Cerebral Palsy in Children-Affects of Cerebral Palsy
in Children
Cerebral
Palsy is a condition that is hard for a parent to accept. No parent
wishes to hear about this cerebral palsy condition on the visit to
the specialist on doubt due to the awkward behavior of the child.
Cerebral palsy as the name goes is so because of the palsies that
takes place due to the neurological disorder caused by the brain.
The signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy in children is identified
in the early childhood which usually continues till adulthood.
There are different types of cerebral palsy –
Spastic type - A condition where the muscles stiffens in cerebral
palsy is the spastic type. The children have difficulty in moving
the muscles that are not smooth movements. In this common type of
cerebral palsy, the arms, legs, tongue and cheek muscles are affected.
Sometimes it is partially affected and sometimes there is a total
damage.
Athetoid type - In this type of cerebral palsy the movements
are uncontrollable and are very slow. The palsy can affect the entire
body.
Ataxic type - This type of cerebral palsy is very rare and
the child affected by this type has problem in maintaining the body
balance.In severe conditions, the child may be affected with two types
of cerebral palsy or sometimes with all the three types.
The second type called athetoid CP has slow movements. These are also
uncontrolled and can affect the whole body. The third type is called
ataxic. This is the most uncommon of the three and it can cause difficulty
in maintaining balance and coordination in a child who has it.
There may also be cases when the condition is a mixture of two of
the three cases. Or, even for extreme situations, the child may have
the three types present.
Cerebral palsy results due to various reasons. It is caused due to
accident or by damage to the brain of the child. Injury caused during
the prenatal stage to the child or the mother can also lead to cerebral
palsy. Difficult labor and incorrect treatment during delivery procedure
like Asphyxia or reduced oxygen results in cerebral palsy. Lack of
balance of neurotransmitters cannot cause cerebral palsy whereas viral
meningitis during birth can cause cerebral palsy.
The signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy vary from one child to another
with a lot of difference from mild to severe. The indications also
differ in every stage of the child. Initially the child may be restless
but after a certain period they may show physical disabilities like
inability to walk and later also speech impairment. Cerebral palsy
leads to delayed milestones development and this differs from one
child to another.
