Cerebral Palsy, Aging, and Women

Introduction

As many people with Cerebral Palsy have come to notice there seems to be an early onset of aging. This aging is not the type having to do with getting wrinkles and white hair. It has to do with the physical disability and/or ability level of the person. Common disabilities of old age such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, increased falls, and fatigue—just to name a few—seem to have an onset in some cases in the late 20’s and early 30’s and 40’s. In this report I will discuss some of the symptoms and disease processes we have been seeing and reporting, along with many observations from those of us who have been living with Cerebral Palsy, and specifically the observations of and from women.

Note: many of the statements in this report can be applied to men and women with cerebral palsy.

Some Symptoms and Signs of Aging and Cerebral Palsy

Increase in fatigue

Increase in falls

Increase in involuntary movement

Greater difficulty in performing daily activities

Joint and muscle pain Incontinence Loss of stamina

Difficulty performing job

Depression

General loss (or greater impairment) of mobility

The Anatomy and Physiology of the Problem in Laymen's Terms

So just why are we observing these problems? After all the Merck Manual dose indicate that cerebral palsy is a nonprogressive condition. While that is true it is also false. The actual injury to the brain is static in nature, thus CP can not be defined currently as degenerative or progressive as say a disorder such as multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s can be described. The problems of secondary disability arise from the altered physiology (or movement patterns) that the person with CP must employ to function in daily activities. While the altered physiology allows for function in daily activities you are still using the same structure (anatomy) as any other human being so that the stresses placed on the normal anatomy by the altered physiology cause breakdown/degeneration in the normal anatomy sooner than would be seen in a non-cerebral-palsied individual.

Some abbreviations About Types of Cerebral Palsy and Aging

Although the symptoms that will be discussed have been experienced by people with all four types of cerebral palsy; and, all degree or severity of it, there are a few things that stand out. One is that people who were less affected by cerebral palsy or considered to have less involved cases in childhood seem to have more of these symptoms. The symptoms seem to play into, or disrupt, or cause them to alter their daily activities more. Another is that these symptoms seem to be more pronounced in someone who has had a large amount of childhood physical therapy (4-5 times a week or more) over a long period of time (4+ years). Also people who have tended to over exert themselves in strenuous activity over a number of years will have very strong and lasting effects as they age. In talking with many college graduates and postgraduates, I have found that time and time again they advise that you should not push yourself [physically] in college. Many of them took 4-5 classes per semester, and were fully ambulatory or ambulatory with assistance during this time. Many of these people say that if they had it to do over again, they would take a smaller class lode and some would consider the use of a wheelchair or scooter to aid in energy conservation. Some of these graduates felt that the rigorous experience they had in college contributed greatly to there present ability/disability status and how it has changed over the years. Many of them have noticed an overall decline from what they were previously able to do.

Comments on Socialization

In most of the research that I have done for this report the ability or lack thereof of being able to get out and do things in one’s community plays a large role in the overall health of a person with a disability. Many women with cerebral palsy may have reduced or little social contact because of mobility/transportation problems. About 41% of disabled women leave their home more than once a day. About 49% of older disabled talked on the phone frequently. Some 34% of older women with disability left there home three or less times a week. It has been found that in women with a lot of ADL (activities of daily living) difficulty had in-person social contact with someone from outside the home less than once a week in 32.4% of the sample. Many of the women who did not get out very much had increased health problems and higher levels of depression. Clearly there is a need for some assistance in the transportation area so that more of these woman can get out from time to time. (Simonsick, 1998)

This page was last updated 07/22/00