Neurological Disorders - Part 2

These flashcards cover key neurological disorders, their definitions, symptoms, causes, and treatments as specified in the lecture notes.

Dementia

A decline in mental functioning affecting memory, cognition, language, and/or personality.

Alzheimer's Disease

The most common neurodegenerative condition, and a leading cause of dementia, characterized by progressive cognitive decline.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

A progressive neurologic disorder involving the destruction of motor neurons responsible for voluntary muscle movement.

Parkinson's Disease (PD)

A chronic, progressive degenerative disorder of the basal ganglia in the CNS characterized by tremors, rigidity, and bradykinesia.

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

A temporary episode of focal cerebral ischemia that resolves spontaneously without permanent damage.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

Also referred to as stroke, it represents a sudden onset of neurological deficits due to decreased blood flow or bleeding in brain tissue.

Meningitis

Inflammation of the meninges surrounding the structures of the CNS, commonly caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal infections.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome

An autoimmune disorder characterized by rapid onset muscle weakness, often preceded by a viral or bacterial infection.

Myasthenia Gravis

A chronic autoimmune disorder causing muscle weakness that worsens with use, targeting the neuromuscular junction.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

A disease characterized by damage to the myelin sheath of nerve fibers, leading to various neurological symptoms.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Medications used in Alzheimer's Disease to treat cognitive symptoms by increasing acetylcholine levels in the brain.

Thrombolytic Therapy

A treatment for ischemic strokes aimed at dissolving blood clots, typically administered within 3 hours of symptom onset.

Dementia

A decline in mental functioning affecting memory, cognition, language, and/or personality.

Alzheimer's Disease

The most common neurodegenerative condition and a leading cause of dementia, characterized by progressive cognitive decline, memory loss, and behavioral changes. Pathologically, it is defined by the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (tau protein) in the brain, leading to neuronal dysfunction and death. Treatment includes acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and NMDA receptor antagonists to manage symptoms.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a rapidly progressive and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the destruction of both upper and lower motor neurons. This leads to progressive muscle weakness, atrophy, spasticity, and fasciculations throughout the body, eventually impacting speech, swallowing, and breathing, while typically sparing cognitive function and sensation.

Parkinson's Disease (PD)

A chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder primarily affecting the basal ganglia in the central nervous system, characterized by the degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra. The hallmark motor symptoms, collectively known as parkinsonism, include:

• Bradykinesia: Slowness of movement.
• Rigidity: Stiffness or inflexibility of the limbs or trunk.
• Tremor: Resting tremor, typically rhythmic, pill-rolling tremor of the hands.
• Postural Instability: Impaired balance and coordination, increasing fall risk.
  Non-motor symptoms can precede motor symptoms and include cognitive changes, sleep disorders, and mood disturbances.

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

A temporary episode of focal cerebral ischemia that resolves spontaneously, typically within minutes to an hour, without permanent neurological damage as seen on imaging. Often referred to as a 'mini-stroke,' TIAs present with stroke-like symptoms (e.g., sudden weakness, numbness, speech difficulty) but are crucial warning signs of an impending full stroke, requiring prompt medical evaluation.

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

Also known as a stroke, a CVA represents a sudden onset of neurological deficits due to disrupted blood flow to the brain, leading to brain cell death. Divided into:

• Ischemic Stroke: Accounts for 87 \% of strokes, caused by a blockage (thrombus or embolus) in a blood vessel supplying the brain. Symptoms depend on the affected brain area.
• Hemorrhagic Stroke: Caused by bleeding into the brain tissue (intracerebral hemorrhage) or the space around the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage), often due to hypertension or aneurysm rupture.
  Prompt recognition and intervention, such as thrombolytic therapy or mechanical thrombectomy for ischemic strokes, are critical to minimize brain damage.

Meningitis

Inflammation of the meninges, the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, most commonly caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal infections. Key symptoms include a severe headache, fever, and nuchal rigidity (stiff neck), often accompanied by photophobia (sensitivity to light), altered mental status, and rash (particularly in bacterial meningitis). Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency requiring urgent antibiotic treatment to prevent severe complications or death.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome

An autoimmune disorder characterized by rapid onset muscle weakness, often preceded by a viral or bacterial infection.

Myasthenia Gravis

A chronic autoimmune disorder characterized by fluctuating muscle weakness and fatigue that worsens with activity and improves with rest. It is caused by antibodies incorrectly attacking and destroying or blocking acetylcholine receptors at the neuromuscular junction, preventing proper nerve-to-muscle communication. Common symptoms include ptosis (drooping eyelids), diplopia (double vision), dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), and generalized limb weakness, often affecting bulbar muscles.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

A chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, optic nerves) characterized by immune-mediated demyelination (damage to the myelin sheath) and neurodegeneration. This damage disrupts nerve signal transmission, leading to a wide range of neurological symptoms that can vary significantly and include fatigue, numbness, weakness, vision problems (e.g., optic neuritis), balance and coordination difficulties, and cognitive impairment. The most common form is relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), with distinct attacks followed by periods of partial or complete recovery.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors

Medications used in Alzheimer's Disease to treat cognitive symptoms by increasing acetylcholine levels in the brain.

Thrombolytic Therapy

A treatment for ischemic strokes aimed at dissolving blood clots, typically administered within 3 hours of symptom onset.

Bell’s Palsy

An acute, idiopathic facial paralysis resulting from inflammation or compression of the facial nerve (cranial nerve VII). It causes sudden onset unilateral facial weakness or paralysis, drooping of the mouth, inability to close the eye, and loss of taste on the anterior tongue, typically resolving spontaneously within weeks to months.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

A chronic pain condition affecting the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V), characterized by sudden, severe, unilateral, shock-like facial pain, often triggered by light touch, chewing, or speaking. It typically affects one side of the face around the eye, nose, or Jaw.

National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS)

A standardized, 11-item clinical assessment tool used by healthcare professionals to objectively quantify the severity of neurological deficits in patients who have had a stroke. It evaluates various neurological functions, including level of consciousness, visual fields, facial palsy, motor strength, sensation, coordination, language, and dysarthria, with scores ranging from 0 (no deficit) to 42 (severe stroke).

Seizures

A sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain, which can cause changes in a person's behavior, movements, feelings, and levels of consciousness. Seizures are broadly classified into:

• Focal Seizures: Originate in one area of the brain, affecting a specific part of the body or causing localized symptoms.
• Generalized Seizures: Involve widespread areas of the brain, leading to symptoms affecting the entire body, such as tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures with loss of consciousness and full-body convulsions.

Temporal Arteritis (Giant Cell Arteritis)

An inflammatory disease of blood vessels (vasculitis) that primarily affects the large arteries of the head, particularly the temporal arteries. Symptoms include headache (often severe and localized to the temples), scalp tenderness, jaw claudication (pain with chewing), visual disturbances (which can lead to permanent vision loss if untreated), and systemic symptoms like fever and weight loss. Diagnosis often involves temporal artery biopsy and prompt steroid treatment is crucial to prevent blindness.

Vertigo

A sensation of spinning or rotational movement, either of oneself or of the surroundings, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and balance problems. It differs from general dizziness in its distinct rotational quality. Common causes include:

• Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV): Caused by displaced calcium crystals in the inner ear.
• Meniere's Disease: Affects the inner ear, causing episodes of vertigo, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), hearing loss, and aural fullness.
• Vestibular Neuritis/Labyrinthitis: Inflammation of the vestibular nerve or inner ear.

Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE)

A widely used, quick, 30-point questionnaire to assess cognitive impairment, particularly in diagnosing dementia and tracking its progression. It evaluates orientation to time and place, attention, memory (immediate and recall), language skills (naming, repetition, comprehension), and the ability to follow a 3-stage command and copy a design. A score below 24/30 generally suggests cognitive impairment.

Encephalitis

Acute inflammation of the brain parenchyma (brain tissue), most commonly caused by a viral infection (e.g., herpes simplex virus, arboviruses). Symptoms range from flu-like illness to more severe neurological manifestations such as headache, fever, altered consciousness, seizures, focal neurological deficits, and behavioral changes. It is a medical emergency requiring prompt diagnosis and treatment.