Cerebral palsy can be referred as a neurological indication, associated with loss of body movements and lack of muscle coordination. The disease can affect children at their infancy or early childhood due to variety of reasons, such as oxygen deprivation at birth, high blood pressure of a mother during pregnancy, faulty labor, etc. It has been evident so far that children with severe form of Cerebral Palsy are born with the disease and symptoms are evident then and there; however for kids with milder form of the disability, it is quite possible that symptoms may not be exhibited for months. Thus, it is very crucial as parents to understand that their child is missing any one of the developmental milestone; and if it is so, they should immediately inform their concerns to pediatrics.
Experts as well agree that
early detection of progressive diseases, like cerebral palsy can help them in
early diagnosis; engaging a child in early detection programmes for better
outcome. Although, confirming cerebral palsy can involve many steps; monitoring
the key milestones should be at the forefront of priorities, such as:
·
Abnormal
Muscular tone: - Normal muscular tone, allows a child’s limb to bend and
contract without difficulty; supporting it to sit, stand and maintain posture
without assistance. Whereas a child with CP may demonstrate increased and/or
decreased muscle tones, abnormally bad movements, improper motion due to fused
joints.
·
Movement,
coordination and control: - A child with CP may exhibit hypertonic, fluctuating,
scissoring of the legs, poor balance and lack of coordination, disturbances in
gait as well posture, etc. Thus, rolling, sitting, crawling, standing, etc. to
assess significant milestones.
·
Fine motor
functions: - Fine motor functions comprises execution of precise movements such
as grasping small objects, gentle settlement of objects, turning pages of the
book, etc.
·
Oral motor
functions: - If a child is having difficulty in using lips, tongue and jaw
indicating a cause of concern, such as speaking, swallowing, feeding, chewing,
drooling, etc.
·
Balance: - The
impaired gross motor function can have severe impact on child’s ability to sit
and maintain a balance, indicating it to be a cause of concern. Thus, if a
child is using both hands for support, while sitting or needing assistance for
performing task that requires balance and walking with abnormal posture; it
should be immediately noted as alarming indication.
·
Reflexes: -
Certain abnormal reflexes can be noted as warning signs such as excessive reflex
responses, lack of protective reflexes, abnormal posture reflexes, etc.
Some of the associative
conditions can as well be visibly expressed at birth such as sensory
impairments, seizures, learning disabilities, etc. This should as well be noted
that as there is no diagnostic test available confirming cerebral palsy, ruling
out the possibilities is the only way to confirm.
Other than this some of the
combinational tests can be done to support the diagnosis early, such as:
·
Assessment of
reproductive health of a woman
·
Assessment of
paternal health records
·
Assessment of
new born screens conducted at birth
·
Checking out
APGAR score
·
Assessment of
baby birth, developmental as well as growth records
·
Checking out
physical performance of a baby
·
Neuroimaging
tests analysis to detect developmental abnormality
·
Electroencephalography
performance check to analyze nervous system function
·
Evaluating
checklists pertaining to developmental milestones
Early
treatment usually has the greatest chance of improving a child’s condition. Conventionally only supportive treatments were
present to temporarily relieve the pain or symptoms. Additionally there are
many support services available for the effective management of some activities
and programs, such as day care services or nursing programs. Although the
damage in terms of death of neurons cannot be halted or reversed with latest
technological revolution such as stem cells treatment for cerebral palsy; the
progression can be delayed.
At Advancells, they have been providing assistance to many children for coping up
with the problems and to find out permanent solution. Advancells are exploiting
the most potent Stem Cells isolated from patients own Bone Marrow or Adipose
tissue or may be both depending upon the assessment..
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