Cerebral Palsy
The cerebral palsy refers to a group of neurological disorders that affect the brain's ability to control muscles. Cerebral palsy occurs due to brain injury or abnormal brain development before, during, or after birth. Cerebral palsy can vary from mild to severe, and can be be associated with mild to severe mental retardation, hearing problems, vision problems, speech and language defects, epilepsy and behavior disorders. We cannot always be sure as to what caused cerebral palsy in the child, but a number of factors or conditions that can interfere with the development of the brain have been noted. These factors include infection of the mother and child during pregnancy, blood incompatibilities (Rh factor), lack of oxygen at birth, other complications during delivery and other injuries or infections to the brain.
There are a variety of types and combinations of cerebral palsy. They are usually classified as either spastic, athetoid, or ataxic cerebral palsy. The spastic type is the most common and is associated with tense, stiff and contracted movement of the body including the arms and/or legs. The athetoid type is characterized by involuntary, uncontrolled movement or motion of the arms and/or legs. The ataxic type leads to significant balance problems which will effect walking and coordination. It is also possible to have a mixed type of cerebral palsy.
Regardless of the type of cerebral palsy present or the degree as the associated problems, the growing youngster may suffer emotional problems because of obstacles he or she faces from society in attempting to go from being dependent on people to self sufficiency. Most intervention programs concentrate on reducing or relieving the symptoms through a wide range team approach which may include orthopedic surgery, occupational and physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and occasionally neurosurgery.
Comments
Cerebral palsy affects about 1 out of every 1,000 children in the United States.
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Keywords: cerebral palsy,neuromuscular
Publication date: May 27, 2004
Revise date: Sep 28, 2004
TextID: 80
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