What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy is a condition marked by impaired muscle co-ordination (spastic paralysis) and/ or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth.
Cerebral Palsy is caused by an abnormality or disruption in brain development most often before a child is born. In many cases, the cause isn’t known.
Factors that can lead to problems with brain development include:
-
Gene mutation that leads to abnormal development
-
Maternal infections that affect the developing foetus
-
Foetal 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 from a motor accident or fall
-
Lack of oxygen to the brain related to difficult labour or delivery, although birth related asphyxia is much less common a cause than historically thought.
Cerebral Palsy Facts
-
Every hour a baby is born with cerebral palsy.
-
It is the most common physical disability in childhood.
-
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term for a group of disorders. It is a condition that is permanent, but not unchanging.
-
Cerebral palsy is a life-long physical disability due to damage of the developing brain.
-
In most cases, brain injury leading to cerebral palsy occurs during pregnancy.
-
Cerebral palsy, except in its mildest forms, can be evident in the first 12-18 months.
-
Motor disability can range from minimal to profound, depending on the individual.
-
It can range from weakness in one hand, to an almost complete lack of voluntary movement requiring 24 hour care.
-
Children with cerebral palsy are likely to also have other impairments in addition to their motor disability.
-
Spastic hemiplegia, where one half of the body has difficulty with voluntary movement, is the most common presentation of cerebral palsy. Approximately 40% of people with Cerebral Palsy have hemiplegia.
-
There is no known cure for the condition.
