Cerebral palsy is a disease that occurs as a result of permanent damage to the brain tissue, which usually occurs while the baby is still in the mother's womb or in a short time after birth, and progresses with a decrease in the ability to move. It is a broad term that includes a group of neurological disorders of the brain. The limitation in movement functions is not progressive, but may vary depending on age.
What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is one of the most common causes of disability in childhood. Many different disorders and disorders are included in the definition of cerebral palsy, and the extent to which movement functions will be affected varies depending on the underlying cause.
Cerebral palsy is seen in 2 out of 1000 live babies born. As the duration of pregnancy (gestational age) and birth weight decrease, the incidence of the disease increases.
What are the Causes and Risk Factors of Cerebral Palsy?
Most of the disorders that result in cerebral palsy occur in the prenatal period. occurs, and the most common in these cases is preterm birth. Babies born after a gestation period of less than 37 weeks are called premature.
There is a correlation between the incidence of cerebral hemorrhage or brain developmental abnormalities and the incidence of cerebral palsy in premature infants. Dyscerebral palsy may occur due to growth retardation, infections or hemorrhages near birth due to various reasons. br>There are several risk factors for cerebral palsy in the prenatal period:
- Infections while in the womb,
- Bleeding,
- Cervical insufficiency (usually the cause of recurrent pregnancy loss in the second trimester) condition of the cervix, which is wider than the dimensions that will ensure the continuation of the pregnancy)
- Multiple pregnancies,
- Congenital brain development abnormalities,
- Mother's diseases,
- Various drugs,
- Placental abnormalities,
- Genetic disorders
The purpose of the erythrocytes in the blood circulation is the transport of oxygen and they carry out this transport process thanks to the hemoglobin they contain. The type of hemoglobin in the baby in the mother's womb differs from the hemoglobin produced in the baby's body after birth. During this transition period between hemoglobin types, if the baby's body has problems in clearing the hemoglobin of life in the mother's womb, the substance called bilirubin accumulates in the blood and when it reaches high levels, it has a toxic effect on the babies' brain.
This condition is called kernicterus and refers to the high bilirubin level in infants that impairs brain functions. Apart from kernicterus, many conditions related to the birth process can also cause cerebral palsy:
- Damage to the brain tissue as a result of the baby not getting enough oxygen during birth, called hypoxia and ischemia,
- infections in the brain and its structures around the brain,
- Premature birth,
- Low birth weight
What are the Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy? How to Recognize Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy causes many symptoms related to movement and coordination skills. These symptoms do not tend to worsen over time.
- Difficulty in movements requiring fine motor skills such as writing, using cutlery, buttoning clothes and using scissors,
- Involuntary muscle movements,
- Difficulty in maintaining balance and walking,
- Learning problems,
- Visual problems such as strabismus,
- Difficulty speaking
- Sucking and swallowing difficulty, drooling,
- Excessive tension or looseness in muscle structures,
- Spasticity (inability to perform movements fluently due to tight and rigid muscles),
- Rigidity (muscle stiffness),
- Ataxia (Irregularity in muscle activity and coordination problem),
- Seizures (neurological condition in which muscle control is lost and usually with loss of consciousness) m)
What are the Types of Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy is classified according to the basic movement disorder in the patient. Depending on the affected area of the brain, one or more of the following movement disorders are seen:
Spasticity (twitching of the muscles) Uncontrollable movements (dyskinesia) Impairment of balance and coordination (ataxia) Cerebral palsy is divided into 4 groups according to motor disorders.
Spastic Cerebral Palsy : It constitutes 80% of the cases. The patients' muscle tone increased. The subtypes of spastic cerebral palsy are determined according to the affected parts of the body.
Spastic diplegia/diparesis: The leg muscles of the patients were more affected than the arm muscles. These patients cannot walk comfortably because their hips and legs are stiff.
Spastic hemiplegia/hemiparesis: Only one side of the body and arms are affected more than the legs.
Spastic quadriplegia/quadriparesis: It is the most severe form. The arms, legs, body and face are affected.
Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy: These patients cannot sit or walk because they have difficulty in controlling their hands, arms, feet and legs. There are rapid and rhythmic muscle contractions that accompany excessive amounts of involuntary movements. Therefore, they have difficulty in sucking, swallowing and speaking. Muscle tone may differ from day to day or day to day.
Ataxic Cerebral Palsy: It is a type of cerebral palsy in which the patient cannot stand still and loss of coordination is evident. In this type, the muscles are more relaxed than in other types.
Mixed Cerebral Plasy: Some patients may have symptoms of more than one type of cerebral palsy. The most common type of mixed cerebral palsy is the spastic/dyskinetic type.
How to Diagnose Cerebral Palsy?
Diagnosis of cerebral palsy is generally obtained from the patient's history, physical examination results and imaging methods of the nervous system. according to the information provided.
In the physical examination performed by the physician, sitting and standing, walking, body posture, deep tendon reflexes and muscle tension are evaluated. It is investigated in which cases the signs and symptoms of the disease accompany. Magnetic resonance imaging allows the anatomical structures of the brain to be examined in more detail than CT. ) can be taken to see if there is any abnormality in the patient's brain waves. How is Palsy Treatment?
Before treatment planning, all children with cerebral palsy should be evaluated in terms of mental retardation, vision and hearing problems, speech and comprehension difficulties. With the initiation of rehabilitation practices in the early period in patients diagnosed in infancy, the ability of the brain to establish and repair new connections between the nerves called neuroplasticity can be benefited. Physical therapists, orthopedists, neurologists, pediatricians, and physicians in primary care are examples of physicians who may be involved in the treatment of cerebral palsy. Which medical branch will take part in the treatment is decided according to the symptoms and findings of the patient. For this purpose, benzodiazepines or baclofen can be used depending on the physician's decision.
If the physicians involved in the treatment planning consider it appropriate, injections and drugs containing botulinum bactericin toxin, called botox, can be used in response to abnormal muscle tension, pain, drooling and digestive system complaints.
br>Gabapentin or levodopa used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease may be beneficial in the treatment of repetitive muscle movements and twitches called dystonia. It is possible.
What are the Additional Therapies in Cerebral Palsy?
In addition to physical therapy programs, patients with cerebral palsy can be given work-occupational therapy so that they can handle their daily activities, home and school routines by themselves.
With speech-language therapy, they can be given more work. It can be ensured that he can speak clearly or communicate using sign language. 's expert team, you can ask for suggestions about your question. To reach us, you can use the contact form on our website or call 444 0436.
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