Cerebral Palsy. What is cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy …

What is cerebral palsy?

Cerebral is another word for the brain. Palsy means a complete or partial loss of the ability to move a body part. So cerebral palsy means loss of ability to move a body part because of a problem with the brain.

Cerebral palsy is not a single condition. It is an umbrella term used to describe a group of conditions that cause movement problems. Although the main problem is with the muscles in one or more parts of the body, the condition is caused by damage or faulty development in a part of the brain. The part of the brain affected is that which sends messages to muscles. It controls movement and co-ordination. The damage or faulty development usually occurs as a baby is developing in the womb. Sometimes it occurs during, or shortly after, birth.

If someone has cerebral palsy, it means that they are not able to control some of the muscles in their body in the normal way. Depending on the type of cerebral palsy and the area of brain affected, a child may not be able to walk, move, talk, eat, or play in the same ways as other children.

The following are more technical medical definitions of cerebral palsy:

Cerebral palsy is classified into four main types - spastic, athetoid, ataxic and mixed. The type of cerebral palsy that occurs depends on the exact part of the brain that is affected.

This type of cerebral palsy occurs in about 7 in 10 cases. Spastic means that the affected muscles are more stiff than normal. How stiff an affected arm or leg is, can vary greatly from case to case. Movements of an affected arm or leg are stiff and jerky. Some muscles may become permanently shortened and stiff. This is called contracted.

There are different words that are used to describe the type of types of spastic cerebral palsy. For example:

This type occurs in about 2 in 10 cases. Some people with this type of cerebral palsy have slow, writhing movements of the hands, arms, feet, or legs. Some people have sudden muscle spasms. These movements cannot be controlled and so are involuntary. Sometimes the tongue or facial muscles are affected. The stiffness (tone) of the muscles can vary from too high to too low. As a result, people with athetoid cerebral palsy have difficulty in staying in one position. They may also be unable to use their arms or hands properly - for example, to hold objects.

This type occurs in less than 1 in 10 cases. People with ataxic cerebral palsy have difficulties with balance and fine movement. This can mean loss of balance or being unsteady when walking. It could also make doing fine tasks with their hands difficult, such as writing. The muscle tone is usually decreased. That is, they do not tend to be stiff.

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Cerebral Palsy. What is cerebral palsy and cerebral palsy ...