Ataxic Cerebral Palsy

When you say cerebral, it refers to the brain and the word palsy refers to the weakness or poor control over the muscles. Contradicting to what a lot of people think of cerebral palsy, what they do not know is that it is not a disease but rather a term that is used to describe a number of disorders that is caused by a defect to a single or multiple areas on the brain that happens before an infants birth or during their early life.

Cerebral palsy is a condition that does not evolve into something that is more severe since the brain damage that causes it is a one off development. And though the brain cells that are affected will not be regenerated and healed, other brain cells however will continue to work and develop. This means that the intelligence of the person who suffers from the condition will not decrease.

Here are the common causes of cerebral palsy

• Not enough oxygen reaches the infant during the time of pregnancy and at birth
• If the mother suffered from a maternal infection such as German measles
• Premature birth of the baby or being underweight at birth
• Incompatibility within the blood group of the infant and the mother
• Severe stress after giving birth
• Injuries to the head or severe illness during the early life of the infant
• Genetic disorders

The Signs and Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy

Some of the common symptoms of cerebral palsy are listed below

• Shakiness in moving around preventing the patient to do normal day to day chores
• Slowness in moving around which leads to taking a normal task to be finished for a long time
• Difficulty with balancing
• Weakness of the muscles
• Stiffness of the movements

There are some people that suffer from cerebral palsy that only experiences mild symptoms in just a single limb, while other patients may have their whole body affected.

The Different Types of Cerebral Palsy

Spastic Cerebral Palsy This is the most common type of cerebral palsy that is observed among patients. Around 70 to 80 percent of people cerebral palsy patients have this condition and they tend to be hypertonic. Being hypertonic would mean that they an increased tension in their muscles and decreased ability to stretch their muscles.
Athetoid Cerebral Palsy People who suffer from this type of cerebral palsy have mixed increased and decreased in the tone of their muscles. The ability and their posture while sitting down and standing up are affected and they will be able to experience involuntary movements of their legs, hands arms and possible facial grimaces.

Ataxic cerebral palsy only affects around 5 to 10 percent of people with cerebral palsy. The symptoms of ataxic cerebral palsy would usually affect the patients arms, legs and torsos. People who suffer from this condition would tend to have a wide-based walk and could be very shaky and unsteady while walking.

Mixed Cerebral Palsy Cases of mixed cerebral palsy only affects approximately 10% of patients with cerebral palsy. The most common combination of cerebral palsy is athetoid and spastic cerebral palsy. However, there are still instances that people can suffer from all three types of cerebral palsy, namely ataxic, athetoid and spastic cerebral palsy.

Treatments for Cerebral Palsy

Currently, there is no cure for cerebral palsy however the main treatment for the condition is physical therapy. Physical therapy helps by strengthening the muscle groups and developing the patients motor skills.

Patients of the condition can also opt to have TES or Therapeutic Electrical Stimulation while they sleep to increase their muscle fiber. People who suffer from mild cerebral palsy may live independently, while those patients with severe cases of cerebral palsy may need to find a shower chair, wall bars, walkers and bed lifts.