Science / Medicine : A Weekly Roundup of News, Features and Commentary : Palsy Therapy Questioned

Infants with cerebral palsy who are exposed to learning games may be more likely to walk and develop faster than infants receiving formal physical therapy.

A study of 48 infants has found that physical therapy offered no benefits over a program of games to encourage learning and motor skills in infants with cerebral palsy, and may even harm the infants.

These results, researchers said, indicate that alternative and less-costly treatments for infants with cerebral palsy may help more than physical therapy that is aimed only at producing normal patterns of movement.

The study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers and published in the current New England Journal of Medicine, covered 48 infants aged 12 months to 19 months.

They received either 12 months of physical therapy or 6 months of physical therapy preceded by 6 months of the games. The games included such activities as drawing with crayons, building blocks, and playing word games to stimulate verbal abilities and social interactions.

The infants who received only physical therapy were less likely to walk and to have developed other motor skills than those who were exposed only to the learning games, the study said. They were also less mentally alert than the infants in the learning game group.