Cerebral Palsy – An Insight

Cerebral Palsy is a medical term used for defining a set of neurological disorders affecting the functions of brain, muscle coordination and body movement. Cerebral palsy, commonly called CP, commonly appears in very early childhood or in infancy and is not a progressive disability or impairment – the damage or injury to the brain responsible for causing CP does not worsen over time. Although, it may cause serious physical challenges to the children diagnosed with it, it is easy to manage cerebral palsy and other disabilities through a wide variety of supportive treatments.

Cerebral Palsy – A Brain Disorder

CP affects the nerves and muscles of the body but the disorder results from the damage of the brain that generally occurs during the birth process or fetal development. Depending upon the location and the type of brain damage, doctors characterize cerebral palsy by failure of ability to control motor function. The common effects of cerebral palsy includes difficulties or limitations with mobility, exaggerated reflexes or muscles tightness, difficulties in swallowing or with speech and lack of motor coordination. Cerebral Palsy may lead to more severe disabilities.

Causes and Impact of CP

There are various causes of Cerebral Palsy as it is a group of disorders. Congenital cerebral palsy occurs because of brain injury during fetal development. According to the United Cerebral Palsy organization, the congenital form of cerebral palsy affects 90 percent of the children. Additionally, some children develops cerebral palsy resulting from a brain accident or an infection causing trauma to the brain during first few years or months of their life. Doctors diagnose this by the age of eighteen with the help of various motor skill tests.

According to the United Cerebral Palsy organization, 764,000 adults, infants and children in the United States suffers from with some form of cerebral palsy. Of these 764,000, doctors diagnose approximately 8,000 babies and newborns with cerebral palsy every year.

Prevention and Treatment of Cerebral Palsy

As the causes of CP varies and are difficult to anticipate, prevention efforts emphasize on offsetting the risk factors associated with cerebral palsy. Because the brain damage occurs as the result of birth injury and during fetal development careful management of the delivery and birth process and medical testing can offset risk factors.

Although, there is no treatment for cerebral palsy, a wide variety of supportive treatment helps the children diagnosed with CP to lead an active life and improve their motor function skills. These supportive treatments include speech therapies, medications, physical therapies and surgeries.

If you believe that your child suffers from cerebral palsy due to preventable birth injury or medical malpractice, immediately contact an experienced birth injury lawyer. An experienced birth injury lawyer will help you in filing a birth injury lawsuit or claim related to cerebral palsy.