Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neurological congenital disease, affecting nearly four people per 1000 live birth. Children born preterm or have low birth weight are more likely to develop cerebral palsy. Kids with cerebral palsy have motor and motion disabilities. Let’s understand what cerebral palsy is and how to prevent it.
What is cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a group of disabilities and disorders that are all interrelated but have unique representations in every child. In children, cerebral palsy is the most common motor and movement disorder caused by brain damage.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) monitor cerebral palsy through the Autism and developmental disabilities monitoring (ADDM) CP network. According to recent tracking from CDC’s ADDM network, about 1 in 345 children has cerebral palsy. It is more common in boys than girls.
Many children have one or more added neurological conditions in addition to cerebral palsy, known as co-occurring conditions. Around 4 in 10 children with cerebral palsy also have epilepsy condition.
What are the potential issues a child has with cerebral palsy?
Cerebral palsy is a congenital disorder. The symptoms usually appear during the first year after birth. In children with mild symptoms, CP is difficult to diagnose until they are a few years older. Mostly, children with CP show delays in reaching growth milestones. The following are the potential signs and symptoms of cerebral palsy:
- Younger babies (3-6 months of age) with CP have a stiff and overextended body, and their head falls backwards when picked from a flat surface.
- Babies older than six months with CP can’t roll over to their sides and have difficulty bringing their hands to their mouths.
- Children older than ten months with CP face problems while crawling.
- Children have learning issues
- Walking and movement disabilities
- Unusual posture
- Speech impairment
- Difficulty in chewing or eating and excessive drooling
- Cognitive deterioration
- Hearing problem
- Vision loss
- Epilepsy
- Joints and spinal deformities
- Difficulty with fine motor skills, such as picking up things
- Exaggerated reflexes
- Instability of the legs or trunk due to floppiness or spasticity
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Emotional and behavioral issues
- Delayed growth resulting in a shorter body
What are the causes of cerebral palsy?
The prime cause of cerebral palsy is abnormal development or damage to the growing brain in the fetus, which affects muscle and movement control. Brain abnormalities or damage that lead to cerebral palsy may occur before, during, or shortly after birth and within the first year of their life, when the brain is still developing. Many children have cerebral palsy (80-90%) before and during birth (congenital palsy). The possible causes of congenital CP are:
- Infections in the mother during pregnancy, such as rubella (German measles), chickenpox, cytomegalovirus, and placenta or fetal membrane infections, can increase the risks of cerebral palsy in children.
- Poor brain development in the first 20 weeks of fetal life
- Genetic abnormality
- Accidental ingestion of toxins during pregnancy
- Premature delivery
- Injury to the skull or head during delivery
- Brain lesion
- Birth complications, such as uterine rupture, detachment of the placenta, or umbilical cord issues during birth
- Multiple births, such as twins, triplets, or more
- Children born with assisted reproductive fertility treatment have higher chances of having CP.
- Maternal medical conditions, such as seizures or thyroid disorder
Other causes are:
- Disruption of blood flow to the growing brain
- Traumatic injury to the brain during the first few months of life
- Seizures
- Brain infections, such as meningitis or encephalitis
- The shaken baby syndrome can cause CP if the brain has not fully developed
- Head injury due to a near-drowning experience or from abuse
How to prevent cerebral palsy?
However, it is difficult to prevent cerebral palsy, but you can reduce the chances of getting CP in your child. The following are some preventive tips on how to stay healthy and minimize pregnancy complications if you are planning to become parents or are pregnant:
- If you are planning to become pregnant, ensure your vaccination chart has all ticks on vaccines mandatory before pregnancy. Rubella and chickenpox during pregnancy may cause fetal brain damage.
- Take care of your health with a nutritious diet and exercise routine. Having healthy pregnancy will lessen the chances of your child developing cerebral palsy.
- Avoid alcohol and tobacco use before and during pregnancy.
- Illicit drug abuse during pregnancy can increase your child’s risk of cerebral palsy.
- Regular visits to your doctor and proper prenatal care decrease the risk of preterm birth, low birth weight, and maternal infections, which increase the risk of CP.
Children with CP may require lifelong care and rehabilitation attention. Many medications and therapies, such as speech therapy, physiotherapy, and recreational activity, can be helpful to children with cerebral palsy.
Though cerebral palsy is difficult to prevent, proper precautions can significantly decrease the chance of its occurrence.
Dr. Amit Shrivastava, Senior Consultant – Neurology, Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, New Delhi