Massachusetts Personal Injury Lawyer Blog

Can Cerebral Palsy Be Prevented?

Massachusetts attorney Thomas M. Kiley, concentrates on legal issues regarding cerebral palsy and birth injuries.  New research on these kinds of birth injuries indicates that some injuries can be prevented.  The research is being conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes, (NINDS)   

Researchers today are able to use imaging technology such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that shows pictures of the brains of babies with cerebral palsy and highlights any structural malformations and where there is damage. 

 The research conducted during the past 20 years by the NINDS has:

•  identified new causes and risk factors for cerebral palsy;
•  increased our understanding of how and why brain damage at critical stages of    fetal development causes cerebral palsy;
•  refined surgical techniques to correct abnormalities in muscle and bone;
• discovered new drugs to control stiff and spastic muscles and developed more precise methods to deliver them; and
• tested the effectiveness of therapies used to treat cerebral palsy to discover which methods work best.