Cerebral palsy (CP) is not a disease. CP is a term used to describe a group of chronic conditions affecting body movement and muscle coordination. It is caused by damage to one or more specific areas of the brain, either during fetal development, before, during, or shortly after birth, or during infancy.
These disorders are not caused by problems in the muscles or nerves. Instead, faulty development or damage to motor areas in the brain disrupt the brain's ability to adequately control movement and posture.
CP itself is not progressive (i.e. brain damage does not get worse); however, secondary conditions, such as muscle spasticity, can develop which may get better over time, get worse, or remain the same.
CP is not communicable. And although it is not "curable" in the usual sense, training and therapy can help improve function.
Physicians classify cerebral palsy into three principal categories—spastic, athetoid, and ataxic,—according to the type of movement disturbance. A fourth category can be a mixture of these types for any individual.
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