Athetoid Cerebral PalsyAthetoid cerebral palsy is characterized by uncontrolled slow, writhing movements. In athetoid cerebral palsy there are fluctuations between increased and decreased muscle tone that usually affect the hands and feet, arms and legs. This type of cerebral palsy can also sometimes affect the face or tongue muscles causing uncontrolled grinding or dribbling.
Athetoid cerebral palsy is also known as dyskinetic CP. In this type of cerebral palsy emotional stress can increase the frequency of
movements and symptoms disappear when the patient is asleep. Some patients may also have the associated condition dysarthria in which
they have problems coordinating the muscle movements involved in speech.
Athetoid cerebral palsy is known to affect around 10-20% of patients. The United Cerebral Palsy
Association estimates that around half a million Americans have CP. Although medical advances have been made in recent years
occurrences of cerebral palsy in infants have slightly increased in the last three decades. One possible cause of this increase is the
higher number of premature babies surviving intensive care.
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