Cerebral Palsy

Hi Hermina Friends
Cerebral palsy is a disease that causes disturbances in the muscles, movement and coordination of the body. This condition can occur during pregnancy, during labor, or in the first year after birth.
Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years. In general, cerebral palsy causes movement disorders associated with exaggerated reflexes, flexibility or flexibility of the limbs and trunk, unusual postures, involuntary movements, unsteady gait, or a combination of these.
People with cerebral palsy can have problems swallowing and commonly have an eye muscle imbalance, in which the eyes don't focus on the same object. They also have reduced range of motion in various joints of their body due to muscle stiffness.
The causes of cerebral palsy and their effect on function vary widely. Some people with cerebral palsy can walk normally while others need assistance. Some people have intellectual disabilities, but others don't. Epilepsy, blindness or deafness may also occur. Cerebral palsy is a lifelong disorder. There is no cure, but treatment can help improve body function.
Risk factors for cerebral palsy
There are several factors that can increase the risk of a baby getting cerebral palsy, namely:
• The birth of twins or more, especially if one baby survives and the other baby dies at birth
• Low birth weight babies, ie less than 2.5 kilograms
• Premature birth, namely birth at less than 37 weeks' gestation
• Bad habits in the mother during pregnancy, such as smoking, consuming alcoholic beverages, or using drugs

Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy is a disease that causes disturbances in the brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, intellect, hearing, vision, and speech. In children or infants affected by cerebral palsy, a number of symptoms that can arise include:
Movement and coordination
Symptoms of cerebral palsy related to movement and coordination are:
• Tendency to use one side of the body, such as dragging one leg when crawling, or reaching for something with only one hand
• Difficulty making precise movements, for example when picking up an object
• An abnormal gait, such as tiptoeing, crossing like scissors, or with legs wide apart
• Muscles that are stiff or even very weak
• Joints stiff and not fully open (joint contractures)
• Tremor of the face, arms or other limbs
• Uncontrolled writhing movements
Ability to speak and eat
Disorders of the muscles around the face due to cerebral palsy can cause sufferers to have difficulty speaking and eating. Symptoms that may be seen as a result of this condition are:
• Speech disorder (dysarthria)
• Difficulty in swallowing (dysphagia)
• Difficulty in sucking and chewing
• Constant drooling
Growth and development
People with cerebral palsy generally experience disturbances in their growth and development. Symptoms that may appear include:
• Inhibited growth of limbs so that their size will be smaller than normal size
• Delayed development of motor skills, such as sitting, rolling over, or crawling
• Learning disorders
• Intellectual impairment
Nervous system
Damage to the brain can cause disturbances in the nervous system, such as:
• Seizures (epilepsy)
• Impaired vision
•	Hearing disorders
• Less responsive to touch or pain
• Mental health conditions, such as emotional and behavioral disorders
• Inability to hold urine (urinary incontinence)
Cerebral palsy symptoms can be mild to severe. The types of symptoms that appear depend on the part of the brain that is affected. These symptoms usually appear in the first 2 years of a child's age and can be permanent.