However, other health issues, known as associate conditions and co-mitigating factors, are not caused by the same brain injury, and may change over time. Depending on severity and management practices, these conditions may change over time and can have an impact — for better or worse — on overall health status and life expectancy. Conditions found commonly with Cerebral Palsy include cognitive impairment, feeding difficulties, seizure activity, vision impairment, and hearing impairment.
With advancement of technology and science, more babies are indeed surviving at birth, when previously they would not, but some have severe outcomes. Many reasons for premature death exist. The majority of children with Cerebral Palsy are diagnosed within the first years of life.
For instance, a child with Cerebral Palsy may have oral motor dysfunction, meaning facial muscles are impaired and hence, chewing and swallowing are more difficult.
This, in itself, is not necessarily a life-threatening condition. If the child chokes or aspirates due to the swallowing difficulty, however, they are at greater risk for contracting pneumonia and infections. None of these, or any other factors, guarantee a shortened life expectancy - instead they call for proper management of health conditions. Children with severe Cerebral Palsy and a number of co-mitigating factors have been known to live a near-normal life span.
Every situation is unique and dependent upon many factors. Healthcare professionals, parents and caregivers may play the most important role in reducing risk factors for diminished life expectancy. Parents and caregivers spend the most time with the child, know his or her everyday needs, and seek options on how best to fulfill the needs. The use of a care plan can help parents and caregivers identify goals, implement treatment plans, and maintain records.
A child with Cerebral Palsy may require a higher level of care than a child without impairments, but the child with disability may still lead a very long, happy, and high-quality life. Parents are advised, whenever possible, to embrace life with Cerebral Palsy in it, and to seek opportunities for assistance and learning. Over 50 million individuals with disability were living in the United States in Part of raising a child with Cerebral Palsy is teaching the child, and learning from him or her in return.
Life expectancy is a calculation of an average survival time of a certain population of individuals with similar conditions. It is an estimate based on historical and scientific data. It is not the actual time an individual will survive. Any individual can survive much longer, or much shorter, than a life expectancy estimation. Repeated or prolonged seizures may lead to injury or severe lack of oxygen.
With the aid of a neurologist, parents can learn how to manage and properly medicate seizure activity. Medications must be monitored and changed often. The manner of weaning from one medication and replacing with another is extremely important with some medications. Care must be taken to prevent adverse drug interventions, especially when new medications are prescribed by other doctors. Intellectual capability has a strong relationship to the life expectancy of a child with Cerebral Palsy.
Even in children who do not have Cerebral Palsy, diminished intellectual function will shorten life expectancy calculation. Cognitive factors that contribute to diminished life span include:. It is unclear whether reduced cognitive function itself is the cause of diminished life expectancy, or the sign of a more severe level of impairment. Impaired visual function is linked to diminished life span in children with Cerebral Palsy.
Current studies are focused on determining whether the actual visual impairment is responsible for shortened life expectancy, or whether visual impairment is indicative of a separate brain injury that may be life threatening in itself. Some believe visual impairment may accompany severe cases of Cerebral Palsy, which combined might indicate a risk to life expectancy.
Respiratory functioning, as well as swallowing and chewing difficulties, is a factor in reduced life expectancy for children with Cerebral Palsy. Respiratory distress makes it difficult for the body to function and can lead to life-threatening heart conditions. Severity and frequency of respiratory infection is a significant factor.
Difficulty in swallowing and feeding can lead to the inhalation of food particles. This can cause infection in the lungs or pneumonia, which are also of concern. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Any information you provide will only be used in accordance with our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Disclaimer. Do not provide confidential information. No information provided by you will be treated as confidential unless and until 1 you request legal services and 2 an attorney-client relationship has been established by an Engagement Letter provided by us and signed by you.
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Eight Factors Affecting Life Span Predicting how life span is altered by a medical condition is nearly impossible, although it is of great concern to parents. They are: Number of impairments and key disabilities Severity level Mobility restrictions Feeding difficulties Seizures Cognitive functioning Visual acuity Respiratory functioning These are detailed below. Number of impairments and key disabilities An increase in the number of impairments has an adverse effect on life expectancy calculations for individuals living with Cerebral Palsy.
Feeding difficulties Children who are able to self-feed are more likely to experience a full life than children who need assistance with feeding. Seizures Children who experience seizures, especially severe and frequent seizures, in addition to Cerebral Palsy are at risk for diminished life expectancy when compared to children who are without seizure.
People used to think that CP was mainly caused by lack of oxygen during the birth process. Now, scientists think that this causes only a small number of CP cases. CP related to abnormal development of the brain or damage that happened before or during birth is called congenital CP.
In many cases, the specific cause is not known. Some things increase the chance that a child will have CP. These are called risk factors. It is important to remember that having a risk factor does not mean that a child will have CP. Some of the risk factors for congenital CP are:.
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