By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor Last Updated: 11:15AM GMT 25 Feb 2009  Samantha with Ivan in October 2007 Photo: PAUL GROVER  It is caused by damage or faulty development in the brain before birth and symptoms can range from relatively mild problems with walking to severe disability little movement, lack of speech, learning difficulties and epilepsy.  Muscle stiffness becomes more severe and limbs can become fixed in flexed positions as the child becomes older which can be painful if not managed correctly. Physiotherapy, medicines, and surgery are used to manage the condition but there is no cure.  Children with the mild form of the condition have a good chance of living into adulthood but those with severe forms are less likely to live beyond their teens.  The exact causes are not known but inherited genes are involved in some cases and the condition is more common in babies born prematurely and in twins and triplets, and to mothers who were infected with rubella or chicken pox or who drank a lot of alcohol, smoked and took illegal drugs while pregnant.  Most children are diagnosed between the age of six months and two years as it becomes clear that the child is not developing normally.  About half of children have some degree of learning difficulty but others have normal or above intelligence and about half will have some level of speech problems. For those with normal intelligence, difficulty communicating their thoughts and feelings can be a source of frustration.  Hearing and vision can also be affected and many children have stomach problems and incontinence which can make eating difficult which causes additional problems.  As management of the condition improves life expectancy is being extended for many people with cerebral palsy and research is ongoing into the genetic causes and other causes such as infection during pregnancy and abnormal chemicals in the brain.  Ivan Cameron suffered from cerebral palsy and a very rare epilepsy syndrome which left him severely disabled.  The youngster had Ohtahara Syndrome - a very rare epilepsy syndrome that occurs in childhood.  In this type of syndrome, seizures start before the child is three months old and usually occur in the first 10 days after birth.  Most babies have an underlying structural brain abnormality which may have been passed on in their genes or there is brain damage before or around the time of birth.  All babies with this syndrome are neurologically very abnormal, according to the charity Epilepsy Action.  Often they are very floppy and excessively sleepy and over time they may develop stiffness in their limbs.
Cerebral palsy affects about one in every 500 babies in the UK and can cause    progressive painful tightening of the muscles and joints affecting movement    and independence.