What Causes Cerebral Palsy

A condition marked by impaired muscle coordination (spastic paralysis) and/or other disabilities, typically caused by damage to the brain before or at birth. Cerebral palsy is considered a neurological disorder caused by a non-progressive brain injury or malformation that occurs while the child’s brain is under development. It is a neurological disorder caused by either a brain injury or malfunction that occurs when a child’s brain is under development. It primarily affects the bodies’ movement and muscle coordination. Cerebral palsy primarily affects body movement and muscle coordination (Definition of cerebral palsy, n.d.)

Etiology

Cerebral palsy is caused by brain injury or brain malformation that occurs before, during, or immediately after

Another problem that can cause cerebral palsy is abnormal development of the brain. Anything that changes or affects the brains normal development and leads to the way the brain transmits information to the muscles. It can be affected by mutations in the genes that play a role in the brain’s development, an infection in the mother, or trauma/injury to the unborn child’s head. The third problem that can cause cerebral palsy is intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain) and stroke. Bleeding in the brain is very serious and dangerous because it can deprive the brain of blood, causing parts of the brain to die. Intracranial hemorrhage is usually seen in babies born prematurely, although it sometimes occurs in unborn babies after they have had a stroke. Some factors that can increase the chance of an unborn baby to have a stroke are: pre-existing weaknesses or abnormalities in the baby 's blood vessels or the mother’s placenta, high blood pressure in the

Since impairment results from damage to the brain, neuroimaging (pictures of the brain by noninvasive techniques, essentially) allows doctors to see the actual injury. The scans cannot predict the effect an injury will have on the child. There are three types of neuroimaging, the first being Cranial ultrasound/ultrasonography, which is painless and the least intrusive. The cranial ultrasound can only be used on an infant before the cranial bones are fully formed or after a fully formed skull is surgically opened, as the sound waves cannot pass through bones. It can also be used to rule out other conditions/infections, increasing/large head size and screen for build-up of excess cerebrospinal fluid in the brain (congenital