Q: I was blessed with a baby girl recently. It was an absolutely normal delivery. But after a fortnight I noticed that my daughter's legs tremble involuntarily. It happens only when something touches her legs. Her legs are very active and her development is normal too. We consulted a paediatrician, who said that there is cronex in her legs and he advised a CT scan of her skull. Her CT scan report reveals the following: Every thing was normal except that it mentioned, the mesencephalic cistern, sylvian fissure and few sulcal spaces are slightly prominent on left side. Inference of the radiologist was: ? mild cerebral atrophy left side. On the advice of the doctor I am giving the following medicines to my daughter- 1) syrup ostocalcium 2.5ml bd 2) syrup remem 2.5ml bd (ayurvedic medicine of cadila healthcare) 3) r.b.tone drops 2 drops bd 4) gardinal (phenobarbitone) syrup 3 ml bd Is this disease curable? Is the doctor on the right path?

A:All normal infants exhibit the moro and startle reflexes (sudden jerky movements of limbs on touch or sound) in the first 3 months. These reflexes may be exaggerated when there is cerebral irritability and if they persist in the presence of brain damage. Normal children and some adults when asleep may have sudden jerky movements resembling the startle reflex. Ill-sustained clonus is also seen in some normal newborns. Many newborn infants show a rapid jittery movement of the limbs. They occur particularly in the presence of hypocalcaemia (low serum calcium levels). It is very difficult to state whether the movements of limbs of your daughter are abnormal without observing them. I would have liked to do some blood tests like serum calcium and phosphate, blood sugar and complete blood counts before any treatment was started. The CT scan report is not confirmatory for brain atrophy. The normal development so far does not indicate brain damage.