Treatment on Cerebralpalsy
by: Jerald Chan
Physical therapy usually begins shortly after the diagnosis is made. Specific exercises are used in physical therapy to prevent the weakening or deterioration of muscles from disuse (disuse atrophy) and to avoid muscle contracture (muscles fixed in a rigid, abnormal position).
Contracture is one of the most common and serious complications of cerebral palsy and can seriously disrupt balance. Activities such as running and walking in child whose bones are growing stretch the body’s muscles and tendons. As a result, muscles generally grow at the same rate as the growing bones. In children with cerebral palsy, spasticity prevents the body’s muscles from stretching so that the muscles do not grow fast enough to keep up with the growing bones.
As children approach school age, physical therapy will help the child by improving his or her ability to sit, and to move independently or in a wheelchair. Many children benefit from occupational therapy which helps the child to develop such skills as feeding, dressing, or using the bathroom. Speech therapy works to identify specific difficulties a child with cerebral palsy may have or to help the child, if necessary to learn to use special communication devices.
Behavioral therapy uses psychological theory and techniques to assist the child with cerebral palsy with his or her physical, speech, or occupational therapy.
Vocational training, recreation programs and special education may be necessary as a child with cerebral palsy grows older. Adults may need assistance with living accommodations, and transportation.
Counseling for emotional and psychological challenges may be needed at any age, most often during adolescence.
DRUG THERAPY
Drug Therapy is necessary for those who have seizures associated with cerebral palsy, and may be effective in preventing seizures in many patients.
Drugs may be used to control spasticity for short periods of time. Generally the medications used most often are those which act as a general relaxant of the brain and body (diazepam); which block signals sent from the spinal cord to contract the muscles (baclofen); and which interfere with the process of muscle contraction (dantrolene). The use of drugs may cause serious side effects, such as drowsiness, and their long-term effects on the developing nervous system are largely unknown.
Drugs may help reduce abnormal movements in patients with athetoid cerebral palsy. The drugs most often prescribed are anticholinergics. These drugs work by reducing the activity of acetylcholine, a chemical messenger that helps some brain cells communicate, and that trigger muscle contraction.
What’s the treatment for cerebral palsy?
There is no cure for cerebral palsy, but various forms of therapy can help a person with the disorder to function more effectively. Comprehensive treatment of cerebral palsy requires a multidisciplinary team approach to help maximize and coordinate movement, minimize discomfort and pain, and prevent long-term complications. This team may include a neurologist, an orthopedist, and physical, speech and occupational therapists. In addition, social workers can provide
support to families and help to identify private and community resources. Most children with cerebral palsy benefit from early and regular physical and occupational therapy. Some children need braces and supports to help them stand and walk; surgical procedures, such as tendon releases or bone surgery (especially on hips and spine); and treatments to reduce spasticity.
Treatment for a child with CP depends on the severity, nature, and location of the impairment, as well as the associated problems the child has. Optimal care of a child with mild CP may involve regular interaction with only a physical therapist and occupational therapist, whereas care for a more severely affected child may include a speech-language therapist, special education teacher, adaptive sports therapist, nutritionist, orthopedic surgeon, and neurosurgeon. Since CP is not a progressive disorder, its symptoms will not worsen with time. Nonetheless, the way in which those symptoms affect the growing child will change over time, and may require new strategies for treatment, adaptation, and compensation.
Parents of a child newly diagnosed with CP are not likely to have the necessary expertise to coordinate the full range of care their child will need. Although knowledgeable and caring medical professionals are indispensable for developing a care plan, a potentially more important source of information and advice is other parents who have dealt with the same set of difficulties. Support groups of parents of physically or mentally impaired children can be significant sources of both practical advice and emotional support. Many cities have support groups that can be located through the United Cerebral Palsy Association or a local hospital or social service agency. Children with CP are also eligible for special education services. The diagnosing doctor should refer parents to the local school district for these services. Even children aged 0–3 years are eligible through “early intervention.”
About The Author
Jerald Chan writes for http://www.cerebralpalsycure.info where you can find out more about cerebralpalsy cure and other topics.
Singing helps stroke victims regain speech – Yahoo! Canada News
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Sat Feb 20, 9:53 PM
SAN DIEGO, California (AFP) – US scientists have restored speech to stroke victims by getting them to sing words instead of speaking them, a leading neurologist said.
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Gottfried Schlaug, an associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, showed a video of a patient with a stroke lesion on the left side of the brain who was asked to recite the words of a birthday song.
The patient could not comply, and merely repeated the letters N and O.
But when Schlaug asked him to sing the song while someone held the patient’s left hand and tapped it rhythmically, the words “happy birthday to you” came out clear as day.
“This patient has meaningless utterances when we ask him to say the words but as soon as we asked him to sing, he was able to speak the words,” Schlaug told reporters at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Another patient was taught to say, “I am thirsty” by singing, while another who suffered a large lesion on the left side of the brain and had tried various, ultimately unsuccessful therapies for several years to try to regain the power of speech was taught to say his address.
Images of the brains of patients with stroke lesions on the left side of the brain — which is typically used more for speech — show “functional and structural changes” on the right side of the brain after they have undergone this form of therapy through song, called Music Intonation Therapy (MIT).
Although medical literature has documented the phenomenon of people who are unable to speak being able to utter words when singing, Schlaug was the first to run a randomized clinical trial of MIT, with a view to gaining acceptance of the therapy in the medical field.
“You don’t need to be a trained singer to do this. We want to teach caregivers to do MIT because the treatment is very long and expensive,” said Schlaug.
MIT treatment can last for 14-16 years, and involves sessions of an hour and a half a day, five days a week.
But the benefits of the therapy are usually permanent, and two thirds of patients who have undergone MIT with Schlaug added more words to their spoken vocabulary after their therapy had ended than the 100 words they were “taught” to say in therapy.
Exactly how MIT works is not clear, but another study presented at the AAAS meeting by Aniruddh Patel of the Neurosciences Institute showed that grammatical processing of language and music overlaps in the brain.
Schlaug said music helps parts of the brain that usually do not engage with each other when a person speaks, to do so.
“Music-making is a multisensory experience that simultaneously activates several systems in the brain and links and loops them together. It engages many regions of the brain,” he said.
Tapping the patient’s hand gently on the table “might serve as a pacemaker for the motor articulatory system in the brain,” said Schlaug.
“Combining motor activity with sound might facilitate speech.”
In the United States, MIT could potentially help up to 70,000 nonverbal stroke victims to retrieve the ability to speak, according to the neurologist.
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