Cerebral palsy disease

Cerebral palsy is the disease that results in uncontrolled movement and posture. This is because the parts of the brain that controls the movement are damaged. The person or the child affected with cerebral palsy could not move his or her muscles in the normal way.

The symptoms of cerebral palsy vary from mild to severe. Of course though the symptoms are mild at the beginning of the disease or when the child is young, they become worse as the child grows older

Until the child is 3 years old the cerebral palsy cannot be diagnosed. As per the recent statistics 3 children out of 1000 children are affected with cerebral palsy in America. Nearly about half million people belonging to all age groups are affected with cerebral palsy in America.

Types of cerebral palsy

There are different types of cerebral palsy .they are spastic cerebral palsy-here the movement is very difficult as the muscles become very stiff. There are two types of spastic cerebral palsy. In spastic diplegia both the legs are affected. In spastic hemiplegia either one side of the arm or one side of the leg is affected.

Diskinetic cerebral palsy-here the muscles of the entire body are affected. The muscle tone will be different in different places i.e. the muscle will be too tight and in some parts or too loose in some other parts.

Ataxic cerebral epilepsy- here the person could walk but the gait will not be steady. This is because the coordination and the balance are disturbed.
There are many causes for cerebral palsy.

The causes of cerebral palsy

The main causes will the events that could have occurred before the delivery which might have affected the normal growth of the brain. Deficiency of oxygen to the fetus due to various reasons also can result in cerebral palsy. But this is less common cause. The child or baby also could pick up mild head injury which may result in cerebral palsy.

Diagnosis of cerebral palsy

The affected babies will find it difficult to roll and sit. The babies also make futile attempts to crawl and walk. Such child needs to bee taken to the doctor who will confirm the cerebral disease by evaluating the child's movements and muscle tone.

Treatment for cerebral palsy

As soon as the cerebral palsy was diagnosed the physiotherapy will be started. This will improve the motor skills. Some times the casts, splints or braces to improve the function of the arms and legs by reducing the contractions. Drugs and injections such as outline toxin are used to reduce the spasticity. A surgical therapy called dorsal rhizotomy is tried to reduce the spasticity permanently.

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