Houston Birth Injury Lawyer
Birth injury cases are complex and need an expert to handle them. Houston birth injury lawyers are experienced and proficient to fight such complex cases.
Cerebral Palsy (CP)
Cerebral Palsy is a medical term for a state which is caused by damage to the area of brain called cerebrum or due to defective development of the brain. Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain that is responsible for controlling motor skills, voluntary muscle activity and sensations .Damage to the cerebrum affects the brain’s ability to control the movement and posture. It also results in failure of nerve functions in different parts of the body.
Cerebral Palsy is untreatable but possibly does not deteriorate with time. The symptoms of Cerebral Palsy are generally visible before the age of two and it causes difficulty in walking, moving and balancing of the body and other involuntary movements. It is caused mainly due to certain infections at the time of pregnancy and due to jaundice. The lack of oxygen to brain also results in Cerebral Palsy. It is believed that lifetime care of a child with cerebral palsy costs more than 3,000,000 dollars.
Signs and indications of Cerebral Palsy
A number of visible symptoms and signs help doctors to diagnose cerebral palsy. These signs and symptoms can be very vague and not as obvious to the untrained eye or they can be very noticeable ones. Since this disease is caused by damage to the brain its effect also are visible in different forms.
- Strange way of crawling
- Muscles that are either under or over developed.
- Disorganized control of head.
- Hindrances in motor development.
- Greater dexterity or use of one hand over the other.
- Problems in feeding and sucking
- Lying in awkward positions.
- Late crawling, walking.
- Ataxia.
- Overall delayed development
- Spastic paralysis
- Difficulty in perception.
- Motor impairment
- Lack of ability to control bowels and bladder.
- Athetosis
- Difficulty in speech, hearing or vision.
- Difficulty in breathing
- Peg teeth
- Not well developed sense of touch and pain.
- Convulsions
- Problems in swallowing
- Limited motion
This disease affects children in different ways .In some simple cases there is mild unease shown in movement whereas in complex cases the child is entirely dependant and needs proper medical attention for all of his or her life.
Kinds of Cerebral Palsy
- Ataxic: This type of Cerebral Palsy shows the signs of imbalance, poor coordination, poor motor control and shaky way of walking. This kind of CP affects up to 10% of patients.
- Mixed Type: It is a kind of CP in which more than one kind of Cerebral Palsy is present in the patient.
- Spastic: It is characterized by presence of stiff and contracted muscles .It affects around up to 80% of patients.
- Athetoid or Dyskinetic: In this type of Cerebral Palsy patient shows uncontrolled movement of legs, hands, arms or feet. It affects up to 20% of patients.
Cure
Cerebral Palsy does not have any cure currently and is a lifelong disease. Such children require specialized services for their education, care and counseling. The cost involved in taking care of such children is very high and the specific treatment given to a child is decided only after analyzing the degrees and severity of the disease.
Such children generally need help of the following:
- Speech Pathologist
- Case Manager
- Pediatrician
- Pediatric Psychiatrist
- Pediatric neurologist
- Orthopedist
- Psychologist
- Occupational therapist
- Clinical social worker
- Physical therapist
Other Birth injuries:
- Spinal cord trauma
- Fractures
- Intracranial hemorrhage
- Cranial nerve trauma
- Cephalohematoma
- Skin irritation
- Paralysis of the face
- Depressed skull fracture
- Impermanent body paralysis
- Soft tissues injuries
- Group B strep infections