Life Expectancy of Cerebral palsy and Epilepsy

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a term used to describe a group of disabilities that affect a child’s ability to move as a result of birth injury to the brain. CP is a permanent but non-progressive condition that doesn’t get worse as a child grows into adulthood. Except in cases where a babies born with serious health problems, CP is not a life-threatening disability and most infants diagnosed with it live normal life spans.
The main factors for life expectancy in cerebral palsy are gross motor function and feeding. Children who are fully ambulatory and who self-feed have life expectancies that are not dramatically less than normal. Less significant factors include fine motor function , cognitive function, epilepsy.
Type of cerebral palsy. The most common type of cerebral palsy is the spastic form, which is characterized by rigid muscle tone . Less common are the athetoid type, characterized by continual slow movements and the dyskinetic type , or mixed types are also possible. It is sometimes speculated that the different types are associated with differences in life expectancy. However, in unpublished research our group did not find any support for this notion, once severity of disabilities, as measured by level of function, is taken into account. For the estimation of life expectancy, by far the most useful classification is the pattern of disability.
The main sources of data for research on life expectancy in cerebral palsy are databases maintained by Professor Jane Hutton and her colleagues in the UK,2-6 and our California developmental disabilities database.In addition there are a few other studies from other countries/regions, such as Canadian study of Crichton13 and the Western Australian study of Blair. The research suggests that when children with comparable disabilities are compared, the resulting prognoses for life expectancy are similar.This point has sometimes been misunderstood, because the California database is able to identify children with exceptionally severe patterns of disabilities who have lower life expectancies than groups of children in other studies with less severe disabilities.
Life Expectancy With Epilepsy
Most people with epilepsy lead outwardly normal lives. Approximately 80 percent can be significantly helped by modern therapies, and some may go months or years between seizures. However, the condition can and does affect daily life for people with epilepsy, their family, and their friends. People with severe seizures that resist treatment have, on average, a shorter life expectancy and an increased risk of cognitive impairment, particularly if the seizures developed in early childhood. These impairments may be related to the underlying conditions that cause epilepsy or toepilepsy treatment rather than the epilepsy itself.
All children with epilepsy should have a health plan on file at their school which tells teachers what to do if the child seizures during the school day which might include supporting the child, giving emergency medications, calling the parents and in some cases calling 911. Parents should work with the school system to find reasonable ways to handle any special educational or environmental supports their child may have.
Having epilepsy does increase the risk that a child or adult might have adjustment or mental health concerns. In some cases these issue relate to the epilepsy itself, the underlying condition causing the epilepsy, the medications used to treat the epilepsy or adjusting to the chronic condition of epilepsy. Sometimes individuals with epilepsy may have to cope with misperceptions about epilepsy by individuals in society which might create problems in the work place, in school or socially. Counseling services can help families cope with epilepsy in a positive manner. Epilepsy support groups also can help by giving people with epilepsy and their family members’ ways to share their experiences, frustrations, as well as tips for coping with the disorder.

People with epilepsy or other handicaps in the United States cannot be denied employment or access to any educational, recreational, or other activity because of their seizures. However, studies have shown that a lower percentage of individuals with epilepsy do complete high, obtain a college degree or are employed than in individuals without epilepsy. Some studies have been criticized as having a “referral bias” meaning they assessed these things in a group of individuals with more severe epilepsy. Studies focused on individuals with epilepsy in general society have been much more positive in terms of the educational and employment success of individuals with epilepsy.