the nervous system: comditions and diseases

Alzheimer disease

Begins in the hippocampus (60+ dementia). Symptoms 4 As: anger, aggression, anxiety, and apathy. Slow decline in memory, thinking, and reasoning skills. Proteins not behaving normally—blocked physiology.

Anosmia

Loss of sense of smell. Age, blunt force, or trauma, chemical smells. Olfactory epithelium approximately 1 to 4 month life-span.

Broca’s aphasia

Motor aphasia. Can comprehend language, but they have a difficulty with language output or expression. They struggle with speech production, particularly word repetition and naming objects.

Carpal tunnel

A numbness, tingling, and weakness in the hand and arm caused by a pinched nerve (wrist). Symptoms worsen with repetitive and prolonged movements.

Cerebral palsy

The 12 cranial nerves all leave/enter the skull through various foramina. Narrowing of these foramina or any constriction along the nerves course results in nerve palsy.

Dementia

Group of symptoms marked by memory loss and loss of other cognitive functions such as perception, thinking, reasoning, and remembering.

Epilepsy

Seizures are episodes (repeated) of disturbed brain function characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures. Causes genetic, injuries, infections…

Herpes zoster

Viral (varicella-zoster) disease characterized by painful vesicular eruptions along a segment of the spinal or cranial nerves; shingles

Huntington’s disease

A rare, inherited disease that causes neuronal degeneration. Begins in adulthood and affects the basal ganglia and cortex. Involuntary movements, cognitive decline and emotional disturbance. Then coordination. No cure. Bad proteins.

Hypesthesia

Reduced sensitivity to touch. Diminished awareness or responsiveness. No pain.

Lou Gehrig disease

ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Degeneration and eventual death of motor neurons (voluntary control). Muscle weakness, atrophy, paralysis.

Meningitis

Inflammation of the meninges of the spinal cord or brain. Individuals with this bacterial condition are usually hospitalized for treatment. Could be fungal or viral as well.

Multiple sclerosis

Autoimmune disease. Myelin is ‘marked’ as foreign. Inflammation and destruction. Scarring. Slower transmission. Compromised musculature.

Narcolepsy

Chronic condition with recurrent attacks of uncontrollable drowsiness and sleep.

Parkinson’s disease

A progressive neurological disorder affecting substantia nigra, in the basal ganglia. (controls movement). Decrease in Dopamine.

Polio

Prosopagnosia

Viral disease causing paralysis if it reaches the nervous system. Transmitted through contaminated water, food. No cure (vaccine).

Sciatica

Severe pain along the course of the sciatic nerve. Largest and longest nerve in the body running down the lower limb.

Stroke

Cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Death of focal brain tissue that occurs when the brain does not get sufficient blood and oxygen.

Wernicke’s aphasia

Sensory aphasia (temporal lobe of the dominant cerebral hemisphere). Cannot comprehend spoken language. Speech is grammatically correct but is irrelevant and nonsensical.