Cerebral palsy is a rare congenital disorder that is again in the news after it led to the death of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s 26-year-old son Zain. He was born with cerebral palsy on August 13, 1996. Zain would require a wheelchair and be reliant on others for everything. Cerebral palsy is a very serious medical condition and many people are not aware of it.
What is cerebral palsy?
While cerebral means related to the brain, palsy means weakness or problems with using the muscles. Hence, it is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture.
It has been widely viewed as the result of oxygen deprivation while the baby was in the womb. Cerebral palsy is sometimes linked to birth-related factors such as prematurity. Recent research from Boston Children’s Hospital found that as many as 1 in 4 had an underlying genetic condition.
The disease generally causes unusual postures, spastic limbs, impaired movement, involuntary reflexes and movement, difficulty in walking, etc. The situation can be even worse depending on the severity of the disease.
It has been noticed that people with cerebral palsy have great difficulty in swallowing, eye muscle imbalance, focusing on distant/nearby objects, and in worst cases combination of all of these.
Treatment
There is no cure as of now for cerebral palsy. However, long-term treatment can aid in this medical condition. Doctors recommend speech and language therapy, physical therapy, drugs and sometimes surgery depending on the severity of the case.