"I am a little girl, but the world is big for me"! Today, let's get to know the cerebral palsy community again

Review expert: Peng Guoqiu, deputy chief physician of the Fourth Medical Center of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

With the release of the movie "Little Me", the protagonist Liu Chunhe came into our view. He is a cerebral palsy patient. Through the story of the protagonist Liu Chunhe, the movie not only shows the tenacity and perseverance of cerebral palsy patients, but also provides us with a window to deeply understand the disease of cerebral palsy.

When it comes to cerebral palsy, many people think of it as mental retardation, inability to walk, inability to take care of themselves... These prejudices exist in the minds of many people. The word "cerebral palsy" seems like a curse that imprisons a person's life and makes people shudder.

But is this really the case? Where does cerebral palsy come from? Do they really have intellectual problems? Is it possible to fully recover? How should we treat the "Liu Chunhe" in real life?

Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy (CP), also known as CP, is a group of persistent central movement and posture development disorders and activity limitation syndromes caused by non-progressive damage to the developing fetal or infant brain, often accompanied by sensory, perceptual, cognitive, communication and behavioral disorders, as well as epilepsy and secondary muscle and skeletal problems.

Where does cerebral palsy come from?

1. Cerebral palsy caused by various reasons during the fetal period to the perinatal period accounts for about 85% of cerebral palsy cases, such as: premature infants, low birth weight infants, neonatal asphyxia, abnormal neonatal jaundice and bilirubin encephalopathy, infection, maternal factors (advanced age, multiple pregnancy, gestational hypertension, diabetes, etc.), paternal factors (long-term exposure to harmful chemicals and physical factors), vascular factors (cerebrovascular malformations), central nervous system development disorders (hydrocephalus, brain hernia, congenital malformations), hereditary cerebral palsy (consanguineous marriage), etc.

2. After the perinatal period, cerebral palsy is caused by damage during brain development, accounting for about 15% of cerebral palsy cases, such as neonatal convulsions, respiratory distress syndrome, aspiration pneumonia, sepsis, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, intracranial hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, bilirubin encephalopathy, brain infection, hypoglycemia, and brain trauma.

Core manifestations of cerebral palsy patients

Patients with cerebral palsy often have persistent movement disorders and abnormal postures, including: movement dysfunction, mainly motor development retardation in the early stages; persistent abnormal posture and movement patterns; abnormal reflex development; abnormal muscle tone and strength; and secondary injuries that occur with age.

In addition, patients with cerebral palsy may also have visual and auditory impairments, language disorders, swallowing disorders, autism spectrum disorders and psychological and behavioral abnormalities, epilepsy, intellectual disabilities, learning difficulties, eating difficulties and gastroesophageal reflux, drooling and tooth and gum problems, rectal and bladder problems, hip subluxation/dislocation, spinal deformity, bone torsion, muscle/Achilles tendon contracture, etc.

Can cerebral palsy be completely cured?

Generally speaking, the medical community recognizes that cerebral palsy is incurable, and there is no standard single treatment for cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy requires multidisciplinary systematic treatment, and each treatment method can solve part of the problem, but it is difficult to solve all the problems of cerebral palsy patients.

Sun Yongan, chief physician of the Department of Neurology at Peking University First Hospital, said in an interview with reporters that nerve damage is generally caused by congenital development or acquired damage. If cerebral palsy is caused by poor nerve development in the embryo, it is still difficult to completely cure it even if there is some growth compensation in the future.

Is cerebral palsy an intellectual disability?

Regarding "cerebral palsy", people often subjectively equate people with these symptoms with intellectual disabilities.

In the film, although Liu Chunhe has physical limitations, his intelligence and emotional world are extremely rich. Liu Chunhe's college entrance examination score exceeded the first-tier line by more than 80 points, and his memory is also very good.

Source: Trailer for "Little Me"

This reflects an important characteristic of cerebral palsy patients: their intelligence level is not always proportional to the degree of motor impairment. Although some patients may have cognitive or intellectual disabilities, for the majority of patients, their cognitive and intellectual development is almost the same as that of normal people. Some children with cerebral palsy even have an IQ higher than that of ordinary people. They need more attention and understanding from society.

Perhaps there are "Liu Chunhe" around us. We should not look at them with strange eyes. Everyone has his or her own brilliant life.