Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is characterized by a collection of enduring impairments in movement and posture development, stemming from injury sustained in the developing fetal and neonatal brain, resulting in non-progressive activity restrictions. These impairments in CP are not progressive but may worsen with age. CP, frequently accompanied by cognitive, sensory, behavioral and communication challenges, is chiefly distinguished by motor function impairment. Damage to the developing brain due to prenatal, perinatal, or postnatal factors affects the musculoskeletal, neurological, and sensory-perceptual systems, leading to disorders in muscle tone, postural control, movements, activities, cognitive functions, communication, and behavior. To determine the origin and severity of the problem in CP, evaluate changes occurring at different times in infants and children, and predict potential prognosis, classification is necessary. Classification helps monitor the incidence and characteristics of the disease, educates families, and contributes to therapists and doctors in rehabilitation programs. Generally, CP classification can be based on the affected body regions, clinical type according to predominant motor symptoms, and severity of involvement. Over time, the epidemiology of CP has undergone changes. The incidence of CP was lower in the past. But thanks to advances in medical technology and neonatal intensive care units, even babies born very prematurely have begun to survive, leading to increased cases of CP. Later, with improvements in prenatal and postnatal care, the incidence of CP decreased again. Several factors have the potential to damage the central nervous system during early stages of development. These risk factors can be categorized as preconception, prenatal, perinatal, neonatal, and infant periods. Problems seen in CP include muscle tone problems, musculoskeletal deformities, selective motor control loss, muscle weakness, postural control disorders, balance problems, gait abnormalities, epilepsy, sensory problems, mental problems, oral motor dysfunction, visual problems, hearing and speech problems, feeding problems, sensory perception disorders, pain, emotional and behavioral disorders, sleep problems, respiratory problems and bladder-bowel problems.