Is Cerebral Palsy a disease and is it hereditary?

~~Cerebral palsy is not a disease, but a condition that is not contagious in any form. A parent or parents who have cerebral palsy cannot pass it to their childen

What is the Definition of Cerebral Palsy? Cerebral palsy is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movements and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, usually occurring during fetal development, or during infancy. It can also occur before, during or shortly following birth.

"Cerebral" refers to the brain and "Palsy" to a disorder of movement or posture. If someone has cerebral palsy it means that because of an injury to their brain (cerebral) they are not able to use some of the muscles in their body in the normal way (palsy). Children with cerebral palsy may not be able to walk, talk, eat or play in the same ways as most other children.

Cerebral palsy is neither progressive nor communicable. It is also not "curable" in the accepted sense, although education, therapy and applied technology can help persons with cerebral palsy lead productive lives.

It is important to know that cerebral palsy is not a disease or illness. It isn't contagious and it doesn't get worse. Children who have cerebral palsy will have it all their lives.

Cerebral palsy is characterized by an inability to fully control motor function, particularly muscle control and coordination. Depending on which areas of the brain have been damaged.

CP is not always caused by lack of oxigen at birth.... many things can cause CP.

Causes of Cerebral Palsy

Why does your child have cerebral palsy? The simplest answer to this question is because your child has brain damage. This leads naturally into the second question: Why does your child have brain damage? There are many possible answers to this second question, because there are many reasons children can sustain brain damage. Your doctor must carefully review your child's health history and conduct a variety of medical and neurological tests to help determine the cause. Cerebral palsy is caused by an injury to the brain before, during, or shortly after birth. In many cases, no one knows for sure what caused the brain injury or what may have been done to prevent the injury. A large number of factors which can injure the developing brain may produce cerebral palsy. In general, however, there are two problems that can cause cerebral palsy:

failure of the brain to develop properly (developmental brain malformation)

neurological damage to the child's developing brain

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What is cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of motor problems and physical disorders related to a brain injury. CP causes uncontrolled reflex movements and muscle tightness (spasticity) that may affect a part, a side, or the entire body, with varying severity. Several conditions, such as mental retardation, seizures, or vision and hearing problems, are often also associated with cerebral palsy.

What causes cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is caused by a brain injury or problem that occurs during fetal growth, birth, or within the first 2 to 3 years of life. CP can result from:

Complications related to prematurity.

Being deprived of blood, oxygen, or other nutrients before or during birth.

A serious head injury.

Developing a serious infection that can affect the brain, such as meningitis.

Some conditions that are passed from parent to child (genetic conditions) that are linked to abnormal brain development.

In many cases, the exact cause of the injury is not known.

Yes it is a disease that affects muscle functioning. It is a hereditary condition meaning it results from "bad genes." It is not one that you can "catch" like a cold or the flu. It is one of those conditions that is present at birth. It's not something that's going to develop as you get older really.

No. It is a condition caused by lack of oxygen to the brain during birthing.

Why would you ask a question you already know the answer to?

That's like saying one thing but doing another. Oh, wait....

Choose Somebody as the best answer. She is right on the money!

http://gait.aidi.udel.edu/res695/homepage/pd_ortho... pasting this into your url box...it might help you out...this site should have all of the inffo you need