BY: DESTINEE COLE, R3

What is it?? Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement, muscle tone or posture that is caused by an insult to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth. Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years.

What it causes Impaired movement associated with exaggerated reflexes, floppiness or rigidity of the limbs and trunk, abnormal posture, involuntary movements, and unsteadiness of walking. May have difficulty with swallowing and commonly have eye muscle imbalance. May have reduced range of motion at various joints of their bodies due to muscle stiffness. Some people are able to walk while others aren't able to walk. Some people show normal to near normal intellectual function, but others may have intellectual disabilities. Epilepsy, blindness or deafness also may be present.

Frequency 1 in 323 children had been identified with cerebral palsy More common in boys than girls More common among Black children than White children

Treatment Physical therapy: To improve motor function and enhance the ability of self-care by increasing joints range of motion, adjusting the muscle tension, motion control, coordination ability, strength and endurance. Occupational therapy: Including fine hand functional training, activities of daily living training, brace and auxiliary means making and simple transformation of living environment. Speech Therapy: jaw, lips, tongue, soft palate movement control training. Drug therapy: Commonly used drugs include cranial nerve nutrition medicine, and muscle relaxant. Surgery: When the patient suffers from severe muscle contracture and joint deformities, the patient could consider orthopedic surgery

Ways To Avoid Before and during pregnancy Eat nutritious foods, don't smoke, avoid exposure to harmful substances, see your doctor regularly Babies and young children Take steps to prevent accidents, make sure you are familiar with the signs of jaundice in newborns, know how to prevent lead poisoning, keep your child away from people who have serious contagious illnesses, such as meningitis, make sure your child's immunizations are up-to-date.

Sources Treatments/ html palsy/basics/treatment/con