Cerebral Palsy May Be Treatable Well After Birth

A child who suffers from cerebral palsy kisses a member of staff at the Xining Orphan and Disabled Children Welfare Center in Xining of Qinghai Province, China on Feb. 25, 2009. China Photos/Getty Images

A new study from New Zealand has proposed severe brain injury that develops after preterm births, causing long-term illnesses like cerebral palsy, which may have a larger-than-expected window for prevention and treatment.

The University of Auckland team found in animal models that cystic lesions—one of the strongest risk factors for cerebral palsy—seemed to develop over many weeks, and this delay gave them the opportunity to reduce the risk of the disability well after birth.

“Virtually all proposed treatments so far need to be started within the first six hours of life,” co-author of the study Prof. Laura Bennet said.

Children with cerebral palsy display developmental displays, abnormal muscle tone, and abnormal posture. Tom Ervin/Getty Images

“This is often not realistic when families are overwhelmed by events around birth.”

The researchers were able to almost completely prevent the disability in sheep three days after a period of oxygen deprivation after giving it an anti-inflammatory drug, Etanercept, also known as ‘Enbrel’.

“A therapeutic window of at least three days is exceptionally long,” Bennet said.

Enbrel has been used to reduce the symptoms of certain inflammatory autoimmune diseases. However, it can be costly without insurance and cannot be used if you are pregnant or have severe heart problems, multiple sclerosis, or lung problems.

Cerebral palsy is a severely debilitating motor disability and impacts one to two of every 1,000 births, leading to over 10,000 new cases diagnosed each year. More than 17 million people have cerebral palsy worldwide.

Pre-school handicapped children play games at the Thanh Tam Special school in Danang, Vietnam on March 6, 2011. Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

To date, there is no known cure for cerebral palsy but various therapies, surgery, and medication play an important role in treating the symptoms to promote independence and optimise mobility.

“The current thinking is that this form of brain injury is so severe that there is no point trying to understand it, let alone treat it,” senior research fellow and lead author of the new study Christopher Lear said.

“Just the concept that it might be treatable is revolutionary.”

The study has been published in a leading journal Brain.

“Much more research is needed before this approach can be tested in humans, but this remarkably wide window for treatment gives us real hope that these findings will one day lead to a new treatment in humans to prevent cerebral palsy,” Bennet said.

Promising Study in Children with Cerebral Palsy

A pilot study was published this week on treating children with cerebral palsy using neuromodulation, a technology that acts directly upon nerves.

The non-surgical medical device uses electrical agents to transform the brain and spinal cord’s dysfunctional connectivity into functional systems.

The researchers found improvements in all 16 children with a wide range of severities of cerebral palsy, as the therapy enabled a “normalising of motor learning and network functional neural reorganisation that can lead toward more effective movements.”

They noted that further exploration is to be gained through clinical trials next year.