What is Cerebral Palsy?
Originally published at orodor.org.uk. Please leave any comments there.
Cerebral Palsy is generally caused by injuries and abnormalites of the brain, usually damage to the motor control centers, it most commonly occurs before birth but can happen any time up until around 2 years old.
Cerebral refers to the cerebrum, which is the affected area of the brain and Palsy refers to disorder of movement.
It is an umbrella term for a list of conditions that all end with the suffix plegia which translates to paralysis;
- Monoplegia - is one single limbing affected.
- Diaplegia - is the legs being affected.
- Triplegia - is three limbs being affected.
- Quadriplegia - is both arms and legs being affected.
- Hemiplegia - is one side of the body being affected.
- Paraplegia - is the who body being affected.
Symptoms can include spasticities, spasms, other involuntary movements, unsteady gait, problems with balance, and/or soft tissue findings consisting largely of decreased muscle mass. Scissor walking and toe walking are common among people with CP who are able to walk. The effects of cerebral palsy fall on a continuum of motor dysfunction which may range from slight clumsiness at the mild end of the spectrum to impairments so severe that they render coordinated movement virtually impossible at the other end the spectrum. - Wikipedia (paraphrased)
In my case I have mild right sided hemiplegia, which came about due to shortage of oxygen and some sort of fit shortly after birth.
Over the next few articles I’d like to cover the major symptoms of Cerebral Palsy and how they affect me.