Medical News Cerebral palsy is the most common cause of disability in children. Historically, it is thought to be caused by birth asphyxia, stroke, and infection of the developing infant brain. Children with cerebral palsy encounter impairments in early motor development, with symptoms such as seizures, learning, speech, hearing and visual impairments. On average, 2 out of 1000 births are affected by cerebral palsy, with some children being mildly affected while others are unable to walk or communicate independently. Generally for finding the root cause of a disability, genetic testing is only performed to look for the influence of genetic factors if no other factors can be identified. Canadian study reveals genetic factors for cerebral palsy Recently, researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children and McGill University’s Medical Research Centre in Canada revealed genetic factors for cerebral palsy, changing experts’ understanding of the causes of cerebral palsy. The findings, published online Aug. 3 in Nature Communications, could have significant implications for the prevention and treatment of cerebral palsy in the future. The researchers genetically tested 115 children with cerebral palsy and their parents in Canada (who had previously been identified as the cause of cerebral palsy). The results found that 10 percent of the patients had mutations in genes associated with cerebral palsy. In the general population, the rate of mutations in these genes was less than 1%. Mutations in the DNA associated with cerebral palsy, including base additions, deletions or recombination, can cause the condition. The study also revealed that a variety of different genes are associated with cerebral palsy. Much like autism, mutations in multiple different genes can cause the disorder, which explains the diverse clinical presentation of the two disorders, said Scherer, director of the McLaughlin Centre at the University of Toronto. The study opens the door to new research on cerebral palsy. Professor Maryam Oskoui, a specialist in neurology and neurosurgery at McGill University, said the findings reveal a more powerful genetic factor for cerebral palsy than previously recognized, and how these genetic factors interact with other known risk factors remains to be studied further. Experts call for integration of genetic testing into cerebral palsy diagnosis and assessment practices Dr. Michael Shevell, director of the Canadian Paralysis Registry, said finding the cause of a child with a disability is important for managing the child. Finding a precise cause is the key to opening the door to specific treatment, prevention, and rehabilitation. This study promotes the use of genetic testing in the diagnosis and evaluation of cerebral palsy. Dr. Stephen Scherer, principal investigator of the study and director of the Center for Genomic Applications, said, “Geneticists were shocked when I revealed the results of the study to them. Based on the results of this study, we are recommending the integration of genomic analysis into standard practice for the diagnosis and evaluation of cerebral palsy.”