Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy

It is defined as the disorder which affect the muscle tone, posture and movement of the body. It is occurred due to the damage occur in the brain development before birth or just after birth. It can affect the development of the child during infancy or early childhood.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms include:Cerebral Palsy Causes Symptoms Treatment

  • Variation in muscles tone either stiff or floppy
  • Rigidity
  • Spasticity
  • Difficulty in walking
  • Tremors
  • Slow writhing movement
  • Difficulty in swallowing
  • Delay speech
  • Learning difficulty
  • Seizures
  • Drooping of eyes

Causes

There are many causes of cerebral palsy which include:

  • Mutation in genes lead to this condition
  • Head injuries
  • Bleeding into the brain
  • Hypoxemia
  • Infant infection
  • Fetal stroke
  • Maternal infections during pregnancy

Complications

Complications of cerebral palsy include:

        · Premature aging

        ·  Malnutrition

        · Mental health damage

        · Contracture due to spasticity of the muscles

        . Osteopenia

        .  Osteoarthritis

Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be made after few months of birth, your doctor asked you a pregnancy history and family history and conduct a physical examination of baby to check the reflexes and signs of cerebral palsy and recommend a following test to rule out the other conditions:

  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to take the detailed image of brain.
  • Cerebral angiography to check the condition of your blood vessels in the brain.
  • Blood test to check the complete blood count
  • Lumber puncture to check the CSF pressure.
  • Cranial ultrasound

Treatment

Children with cerebral palsy required long term treatment to reduce the signs and symptoms of disorder. Treatment options include:

  • Muscle injection to tightening the muscles
  • Muscle relaxants if muscles of baby is too spastic
  • Physical therapy to help in walking
  • Occupational therapy to help your child to perform his or her daily activities without any support.
  • Speech therapy
  • Orthopedic surgery
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