Know more about Neurological Disorders

According to medical terminology, neurological disorders are conditions that affect the spinal cord, brain, and body's nerves. A variety of symptoms can be caused by structural, metabolic, or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord, or other nerves.

The particular causes of neurological issues can vary, but they may include starvation, brain injury, spinal cord injury, or nerve injury. They may also include genetic illnesses, congenital anomalies or disorders, infections, lifestyle, or environmental health issues. There are numerous recognized neurological illnesses, some of which are rare but many of which are not. On the other hand, mental disorders are "psychiatric illnesses" or diseases that typically manifest as anomalies of thought, feeling, or behavior that cause either suffering or functional impairment.

Numerous conditions fall under the category of neurological disability, including epilepsy, learning difficulties, neuromuscular disorders, autism, attention deficit disorder (ADD), brain tumors, and cerebral palsy, to name a few. Congenital neurological conditions are those that exist from conception. Tumors, aging, injuries, infections, or structural flaws may be the cause of other disorders. All neurological disabilities are the outcome of injury to the nervous system, regardless of the source.

There are several neurological disorders, a few of which are mentioned below:

Alzheimer's Disease

60% to 70% of dementia cases are caused by Alzheimer's Disease (AD), often known as Alzheimer's disease or just Alzheimer's. It is a chronic neurological condition that often worsens over time after beginning slowly. The most typical initial symptom is short-term memory loss, which is the inability to recall recent events. As the condition worsens, symptoms can include behavioural problems, linguistic difficulties, disorientation (including a tendency to get lost easily), mood swings, loss of motivation, and behavioural disorders.

Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI), often known as intracranial injuries or simply head injuries, are brought on by rapid trauma that damages the brain. TBI is one of two subtypes of acquired brain damage (ABI), which can be caused by either a closed head injury or a penetrating head injury. Non-traumatic brain injury (such as stroke, meningitis, and anoxia) is the second subset. The cerebral hemispheres, cerebellum, and brain stem are among the regions of the brain that can sustain harm. TBI can have a variety of negative repercussions on the body, mind, emotions, and society.

Cephalic Disorders 

Birth defects are caused by harm to or abnormal development of the developing neural system. The word "cephalic" denotes "head" or "head end of the body." Congenital refers to a condition that exists at or before birth. Although there are other congenital developmental diseases, only cephalic illnesses are briefly discussed on this fact page. Cephalic diseases may be influenced by genetic or hereditary conditions as well as environmental exposures during pregnancy, such as the mother's use of medications, an illness of the mother, or radiation exposure.

Dawson Disease 

A modified version of the measles virus causes subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a chronic persistent infection of the central nervous system. It predominantly affects adolescents and young people and often progresses downward; most patients die from it within a few years, with a 5% possibility of spontaneous remission. It can happen anywhere between two and ten years after the initial measles infection and often causes progressive neurological decline as a result of inflammation of the brain and nerve cell loss. function as a result of injury or disease in the brain beyond what should be anticipated from normal aging. Since the measles vaccination has been used widely, SSPE has become relatively infrequent.

Encephalitis

A severe brain infection is frequently brought on by a virus. It can develop as a complication of other infectious diseases like rabies (viral) or syphilis (bacterial), or it can be brought on by a bacterial infection like bacterial meningitis. People with weakened immune systems may also develop encephalitis from parasitic or protozoal infections including toxoplasmosis, malaria, or primary amoebic meningoencephalitis. As the inflamed brain pushes against the skull, brain damage occurs and can be fatal.

Fabry Disease

Caused by the absence or malfunction of the enzyme required to break down lipids, which are molecules that resemble fat and include oils, waxes, and fatty acids. Ceramide trihexosidase, also known as alpha-galactosidase-A, is the name of the enzyme. As a result of inadequate lipid breakdown brought on by a mutation in the gene controlling this enzyme, lipid levels in the eyes, kidneys, autonomic nervous system, and cardiovascular system rise to dangerously high levels.

Gangliosidoses

A lack of beta-galactosidase is the root cause of GM1 gangliosidoses, which result in aberrant acidic lipid material storage in central and peripheral nervous system cells, but especially in nerve cells. In instance, nerve cells in the central and peripheral nervous systems accumulate excessive fatty molecules to dangerous levels. The same defective gene that controls these proteins is passed down from both parents, resulting in several genetically distinct illnesses. Early infantile GM1 (the most severe subtype, with onset shortly after birth) symptoms can include muscle weakness, exaggerated startle response to sound, gait issues, liver and spleen enlargement, coarsening of facial features, skeletal irregularities, joint stiffness, distended abdomen.

Head Injury

Brain injuries as well as damage to the scalp and skull are both considered to be head injuries. Both closed and open-head traumas are possible. If the skull is not cracked, the injury is referred to as a closed (non-missile) head injury. When something penetrates the dura mater and pierces the skull, it causes a penetrating head injury. Brain injuries can either be focal, happening in a limited, defined location, or diffuse, occurring over a larger area.

Immune-Mediated Encephalomyelitis

A neurological condition known as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADE) causes inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Damage to the myelin sheath that protects the brain's nerve fibres, which causes inflammation, is a defining feature of the illness. Both children and adults can develop ADE, albeit youngsters are more likely to do so. ADE makes up around 30% of all instances of encephalitis, therefore it is not uncommon.

Krabbe Disease

The myelin sheath of the nervous system is affected by globoid cell leukodystrophy, also known as galactosylceramide lipidosis, a rare and frequently deadly degenerative condition. This disorder has an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. Krabbe disease-affected newborns are healthy. Between three and six months, symptoms start to appear and include irritability, fevers, limb stiffness, seizures, feeding issues, vomiting, and a slowdown of both mental and motor development. Doctors sometimes confuse the disease's early signs for those of cerebral palsy.

Lambert-Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome

(LEMS) is a rather uncommon neuromuscular transmission condition. A distinct combination of clinical features, such as proximal muscle weakness, suppressed tendon reflexes, post-tetanic potentiation, and autonomic alterations, are caused by this presynaptic dysfunction of neuromuscular transmission. Though the two diseases progress in somewhat different ways, their initial presentations can be comparable to those of myasthenia gravis.

Machado-Joseph Disease

(MJD) is an uncommon form of hereditary ataxia also known as spinocerebellar ataxia type 3. (The term "ataxia" refers to a broad lack of muscle control.) Clumsiness and weakness in the arms and legs, spasticity, a stumbling, jerky stride that can be mistaken for intoxication, trouble speaking and swallowing, involuntary eye movements, double vision, and frequent urination are all symptoms of the disease. Some people experience Parkinson's disease-like symptoms or dystonia, which are long-lasting muscle spasms that produce twisting of the torso and limbs, repetitive movements, aberrant postures, and rigidity. Others exhibit facial or tongue twitching or oddly protruding eyes.

Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation

Neurological movement disorder (NBIA) is an uncommon, genetic condition marked by progressive nervous system degradation. Symptoms can range from slow writhing to distorted muscle contractions in the limbs, face, or trunk, choreoathetosis (uncontrolled, jerky muscle movements), muscle rigidity (uncontrolled tightness of the muscles), spasticity (sudden, involuntary muscle spasms), ataxia (inability to coordinate movements), confusion, disorientation, seizures, stupor, and dementia.

Occipital Neuralgia

A special kind of headache that typically affects one side of the head and is characterized by piercing, throbbing, or electric shock-like persistent pain in the upper neck, the back of the head, and behind the ears. Occipital neuralgia pain typically starts in the neck and moves upward from there. Additionally, some people will have pain in their forehead, scalp, and area behind their eyes. Additionally, their eyes are light-sensitive, and their scalp could be sensitive to touch.

Paraneoplastic Syndromes

A collection of uncommon degenerative diseases brought on by the immune system's reaction to a neoplasm, or malignant tumor, in an individual. It is thought that neurologic paraneoplastic syndromes develop when cancer-fighting antibodies or T cells from white blood cells mistakenly assault healthy nerve cells in the nervous system. Middle-aged to older people are most commonly affected by these illnesses, which are most prevalent in those with breast, ovarian, lung, or lymphatic cancer. Neurologic symptoms typically appear days to weeks before tumors are found, which can make diagnosis more challenging. In addition to trouble swallowing and walking, these symptoms may also include vertigo, memory loss, vision issues, sleep disorders, dementia, seizures, loss of muscle tone, and seizures in the limbs. 

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