Our body is interconnected and interrelated. All our functions are dependent on each other and every movement we do needs to be performed by various muscles and tissues. Slight disbalance in any of these can cause imbalance in your body and result to problems such as hearing aid, vision and sensation related issues. Cerebral palsy is one condition that is related to the brain and thus it in total means having weakness in the body movements because of some brain condition. Today we will understand how this condition affects children and ways through which it can be resolved.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that are related to different muscle related problems. It affects various parts of the body and can cause loss of sensation and vision etc. According to Dr. Ritu Chaturvedi, Consultant paediatrician in Ivory Hospital, Greater Noida, this is more prevalent in the children which cause disabilities. If right treatment is not given in time, then it can cause permanent damage to the nerve tissue and result to various health problems. Cerebral palsy is a combined condition for various disorders hence the symptoms and causes vary according to the function or part that gets affected.
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Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
As mentioned earlier, it is a group of disorders, hence depending on the disorder; the person faces difficulty in different regions. Mostly people have problem in walking, sitting and grasping things. The symptoms may become serious or less complicated depending on each individual case. Let us see some common symptoms of cerebral palsy that are common for all the people.
- Delay in developing motor skills in the early age
- More time in crawling, sitting and rolling over
- Variation in muscle tone
- Having increased falls during childhood
- Stiff muscles of spasticity
- Tremors or involuntary movements
- Difficulty in walking
- Neurological problems and disabilities
What Causes Cerebral Palsy?
According to doctor, the main cause of cerebral palsy is because of the brain injury or lack of development in the brain. It affects a certain part of the brain because of which motor functions of the person get damaged and thus he is unable to have proper posture, coordination and movement in the muscles leading to this disorder.
Brain damage is a very serious issue and goes on for a long term; hence it needs to be diagnosed as early as possible. Cerebral palsy is also possible from the time when the child is inside the womb. It is hard to determine the exact cause of the cerebral palsy and conditions related to it.
Here are some possible conditions that can cause cerebral palsy-
Asphyxia neonatorum- This is a condition where there is lack of oxygen in the brain. This happens during the labour and delivery period in children.
- In case of severe jaundice in the infants
- Because of gene mutation that results to abnormal brain development
- Injuries in the head due to some accident or falls
- Intracranial haemorrhage- This means having bleeding in the brain
- Maternal infection and herpes simplex
Risk factors for Cerebral palsy
There are certain factors or conditions that can increase the risk of cerebral palsy. Here are the following factors-
- Being a twin or triplet
- Due to premature birth
- Low birth weight
- Weakness in baby from birth that affects their physical health
- Breech birth- A condition in which your baby’s buttocks or feet come first
- CP can also be possible if your mother’s blood and child blood are not compatible, this is the condition of Rh incompatibility.
- Exposure to toxic substances such as methyl-mercury when the mother is pregnant
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Treatment of Cerebral Palsy
There is no particular treatment that could totally heal or cure the condition of cerebral palsy. However there are various therapies and surgical option that can be helpful in reducing and improving the condition of the child. The complication in most cases is that surgery of children in early age can be more problematic as children are more sensitive.
There are certain aids that can be helpful to support the child having cerebral palsy
1. Assistive Aids
Some assisted aids that could be beneficial in this condition can include-
- Eyeglasses
- Hearing aids
- Walking aids
- Wheelchairs
- Body braces
2. Drug Therapy or medications
There are oral anticonvulsants and muscle relaxants that are commonly used as first hand treatment for many problems. Cerebral palsy has different disorders and thus different medications as given to ease the symptoms. The common medications are-
- Baclofen
- Diazepam
- Dantrolene
- Tizanidine
Doctor may also suggest some injection or drug therapy that includes botox injection or intrathecal baclofen therapy.
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3. Surgical Methods
If the motor movement that is affected is related to bone or orthopaedic condition, then it might be possible that surgical options are applied. Surgery is also used to release and ease the tight muscles that occur during the bone abnormalities. This condition is mostly caused by spasticity that is one of the disorders in cerebral palsy.
Other surgeries are done to reduce pain in nerves or treating the muscle movement by cutting nerves near the spinal cord and making them come together at the right spot.
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