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Brain Disorders
"The physician is concerned not, like
the naturalist, with a wide range of different organisms
theoretically adapted in
an average way to an average environment, but with a single
organism, the human subject, striving to preserve its identity
in adverse circumstances." - Ivy Mckenzie
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Stroke
Strokes occur when blockage or breakage of a blood vessel
interrupts the blood supply to an area of the brain. Brain
cells in the immediate area usually die within a few hours.
Strokes can impair speech, vision, movement or memory, depending
on where in the brain it happens. Some people recover completely,
while others die after very severe strokes.
For more information, please visit: Science
Museum - Disorders of the nervous system: Stroke
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 Alzheimer Disease
Alzheimer disease is the most common cause of dementia - a slow decline in mental
ability. It affects one in twenty people over 65, and more than one in ten
of those over 85. Alzheimer disease is caused by the gradual death of certain
brain cells, especially in the areas involved in memory. The memory loss
in Alzheimer disease can eventually be devastating: patients often don't
recognize their families, and forget where they live or how to take care
of themselves.
For more information, please visit: Science
Museum - Disorders of the nervous system: Understanding
Alzheimer Disease
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 Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease
Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD) is a very rare illness, with only about 50 new cases per year in the UK. It gradually destroys nerve cells throughout the brain. Many of the early symptoms of CJD are similar to those of Alzheimer disease - loss of memory and personality changes. As CJD progresses, patients gradually lose all control of their minds and bodies.
For more information, please visit: Science Museum - Disorders of the nervous system: Understanding CJD
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 Bipolar Disease
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy, and ability to function. Different from the normal ups and downs that everyone goes through, the symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe. They can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide. But there is good news: bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives.
For more information, please visit: National Institute of Mental Health: Bipolar Disorder
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 Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects the nerve fibres of the central nervous system: the brain and spinal cord. These nerves gradually lose their ability to transmit electric signals between the brain and body. However, most patients have long periods of remission, when the disease does not get any worse and may even improve. Symptoms often include blurred vision, loss of balance, muscle weakness, fatigue and slurred speech. MS usually occurs in people aged 22-40, and affects more women than men.
For more information, please visit: MS Society: What is MS?
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 Parkinson Disease
Parkinson's disease primarily disrupts the control of movement by the brain. It affects one in a thousand people, but this ratio rises to about one in 200 in the elderly. The main symptoms are tremors, stiff muscles and slow movements. These are all caused by a gradual loss of nerve cells in an area of the brain controlling movement, not damage to the muscles themselves.
For more information, please visit: Science Museum - Disorders of the nervous system: Understanding Parkinson Disease
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 Depression
The word 'depression' describes a range of moods - from someone who has occasional low spirits to a severe problem that interferes with the sufferer's everyday life. People with serious depression have several symptoms, including lack of energy and motivation, weight and appetite changes, sleep problems, anxiety and tearfulness. Some sufferers feel suicidal. In manic depression, these low periods are interspersed with periods of mania - an extremely active state, sometimes with delusions or, rarely, hallucinations.
For more information, please visit: Science Museum - Disorders of the mind: Depression
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 Autism
The pervasive developmental disorders, or autism spectrum disorders, range from a severe form, called autistic disorder, to a milder form, Asperger syndrome. Autistic disorder is a developmental disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate, form relationships with others, and respond appropriately to the environment. Some people with autistic disorder are high functioning, with speech and intelligence intact. Others may be nonverbal and/or mentally retarded.
For more information, please visit: Public Health Ground Round: Autism Among Us: Rising Concerns and the Public Health Response
NBC Nightly News: Unlocking Autism's Mystery
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 Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, potentially debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord. Doctors and researchers think the illness is probably an autoimmune disease, which means that the immune system attacks part of your body as if it's a foreign substance. Multiple sclerosis affects more than 1 million people around the world - including twice as many women as men. Individuals with MS can have numbness or loss of feeling in their limbs usually in the lower half of the body, partial or whole loss of eye vision, double vision or blurred vision, fatigue, dizziness, tremors, lack of coordination or unsteady gait, muscle stiffness, and possibly paralysis.
For more information, please visit: Mayo Clinic: Multiple Scerosis
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Parkinson Disease
Parkinson disease occurs when certain nerve cells (neurons) in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra die or become impaired. Normally, these cells produce a vital chemical known as dopamine. Dopamine allows smooth, coordinated function of the body's muscles and movement. When approximately 80% of the dopamine-producing cells are damaged, the symptoms of Parkinson disease appear and they include tremors or shaking, slowness of movement, stiffness, difficulty with balance, and a shuffled walk.
For more information, please visit: National Parkinson Foundation: About Parkinson Disease
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 Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia affects one person in a hundred at some point in their lives. The illness usually starts in the late teens or early twenties, and alters the sufferer's experience and interpretation of the world. This may lead to delusions - strongly held false beliefs. Experience of hallucinations (particularly hearing voices) is a common experience, but incoherent thoughts, personality change, absence of emotion and depression can occur as well.
For more information, please visit: Science Museum - Disorders of the mind: What is Schizophrenia
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 Epilepsy
In epilepsy, the normal pattern of neuronal activity becomes disturbed, causing strange sensations, emotions, and behavior or sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness. Anything that disturbs the normal pattern of neuron activity - from illness to brain damage to abnormal brain development - can lead to seizures. Epilepsy may develop because of an abnormality in brain wiring, an imbalance of nerve signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters, or some combination of these factors. Having a seizure does not necessarily mean that a person has epilepsy. Only when a person has had two or more seizures is he or she considered to have epilepsy.
For more information, please visit: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: Epilepsy Information Page
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This page has been created by Senior Honors Institute Fellow James Knupp. |
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