Nervous System | Des Moines University

Terms

Encephal/o

inside the head (brain)

mening/o

membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord

myel/o

spinal cord

neur/o

nerve

dys

difficult, painful, abnormal

-cele

hernia, abnormal protrusion or structure out of anatomical position

-pathy

disease, abnormality

-plasia

development, formation, growth

-plegia

paralysis

Nervous System Diseases

Multiple Sclerosis

“many hardenings”

a disease of unknown cause that manifests as multiple hard plaques of degeneration of the insulating layer of nerve fibers in the CNS

Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

“stroke”

a blood vessel in the brain may burst causing internal bleeding

OR
a clot may rise in a brain blood vessel or elsewhere and travel and get stuck in a brain vessel which then deprives brain tissue of oxygen

Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)

not quite enough blood for a short period of time

Epilepsy

a condition that can occur at any ages; seizures or convulsions that are frequent

Aphasia

loss of speech

• affects a person’s ability to speak, understand speech, read, or write

Nervous System Procedures

Neurologist

a physician specializing in diseases of the brain, spinal cord and nerves

Lumbar (spinal) puncture or tap (LP)

introducing a needle between the lower bony vertebrae of our spine allows a physician to sample the CSF

Brain Scan

introducing a radioactive element into the blood can image possible tumors in the brain

Electroencephalography (EEG)

an image of the brains electrical activity

• used to diagnose different types of seizure disorders such as epilepsy, brain tumors, and are used in sleep research to identify stages of sleep

Computed Tomography (CT)

a specialized X-ray machine that takes multiple images of a body area from different angles and has a computer that integrates the multiple images into “slices” of the body

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

an MRI uses a strong magnetic field, radio waves, and a computer to create detailed pictures of the inside of your body like that of CT scan