What is Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and muscle coordination. “Cerebral” refers to the brain and “palsy” to a disorder of movement or posture. CP is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain usually occurring during fetal development, before, during or shortly after birth, or during infancy. CP is a developmental disability, not a disease, and it is not hereditary, contagious or progressive. In the United States, more people have cerebral palsy than any other developmental disability, over 700,000 to date.
Types of problems that can lead to brain injuries include:
- Lack of oxygen before, during or after birth.
- Bleeding in the brain.
- Toxic injuries or poisoning from alcohol or drugs.
- Head trauma resulting from birth, falls, car accidents, or abuse.
- Severe jaundice, very low glucose levels or other metabolic disorders.
- Infections of the nervous system such as encephalitis or meningitis.