Is brain retardation cerebral palsy?

Every parent hopes that their child is smart and talented, but because each child is different, the characteristics of each child are also different during the process of development and growth. Among them, some children have faster brain development, so they show "smart" characteristics early; while some children have slow brain development, which leads to various behavioral delays. Does this make some people doubt whether slow brain development is cerebral palsy?

It is not surprising that brain retardation occurs in children, and parents are advised not to be too anxious. So, is brain retardation cerebral palsy? Experts point out that brain development and cerebral palsy are actually two different concepts with different characteristics, so they cannot be confused.

Is brain retardation cerebral palsy?

Is slow development of the brain cerebral palsy? Slow development of the brain is not cerebral palsy. From the definition: developmental delay refers to the phenomenon of slowing down or abnormal sequence in the growth and development process. Cerebral palsy refers to a syndrome caused by non-progressive brain damage due to certain reasons before birth, during birth, or in early infancy. The main manifestations are central movement disorders and abnormal postures, which may be accompanied by mental retardation and convulsions, abnormal behavior, sensory disorders and other abnormalities. Although clinical symptoms may change with age and brain maturation, the lesions in the central nervous system remain unchanged.

Due to lack of medical knowledge, many people believe that children with slow brain development are stupid and seem to have dementia. Is slow development a sign of cerebral palsy? Is there a connection between slow development and cerebral palsy? Experts have provided answers to the above questions:

From the symptoms point of view: both developmental delay and cerebral palsy have symptoms of mental retardation, but this does not mean that developmental delay is cerebral palsy? Developmental delay is often manifested in many aspects, mostly physical development, language development, motor development and intellectual development, but it can also be prominent in one aspect. If the measurements of height, weight, and head circumference are all low, it means that the child's development is unilaterally slow, and you should consult a pediatrician in detail to determine whether further examination is necessary. If only one of the indicators of height, weight or head circumference is low, it means that the child may have partial developmental delay. Further examination of cranial nerves or endocrine system can be performed to understand whether the child's growth and development has been affected.

The early manifestations of cerebral palsy mainly include difficulty in breastfeeding, such as the child cannot suck after birth, sucks weakly or refuses to suck, or becomes tired and weak after sucking; few spontaneous movements, low muscle tone, a firm body, and a weak state; the whole body is stiff, easy to stand upright, with increased muscle tone, often jumping out of the cradle, with the head dorsiflexed, occasionally tilted to one side, and both lower limbs stiff and stretched; easy to be startled, twitching, screaming or irritable; abnormal postures, such as adduction and internal rotation of the upper limbs, and clenched fists.

From the perspective of causes: the main causes of slow development are genetic factors, maternal factors: maternal malnutrition, emotional abnormalities, use of drugs, exposure to radiation and environment, etc., can have a great impact on the growth and development of the fetus, chronic diseases: such as chronic infection, chronic liver disease, malnutrition, congenital heart disease, etc. can lead to slow growth and development of children. The main causes of cerebral palsy are congenital abnormalities, cerebral ischemia and hypoxia, umbilical cord blood flow blockage, abnormal delivery process, etc. Developmental delay is not cerebral palsy, but their causes may overlap.

Medicine shows that a child's brain developmental delay does not mean cerebral palsy, so people who have such misunderstandings should correct them in time. Of course, if you find that your child has obvious brain development disorders, it is best to go to the hospital for a check-up to see if he or she has mental retardation, growth retardation, or cerebral palsy.