My son's becoming more interested in learning about his condition and asked me tonight what percentage of the population has CP. Does anyone here happen to know offhand?

Thanks.

My son's becoming more interested in learning about his condition and asked me tonight what percentage of the population has CP. Does anyone here happen to know offhand?

Thanks.

0.2 % (2 out of 1000 persons) have CP. So it's not extremely common, but not classified as a "rare condition" either.

Thanks. I'll pass that along to him. Odd though, I would have thought it somewhat higher than .2%.

I wouldn't be surprised if this percentage hasn't changed much since the 50's. I would have expected to see less CP births, with the advances in medicine, but I think that the fact that premature babies are being born and serviving at much lower birthweights with CP... Maybe the cases have not decreased...

I wouldn't be surprised if this percentage hasn't changed much since the 50's. I would have expected to see less CP births, with the advances in medicine, but I think that the fact that premature babies are being born and serviving at much lower birthweights with CP... Maybe the cases have not decreased...


Problem is, so far as I can tell, no one's ever really discovered definitively what leads to CP in newborns. One of the most compelling theories I've come across is that a viral infection at the wrong moment in pregnancy may be a cause. The same sort of thing has been hypothesized to be a potential cause of schizophrenia. It's interesting because both are neurological disorders. And I remember my wife contracting a very bad cold during her pregnancy. It makes you wonder. Low birth weight seems to correlate of course. But I've also seen studies suggesting that oxygen deprivation isn't a cause -- which many assumed it might have been. Children with CP have also been seen to have low levels of magnesium. I remember my son being given magnesium during his time in the nursery. He was early but not low birth weight, and not terribly early -- four weeks early.

It seems so complex that there are probably several different causes.

Sorry for the ramble. I just remain curious about these things.

My granddaughter is a surviver of a housefire.She was in a fire at 5 mos she is now 18mos old.She was born a healthy little girl.But due to being in the smoke losing oxygen to the brain for 20 mins she now has cp,when she came home from the hospital she had a feeding tube because she couldnt remember how to suck her bottle.We have devoted our life to loving and caring for her and she has pulled thru this better than expected we still have a long road ahead but we have her back and that is a gift of its own.Never knew how hard this has been and I want to say for those of u that r living this life u r special loving and caring ppl and to let ppl know that your not always born with cp and that housefires cause terrible pain so please check your fire alarm and if u dont have one please get one ty and god bless all

My granddaughter is a surviver of a housefire.She was in a fire at 5 mos she is now 18mos old.She was born a healthy little girl.But due to being in the smoke losing oxygen to the brain for 20 mins she now has cp,when she came home from the hospital she had a feeding tube because she couldnt remember how to suck her bottle.We have devoted our life to loving and caring for her and she has pulled thru this better than expected we still have a long road ahead but we have her back and that is a gift of its own.Never knew how hard this has been and I want to say for those of u that r living this life u r special loving and caring ppl and to let ppl know that your not always born with cp and that housefires cause terrible pain so please check your fire alarm and if u dont have one please get one ty and god bless all


thanks and bless you.
It's a good point -- CP can be the result of brain injury in anyone of any age.