Thanks to the folks at Burke & Eisner for this important information about cerebral palsy.

More than 500,000 Americans have cerebral palsy, a type of brain damage that impairs movement and causes mental retardation. Cerebral palsy is one of the most common causes of childhood disability. Every year, between two and four of every 1,000 live births in the U.S. are affected.

The origins of cerebral palsy are rooted in birth injuries, congenital factors, or injury and illness within the first two to three years of life. Children with cerebral palsy may exhibit stiffness and rigidity in movement, abnormal muscle tone, cognitive impairment, problems with speech and seizures.

Complications during the birth can cause brain damage in the infant and give rise to CP and its host of symptoms. With proper and timely care these injuries are usually preventable. Problems include:

Difficult labor: The trauma of a prolonged birth and oxygen deprivation for the fetus increases risk. The failure to perform a timely C-section when the fetus is under stress can lead to brain damage as can the excessive use of vacuum extraction.

Maternal infections: If the mother has a strep infection, for example, and this reaches the baby’s brain during birth, brain damage and cerebral palsy are potential consequences.

Breech birth: When the baby emerges from the birth canal feet, knees, or buttocks first, the potential for brain damage increases.

Problems during pregnancy, many of which are treatable or preventable, can increase the risk for CP:

Infections: Rubella (German measles), cytomegalovirus (a herpes-type virus), and toxoplasmosis (an infection caused by a parasite that can be carried in cat feces or inadequately cooked meat) all have the potential of causing fetal brain damage.

Uterine or birth canal infections: These conditions may cause inflammation of the placenta, which can damage the brain of the fetus and lead to CP.

Hormones: Use of estrogen or thyroid hormones during pregnancy have been linked to cerebral palsy.

Drugs and alcohol: Illegal drugs, alcohol and some prescription medications, such as methotrexate, are suspected in fetal brain damage leading to CP.

Other factors: Bleeding in the uterus in the third trimester, large amounts of protein in the urine and high blood sugar levels also may contribute to babies with palsy.

Cerebral palsy also can result from brain damage after birth. Serious illness or injury leading to a lack of oxygen to the brain can cause CP in infants. Untreated jaundice in newborns is another possible cause of CP. Babies born to teen mothers or women older than 35 carry a higher risk of having CP.

Evidence of cerebral palsy may not emerge immediately after birth. Parents and caregivers may see the first signs of a problem when the child fails to meet development milestones for rolling over, crawling, or walking.

Most people with CP have spastic cerebral palsy, which can affect either the whole body or specific regions and cause muscle stiffness and an imbalanced posture. About 75 percent of people with CP develop some degree of mental impairment. More than half of this group has mild to severe mental retardation. The remainder can function normally but have some type of learning disability.