Cerebral Palsy

Because preterm birth is clearly associated with an increased risk of developing Cerebral Palsy, these experts set out to explore risk factors for developing this form of paralysis in premature children. The researches hypothesized that the cerebral damage either resulted from: 1.) a lack of blood supply while in the uterus, which led to preterm birthing, and the damaging of the white matter, 2.) complications in the birthing resulting in the injury, or 3.) before, during, of after birth, when the brain is vulnerable to ischaemic events the brain was damaged.

The investigators select babies that were born in Oxforshire or West Berkshire between 1984 and 1990, that developed for less than 32 weeks, survived discharge from the hospital, but had developed Cerebral Palsy. 59 cases were tested and 234 controls were used (premature babies that didn't develop the disorder).

The researchers studied statistics and conditions that could have resulted in an increased risk of developing Cerebral Palsy. They studied situations such as cardiovascular, respiratory, systemic, metabolic, and neurological in the preterm babies both with Cerebral Palsy and without. It turned out that several cardiovascular, respiratory, and systemic factors were coupled with a greater risk of developing the defect.

They study also consist of infections and the time of obtaining the brain injury as leading factors. When maternal infection occurs, the risk of Cerebral Palsy seemed to increase, but this result could not be considered fact, as infection only affected a very small part of the study population. Furthermore, the researchers found that although prenatal complications were common, only a small portion of the infants had actual evidence of cerebral damage; this suggests that neonatal complications play a big role in the development of the condition.

In conclusion, the researchers decided Cerebral Palsy has multiple risk factors. However, a large chunk of the cases that were studied developed Cerebral Palsy as a result of an occurrence during the neonatal period. Due to that fact, it seems that a reduction in the risk of developing Cerebral Palsy among premature babies can only be caused by the management of babies during the development, birth, and after one month of birthing. New neonatal interventions to try and stop the development of the disease could quite possibly decrease the frequency of Cerebral Palsy, yet it could also risk