Cerebral Palsy and its History
Cerebral Palsy was first identified in 1860 by William Little who was a surgeon. The condition became known as Little's disease. It appears that the variant of Cerebral Palsy that he identified is what we new call Diplegia.
Diplegia, or paralysis of corresponding parts of both sides of the body, for instance paralysis of both arms or both legs, is the most common form that is found in premature babies. Little noticed that the babies who suffered from Little's disease were often premature or had had difficult births.
He was the first person to attribute the condition to brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation during birth. This assumption pervaded for over one hundred years until it was eventually discovered that most cases of cerebral palsy occurred in the womb.
The most common form of cerebral palsy that is caused by prenatal or perinatal l damage to the brain is known as congenital hemiplegia, or paralysis of only one side of the body. It is generally thought that the brain damage that causes congenital hemiplegia occurs during the third pregnancy semester, which is after week 24.
Only a small proportion of cerebral palsy sufferers get their condition from lack of oxygen during birth, and only a small portion of these arise from mistakes or clinical negligence.
It is also possible for cerebral palsy to arise well after birth and can be caused by physical trauma such as being shaken as a baby or to infections of the brain tissue or lining.
Although babies are born with cerebral palsy it is not always noticeable at first and it is only when the baby shows some abnormalities during early stage development that the condition will be diagnosed.
Typically a baby will not be able to lift itself up as babies normally do, or it might find difficulties in crawling. Sometimes there will be early onset of tremors, or unusual stiffness or floppiness of limbs. Sometimes it can be years before symptoms manifest themselves.
Although there are no ways of reversing the brain damage that causes cerebral palsy, there are a great many therapies available that will help ameliorate the worst of the symptoms.
Article Source: HealthSnare.com
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Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 Time: 1:52 AM
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