Read the text. Cerebral palsy is a series of permanent neurological disorders that show up in infancy and early childhood

Cerebral palsy is a series of permanent neurological disorders that show up in infancy and early childhood. They affect muscle coordination and body movement. Abnormalities in the sections of the brain that control muscle movements cause cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy can be treated, but it cannot be cured. Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years. Around 1, 200 to 1, 500 preschool-aged children are diagnosed per year with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is one of the most common congenital (existing before birth or at birth) disorders of childhood. In the 1860s, an English surgeon named William Little wrote the first medical descriptions of a puzzling disorder that struck children in the first years of life, causing stiff, spastic muscles in their legs and, to a lesser degree, in their arms. These children had difficulty grasping objects, crawling, and walking. Unlike most other diseases that affect the brain, this condition didn’t get worse as the children grew older. Instead, their disabilities stayed relatively the same.

The disorder, which was called Little's disease for many years, is now known as spastic diplegia. It is one of a group of disorders that affect the control of movement and are gathered under the umbrella term of “cerebral palsy.”

Because it seemed that many of Little’s patients were born following premature or complicated deliveries, the doctor suggested their condition was the result of oxygen deprivation during birth, which damaged sensitive brain tissues controlling movement. But in 1897, the famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud disagreed, noting that children with cerebral palsy often were not born after difficult deliveries, and many children who did have difficult births and seemed ill soon after birth did not prove to have cerebral palsy. Freud suggested that the disorder might have roots earlier in life, during the brain's development in the womb. " Difficult birth, in certain cases, " he wrote, " is merely a symptom of deeper effects that influence the development of the fetus."

Advances in imaging technology, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have given researchers a way to look into the brains of infants and children with cerebral palsy and discover unique structural malformations and areas of damage.

The three types of CP are:

1. spastic cerebral palsy — causes stiffness and movement difficulties

2. athetoid cerebral palsy — leads to involuntary and uncontrolled movements

3. ataxic cerebral palsy — causes a disturbed sense of balance and depth perception

The specific forms of cerebral palsy are determined by the extent, type, and location of a child’s abnormalities. Doctors classify cerebral palsy according to the type of movement disorder involved -- spastic (stiff muscles), athetoid (writhing movements), or ataxic (poor balance and coordination) -- plus any additional symptoms. Doctors will often describe the type of cerebral palsy a child has based on which limbs are affected. The names of the most common forms of cerebral palsy use Latin terms to describe the location or number of affected limbs, combined with the words for weakened (paresis) or paralyzed (plegia). For example, hemiparesis (hemi = half) indicates that only one side of the body is weakened. Quadriplegia (quad = four) means all four limbs are paralyzed.

Cerebral palsy affects muscle control and coordination, so even simple movements — like standing still — are difficult. Other vital functions that also involve motor skills and muscles — such as breathing, bladder and bowel control, eating, and learning — may also be affected when a child has CP.

Kids with CP have varying degrees of physical disability. Some have only mild impairment, while others are severely affected.

Associated medical problems may include visual impairment or blindness, hearing loss, food aspiration (the sucking of food or fluid into the lungs), gastroesophageal reflux (spitting up), speech problems, drooling, tooth decay, sleep disorders, osteoporosis (weak, brittle bones), and behavior problems.

Seizures, speech and communication problems, and mental retardation are also common among kids with the severe form of CP. Many have problems that may require ongoing therapy and devices such as braces or wheelchairs.

Different kinds of therapy can help them achieve maximum potential in growth and development. As soon as CP is diagnosed, a child can begin therapy for movement, learning, speech, hearing, and social and emotional development.

In addition, medication, surgery, or braces can help improve muscle function. Surgery can help repair dislocated hips and scoliosis (curvature of the spine), which are common problems associated with CP. Severe muscle spasticity can sometimes be helped with medication taken by mouth or administered via a pump (the baclofen pump) implanted under the skin.

A team of professionals will work together to meet their medical needs. That team may include therapists, psychologists, educators, nurses, and social workers.

 

III. 1. Answer the questions:

1) What are the causes of cerebral palsy?

2) When do the signs and symptoms appear?

3) What difficulties do these children have?

4) Cerebral palsy affects muscle control and coordination, doesn’t it?

5) Are there three or five types of CP?

6) Can surgery help repair dislocated hips and scoliosis?

2. Make the plan of the text. Here are the titles in the wrong order. Make the order correct:

1) the types of cerebral palsy

2) epidemiology of CP

3) the definition of permanent neurological disorder

4) associated medical problems

5) different kinds of therapy

 

3. Say whether the following statements are true or false:

1) Advances in imaging technology have given researchers a way to look into the brains of children and discover unique structural malformations and areas of damage.

2) In the 1870s, William Little wrote the first medical descriptions of a puzzling disorder.

3) Unlike most other diseases that affect the brain, this condition got worse as the children grew older.

4) A team of professionals may include teachers, doctors, parents.

5) Cerebral palsy affects muscle control and coordination.

6) Simple movements are easy.