The term cerebral palsy (CP) was originally coined more than a century ago and loosely translates as "brain paralysis." However, a precise definition has remained elusive because cerebral palsy is not a single diagnosis but an "umbrella" term describing nonprogressive brain lesions involving motor or postural abnormalities that are noted during early development. cerebral palsy has been described as follows:

A group of disorders of the development of movement and posture causing activity limitations that are attributed to non-progressive disturbances that occurred in the developing fetal or infant brain. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy are often accompanied by disturbances of sensation, cognition, communication, perception, and/or behavior and/or a seizure disorder.

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.

CP Cerebral Palsy and RESEARCH

CP Cerebral Palsy - Many times when a child is a few years old and severely disabled, parents begin to wonder whether treatment should have been less aggressive than it was. Given the tremendous uncertainties in outcome, physicians and parents usually choose to treat newborns and preserve life with the hope that the outcome will be a good one.