Brain Bee Chapter 14: Injury and Illness

What are Primary Brain Tumors?

Tumors that start in the Brain

What are two types of tumors and their characteristic functions?

• Malignant tumors are cancerous tumors

• Benign tumors are noncancerous

What are Metastatic brain tumors?

Metastatic brain tumors is when cancer from other parts of the body (cancers of the lung, breast, skin, colon, kidney) spreads to the brain through the blood

What is often necessary for survival with tumors and lesions?

Surgical Removal

How are Brain Tumors named?

Brain tumors are named based on the type of cell they come from and where they grow

What is the most common type of Brain Cancer?

The most common type of brain cancer is glioblastoma (it comes from immature glial cells)

What is most common primary brain tumor?

The most common primary brain tumor is meningioma (a benign tumor in the meninges)

What are general symptoms of tumors?

General symptoms are headaches, but specific symptoms can be sight problems because tumors can be in areas controlling vision

How do some tumors cause seizures?

Some tumors release toxic glutamate as they grow which damages nearby nerve cells and causes seizures

What are treatment options for brain tumors?

Treatment options are surgery, radiation, therapies, chemotherapy alone or together

Name a type of surgery to treat a brain tumor?

Craniotomy

What are the characteristic functions of a Craniotomy?

Opens the skull to remove as much of the tumor

Name a type of radiation treatment to treat a brain tumor?

Stereotactic Radiosurgery

What is the characteristic functions of Stereotactic Radiosurgery?

Targets tumors with high doses of radiation while protecting nearby brain tissue

• In cancerous tumors, radiation can target surrounding brain areas to kill leftover cancer cells

How can you treat tumors in awake patients?

Focussed ultrasound beams can target the tumor precisely in awake patients using imagery

After surgery, what is given to reduce brain swelling?

Steroids

What kind of drug is needed for Glioblastoma Cancer?

For Glioblastoma cancer, a drug that blocks the formation of blood vessels is needed. This is because those tumors rely on strong vessel networks to grow

What is Immunotherapy?

Immunotherapy is where the body’s immune system fights tumors

What are Checkpoint Inhibitors?

Tumors can send signals to the immune system to not fight them.

Checkpoint inhibitors are medicines that stop the tumor from sending these signals

What is Gene Therapy?

Where genes that promote tumor growth are identified and stopped from working

What is the most common cause of traumatic brain injury?

Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries each year, and motor vehicle and traffic accidents are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury deaths

What allows you to see the extent of brain tissue damage?

CT scans and MRI

Traumatic Brain Injury can happen from what?

TBI can happen from blows that cause tiny internal bleeding or from penetrating injuries that destroy brain tissue

What can traumatic brain injuries cause in the brain?

TBI can cause brain bruising, internal bleeding, death of nerve cells

• It also triggers swelling, seizures, and other neurological problems

What is CTE?

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy

What is Chronic traumatic encephalopathy?

A progressive brain disease that happens to people with repeated head injuries like football players

Repeated trauma to the brain causes what?

Causes tissue to degenerate and a buildup of abnormal proteins

Severe head injuries should be monitored for what?

Bleeding, swelling, and pressure

Why is pressure in the brain dangerous? What are treatments.

Pressure can reduce blood flow. Treatments include removing fluid from injured brain or drilling a hole to relive pressure.

Why is bruising in the brain dangerous?

Severe brain bruising can lead to post-traumatic epilepsy

What are the characteristic functions of Spinal Cord Injury?

Can permanently damage nerve cells and cause many disabilities, including paralysis

What is the only FDA approved treatment for spinal cord injuries?

The only FDA approved treatment for spinal cord injuries is the drug Methylprednisolone. This reduces nerve cell damage and inflammation near the injury

What are some approaches for spinal cord injury treatments?

Protected surviving nerve cells from damage, replacing damaged nerve cells, stimulating axon regrowth, Physical therapy, occupational therapy, electrical stimulation, Stem Cells

What is AIDS?

Neurological Acquired Immune Deficience Syndrome

What is the virus that causes AIDS?

HIV

HIV attacks what two main body systems?

The immune system and nervous system (mostly immune)

What are the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders called? Who do they affect?

HAND, and they affect more than half of the people with HIV

What is HAND caused by?

Scientists think HAND is caused by viral proteins released by infected cells that damages nerves

In advanced stages HAND causes what?

•  difficulty with concentration and memory, slower thinking, leg weakness and loss of balance

• Loss of nerve cells

• Brain shrinkage etc

What is ART?

 Antiretroviral treatment

What can reduce AIDS dementia and even reverse some brain abnormalities?

Combinations of three or more ART drugs

What is Peripheral Neuropathy?

Peripheral Neuropathy damages nerves in the arms and legs, it is triggered by HIV

What is Multiple Sclerosis?

An inflammatory disease of the central nervous system where the immune system attacks the the central nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves)

What is the main target of Multiple Sclerosis?

The main target is the myelin sheath. This attack causes lesions

What happens when myelin sheath is damaged?

Lesions appear, nerve fibers are damaged, both white and gray matter can be affected

What are Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis?

Numbness, Clumsiness, Blurred vision, Slurred speech, Weakness, Pain

There are different types of MS. Name them and their characteristic functions:

• Relapsing-remitting MS: Flare ups of new or worsening symptoms followed by some or complete recovery 

• Primary-progressive MS: Symptoms progressively worsen from the start

• Secondary-progressive MS: starts as relapsing and later becomes progressive

What is Chronic Pain?

Pain that lasts for a long time

What are the most common types of chronic pain?

The most common types of chronic pain are back pain, severe headaches/migraines and facial pain

Give examples of Anesthetics that can temporarily block pain receptors

Anesthetics like Novocaine and Lidocaine temporarily block pain receptors

Once pain happens how many types of painkillers are there?

There are 4 types of pain killers:

• Aspirin and Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)

• Opioids

• Antiepileptic drugs

• Antidepressant

What is an example of NSAIDs drugs? How do they work?

NSAIDs work by blocking chemicals like prostaglandins that cause pain and inflammation. An example is Ibuprofen and Naproxen

What is an example of Opioids? How do they work?

Morphine and codeine

• Used for severe pain: they attack themselves to nerve receptors They reduce pain and produce euphoria

What is an example of Antiepileptic drugs?

Gabapentin

What is an example of Antidepressants? How do they work?

Amitriptyline is an example. Both Antiepileptics and Antidepressants treat nerve pain (neuropathy) caused by high blood sugar, shingles, phantom limb pain, post stroke pain

Opioid receptors are largely concentrated where? How does this help with a different type of treatment?

Concentrated in the spinal cord. This leads to a method of pain control using injections of opioids in the cerebrospinal fluid, which can control pain without causing paralysis or numbness

What is a Stroke?

A stroke is an interruption of blood flow to the brain caused by ruptured blood vessels/blood clots

Risk factors for stroke are what?

Obesity, physical inactivity, and heart disease , Genetics also play a role

What are treatments for Stroke?

• Physical and speech therapy

• Clot-dissolving medications

• Tissue Plasminogen Activator (to break down clots and restore blood flow)

• Surgery to clear clogged arteries