next-step solution.
(Sep 26, 2024)
Female, 40s
I was actually very impressed with the results it provided because, although I didn’t mention it during the questionnaire because I thought it was unrelated, it suggested I may have something I’ve actually been diagnosed with in the past.
(Sep 25, 2024)
Reviewed By:
Unnati Patel, MD, MSc (Family Medicine)
Dr.Patel serves as Center Medical Director and a Primary Care Physician at Oak Street Health in Arizona. She graduated from the Zhejiang University School of Medicine prior to working in clinical research focused on preventive medicine at the University of Illinois and the University of Nevada. Dr. Patel earned her MSc in Global Health from Georgetown University, during which she worked with the WHO in Sierra Leone and Save the Children in Washington, D.C. She went on to complete her Family Medicine residency in Chicago at Norwegian American Hospital before completing a fellowship in Leadership in Value-based Care in conjunction with the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, where she earned her MBA. Dr. Patel’s interests include health tech and teaching medical students and she currently serves as Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School of Medicine.
Yuta Sasaoka, MD (Pediatrics)
Dr. Sasaoka graduated from the Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine. After working in the Department of Pediatrics at Hakodate Municipal Hospital, the Emergency Center at Hakodate Municipal Hospital, and the Department of Emergency Medicine at Tokyo Metropolitan Children's General Medical Center, he joined the Sapporo Medical University Advanced Emergency Medical Center in April 2020. Dr. Sasaoka is well versed in pediatric emergency medicine, covering a wide range of pediatrics and emergency medicine. He is also a certified AHA-PALS instructor and focuses on pediatric secondary life support education at the Hokkaido Training Site.
Our symptom checker AI is continuously refined with input from experienced physicians, empowering them to make more accurate diagnoses.
“World’s Best Digital
Health Companies”
Newsweek 2024
“Best With AI”
Google Play Best of 2023
“Best in Class”
Digital Health Awards 2023 (Quarterfinalist)
Which is the best Symptom Checker?
Ubie’s symptom checker demonstrated a Top-10 hit accuracy of 71.6%, surpassing the performance of several leading symptom checkers in the market, which averaged around 60% accuracy in similar assessments.
Link to full study:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.08.29.24312810v1