Characteristics of and Prevention Methods for Cerebral Palsy: Bhooma Aravamuthan, MD, DPhil

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"From a medical intervention perspective, there are things like steroids, antenatal steroids given to mom, magnesium given to mom in the setting of preterm delivery, and vital sign control in babies that are born in the NICU. One of our biggest interventions for reducing the risk of CP is cooling."

Cerebral palsy (CP), a group of disorders that impact an individual’s ability to move and maintain balance, is the most common motor disability in children. CP is typically diagnosed in the first or second year after birth, with some diagnoses occurring a few years later. From birth to 5 years of age, children are expected to reach movement milestones such as rolling over, sitting up, standing, and walking; however, not achieving these can be a sign of CP.

Bhooma Aravamuthan, MD, DPhil, assistant professor of pediatric neurology, Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, has been a leader within the CP community, both as a clinician and a researcher. While there is no current method of preventing CP, she believes that the focus should shift more towards social interventions and empowering patients and their families with the tools they need to live as comfortably as possible.

NeurologyLive® recently sat down with Aravamuthan to discuss some of the general facts about CP, how it develops, and who might be at an increased risk. She also provided insight on the ways of preventing CP, or at least fully mitigating the effects of it.