Is Cerebral Palsy Autoimmune?

Study May Show Way To Prevent Cerebral Palsy 

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - 

Cerebral palsy may not be caused by physical trauma during birth, but by natural body chemicals gone awry, researchers said Thursday. Their finding, which they described as surprising, could lead to a way to prevent the condition, which affects one out of 1,000 babies. The study of newborns showed that babies who later developed cerebral palsy were born with higher concentrations of immune signaling chemicals known as cytokines. Many also had high levels of blood coagulation factors. 

``These factors appear to play a role in several different processes that can lead to CP,'' Dr. Karin Nelson, a child neurologist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) in Bethesda, Md. said. Cerebral palsy is characterized by poor muscle control ranging from clumsiness to severe paralysis. Some patients have spastic tremors and some have learning disorders. About 10 to 15 percent of cases are caused by a loss of oxygen during birth. 

Cerebral palsy is also more common in premature babies and can be caused by brain injury related to meningitis or severe dehydration. But the cause of the majority of cases is unknown. Last year Nelson reported that babies exposed to infection in the womb had nine times the usual risk of CP. She set out to find out why and to see if there was a way to prevent this from ever happening. The key seems to be inflammation, she reported in the Annals of Neurology. ``It does seem that strong immune activity is playing an important role here,'' Nelson said in a telephone interview. ``We think now that there may be inflammation other than infection that may play a role here, such as autoimmune disease.'' 

Inflammation is the body's response to everything from a bump on the head to a bacterial invasion. Cytokines send out signals that cause immune cells to rush in and repair the damage or eat up the invader. But the swelling that this causes can be as bad as the original hurt, and, in the case of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, perfectly healthy tissue is attacked.

 In addition, Nelson said, it has recently been found that cytokines are important for the normal development of the infant brain. ``There may be a number of factors that put a baby at risk that in combination spell trouble,'' she said. These would include the blood coagulation factors. She said brain images of some of babies with Cerebral Palsy seemed to show they had suffered mini-strokes. In a stroke, a blood clot blocks blood flow and brain cells, starved of oxygen, die. Neighboring brain cells often also die. It is too soon to know just what to look for, but Nelson says it may be possible to screen pregnant women for danger signals. ``A woman with a history of several pregnancy losses and or a family history of blood clotting disorders such as early stroke or heart attack might want to discuss with her doctor whether to check out these factors,'' she said. Perhaps the women could take a drug that prevents inflammation and blood clotting. ``It could be something as simple as taking an aspirin, but that has not been tested and shown to be effective,'' Nelson said. 

But at least there is some direction for further study. ''Five years ago if someone asked me what can you do to prevent this kind of problem, I would have just looked sad and said 'I don't know','' she added. Nelson, who worked with the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, said a simple blood test developed by Terry Phillips at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., made her study possible. The test uses a tiny drop of blood from the newborns. ''Progress often comes with the ability to measure something,'' she said. ``It sounds boring but it's true.''

repost http://www.cerebral.org/cparticle.html

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In Kansas a doctor noticed my interest & hope for help with glyconutrients.

Dr Garrett shared that they have had amazing results within weeks by using glyconutrients with 2 groups: diabetes ... cerebral palsy

I believe much of this type of ailment could be caused by the exposure of parents or ancestors to 2-butoxyethanol. It is a teratogen & harms the developing fetus.  It has been harming our nation for over 70 years and going unnoticed.

Link: Hope for help with glyconutrients