Cerebral Palsy - Medtick

Cerebral Palsy

What is it?

Brain damage before, during or immediately after birth affecting body movement, muscle control and balance.

Spastic

  • This is the most common type.
  • It involves stiff muscles due to increased muscle tone, creating awkward movements.
  • There are three subtypes of spastic CP:
    • Spastic diplegia/diparesis (mainly affects the legs),
    • Spastic hemiplegia/hemiparesis (only affects one side of the body)
    • Spastic quadriplegia/quadriparesis (affects the arms, legs, face, and trunk)

Dyskinetic

  • This type involves difficulty controlling movement, particularly in the arms, legs, feet, and hands because muscle tone changes frequently, from being too tight to being too loose.
  • The face and tongue can be affected too, making talking, swallowing, and sucking difficult.

Ataxic

  • Balance and coordination are affected by this type of CP, making it potentially difficult to write, walk, or reach

Mixed

  • Symptoms of more than one type, most commonly spastic and dyskinetic.
verywellhealth
One normally notice symptoms at two to three years old particularly if have poor posture i.e. leaning to one side, using only one arm and dragging one leg.

Cause

  • Unknown
  • Baby’s brain doesn’t develop normally while in the womb, or is damaged during or soon after birth.
  • Bleeding in the baby’s brain or reduced blood and oxygen supply to their brain
  • Infection caught by the mother during pregnancy
  • The brain temporarily not getting enough oxygen (asphyxiation) during a difficult birth.
  • Child is having any sort of breathing problems where oxygen is not getting into the brain.
  • Meningitis
  • Low blood sugar levels
  • Stroke (Baby having a stroke in womb or just being born is having a stroke)
  • Serious head injury
  • Respiratory distress syndrome

Increased risk 

  • Born prematurely
  • Low birth weight
  • Being born as a twin or triplet
  • Mother is smoking, ingested toxins, drinking alcohol and/or take illicit drugs during pregnancy

Symptoms

(Symptoms do vary from child to child)

  • Blurred vision?
  • Difficulty swallowing?
  • Difficulty talking?
  • Delays in reaching development milestones – for example, not sitting by eight months or not walking by 18 months?
  • Seeming too stiff or too floppy (hypotonia)?
  • Weak arms or legs?
  • Fidgety, jerky or clumsy movements?
  • Random, uncontrolled movements?
  • Muscle spasms?
  • Shaking hands (tremors)?
  • Walking on tip-toes?

NHS choices

Detailed Information

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