Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic disorders impairing control of movement. The disorders appear in the first few years of life and generally do not worsen over time.

Description of Cerebral Palsy
These disorders are not caused by problems in the muscles or nerves outside the brain. Instead, faulty development or damage to motor areas in the brain disrupts the brain’s ability to adequately control movement and posture.

Cerebral palsy is classified into four broad categories – spastic, athetoid, ataxic, and mixed forms – according to the type of movement disturbance.
1. Athetoid cerebral palsy or dyskinetic cerebral palsy is the form characterized by uncontrolled, slow, and writhing movements. These abnormal movements usually affect the hands, feet, arms, or legs and, in some cases, the muscles of the face and tongue, causing grimacing or drooling.

2. Mixed forms of cerebral palsy exist in that it is common for patients to have more than one form of cerebral palsy. The most common combination includes spasticity and athetoid movements but other combinations are possible.