Details

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) describes a group of conditions that impact movement and muscle coordination/control. It is caused by damage to the nervous system, which typically happens during pregnancy as the fetus is developing, before/during/shortly after birth or during the first three years of a child’s life. The damage impairs the brain’s ability to effectively control movement and posture. Cerebral palsy is not progressive and does not generally get worse with time. There is no cure for cerebral palsy although, in many cases, it can be effectively managed.

Because cerebral palsy is a group of disorders there is no one single cause. It can be present at birth (congenital cerebral palsy) or occur during the first few years of a child’s life (acquired cerebral palsy).

Congenital cerebral palsy is more common, although it may not be detected for months following birth. In most cases, the cause is much more difficult to determine. Scientists have, however, identified some specific events that happen during pregnancy or around the time of birth which may result in congenital cerebral palsy, including:

  • German measles, rubella, cytomegalovirus or toxoplasmosis during pregnancy
  • Placental and other maternal infections
  • Jaundice
  • Rh incompatibility
  • A severe shortage of oxygen to the brain during labour and/or delivery
  • Stroke in the fetus or newborn baby

Some of the common causes of acquired cerebral palsy include:

  • Head injury, often due to a car accident, a fall or child abuse
  • Brain infections, including bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis


Symptoms
The signs of cerebral palsy are usually apparent before a child reaches three years of age. It is often parents who first notice that their child is not reaching normal developmental milestones. Early indicators include:

  • Your child is slow learning to roll over

 

腦麻痺（CP）描述了影響運動和肌肉協調/控制的問題。這是由於神經系統的損害造成的，這種損害通常發生在胎兒發育期間，出生前/出生後不久或出生後不久或兒童生長的頭三年期間。這種損害損害了大腦有效控制運動和姿勢的能力。腦性癱瘓不是漸進性的，並且通常不會隨著時間而惡化。儘管在大多數情況下，它可以得到有效的管理，但對腦麻痺沒有治愈方法。

因為腦麻痺是一組疾病，所以沒有一個單一的原因。它可以在出生時出現（先天性腦癱）或在兒童生長的頭幾年發生（後天性腦癱）。

先天性腦癱更為常見，但在出生後數月內可能檢測不到。在大多數情況下，原因要難以確定。但是，科學家已經確定了一些在懷孕期間或出生前後可能導致先天性腦癱的具體事件，其中包括：

  • 德國麻疹，風疹，鉅細胞病毒或弓形蟲病在懷孕期間
  • 胎盤和其他母親感染
  • 黃疸
  • Rh不容合
  • 在分娩和/或分娩過程中，大腦嚴重缺氧
  • 胎兒或剛出生的嬰兒中風


獲得性腦癱的一些常見原因包括：

  • 頭部受傷，通常是由於車禍，跌倒或虐待兒童造成的
  • 腦部感染，包括細菌性腦膜炎或病毒性腦炎

 

症狀


在小孩達到三歲之前，腦癱症狀通常很明顯。通常父母首先註意到他們的孩子沒有達到正常的發育里程碑。早期指標包括：

兒童學習翻身速度很慢