Understanding cerebral palsy is the first step towards preventing it. Cerebral palsy is a condition when muscle movements and posture is affected (palsy) due to brain damage (cerebral). Unlike chicken pox or measles, cerebral palsy is not a disease but it is a condition. It is not communicable and although there is no cure it is not progressive, as brain damage does not increase over time.

Around a hundred and fifty years ago an English surgeon named William Little first documented and collected information on a peculiar condition that affected children in their early years leading to stiff, spastic muscles in their legs and to a lesser degree their arms. Little found that this condition did not worsen over the years nor did it improve. This condition, known for many years as Little’s disease, is today known as spastic diplegia, one of several types of cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy is a very diverse and complex condition with different people being affected differently. Each specific case is, therefore, as individualistic as the individual patients themselves. It is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination.

Depending on which areas of the brain have been damaged, one or more of the following may occur: muscle tightness or spasticity; involuntary movement; disturbance in gait (walk) or mobility, difficulty in swallowing and problems with speech. In addition, the following symptoms are sometimes associated with cerebral palsy: abnormal sensation and perception; impairment of sight, hearing or speech; seizures; and/or mental retardation. Other problems that may arise are difficulties in feeding, bladder and bowel control, problems with breathing because of postural difficulties, skin disorders because of pressure sores, and learning disabilities.

Despite the pain and suffering that cerebral palsy patients and their caregivers have to bear, the most heartening thing about this disorder is that today there are many measures that can be taken to try and prevent its onset. Tests and prenatal care can prepare a woman and alert her when possible causes arise.

Pregnant women are tested routinely for the Rh factor and, if Rh negative, they can be immunized within 72 hours after the birth (or after the pregnancy terminates) and thereby prevent adverse consequences of blood incompatibility in a subsequent pregnancy. If the woman has not been immunized, the consequences of blood incompatibility in the newborn can be prevented by exchange transfusion in the baby. If a newborn baby has jaundice, this can be treated with phytotherapy (light therapy), which breaks down the bilirubin around the brain. Immunization against measles for all women who have not had measles and are susceptible to becoming pregnant is an essential preventative measure.

Other preventative programs as well as facts about cerebral palsy are directed towards the prevention of prematurity; reducing the exposure of pregnant women to virus and other infections; recognition and treatment of bacterial infection of the maternal reproductive and urinary tracts; avoiding unnecessary exposure to X-rays, drugs and medications; and the control of diabetes, anemia and nutritional deficiencies. Of great importance is optimal well being prior to conception, adequate prenatal care, and protecting infants from accidents or injury.

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