Learn all about Cerebral Palsy. A Quick Guide to Cerbreal Palsy.

Here is an article on cerebral palsy which you may find to be interesting and informative:
What is Cerebral Palsy?

In many cases doctors are unable to decide on what is the actual cause of cerebral palsy. About ten to twenty percent of children having cerebral palsy acquire the disorder after birth, while a greater percentage of cases are caused by episodes that occurs during child birth or pregnancy. There are no specified events which if occur during pregnancy period, delivery or right after birth will result in cerebrel palsy. Those new born children who had a premature birth, did not cry in the first five minutes after delivery, where put in the ventilator for over 4 weeks, and who had bleeding in their brain on account of broken blood vessels in the brain, clogged blood vessels, or abnormal blood cells are at the most risk of developing cerebrel palsy. Seizures in a newborn born babies also increase the risk of cerebral palsy.

It is stated that a prematurely born baby less then 10 percent chance of having cerebral palsy. There are a large number of cases in which babies had a very stormy period immediately after birth but go on to do very well afterwards. However, some babies who have rather fine beginnings where later diagnosed to have severe mental retardation and therefore had learning disabilities.

The physical and medical problems of disable children vary widely. However, children with mental disabilities have many common problems like unable to writing or cut with scissors, experiences trouble balancing and walking, interaction problem with family members or the happenings around.  Some of such problems appear to be of those caused by cerebral palsy, but a closer inspection may reveal different medical conditions. Children with motor problems which have resulted due to closed head injuries, seizures, drug overdoses, or some brain tumors is one large group of children population who may look similar to those with cerebral palsy. Disorders that are primarily of muscle, nerve, and bone do not come under the cerebral palsy definition.

Cerbral palsy is of four types:

• Spastic Cerebrel Palsy - Difficult or stiff movement
• Athetoid Cerebral Palsy - Uncontrolled or involuntary movements
• Ataxic Cerbreal Palsy - Loss of depth perception and balance
• Mixed Cerebral Palsy - A mix of two or more of the above

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Diagnosing cerebal palsey requires time. A period of waiting for any appearance of explicit and permanent motor problems is needed. Precise diagnosis of cerebral palsy is not easy before the child's 1st birthday. As diagnosis of cerebral palsy cannot be made with an magnetic resonance imaging-MRI, CT scan, x-ray or any other type of blood test, though such tests help to exclude other suspected diseases. The normal developmental bench marks like reaching for toys, sitting, and walking are delayed in cerbreal palsy children.

Children affected with cerebral palsy have many other problems, all of which are not related to brain injury. Such conditions are mostly neurological. The conditions include mental retardation, epilepsy, learning disabilities, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Cerbreal palsy is not contagious, neither it is passed from one generation to the next. At present there is no cure for cerebal palsey, although scientific research continues in developing treatments and methods of prevention.