F70 is a cipher in the doctor's certificate after the next medical examination, which frightens many mothers. Deciphering this code for some becomes a real discovery, because F70 is a diagnosis of mental retardation.
What is mental retardation?
According to statistics, more than 3% of the world's population suffer from mental retardation. This is a condition in which there is a delay or general underdevelopment of the psyche, due primarily to an intellectual defect. Retardation may be accompanied by the development of another mental or somatic disorder or occur without it. A child with a similar disorder develops slowly, later begins to walk and talk. By the time he enters school, he is far behind his peers, although in physical terms he may not differ from them in any way. In some cases, along with mental retardation, there is also a delay in physical development.
Causes of mental retardation
Many factors can provoke this disease. But often only a third of the reasons can be unambiguously determined. In the practice of some doctors, there were cases when it was not possible to find out the prerequisites. For the most common reasonsrefer to:
- genetic predisposition;
- problems during pregnancy related to maternal alcoholism, drugs, malnutrition;
- injury or illness during pregnancy, such as whooping cough, measles, meningitis;
- problems during childbirth, such as asphyxia or premature birth.
Degrees of mental retardation
Although the causes of the pathology may be identical, the degree and severity of mental retardation may vary. There are 4 main degrees:
- Easy. In the international classification of diseases, this disorder is assigned the code F70. The diagnosis includes dementia, mild mental retardation, debility. It suggests the impossibility of mastering mathematical knowledge, limitations in logical generalizations, judgments, scarcity of associations, poor memory. Angularity, clumsiness and slowness in physical activity are characteristic.
- Moderate. It includes imbecility. People with this diagnosis have concrete-effective thinking, a limited vocabulary, they are physically poorly developed, and outwardly express indifference and depression.
- Severe in its clinical picture is similar to moderate, but motor disorders and other pathologies associated with disorders of the central nervous system are added.
- A deep degree called idiocy. It is characterized by the absence of thinking, speech, non-verbal communication. Patients are not able to fulfill elementary requests and demands. Most are sedentary.
Diagnosis F70: transcript
Code F70. XX is used to denote mental retardation. The fourth character in the cipher indicates the absence or weak severity of a violation in behavior. 0 means no behavioral problems, 1 means significant behavioral problems requiring care and treatment, 8 means other behavioral problems, and 9 means no indications of behavioral problems. If the causes and conditions for the occurrence of backwardness are known, then an additional fifth character is used:
- F70.01 - the disease is provoked by a previous infectious disease (prenatal infection, postnatal infection, intoxication).
- F70.02 - retardation provoked by trauma or a physical agent (mechanical trauma or birth asphyxia, postnatal trauma or hypoxia).
- F70.03 - retardation is provoked by a rare hereditary disease associated with impaired amino acid metabolism, phenylketonuria.
- F70.04 - mental retardation associated with chromosomal abnormalities.
- F70.05 and F70.06 - the disease is provoked by hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism, respectively.
- F70.07 - retardation is caused by prematurity.
- F70.08 - the disease is caused by other specified causes.
- F70.09 - backwardness is provoked by unspecified reasons.
F70 - diagnosis of mild mental retardation: symptoms
Mental retardation affects the development of all mental processes, but especially cognitive ones. Diagnosis F70a child whose decoding indicates an IQ of 50-70 points is not a sentence. A baby with such a disorder begins to crawl, sit, walk and talk later, but he is quite trainable and able to acquire normal communication skills. Sometimes there are defects in physical and sensory development. But even under favorable conditions, a slight degree of backwardness does not allow patients to understand the figurative meaning of proverbs and metaphors. They tend to take literally what they read or say. Children are often unable to define objects, changing words to interjections and gestures.
Retelling the text read once will also become difficult for the child. Re-reading may improve the situation, but the subtext, if any, will remain undiscovered. The process of solving arithmetic problems involving two or more actions will become inaccessible or extremely difficult. Characteristic for a mild degree is the lack of a sense of humor, imagination, fantasy.
Disability and mental retardation
A child diagnosed with mental retardation may be given a disability. For this, parents should consult a child psychiatrist. If, according to the doctor's conclusion, the child is subject to disability, the psychiatrist writes out a referral for the passage of a specialized medical and social expert commission. After a comprehensive assessment of the social status of a MSEC patient, one of three disability groups can be assigned to him. But not all persons with this diagnosis and not everywhere are determineddisability group. In some countries, people diagnosed with F70 are not given a disability. Only children and people with moderate, severe and profound retardation are en titled to this right.
Rehabilitation of children with mild mental retardation
What does F70 diagnosis mean for parents? The fact that parents should first of all learn as much as possible about this condition, about the possibilities of improving the quality of life of a person with such a diagnosis. Treatment should begin as early as possible. Repeated courses of reflexology, acupressure and segmental massage will help stimulate blood circulation and metabolic processes in the cerebral cortex. An important role in the rehabilitation process will be played by proper nutrition, outdoor walks, physical therapy, and music therapy. Daily developmental classes, periodic consultations with a defectologist and a psychologist, and further visits to kindergarten and school should become integral. Do not follow the child to perform actions that he is able to perform on his own. Encourage his independence. Let him try and learn new things, all you have to do is provide guidance and support.
The right approach to education and training can further increase the IQ coefficient by 15 units. The child will read and write, communicate with peers and not only acquire a profession. Of course, not everyone can achieve such results, but everyone has the potential, especially if the psychiatrist's diagnosis is F70.
More pronouncedlowering the level of intelligence will require a special training program, mastering everyday skills, but even this state allows people to continue to engage in unskilled labor and take their place in society.
F70 - the diagnosis is not critical. Timely correction, attentive and caring parents with an adequate approach to education and training can not only raise a worthy member of society, but also remove the diagnosis altogether.
