Cerebral palsy is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination.
What Is Cerebral Palsy?
The term cerebral palsy refers to any one of a number of neurological disorders that appear in infancy or early childhood and permanently affect body movement and muscle coordination but don’t worsen over time. Cerebral palsy, or CP, affects muscle movements, but it is not caused by problems in the muscle or nerves. Instead, it is caused by damage to the areas of the brain that control muscle movement.
Cerebral palsy is not a progressive condition. It will not get worse, nor will it get better, over time. Muscle spasticity and other secondary conditions, however, can get better, get worse or remain the same over time. United Cerebral Palsy stresses that CP is not a disease and should not be referred to as such.
Doctors today put cerebral palsy into three main categories based on the type of movement disturbance – spastic, athetoid or ataxic. A fourth category can be a combination of all three types.
About Cerebral Palsy breaks down the different types of cerebral palsy in the following way:
- Spastic cerebral palsy affects 70% to 80% of patients. In spastic CP, the muscles are stiffly and permanently contracted.
- Athetoid cerebral palsy is also known as dyskinetic cerebral palsy and affects about 10% to 20% of patients. Uncontrolled, slow and writhing movements characterize athetoid CP. People with athetoid CP are the most likely to be unable to coordinate the muscles needed to form proper speech, a condition known as dysarthria.
- Ataxic cerebral palsy is a rare form that affects an estimated 5% to 10% of all CP patients. Ataxic CP affects mainly the sense of balance and depth perception. People who have this form of cerebral palsy will often walk unsteadily, with a wide gait. They may also have trouble with quick and precise movements, such as writing or buttoning a shirt.
What are the Causes?
Cerebra palsy does not have just one cause. Congenital CP, which results from a brain injury in utero, is present at birth. Congenital CP can also result from a brain injury during birth. About 10% of children with CP, in this country, acquired it after birth due to bacterial meningitis, car accident, a head injury resulting from child abuse or viral encephalitis.
Is There Treatment or a Cure?
There is no cure for cerebral palsy. However, it can be managed. The earlier treatments are started, the better chance children have of overcoming or learning to manage their disabilities. Treatments may include physical and occupational therapy, drugs such as Baclofen to help control spasticity, braces and wheelchairs and, in some cases, surgery.
When people learn to manage their cerebral palsy, they can live a life like anyone else.
Megan Abrams - I have lived with the effects of a childhood stroke for more than half my life and offer a uniquely personal perspective on disability.
