Category Archives: Cerebral Palsy
New Stimulation Technique Reduces Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy involves disturbances of the brain and nervous system functions that can often cause disturbances with motor functions, including spastic movements. In Sydney, Australia, doctors are performing a clinical trial with deep brain stimulation to treat these spastic movements. Though deep brain stimulation is not a cure for this aspect of cerebral palsy, the technique can make daily tasks much easier for people with cerebral palsy. For example, doctors diagnosed Martha Siede with cerebral palsy as a baby, and she has been unable to eat or dress without help from someone else, according to Nambucca Guardian. Now, at age 36, Siede states that she notices a big difference with her involuntary movements, in that they are not as often as before she began treatment with deep brain stimulation. The procedure includes doctors placing a pacemaker in the patient’s chest, with two wires that emit electric pulses to a specific…
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Posted in Cerebral Palsy Tagged cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy attorney, deep brain stimulation Comments Off on New Stimulation Technique Reduces Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
Settlement to Child with Cerebral Palsy Upheld
Christian Arroyo, an eight-year-old quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, is happy and loving, but he requires constant care. Christian’s problems resulted from a common neonatal blood infection, easily treatable with the use of antibiotics. However, doctors and nurses at Erie Family Health Center, a federal government-funded clinic, left him untreated for more than 12 hours, which led to brain damage. Christian’s parents won a $29.1 million lawsuit last year due to medical negligence, but the government appealed the decision on the grounds of an untimely claim, since the Arroyos did not file their claim until two years later. The U.S. Court of Appeals recently upheld the 2010 verdict, noting that the doctors never informed the family that antibiotics would have prevented brain damage. Instead, the Arroyos discovered the negligence when their second son, born a year later, received immediate treatment with antibiotics for the same problem. The family’s lawyer explained that…
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Posted in Birth Trauma, Cerebral Palsy Tagged birth traumas, blood infection, cerebral palsy, cerebral palsy lawyer Comments Off on Settlement to Child with Cerebral Palsy Upheld
Hypothermia Used to Prevent Newborn Brain Damage
New studies show that inducing hypothermia, or cooling patients down with a cold blanket, eases damaging effects resulting from emergencies including oxygen loss. In particular, advanced neonatal intensive care units are using hypothermia to treat newborns experiencing restricted blood flow during delivery. According to the Los Angeles Times, restricted blood flow causes oxygen deprivation, and newborns who experience this oxygen deprivation may suffer brain damage and cerebral palsy. In a 2005 study, doctors cooled 102 infants and compared them to 106 babies kept warm after experiencing potential brain damage. Fifty-six percent of infants who were cooled survived with little or no disability compared to 38 percent of infants kept warm. Amanda Reynolds gave birth to Avery in 2010, blue from a lack of oxygen. Doctors wrapped the infant in a cold blanket to induce hypothermia. She spent more than six weeks in the hospital, but now she is developmentally on…
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Posted in Birth Trauma, Brain Damage, Cerebral Palsy Tagged birth trauma lawyer, cerebral palsy, hypothermia, oxygen deprivation Comments Off on Hypothermia Used to Prevent Newborn Brain Damage
