Cerebral palsy
...g birth is an uncommon cause of cerebral palsy. Also infants can get cerebral palsy as a result of illness, head injury that results in subdural hematoma(a collection of blood on the surface of the brain), blood vessel injuries, and other causes. When most people hear of a person with cerebral palsy, they assume that they are severely mentally retarded. But a person with cerebral palsy can seem like a normal person. You can usually detect a child with cerebral palsy before the age of two, but in severe cases symptoms can appear as early as three months. But cerebral palsy is a non-progressive disease, which means that direct symptoms from the disease do not worsen. But, secondary conditions, like muscle spasticity, can get better over time, worsen, or stay the same. Cerebral palsy is not contagious. Cerebral palsy is not curable, but intentional CP can be prevented by not falling on your head. There are many ways to detect if a child has cerebral palsy. Children with cerebral palsy have a certain hand preference, or a hand that they use more often. You can hold an item in front of the child or on a certain side to see if he/she uses a certain hand more often. Usually, babies 12 months or younger do not show hand preferences, but a child with Cerebral palsy can develop a hand preference sooner, since one side of their body is stronger than the other. You can also run a test called a computed tomography, or CT, which is an imaging technique that uses X rays and a computer to create a picture of the brains tissues and structure. This test can be used to show brain areas that are underdeveloped, that have abnormal cysts (sacs that are filled with liquid) in the brain, or other problems. There is also a test called a Magnet Resonance Imaging, or MRI. It is similar to a CT but it uses a magnetic field and radio waves rather than an X ray. This test gives better pictures of abnormalities closer to the bone. There is also another test called ultrasonography. This test bounces sound waves off the brain to form a picture, like a sonogram. This is good for infants before the bones in their head harden and close. It is not as precise as the CT or MRI, but it is less expensive and requires less time. Some things mothers can do to lower the risk factors of their child getting Cerebral palsy, is to not smoke. Smoking is known to cause decrease in birth weight of the baby, and low birth weight is associated with Cerebral palsy. Also drinking alcoho...