Cerebral Palsy maybe/maybe not

Cerebral Palsy is what, then?

In the womb, during or after being born, something happened that is no longer ongoing. The brain was affected and depending on what areas or functions – we might see something amiss – or not. Babies don’t do much. A missing arithmetic skill won’t get noticed. Brain cells don’t all do things we can see. Much of the brain cell mass is SUPPORTIVE. The supportive cells mechanically help position and support neurons, true. But, they even more importantly make many of the substances that neurons need to be and act as neurons and to sustain their own structure. Neuron damage may be a failure of neurons – over time – from the missing supportive cells. A very obvious example is when, to big applause, a kid drags somebody out of a garage that has a car running. That somebody is ‘ saved ’. But then, over a year to even two years, we see odd tremors that increase in scope and amplitude until it is full blown uncontrollable movement. The carbon monoxide made oxygen unavailable by taking up all the O2 receptors in the red cell hemoglobin. The most oxygen needy cells regardless of spatial location or tracts are damaged. Those are the ones making stuff, not just synaptic-ally holding hands with other neurons.

Brains use tremendous amounts of energy. Yet, the synapses, where all that magic happens, are way too crowded with recycling loops of complexity and such that there isn’t enough room for mitochondria. So, they don’t rely on local mitochondria (where O2 is used to make energy and lots of stuff). The glial cells have

space. They – in a sense – feed the neurons as energy rich stuff is made upstream and then passed down the axons to the synapses super charged and ready to go when triggered.