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15 year old boy, Master G.F., was brought to the clinic by his parents for complaints of mental retardation. The patient hardly spoke a few words during the whole interview and was not responding at all; his mother gave the entire history.
Birth History:
His birth was by a Caesarian operation at full term. The mother reported that the patient weighed only 4 lbs at birth. He started teething at the age of around 6 months and started walking at around two and half years of age. The patient was a very slow learner.
Since childhood he had a selective memory; he would remember timings, telephone numbers, songs and pictures but as far as studies were concerned, he would forget everything. Although he was 15 years old, he was studying in the 6th Grade. He had a bad temper and would want to throw things when angry. He would express his anger by shouting. The patient was stubborn; if he wanted something he would insist on getting it and once he would get it, he would calm down but would never apologize for his behavior. He would hit small children and would not want to give anything to other people.
Music, swimming, drawing and playing crossword were his favorite past-times. He was very attached to his mother and preferred to be at home all the time. He was afraid of crackers.
The patient would take good care of his things. He had a great sense of curiosity and would try to open his toy cars to see what is inside. Basically he was very shy by nature and would hide behind curtains.
On the physical front, his appetite was average and he was extremely fond of eggs and sweets. He disliked eating rice.
There was history of jaundice in the past and he had undergone dental treatment for caries. History of diseases in the family included: Throat Cancer (Maternal Grandfather), Parkinson's disease (Maternal grandmother) and Hypertension (Paternal grandmother).
Psychiatric evaluation: Mental retardation, learning disability, poor grasping abilities, poor academics, oral work better and speedy, written slow and careless. IQ -50, Verbal 40
Based on the above history, he was prescribed Baryta Carbonicum 30 for his complaints. About 2 weeks later his mother reported that his performance had improved, he had become somewhat better at remembering things that he was told or taught. The treatment was continued on similar lines for him and he showed significant change in his ability to concentrate over a period of time.
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