Complementary and alternative methods in cerebral palsy

This review of the medical literature on cerebral palsy by WL Oppenheim of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, published in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology [2009 Oct;51 Suppl 4:122-9], "discusses some of the CAM used in children that may be carried over into adulthood, as well as the pitfalls for patients and conventional physicians as they try to sort out what might be helpful and what might be harmful in this arena. Practitioners of both conventional and CAM therapies believe that exercise can be beneficial; accordingly, activities such as recreational sports, yoga, and hippotherapy may be continued from childhood into adulthood. General treatments for stress and anxiety, through such activities as yoga and meditation, though not directed at CP per se, may be more popular for adults than children. Research in this area should first identify what methods are being utilized and then subject these methods to well-designed outcome studies that take into account any associated risks." Abstract: PubMed.