Cerebral Palsy – Children and Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy have problems with muscle tone, affecting their ability to keep their balance, posture, and to walk and move.

Unlike other medical conditions that can affect a child's ability to move or walk, with cerebral palsy, the problem isn't in the child's muscles or nerves. Instead, damage to the child's brain affects his ability to control his muscles.

Some common causes of cerebral palsy include:

Prematurity, while it does not cause cerebral palsy, is sometimes associated with the condition, as premature babies are often at risk for many of the problems that do.

Keep in mind that most experts now believe that very few cases of cerebral palsy are actually caused by a lack of oxygen during labor and delivery.

Cerebral palsy symptoms that you may notice, and that you should look for if you are concerned that your baby may have cerebral palsy, include:

Cerebral palsy symptoms don't worsen with age, but symptoms can range from mild to severe. For example, a child with very mild cerebral palsy may just have problems running, while another with more severe symptoms may need a wheelchair.

Children with cerebral palsy can also have feeding problems, mental retardation, seizures, learning disabilities, and problems with their vision and hearing.

Early signs of cerebral palsy might be a baby who:

In addition to a physical exam, tests that are sometimes helpful when evaluating a child for cerebral palsy include a computerized tomography (CT) scan and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the child's brain. Other tests may also be done if a genetic, metabolic, or infectious cause of cerebral palsy is suspected.

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Cerebral Palsy - Children and Cerebral Palsy