In many areas of the world, there are several profoundly preventable risk factors for cerebral palsy.  These hazards have known interventions that, if implemented, would result in a decreased rate of cerebral palsy.  Rubella vaccination and awareness of Rh incompatibility have both been noted in other sections of this website.  Yet, despite prolonged campaigns by WHO and UNICEF, the lack of iodine in the salt or soil of a society can manifest itself in high rates of death, cerebral palsy (most frequently spastic diplegia), stunted body growth and mental development (cretinism), deaf mutism, motor deficits, and cognitive deficits.  If iodine is administered before conception, common forms of cerebral palsy can be prevented.  In New Guinea in the 1950s, the indigenous population switched to iodine-free salt.  An epidemic resulted that subsided only when iodine-rich salt was reintroduced.

Many fats or fatty acids are essential to a healthy embryo, particularly membrane integrity.  It has been suggested that the insufficient supply of these fats because of malnutrition is a risk factor contributing to low birth weight, premature birth, slow fetal growth, and cerebral palsy.  Linoleic acid and linolenic acid are vital to brain tissue growth and blood supply infrastructure.

A mother’s nutritional constellation at the time of conception can correlate powerfully with predictions of cerebral palsy.  Providing good nutrition to people on the margin of the developed world and to people living in developing nations is vital.

Bachrach, Steven J., and Miller, Freeman.  Cerebral Palsy: A Complete Guide for Caregiving.  Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.

Hart, Hilary M., ed.  Clinics in Developmental Medicine.  London:  Mac Keith Press.   Alberman, Eva; Blair, Eve; and Stanley, Fiona.  Cerebral Palsies: Epidemiology and Causal Pathways.  London:  Cambridge University Press, 2000.  (The book is part of a series of hardcover monographs published by Mac Keith Press.  Four new ones are published each year.  The distributor is Cambridge University Press.)