An Overview of Cerebral Palsy

An Overview of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral Palsy is an umbrella term that encompasses a group
of non-progressive, non-contagious conditions that cause
physical disability in human development. The cerebral part
refers to the affected part of the brain, generally the
cerebrum. Palsy is the disorder of movement. The affected
centers have not been perfectly localized and the disease
most likely involves connections between the cortex and
other portions of the brain.

Cerebral palsy can occur during pregnancy (75% or so of
cases), after birth and up to age 3(roughly 15% of cases),
and during birth (around 5% of cases). Of all the cases of
cerebral palsy, between 40 and 50% of them are cases
involving babies that are born prematurely.

Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive disorder which means
that brain damage does not get worse as time goes on.
Despite this, there are secondary orthopedic difficulties
that often occur. There is no known cure for the
condition. Medical intervention is limited to the treatment
and the prevention of complications possible from this
condition. These include osteoporosis and arthritis
occurring at a younger age in adults born with cerebral
palsy.

There has been a slight increase in the occurrence of
cerebral palsy. The majority of people feel that this is
attributable to low birth weight babies surviving due to
improved neo-natal care. While this is good, babies with a
low birth weight, who are commonly premature as well, are
more susceptible to Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral Palsy has four major classifications. These four
classifications are spastic, athetoid/diskinetic, ataxic,
and mixed. The classifications are named based on the area
of the brain that is damaged.

Spastic Cerebral Palsy is the most common form. It is the
named classification in 70-80% of all cases. It involves
damage to the motor cortex of the brain. After the
condition is named Spastic, it is further classified based
on the area of the body that has been affected.

Ataxic is a very uncommon form of Cerebral Palsy. It occurs
in at most 10% of all cases. This version involves damage
to the cerebellum. Motor skills like writing, typing, or
using scissors are commonly affected. Also, balance is a
problem as well.

Athetoid, or dyskinetic, occurs second most frequently
after Spastic. It involves problems with muscle tone.
People with this version have problems holding themselves
in an upright, steady position for sitting or walking. They
often show involuntary motions and may not be able to grasp
objects.

There are 10,000 new cases of Cerebral Palsy in the United
States each year. This is true even following the advances
in pregnancy care. This is because of the advances made in
areas related to the care of premature babies. The causes
of Cerebral Palsy are commonly asphyxia, hypoxia of the
brain, birth trauma, premature birth, and illness of the
mother during pregnancy such as strep.

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Joe Devine
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