Microcephaly
Microcephaly means a baby's head is smaller than expected for the baby's age and sex, usually because the brain did not grow as it should before or after birth. It is lifelong. Some children are only mildly affected; others need a lot of support.
- About 1 in every 1,150 babies in the United States has microcephaly
- In most cases the exact cause is not known
- It is lifelong — care depends on how severe it is
Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Rasmussen et al., NEJM 2016
What is Microcephaly?
A baby's skull grows because the brain inside it grows. In microcephaly, the brain did not develop properly during pregnancy, or it stopped growing after birth — so the head stays small. Doctors find it by measuring around the head and comparing the number with growth charts for the baby's age and sex.
The effect is very different from child to child. Some have no other problems. Others may have fits, late milestones, learning difficulty, trouble with movement and balance, feeding problems, or problems with hearing and vision.
What are the symptoms?
- A head that measures smaller than expected for age and sex
- Late milestones — sitting, standing, walking, talking
- Learning difficulty or intellectual disability
- Fits (seizures)
- Trouble with movement and balance, and feeding difficulty
- Hearing loss or vision problems
What causes it, and who is more likely to get it?
In the genes
During pregnancy
- Infections in the mother, such as Zika, toxoplasmosis or cytomegalovirus
- Poor nutrition of the mother
- Alcohol and some drugs or harmful chemicals
- Too little blood supply reaching the baby's brain
After birth
- Severe malnutrition in the baby
How is it found?
Microcephaly can sometimes be seen before birth, and is confirmed by measuring the head after birth.
Ultrasound in pregnancy
A scan late in the second or in the third trimester may show a small head.
Head circumference
A tape measure around the widest part of the head, compared with growth charts for age and sex — and repeated at each check-up.
Brain scans and other tests
An MRI or CT scan shows the brain's structure; blood tests may look for infection or a genetic cause.
A neurotherapist asks for the doctor's reports — the head measurements, any scan, and whether the child has fits — and checks the kidney reports, because the main LMNT treatment works through the kidney points. Small children cannot point to pain, so the therapist watches the face and breath and asks the parents about stools, urine, appetite and sleep.
How Neurotherapy sees Microcephaly
Guruji's teaching names one formula as especially helpful for children with a small head: Kidney Clear, which works through the two kidney points Liv° and Mu° and then balances acid and alkali. LMNT teaching also gives (4) Thrd 'P', which it teaches stimulates the pituitary to make growth hormone — and says children with a smaller head benefit from it. This is support for the child's comfort and daily ability; it does not promise that the head or brain will grow to a typical size.
How LMNT teaching approaches a child with a small head
- Doctor firstDiagnosis, scans, and early intervention therapies stay in place
- Kidney checkNo kidney failure or kidney cancer — otherwise Liv° and Mu° are not stimulated
- Kidney ClearLiv° and Mu°, then Ch. Only and the Round arrow — light, for a child
- (4) Thrd 'P'Taught to stimulate the pituitary for growth hormone
- Watch daily lifeFeeding, sleep, sitting, holding, alertness — not a promise
Kidney Clear is given in four grades, from mild to strong. For a child, the rule is always light treatment and half the adult dose, by a trained therapist, with a parent present.
In this therapy we do not treat the disease; rather, we improve the body.
Neurotherapy treatment for Microcephaly, step by step
Examine first — gently
The therapist reads the doctor's and kidney reports, gently checks Liv° and Mu°, and asks the parents about stools, urine, appetite, sleep and any fits.
Kidney Clear, at a light grade
The formula LMNT teaching names as especially helpful for a child with a small head — given light, by hand, at half the adult dose.
(4) Thrd 'P'
The point LMNT teaching gives to stimulate growth hormone through the pituitary.
Record real gains
Progress is written as what the child can now do — feeding, sleeping, sitting, holding, responding — alongside the doctor's head measurements.
Points and formulas used
Kidney Clear
Works the two kidney points and the acid–alkali balance, in four grades — named in LMNT as especially helpful for children with a small head.
Works through
Open →Never do this
- Children get half the adult dose and light treatment only, given by a trained therapist.
- Microcephaly is lifelong. Neurotherapy does not make the head or brain grow to a typical size; it may support comfort and daily ability, with reported improvement. Keep the doctor, early intervention, physiotherapy, speech and occupational therapy going — never in place of them.
- Do not stimulate Liv° or Mu° in kidney failure or kidney cancer — then Kidney Clear is not given. Liv°
- (4) Thrd 'P' is not given where bone is growing where it should not, such as bamboo spine or a spur. Thrd 'P'
- A fit that lasts more than a few minutes, breathing trouble, blue lips, very poor feeding or unusual drowsiness needs a doctor or hospital at once.
- Cancer: if the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given — the therapist changes the plan.
- Keep giving the medicines your child's doctor prescribed, including any medicine for fits. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
From Ayurveda and the kitchen
Test yourself
What research says
- Strong evidence
Experts at the CDC weighed the evidence against formal criteria and concluded that Zika infection in pregnancy causes microcephaly and other serious brain problems in the baby — showing how an infection in the mother can stop the baby's brain from growing.
No clinical trial of Neurotherapy in microcephaly has been published yet. Improvements reported by neurotherapists and parents are clinical observations.
For you
Parents of a baby
Keep every check-up where the head is measured, and start early intervention therapies as your doctor advises. Bring all reports to each Neurotherapy visit and stay in the room.
Women planning a pregnancy
Good nutrition, no alcohol, and protection from infections such as Zika during pregnancy help protect the baby's brain.
This page explains; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.