Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy is the choice of research I chose. It is a disorder of the nervous system that targets the muscle tone, movement, and other motor skills. I chose to do my research on this particular subject to familiarize myself of some of the symptoms and causes, but mostly because my great niece was diagnosed with the disorder about 3 years ago. Throughout this research paper you will notice the causes, diagnoses, the different types of cerebral palsy, how to evaluate, the symptoms, and treatments of the disorder. There are several possible causes in determining whether or not a person has cerebral palsy. In most cases of cerebral palsy, the causes are unknown, but in some, it develops during pregnancy in which the brain isn’t fully developed or there is a significant decrease in the amount of blood flow to the brain. Complications during labor and delivery can cause CP in some cases. Premature babies are at greater risk of having CP than babies that are full-term. According to experts for everyday emergencies at http://emedicinehealth.com/cerebral_palsy, “10% of cases of cerebral palsy begin perinatal, and at least 70-80% of cases begin prenatal.” Diagnoses of CP may be done at an early stage in a child’s life. It’s best to do this if you suspect a child is at a higher risk of having the disorder. It is usually done approximately at the age of 4-7 months. There is no way to prevent CP from happening. Specialists in Neurology should asses and examine an impaired child who poses a threat of having cerebral palsy. There isn’t just one test to diagnose cerebral palsy. MRI’s are usually done to get visual images to detect changes in the brain. There are 3 types of Cerebral Palsy: Spastic, Choreoathetoid, and Hypotonic cerebral palsy. In Spastic cerebral palsy, the muscle tone is increased. During this type of cerebral palsy, your movement is limited; often occurring on one side of the body (hemiparesis), but it can affect all four limbs (quadriparesis). This