Cerebral Palsy

DisclaimerThis page is not here to be used as a self-diagnosis, self-identification, or promotion - it's simply here to be informational. Whether or not one self-diagnoses, self-identifies, and/or seeks a professional diagnosis is up to them.

**Cerebral Palsy (CP)** is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It's caused by damage that occurs to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth. It's usually classified as a physical disability,

## Signs & Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy can vary greatly from individual to individual. Cerebral palsy can affect the whole body, or it might be limited to primarily to one or two limbs, or one side of the body.

### Movement and Coordination

* Stiff muscles and exaggerated reflexes.
* Variations in muscle tone, such as being either too stiff or too floppy.
* Stiff muscles with normal reflexes.
* Lack of balance and muscle coordination.
* Tremors or jerky involuntary movements.
* Slow, writhing movements.
* Favoring one side of the body, such as only reaching with one hand or dragging a leg while crawling.
* Difficulty walking, such as walking on toes, a crouched gait, a scissor-like gait with knees crossing, a wide gait or an asymmetrical gait.
* Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as buttoning clothes or picking up utensils.

### Speech and Eating

* Delays in speech development.
* Difficulty speaking.
* Difficulty sucking, chewing or eating.
* Excessive drooling or problems with swallowing.

### Development

* Delays in reaching motor skill milestones, such as sitting up or crawling.
* Learning difficulties.
* Intellectual disabilities.
* Delayed growth, resulting in a smaller size than would be expected.

### Other Problems

Damage to the brain can contribute to other neurological problems, such as:

* Seizures.
* Difficulty hearing.
* Problems with vision or abnormal eye movements.
* Abnormal touch or pain sensations.
* Bladder or bowel problems, including constipation and urinary incontinence.
* Mental health conditions, such as an emotional disorder or behavior problems.

The brain disorder causing cerebral palsy doesn't change with time, so the symptoms usually don't worsen with age. However, as the child gets older, some symptoms might become more or less apparent. Muscle shortening and muscle rigidity can worsen if not treated aggressively.

## Causes

Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain. This usually happens before a child is born, but it can occur at birth or in early infancy. In many cases, the cause isn't known. Many factors can lead to problems with brain development.

* Gene mutations that result in genetic disorders or differences in brain development.
* Maternal infections that affect the developing fetus.
* Fetal stroke, a disruption of blood supply to the developing brain.
* Bleeding into the brain in the womb or as a newborn.
* Infant infections that cause inflammation in or around the brain.
* Traumatic head injury to an infant.
* Lack of oxygen to the brain related to difficult labor or delivery.

## Treatment

Treatments are available for individuals with the condition to be as active and independent as possible.

* Physiotherapy.
* Speech therapy.
* Occupation therapy.
* Medicine for muscle stiffness or other difficulties.
* In some cases, surgery to treat movement or growth problems.

### Spastic Cerebral Palsy

Spastic Cerebral Palsy is the most common type of CP. Individuals with spastic CP have increased muscle tone, meaning their muscles are stiff. Spastic CP is usually described by what parts of the body are affected.

#### Spastic Diplegia

Spastic Diplegia is when muscle stiffness is mainly in the legs, with the arms less affect or not affected at all. Individuals with spastic diplegia might have difficulty walking.

#### Spastic Hemiplegia

Spastic Hemiplegia affects only one side of the individual's body; usually the arm is more affected than the leg.

#### Spastic Quadriplegia

Spastic Quadriplegia affects all four limbs, the trunk, and the face. Individuals with spastic quadriparesis usually cannot walk and often have other disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, seizures, or problems with vision, hearing or speech.

### Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy

Individuals with Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy have problems controlling movement of their hands, arms, feet and legs, making it difficult to sit and walk. The movements are uncontrollable and can be slow and writhing or rapid and jerky. Sometimes the face and tongue are affected and the individual has a hard time, sucking, swallowing, and talking. An individual with dyskinetic CP has muscle tone that can change from day to day or even during a single day.

### Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

Individuals with Ataxic CP have problems with balance and coordination. They might be unsteady when they walk. They might have a hard time with quick movements that need a lot of control. They might have a hard time controlling their hands or arms when they reach for something.

### Mixed Cerebral Palsy

Mixed Cerebral Palsy is when more than one type of CP is present. The most common type of mixed CP is spastic-dyskinetic.

## References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/cerebral-palsy/symptoms-causes/syc-20353999

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cerebral-palsy/

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/cp/facts.html