My Cerebral Palsy

At any step in a child’s fetal development, the beginning of childhood or the birth process cerebral palsy may occur. The brain during infant development is very vulnerable and any trauma or negligent care may result in a very serious possible outcome for the kid’s life. An accident, child abuse or a viral infection are among the causes of cerebral palsy in the wake of birth.

Depending on the degree of involment of the central nervous and the part of the brain that has been affected or damaged, the following signs may occur to the child: involuntary movement, spasms, tonal problems, seizures, problems with gait, impairment of sight, speech or/and sight, mental retardation, among others.

Testing motor skills and reflexes is the way doctors diagnose for cerebral palsy. Using different
specialized tests and employing the medical history are part of the tests. By definition, cerebral palsy is not progressive, in that case if the patient shows a higher impairment it could be something elses rather than cerebral palsy.

Physicians are completely trained to be able to identify the risk factors for cerebral palsy, and if it goes untreated the doctor may be held responsible for it. The thing is that doctors are normally unwilling to go to court and testify against they collegues. Illegible handwritting is often what you find in medical records.

Many birth injury cases are caused by medical mistakes and it could not be possible for the parents to determine if the medical mistake is the cause of their child’s injury. Parents need a dedicated effort of legal and medical groups to be able to determined the cause.Too many cerebral palsy cases are results of medical mistakes.

Before age of 2 is when you start seeing the symptoms of cerebral palsy. When it is very severe you can notice them as early as 3 months of age. The majority of the symptoms are related to motor tasks, the injured kid find difficult to write, use scissors, keep the balance as they walk, uncontrolable movements. Every person is different, therefore the symptoms may vary among them.

Cerebral palsy is complicated to define just because it is a term used to cover a group of conditions that are non-contagious and non-progressive, and they can cause disability in a human physical development. it is a group of disorders all together, so it cannot be characterized as just one. Since the part of the brain affected is the cerebrum, it is called “cerebral”. The term  “Palsy” is used to refer a movement disorder.

Cerebral Palsy Classifications

There are 4 major classifications for cerebral palsy:

1) Spastic Cerebral Palsy: it happens in seventy to eighty percent of all cases;
2) Ataxic Cerebral Palsy: it happens in around ten percent of al cases;
3) Athetoid Cerebral Palsy or Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy: it happens in forty percent of all cases; and finally,
4) Mixed: it is a combination of two or all three types of cerebral palsy.

A damage to the cerebellum and/or basal ganglia is the cause of choreo-athetoid cerebral palsy, originating trouble to control muscles and coordinating. Maintaining the balance is affected as well. When a person suffers from cerebro palsy they have uncontrollable movements even they are not sleeping, lack of control when they want to reach or grasp for something. Even speaking and mouthing words can be affected.

There are terms commonly use to describe the movements we just talked about, and those are:

1) Ataxia: it is when a person cannot walk steady and have challenges in keeping the balance.
2) Athetosis: it is when a person has slow and writhing movements, specially in the face or one hand.
3) Chorea: it is when a person shows jerky movements of one arm or legs.
4) Dystonia: it is when a person has twisting movements and postures of one’s limbs and/or trunk.

Cerebral Palsy: It’s Not The End Of Life!

Just because a person has cerebral palsy, it does not mean that he or she is unable to experience and enjoy a productive life. Nevertheless, the patient can experience some challenges. The more information they can get about the disease, the more chance they have to cope with the challenges that it carries. Besides, community should always keep in mind that people who suffers from cerebral palsy can be part and help to build their community.