What is the difference between brain palsy and mental retardation?

Cerebral Palsy and mental retardation are two different conditions that affect the function of the brain. While some individuals with cerebral palsy may also have mental retardation, these two conditions are often incorrectly used interchangeably; Each has different symptoms, causes and severity. Cerebral Palsy is a condition in which the brain damage prevents a person to be able to fully control physical movements, while mental retardation concerns a state in which a person does not have fully developed intellectual abilities compared to other people in his age group.

One main difference between brain palsy and mental retardation is involved in symptoms. Symptoms of brain palsy generally focus on physical disorders. Individuals with a condition may have difficulty controlling their muscle dexterity and limb movements can be too free or stiff. There may also be problems with the function of the mouth, such as they are not able to easily swallow or having involuntary drooling. Symptoms of mental retardation tend to be classiFigured primarily at the general intellectual level and usually include individuals who are unable to perform regular tasks on their own and work every day.

The amount of knowledge of the causes of each of the conditions is another difference between brain palsy and mental retardation. It is believed that brain palsy are caused by factors that cause fetal brain damage in the womb or shortly after birth. Damage may be caused by infections such as rubel, toxoplasmosis, syphilis, falsepox or cytomegalovirus, present in the expectant mother during pregnancy; fetal stroke due to clots in the placenta or abnormal blood vessels; exposure to toxins during pregnancy; or cases of viral encephalitis or meningitis in newborns. Mental causes are known lessretardation and much estimates that in most cases the cause is not known. Possible causes are considered to be genetic abnormalithose such as inherited neurological or chromosomal disorders.

Another difference between brain palsy and mental retardation is possible treatment options. Hard limbs of brain palsy can be reduced by drugs to relax muscles. Physical therapy can also be implemented to help the individual with the movement of the condition and easier and surgery can be performed in more serious cases to improve muscle coordination. The treatment of mental retardation often consists in therapy or guidance, which helps individual acclimation on normal tasks and gaining confidence in order to fully perform its maximum intellectual capacity.