Why I chose This Topic I decided to go with this topic because it is something very close to my heart. My grandfather-- my mom’s dad-- was born with cerebral palsy, so I can honestly say I have plenty of experience with it. He was born premature and, in those days, not to mention in Chile, there was very little they could do about the condition. My great grandmother was told he would die in a couple of weeks, if not days, when he was born. Those weeks turned to months, and those months turned to years, and he lived till he was in his 80s. He was a father of 5, grandfather of 7, great grandfather of 6-- needless to say the doctors were a bit off in their calculations. …show more content…
This is a condition that affects people’s ability to move their bodies. Cerebral palsy cannot be cured, as it is caused by damage to the brain either during pregnancy or a little after birth. It can also occur in premature babies who are not given the proper treatment or have other kinds of complications that lead to eventual brain damage. This is a permanent, lifelong condition that can affect the people who have it in many different ways. Some people may suffer from difficulty controlling their body movement, muscles, and may have motor coordination difficulties, reflex, balance, and posture problems. Often time’s muscles become atrophied since they are not in use, or are in very little use. People can also suffer from muscle spasms, and may have visual, learning, cognitive, speech, and hearing impairments as well ("Cerebral Palsy Help: Causes and Symptoms," …show more content…
Rh blood group incompatibility between mother and child, severe jaundice during infancy, and severe oxygen deprivation or head trauma during birth can all be causes. Infections during pregnancy means that the nervous system of the fetus can suffer some damage. Rubella and toxoplasmosis-- which is found in cat feces-- can cause infections and prevent the fetus from developing a healthy nervous system, leading to cerebral paralysis. Jaundice is a blood/liver disorder that can lead to complications if its condition is severe. It is the excess of bilirubin in the blood, which is usually filtered out by the liver. One of its more common symptoms is the yellowish tint of the skin caused by the liver’s inability to filtrate the bilirubin. It is not a very dangerous condition and it is quite common for babies to suffer from jaundice for a couple of days after birth ("Cerebral Palsy Help: Causes and Symptoms," n.d.). However, if the severity of the jaundice is high, it can eventually lead to brain cell damage. The Rh blood group incompatibility means that the mother’s blood creates antibodies that kill the baby’s blood cells and can lead to severe Jaundice. Bacterial meningitis or viral encephalitis can also lead to cerebral palsy and are the main causes of the condition later on in life ("Cerebral Palsy Types and Causes,"