Sleeping Disorder in Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy affects a group of nervous system functions causing significant issues in their life. These neurological disorders contribute in many problems that a child has to face like not being able to walk, eat or even sleep. Cerebral palsy and sleep disorders go hand in hand with each other and are a key issue that both the parent and the affected child face. Not only this, the child will have other problems like seizures and motor development that can cause discomfort while sleeping.

Cerebral palsy usually affects infants or children below 2 years of age. Every parent looks forward to the time that the infant will fall asleep because it is only then that they can rest. Though children with cerebral palsy are same as the other children, whether they will sleep or not depends on the condition they are in. Children with cerebral palsy will have varying degree of sickness in them and it is unique with every child. The condition and problems that your child has may or may not be there in the other child. Similarly, whether your child will sleep at night or not depends on the condition of your child.

However, most of the times infants do sleep for 6-7 hours without interruption and if at all the child wakes up it will be because of hunger or wetness or bad position. The child will have to be attended to at these situations and if there is someone to respond to their needs, there won't be much problem. But as the child grows, there can be lot of sleeping disorders that will be noticed. Seizures being the most common neurological disorder that a child with cerebral palsy will face, the sleep cycle is usually disturbed. This needs adequate treatment since sleep plays an important role in any individual's daily activities. Hence, a diagnosis of the child will be required depending on which the treatment will be suggested.

In a normal sleep, a child will toss and turn throughout the night. For children with cerebral palsy, this movement can be painful due to their low motor skills and muscular issues. Physical therapy will be suggested to develop the motor skills and suitable medication is suggested to control seizures during sleep. If these are taken care of, a child has better chances of sleeping in the night without any sleep problems.

Sleeping disorders should be given due importance and treated by giving medications that include light sedatives or melatonin. Sleeping disorders can give rise to many other problems like depression, irritability, behavioral issues and health problems which will further complicate the life of a child. As the child grows, he has to be continually examined and treatment should be altered according to the changes in the child. With such cerebral palsy training, the child will learn to adapt to the different problems that can occur. In this way, the child will learn to lead a fairly normal life and with appropriate cerebral palsy treatment and devices, they can develop motor skills too. In this way, the child will sleep more peacefully!

What You Need to Know If Your Cerebral Palsy Child Suffers a Stroke

The image most people get when they hear about a stroke is that of an adult, usually older, with the resulting paralysis and cognitive issues. But strokes can also happen to children, infants and even the unborn fetus. In the United States, stroke ranks number 15 as the cause of death in children ages 0-14. Pediatric stroke also increases the risk that a child may develop cerebral palsy. If a child has suffered a stroke, with early detection and treatment, the chances for further damage and recurrence can be minimized.

In short, a stroke is the sudden death of brain cells in a localized area due to inadequate blood flow. There are two common types of strokes: hemorrhagic and ischemic. A hemorrhagic stroke is the bursting of a blood vessel within the brain. An ischemic stroke is the result of an obstruction or clot within an artery that inhibits proper blood flow to the brain. Children are equally susceptible to each type.

Heart conditions and blood disorders are known risk factors that can contribute to the increased susceptibility for stroke. For instance, children with sickle cell disease (SCD) are most at risk for ischemic stroke, usually occurring around the age 5. Children suffering from hemophilia or AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation) are more at risk for a hemorrhagic stroke. The greatest risk for pediatric stroke comes in the first year of child's life.

Children, especially those under the age of 3, most likely lack the communication skills required to let you know they need help. Therefore when it comes to infants, parents and other care givers must be especially vigilant to warning signs such as a seizure, as it could indicate a stroke. If a child is of the age where he or she is walking and or talking, the development of a slur, noticeable imbalance or blurred visions could be symptomatic of a stroke.

If a child has been diagnosed as having had a stroke, as with anything, the sooner treatment and therapy begins, the more favorable the results. There are medications that prevent blood clotting in children and surgeries aimed at reducing abnormal blood pressure within the brain. Dealing with stroke in a child is different than with an adult. Consult a pediatric neurosurgeon for the best course of action.

Hemiplegia (paralysis to one side of the body) and hemiparesis (a less severe weakened state to one side of the body) are common results of stroke to persons of all ages. In children, whose brain is still in development, stroke can result in the development of spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy. Spastic hemiplegia cerebral palsy results in the full or partial paralysis to one side of the body. Hyperactivity, delayed walking, unexplained aggressiveness, epilepsy, seizures, speech impairments are among the challenges that these children could face.

As with other forms of cerebral palsy, there are treatment options and physical therapies available to improve the child's issues of mobility and overall quality of life. Pediatric stroke can be a terrifying event in the life of a child and his family. While some may face long-term challenges, most go on to live rewarding and healthy lives.

Cerebral Palsy Diagnosis in India

There are huge number of children who affected with cerebral palsy across the world. There are many guardians are anxious how they can find or detect the cerebral palsy signs and cerebral palsy children in their children and they have question who can help them to diagnosis cerebral palsy condition is their child.  Then, i will tell you that there are many physicians who help those parents in cerebral palsy diagnosis.  Cerebral palsy is a condition or disorder occurs after some damages in brain before, during and after the birth of child. Injuries in the brain is the main causes of cerebral palsy disorder in children. In this damage of brain that part is affected which helps to control the movement of muscles. There are various factors involves in cerebral palsy disorder. Consumption of alcohol, drug and smoking by pregnant mother, infections during pregnancy, use force during birth of child, lack of oxygen during or just after the birth of child may caused the cerebral palsy disorder in child.     

Most of the parents are fail to find out the exact symptoms of cerebral palsy in their child.  Here is cerebral palsy awareness program is require to educate parents about their child or cerebral palsy. Accurate cerebral palsy diagnosis is only made using the help of cerebral palsy specialist of doctor. 

Some of the symptoms that parents should keenly watch out for in their child are lack of alertness or even lethargy when it comes to response. Irritability is another factor that needs to be kept in mind. Children with cerebral palsy tend to cry loudly with a voice level that is high-pitched and unusually abnormal. Trembling of the arms and legs is visible and they do have feeding habits that are poor. This happens because their throat muscles prevent them from swallowing and sucking with ease because these are also affected. The baby will prefer lying on one side only and would show no signs of turning to the other side. The child will experience body twitches, and even show signs of seizures.

The infant will show signs of changes in muscle tones like going from being extremely stiff to floppy. It is only by six months that the baby shows full signs of this disorder and it really becomes obvious to the mother that something is terribly wrong with her child.

It is advised that medical help be taken at once so that the disorder is diagnosed early but often than not doctors fail to make an early cerebral palsy diagnosis Most doctors are of the opinion that in event of brain damage in an infant it is believed that the brain being very tender it has the capacity to replace the damaged cells. Treatment for cerebral palsy is yet to make good grounds, as no single treatment for cure is available yet. Parents have to accept that their child has cerebral palsy and think of ways to help their child cope with it as they grow up.