Cerebral Palsy Symptoms and Causes

Cerebral Palsy: Symptoms and Cause

Cerebral Palsy includes a group of disorders that hamper the coordination and movement of muscles. In several cases hearing, vision and sensation are affected too. 

Cerebral relates to the brain while palsy refers to issues with body movement. It is one of the most common causes of childhood motor disabilities.

Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy

Each person faces a different set of symptoms from mild to severe. Over time, depending on the case, the symptoms could become worse or better.

These include:

• Delays in motor skill developments such as crawling, sitting up on their own or rolling over
• Muscle tone differences such as being too flexible or too stiff, including spasticity
• Problems in speech and speech development
• Issues in muscle coordination or ataxia
• Moving without meaning too or tremors
• Too much drooling and issues with swallowing
• Issues with walking
• Your child tends to favour one side of the body for activities
• Neurological issues such as blindness, seizures and intellectual disabilities

Causes of Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy is caused due to abnormal brain development or an injury incurred while the brain is developing. The part of the brain that is responsible for body movement, posture and coordination is affected due to the damage. It mostly occurs prior to birth but could also occur during birth or the first few years of childhood.

Common causes include:

• Insufficient oxygen to the brain during delivery or labour
• Mutations of genes that leads to irregular brain development
• If the infant has very severe jaundice
• Infections brought about maternally
• Infections of the brain
• Bleeding in the brain
• Injuries of the head due to car accidents and child abuse