Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood, AHC, is a rare disorder. The children have paralytic episodes, lasting from a few minutes to several days. A description of the word hemiplegic is: One side (upper or lower limb) becomes flaccid (hemiplegic) or on the contrary stiff with flexion or hyperextension (hypertonic). Very characteristic eye movements (jerks) are frequent.

12 children are listed with the AHC in Denmark. For a period of time all of these children had a wrong diagnosis. They were treated in a wrong way until the doctors found out what it really was.

Therefore we want to tell you about the AHC through our homepage.

General knowledge: 

The Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood usually starts before the child is 1½ years. 

In the beginning the paralytic episodes can be seen as movements in the eyes or unusual movements in the body. The child is fully conscious. 

The paralytic episodes are sometimes in the left side and sometimes in the right side of the body. They can last from a few minutes to 14 days. Usually the child is all right when it is sleeping, but 10-20 minutes after it is awake it can be seen again.

The reason for the disease is unknown. It is cronical and the child is not growing out of it.