Philadelphia Birth Injury Lawyer Blog

Two compounds that were developed by chemists at Northwestern University have shown to help protect against cerebral palsy.

The compounds, which inhibit an enzyme in the brain that produces nitric oxide, were tested in pre-clinical trials. According to the doctors performing the study, the results were incredible. There was a strong difference in the animals that were given the compounds and those that were not. None of the fetuses born to the animals with the compound died. Eighty-three percent of animals with one of the compounds were normal and exhibited no cerebral palsy symptoms. In comparison, sixty-nine percent of animals that were given the other compound were found to be normal.

The doctors of the study believe that the compounds could help prevent cerebral palsy, a disorder which often occurs as a result of a birth injury. The doctors also feel that if the compounds are given to pregnant women at risk of having children with cerebral palsy, they could decrease that risk. The Northwestern doctors feel that this form of cerebral palsy treatment may help to protect against the development of cerebral palsy in future patients.

A 3-year-old boy is using cutting-edge stem cell therapy involving cord blood as a new form of cerebral palsy treatment.

The young boy from Sacramento, California, received a cerebral palsy diagnosis at the age of 9 months after suffering from a birth injury. When the child was born, his parents arranged to have a private blood bank save their son's umbilical cord blood. They saved the blood on the chance that their son, or another family member, would one day need it.

In July 2007, during a trial of several dozen cerebral palsy patients, the boy received an infusion of his cord blood. His parents noticed dramatic improvements in their son after the infusion. The parents have begun to raise awareness of the stem cell treatment and encourage other new parents to save their child's cord blood.

A baby that is delivered in the "breech" position is four times as likely to receive a cerebral palsy diagnosis as a baby born in the normal head-first position, according to new research.

The new research was presented at the Third International Cerebral Palsy Conference in Sydney, Australia this past week. Information on these cerebral palsy risk factors were presented by the president of Cerebral Palsy Australia. According to researchers who studied the development of cerebral palsy patients, children that were delivered feet-first were much more likely to develop this brain disorder later on in life.

The research also said that expectant mothers who are suffering from a urinary tract infection during their pregnancy are also six times as likely to have children who develop a brain disorder or cerebral palsy symptoms.

At the conference, the president said that the awareness of these risk factors was just as important as the cerebral palsy treatment that is currently being used and developed. She also said that until this time, the research relating to cerebral palsy causes has not provided conclusive evidence.