Cerebral Palsy is a motor disorder appearing in children before the age of three years, due to damage of the brain before it has fully developed.1
The damage to the brain affects strictly the motor system,
producing poor coordination, poor balance, or abnormal
movement patterns. Children with Cerebral Palsy may
also have other kinds of neurological disorders, such
as epilepsy, mental retardation, learning disabilities,
or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder.
Cerebral palsy is non-progressive, or static, meaning that it will not get better or worse over time. Most cases of cerebral palsy are congenital, or from birth; brain damage that occurs after the age 3 is usually diagnosed as stroke or traumatic brain injury.2
CP can usually be diagnosed before the age of 18 months.
Physicians analyze delays in developmental motor milestones,
such as reaching for toys, sitting and walking.3
Although CP is strictly a motor disorder, other medical problems are often associated with it. These include:
Mental retardation
Learning Disabilities
Attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder
Epilepsy
Visual impairment
Swallowing difficulties
Speech impairment
Hearing loss
Scoliosis
Hip dislocation
Contractures of joints
|
Discrepancy in leg length
Communication disorder
Drooling
Poor nutrition
Depression
Fragile bones and frequent fractures
Cavities
Constipation4
|
The Cerebral Palsies are classified by the type of
motor impairment they produce. Spastic
CP, characterized by stiff muscles, effects 80% of people
with CP. Athetoid CP effects 5% to 10%, and is characterized
by involuntary movement. Ataxic
CP is the least common type of Cerebral Palsy, effecting
5% to 10% of people with CP. The remaining people with
CP are mixed, having a combination
of the types.5
The Cerebral Palsies are further classified by the
limbs that they involve. Diplegia
is a form of CP primarily affecting the legs. Hemiplegia
is a form where one side of the body (an arm and a leg)
are affected. Monoplegia,
Triplegia, and Quadriplegia
refer to one, three and four involved limbs, respectively.
1. Ask the Doctor: About Cerebral
Palsy. http://www.about-cerebral-palsy.org/definition/index.html
2 . 1995. Miller, Freeman, and Bachrach, Steven J. Cerebral
Palsy: A Complete Guide for Caregiving. Johns Hopkins
University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. p. 1.
3 . Ibid. p. 2
4 . Ibid. p. 7
5 . Ibid. p. 4
