February 21, 2011
By Adam Marcus
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Black infants have a somewhat higher risk of cerebral palsy, according to a new study, and the increase appears to be tied to their greater likelihood of being born underweight.In fact, after taking birth weight into account, black infants are much less likely than white infants to be diagnosed with the crippling neurologic disorder, although why that's the case is a mystery, the scientists said.
"Low birth weight infants have a much higher risk of cerebral palsy," said Dr. Yvonne Wu, a pediatric neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. She told Reuters Health, "If we could eliminate the racial disparity in low birth weight deliveries, then we would also eliminate the differences in cerebral palsy between blacks and whites."
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