Can cerebral palsy in premature babies be cured?

Considering the current living standards, the phenomenon of cerebral palsy in premature babies is already very common. So, can cerebral palsy in premature babies be cured? I believe this is the most concerned issue for many mothers with children with cerebral palsy. Let us first understand the issue of cerebral palsy in premature babies and see if there is any good treatment for cerebral palsy in premature babies and whether cerebral palsy in premature babies can really be cured!

1. Overview of cerebral palsy in premature infants

Cerebral palsy of premature infants refers to a syndrome caused by non-progressive brain damage that occurs from conception to the neonatal or infant period. The main manifestations are central movement disorders and abnormal postures, and there are often varying degrees of intellectual disabilities, vision, hearing, language, behavior, emotion, and psychological disorders. Among premature infants, the high-risk factors for cerebral palsy are also related to cardiopulmonary diseases, sepsis, hyponatremia, maternal nutrition and infection. There are many causes of cerebral palsy in premature infants. Any harmful factors in the three months before birth that affect the normal formation of the fetal brain can lead to cerebral palsy.

2. Pathological changes

The basic pathological changes are deterioration and death, softening, fibrosis, atrophy, widening of cerebral grooves, loss of white matter, decrease in the number of nerve cells, delayed nerve myelination, etc., which lead to brain conduction dysfunction.

3. Main symptoms

(1) Motor lag and reduced active movement: Normal children can lift their heads when lying prone and kick their legs when lying supine at 3 months old, but children with cerebral palsy rarely have these movements.

Normal children can actively reach out and touch objects when they are 4 to 5 months old, but children with cerebral palsy have very little upper limb movement.

(2) Abnormal muscle tone: Children with cerebral palsy have lower or higher muscle tone than normal children.

(3) Abnormal posture: Children with cerebral palsy often have their heads tilted back, fall backward when sitting at 6 months old, squeeze their legs together, and have difficulty in changing diapers.

(4) Abnormal reflexes: Normal children will have a hug reflex when their head suddenly lowers (like a startled expression). This reflex usually disappears after 6 months, but it does not disappear in children with cerebral palsy. There are various other reflex abnormalities.

IV. Main hazards

1. Motor dysfunction: The ability of motor self-control is poor. In severe cases, the hands cannot grasp things, the feet cannot walk, and some cannot even turn over, sit up, stand, chew and swallow normally.

2. Posture disorders: various abnormal postures and poor posture stability. If the baby still cannot hold the head upright at 3 months old, and is accustomed to leaning to one side, or shaking left and right, front and back, etc. It is not easy to open your fist when washing your hands.

3. Intellectual disability: About 1/4 of the children have normal intelligence, about 1/2 have mild or moderate intellectual disability, and about 1/4 have severe intellectual disability.

4. Language disorders: difficulty in language expression, unclear pronunciation or stuttering and other symptoms.

5. Visual and auditory impairment: The most common impairments are esotropia and difficulty in distinguishing the rhythm of sounds.

6. Tooth development disorders: loose teeth, easy to break, oral and facial dysfunction, facial and tongue muscles sometimes spasm or uncoordinated contraction, difficulty chewing and swallowing, difficulty closing the mouth, and drooling, etc.

The above is the complete answer to the question of whether cerebral palsy in premature babies can be cured. Generally speaking, this is also a congenital defect and cannot be cured in the later stage. There is no medicine to treat this type of cerebral palsy. You can only control the child's condition through daily exercise and learning. Train the child's mobility and language skills so that he can live independently.