People with cerebral palsy are prone to epilepsy and mental retardation d. Ribs: Malnutrition as a result of vomiting and neglect leads to growth problems in this group. Dr. Hisham bin Muhammad al-Dhalaan, consultant pediatrician at the Security Forces Hospital .... The causes of cerebral palsy are many, and congenital brain deformity and brain cell death are among the most common causes. Al-Dhilan in the first episode of three episodes to the causes, types, and symptoms of this disease and to other issues through this dialogue: What is cerebral or cerebral palsy? It is a medical term given to a group of chronic diseases that lead to inability to move or inability to control body movements, and its symptoms appear in the first years of a child''s life, and usually this disability does not get worse with age. The main problem is the inability of the brain. The reasons for the occurrence of cerebral palsy are many, and congenital malformation in the brain and death of brain cells are among the most common causes. Symptoms of cerebral palsy vary in severity, with some affected children. They have a specific difficulty in fine movements such as writing or using scissors, some have difficulty maintaining balance while sitting or walking, and others have involuntary movements that prevent them from performing any function and in severe cases they are unable to move at all. It is known that symptoms of cerebral palsy differ from a person. To another, and it may change over time in the same patient, as the same symptoms may vary in severity from time to time, depending on the patient''s psychological and health mood, and since the main problem is in the brain, the other parts Of the brain that is not responsible for the motor system, it may also be affected, such as vision, hearing and memory, and therefore children with cerebral palsy are also susceptible to other diseases such as epilepsy and mental retardation. Contrary to popular belief, people with cerebral palsy are not completely disabled, so many can walk without assistance, even if it has a way Cerebral palsy is considered a non-contagious disability and is not transmitted by heredity from one generation to another, and nowadays it cannot be cured, unfortunately, but there are many ways and means to help the patient and his family To adapt to life and alleviate disease severity. How many people with cerebral palsy? There is no accurate statistic at the global or local level, but it is estimated that the number of people with cerebral palsy in the United States of America is more than half a million, and despite medical progress in treating and preventing some cases, the number of people with cerebral palsy is considered stable or increased slightly over the past thirty years This is due to the fact that a greater number of premature and weakened children live after birth (thanks to God, and then thanks to the significant qualitative and quantitative improvement in the intensive care of newborns), but unfortunately, many of these children are vulnerable to defects in the nervous system. What are the types of cerebral palsy? In the year 1860 AD, the first case of cerebral palsy (or double paralysis stiffness), which is a stiffness in the muscles of the feet, and today cerebral palsy is classified into four categories according to the type of movement affected and the affected organ. 1 stiffness or cramping. 2 peristaltic movements of a continuous pendulum. 3 Irregular shaking and grogginess. 4 A mixture of several types, and we will deal with these types in detail. The first type: stiff cerebral palsy: it is the most common in 70 80% of cases, in which the muscles are stiff and shrinking constantly, and this type of cerebral palsy is divided into several types according to the affected parties, such as hemiplegia or quadriplegia, The severity of stiffness varies between complete paralysis and weakness. The second type: peripheral paralysis (chorea) 10 20% of cases are characterized by slow, upturned, involuntary movements that affect the hands and feet, and sometimes the face and throat, which leads to frowning or involuntary smiles, and these movements are exacerbated when sick and tired And it disappears during sleep, and usually this type of brain shape results from an increase in bile in the blood to high and dangerous levels. The third type: ataxic cerebral panic paralysis, which is rare, affects 5 to 10% and affects the balance center in the brain, which leads to loss of balance and inability to maintain accuracy The movement of the hands, meaning that the patient has difficulty picking up objects or small objects, and the patient’s steps are abnormal swinging, and these patients face difficulties in performing fast, accurate movements such as writing, speaking and linking buttons, and sometimes they are very difficult. The effect on the patient''s ability to sit or move, due to their having a voluntary movement tremor, which is the shaking and trembling of the patient''s hand when trying to do a precise task, and this tremor increases with the increase in focus and thus the operation fails completely. Widespread because the majority of patients have symptoms such as stiffness, tremors, ataxia, and peristaltic movements that may jerk ... "What are the diseases that accompany cerebral palsy? Many patients with cerebral palsy do not have any other health problems, but it is known that if the cerebral injury is so severe that it caused an injury to the musculoskeletal system, other areas of the brain are subject to the same injury, so there is a group of health problems that may occur associated with cerebral palsy, such as Epilepsy, mental retardation, behavior problems, impaired hearing and vision, hyperactivity and lack of attention)
Here we will address some of these problems.
1 Mental retardation: one third of patients with cerebral palsy have a normal IQ, and the second third have mild mental retardation, meaning they are able to live on their own and form a family of their own. As for the last third of patients with cerebral palsy, they have moderate to severe mental retardation, usually seen in children with With cerebral palsy, quadripartite stiffness that affects the feet, hands and all parts of the body because it reflects the complete brain injury.
2 Epilepsy: 30-50% of children with cerebral palsy have convulsions and epilepsy, which is a disorder and an increase in the electrical waves emanating from the brain, and when the seizure recurs without a clear cause, it is called epilepsy.
3 Growth problems: Failure of physical and mental development is common among children with moderate and severe cerebral palsy, and failure to thrive is a general medical term used by doctors who suffer from underweight and mental growth failure despite having an adequate amount of food and this problem appears in the infant with underweight And in children, such as short stature, delayed puberty or early puberty. It is known that the main cause of growth problems in these children is malnutrition due to excessive vomiting or neglect and lack of adequate food for them. And it has been observed that the affected organ is a result of cerebral palsy. Such as: (hand or foot) is small compared to the other healthy side. The reason for this lack of growth is unknown, so it has nothing to do with nutrition or use of this organ.
4 Blindness: Many children with cerebral palsy suffer from strabismus, and this problem causes double vision in adults, but children cope with the strabismus by neglecting the brain of one of the eyes and then afflicting the lazy eye and consequently disturbance in vision functions, especially with regard to the triple dimension (to estimate distance) and these problems It can be prevented by using eyeglasses or surgical intervention. Some children with paraplegia have hemiplegia, which is a deficiency in the theoretical field, meaning the person’s inability to see objects on the blind or paralyzed side, and this is caused by damage to the nerve fibers that connect between the eye and the brain, For example, when a child is paralyzed on the right side of the body with half blindness, he cannot see the objects that lie to his right, even though he has a natural vision because the ability of vision on the right side of both eyes is lost.
5 Deaf and dumb: a person cannot speak if he does not hear and is conscious..and deafness, i.e. hearing loss, is more common among those with cerebral palsy and there are many types of deafness: a. Central deafness: that is, the child hears sounds but does not mean anything to him. C: That is, the sound cannot be delivered through the ear to the brain, which is a result of ear infections and perforation of the eardrum. C. Neurocognitive deafness: due to damage to the auditory nerve and the hearing centers in the brain. D mixture between these types.
6 Loss of the senses of touch and sensation: Some children with cerebral palsy lose the sense of touch and the sense of pain, and some of them lose the ability to distinguish between shapes and objects through touch.
