Cerebral Palsy can be inherited
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Children's cerebral palsy (cerebral palsy) was previously considered not a hereditary disease, but recent studies have refuted this theory. From recent works of scientists, it is clear that the probability of developing cerebral palsy in children, one of whose parents is suffering from this disease, is higher.
Children's cerebral palsy leads to pathological disorders of skeletal muscles, which in time reduce mobility and cause quite severe pain. In addition to problems with motor activity, there may also be problems with hearing, vision, speech, convulsions, mental abnormalities.
The main reason for the development of cerebral palsy is the abnormal development or death of a certain area of the brain in a child.
Currently, the main risks of development of infantile cerebral palsy include the incorrect course of pregnancy and childbirth, but this topic has not been studied enough and experts continue to work in this area.
A team of specialists from Norway studied hereditary patterns in the risks of developing cerebral palsy among relatives. Scientists used data from more than two million Norwegians born between 1967 and 2002, among whom more than three thousand cases of cerebral palsy were detected, and the likelihood of developing cerebral palsy was higher among twins (if the disease develops in one of the twins, the risks for the second increased 15 times).
Specialists studied family members of the first, second and third line of kinship.
Also, specialists were able to establish that in a family where there is a child with cerebral palsy, the probability of occurrence of the disease in subsequent children increased significantly. If one of the parents has cerebral palsy, the risk of having a child with the same diagnosis increased 6.5 times. In addition, the authors of the study noted that the results of the studies did not depend on gender.
Equal chances of developing the disease in twins, both of one sex, and of different, indicate that heredity can be one of the many causes of cerebral palsy.
Specialists noted that this study is of limited nature, since not all people diagnosed with cerebral palsy decide to create a family and have a baby.
Children's cerebral palsy is often confused with childhood paralysis, which occurs as a result of the transferred poliomyelitis.
The disease was first diagnosed and described by the British doctor Little in the early 19th century (later, the disease was called Little disease). According to the British doctor, the cause of the development of infantile cerebral palsy was severe childbirth, during which the child experiences severe oxygen starvation.
But later, Sigmund Freud, also exploring this disease, suggested that the development of cerebral palsy provokes damage in the structure of the central nervous system that occurs during the development of the fetus in the womb of the mother. The theory of Freud received official confirmation in the 80s of the twentieth century.
In addition to this, Freud developed the classification of forms of cerebral palsy, which was used as a basis by modern specialists.
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