Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy
This is not a single disease but a group of neurological disorders affecting children and beginning at birth. Children with cerebral palsy have difficulty in walking and may have many involuntary movements of the limbs and muscles of the face. It often affects speech and makes it blurred and difficult to understand. There may be no mental impairment, or mental impairment may, in some cases, be severe. The muscular condition is characterized by a stiffness or spasticity of the limbs, resulting in an awkward or stiff-legged gait.

There are several causes of cerebral palsy. It is thought that a difficult labour, an excessively prolonged labour, or lack of oxygen to the unborn infant during labour may be the cause of certain cases. Some cases are due to the actual injury to the brain during delivery. Others are due to a disorder within the germ cells that is passed on to the infant; that is, in some there is a hereditary basis. Some cases are thought to be the result of illness in the mother during the first twelve weeks of pregnancy. Also, certain cases are thought to be due to cycts of the brain with which the child is born.

There is effective medical treatment for cerebral palsy. Children with cerebral palsy can be greatly benefited by persistent and prolonged education and other physical measures aimed toward rehabilitation and better control of muscles

There are also a large number of operative procedures performed upon the muscles, tendons and bones that can be very helpful in aiding the locomotion of a patient with cerebral palsy. Some of these operations relieve muscle spasm; others relieve the contractures of joints that are so characteristic of this disease. Through modern reconstructive and rehabilitative surgery, many children with cerebral palsy who were formerly unable to walk can now get about in fairly satisfactory fashion. Also, it has recently been discovered that certain neurological surgical procedures are being developed to sever these pathways and thus relieve some of the spasm associated with this condition. Rehabilitation methods being used today are a striking advance over former years. Excellent results are now being obtained by special educators in this particular field rehabilitation. Cerebral palsy does not get worse as the child grows older and does not result in premature death. The children tend to improve as they reach adulthood and many of these people lea normal healthy lives.

On to the next few disorders- Brain Tumour, Encephalitis, Meningitis, Syphilis of the Nervous System

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