Cerebral palsy is a term which is used to denote a number of disorders in the functioning of the brain. These disorders affect the movement of the body in some way. Generally, this type of disorder develops at the early age of body development, and in most cases, its symptoms in a child are quite evident by the age of three.
There can be a number of causes for cerebral palsy. Approximately 20% of the cases of cerebral palsy show the cause of this disorder to be some accident or infections at early ages of the child. In some cases, it is hard to diagnose at early ages, as the symptoms might be so subtle that they are not easy to be noticed.
However, a large portion of cerebral palsy disorder is caused during pregnancy or at birth. Such type of cerebral palsy is called congenital cerebral palsy and is the most common type of cerebral palsy. This kind of cerebral palsy can also be caused if the infant is jaundiced and does not receive proper treatment.
It is the responsibility of both the mother and the doctor to take care of the child before, during and after birth. Though the exact causes have not been yet discovered, but cerebral palsy may be a result of pregnancy problems. The brain does not develop normally due to infections or maternal health problems.
Mothers with premature babies should take special care as chances of cerebral palsy are more in them. Thus, a child, even before birth, should be kept safe from lead poisoning, car accidents, malnutrition and infections. If the medical staffs show negligence during delivery, problems might arise leading to cerebral palsy ultimately.
Also, after the birth of the child, it is the duty of the doctor to perform a thorough check-up to make sure that the infant does not have infections or disorders of any sort. If some infections are left untreated, they can later develop into severe problems. Cerebral palsy can also be caused by such an infection.
Various complications might be caused during pregnancy, and the doctors are responsible for diagnosing the problems and providing the patient with prompt treatment. Even though most doctors are very cautious about these issues, sometimes they might show professional negligence, which can result in cerebral palsy. A doctor should be able to recognise potential symptoms of cerebral palsy, and if prompt treatment is provided, it might be possible to prevent the development of this disorder at an early stage.
One positive note about cerebral palsy is that although the magnitude of the problem varies over time, but the condition of the patient remains stable and the disease does not worsen over time.
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