What Is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a permanent brain disorder that affects motor skills (the ability to move in a coordinated and purposeful way), muscle tone, and muscle movement, and posture as a result of damage to the developing infant brain. Today, more than 500,000 Americans suffer from cerebral palsy. This means that 1 in 500 live births is a case of cerebral palsy.

  What are the Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy most severely affects sensation and motor function of patients’ legs and/or arms, depending upon the type of disease. Symptoms include muscle tone that is too high or too low, disruption of fine and gross motor function, and poor balance. There are also a variety of other disorders associated with the disease.

  What Causes Cerebral Palsy?

Recent research has demonstrated that the onset of cerebral palsy most frequently occurs during pregnancy. CP may be caused by pre-term birth, maternal infection during pregnancy, fetal coagulation disorders. Complications during childbirth and head trauma during infancy are less common causes of the disorder.

 How is Cerebral Palsy Treated? Drug treatment for the disorder is focusing around Botulinum Toxin-A, which presynaptically inhibits acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction. Selective dorsal rhizotomy has been a very successful procedure in reducing spastic cerebral palsy. Finally, physical, linguistic, and various other therapies help manage the disease’s course.