Life Expectancy In Symptoms Cerebral Palsy Patients
Article Source: HealthSnare.com
Determining the life expectancy for someone with Cerebral Palsy is not an easy task. Indeed, there are many determining factors in play that can determine how long a person might live with this condition.
Cerebral Palsy is a term that is used to describe the developmental motor skills caused by a lesion or disorder in the brain. The brain injury, or disorder is considered static, however the developmental issues stemming from the palsy change over time. Cerebral palsy occurs in either prenatal or perinatal periods brought on by a brain injury during that time period.
The main factors in determining life expectancy in children born with Cerebral Palsy are their motor skills and feeding. Children that have good motor skills and can feed themselves have a life expectancy not much less than a normal child. In other words, life expectancy depends greatly upon the severity of the condition.
Cerebral Palsy does also occur in older children and adults, usually brought on by severe brain injuries due to accidents or other tragedy. Again, as noted earlier, the life expectancy hinges greatly upon the severity of the damage to the brain. For example, a young woman at 30 years of age that cannot lift her head and has to be fed by others can expect to live around 20 years . This time frame can be reduced by around 5 years if she has to be tube fed. A man of 45 years that can roll and sit but cannot walk and can feed himself might live another 23 years. Another example of a young man, age 15 that can lift his head and chest but is tube fed might live another 16 years. These are all just averages and a person with later on-set Cerebral Palsy may live more, or less than the average. (Statistics taken from a 1998 study of life expectancy in adults with cerebral palsy).
In reality, it is not the Cerebral Palsy that affects the life expectancy in humans. The severity of the Palsy that limits movement and keeps the patient in bed, or in a prone position opens the door to other problems, such as Pneumonia. Other serious respiratory diseases also develop, due to lack of movement, and lead to very serious illness and premature death. Bed sores can also become a problem which can become infected and lead to serious issues. Posture plays an important role, as well. The body's organs become out of place and begin to function in a less than normal way, even toxifying the body. If the patient cannot feed themselves or is tube fed, this may determine life expectancy, as well. In other words, the body may not be getting all the proper nutrition it needs to function properly.
About the Author
Article Submitted By:
ten
Html View
Total views: 5
Word Count: 470
Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 Time: 9:45 PM
Publish/Share this article
To use this article on your site click here to get the HTML code |Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.
Rating: Not yet rated
