Disorders of the Nervous System

Condition

Description

Cause

Bell's Palsy

A form of neuritis that

involves paralysis of the
facial nerve causing
weakness of the
muscles of one side of
the face and an inability
to close the eye.

Unknown.
Spontaneous
recovery is not
unknown.

Effect

Paralysis of the facial nerve

Weakness of the muscles of one side

of the face, which can result in
inability to close the affected eye

In some cases the patient's hearing is also

affected in such a way that sounds seem to
him / her to be abnormally loud.
Loss of taste sensation may also occur.

Cerebal Palsy

A non-progressive
disorder of movement
resulting from damage
to the brain before,
during, or immediately
after birth.

Cerebal palsy is
attributed to
damage to the
brain, generally
occuring before,
during, or
immediately after
birth.
It is often
associated with
other neurological
and mental
problems.There are
many causes
including birth
injury, hypoxia,
hypoglycaemia,
jaundice and
infection.

Motor Neurone Disease A progressive

degenerative disease of
the motor system
occurring in middle age
and causing muscle
weakness and wasting.

Multiple Sclerosis

A chronic disease of the

nervous system that can
affect young and
middle-aged adults.
The course of this
illness usually involves
recurrent relapses
followed by remissions,
but some patients
experience a chronic
progressive course.

Some forms of
motor neurone
disease are
inherited.

The myelin sheaths

surrounding nerves
in the brain and
spinal cord are
damaged, which
affects the function
of the nerves
involved.
The underlying
cause of the nerve
damage remains
unknown.

The most common disability is a spastic

paralysis.
Sensation is often affected leading to a lack of
balance. Intelligence, posture and speech are
frequently impaired.
Contractures of the limbs may cause fixed
abnormalities.
Other associated features include epilepsy,
visual impairment, squint, reduced hearing, and
behavioural problems.

Motor neurone disease primarily affects the

cells of the anterior horn of the spinal cord, the
motor nuclei in the brainstem, and the
corticospinal fibres.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects different parts

of the brain and spinal cord, resulting in
typically scattered symptoms.
These can include:

Unsteady gait and shaky movement

of the limbs (ataxia)

Rapid involuntary movements of the

eyes (nystagmus)

Myalgic
Encephalomyelitis
(ME)

A condition
characterized by
extreme
disabling fatigue that
has lasted for at least
six months, is made
worse by physical or
mental exertion, does
not resolve with bed
rest, and cannot be
attributed to other
disorders.

Neuralgia

Neuritis

Parkinson's Disease

Defects in speech pronunciation

(dysarthria)

Spastic weakness and retrobulbar

neuritis (= inflammation of the optic
nerve)

Unknown.
Often occurs as a
sequel to such viral Extreme disabling fatigue that has lasted for at
infections as
least six months, is made worse by physical or
glandular fever.
mental exertion, does not resolve with bed rest,
and cannot be attributed to other disorders.
The fatigue is accompanied by at least some of
the following:

Muscle pain or weakness

Poor co-ordination

Joint pain

Sore throat

Slight fever

Painful lymph nodes in the neck and

armpits

Depression

Inability to concentrate

General malaise
Maybe due to
previous attack of
shingles
A severe burning or stabbing pain often
(Postherpetic
following the course of a nerve.
Neuralgia).

A disease of the
peripheral nerves
showing the
pathological changes of
inflammation.
The word 'neuritis' is
also used, less precisely,
to refer to any disease
of the peripheral nerves,
usually causing
weakness and
numbness.
Degenerative disease
process (associated with
aging) that affects the
basal ganglia of the
brain.

Inflammation of the nerves, which may be

painful.

Associated with a
deficiency of the
neurotransmitter
dopamine.
Also associated
with aging.

Tremor, rigidity and poverty of spontaneous

movements.
The commonest symptom is tremor, which
often affects one hand, spreading first to the leg
on the same side then to the other limbs. It is
most profound in resting limbs, interfering with
such actions as holding a cup.
The patient has an expressionless face, an
unmodulated voice, an increasing tendency to
stoop, and a shuffling walk.

Sciatica

A common condition
arising from
compression of, or

Usually caused by
degeneration of an
intervertebral disc,

damage to, a nerve or

nerve root.

which protrudes
laterally to
compress a lower
lumbar or an upper
sacral spinal nerve
root.The onset may
be sudden, brought
on by an awkward
lifting or twisting
movement.

Pain felt down the back and outer side of the

thigh, leg, and foot. The back is stiff and
painful. There may be numbness and weakness
in the leg.

Nervous System Diseases

Multiple Sclerosis Literally, many hardenings,
MS is a disease of unknown cause that manifests as
multiple hard plaques of degeneration of the insulating
layer of nerve fibers in the central nervous system.
The loss of insulation allows short circuiting of nerve
impulses. Depending upon where the degeneration occurs, patients
may suffer paralysis, sensory disturbances or blindness.
Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) the fancy name for a stroke.
A blood vessel in the brain may burst causing internal bleeding. Or,
a clot may arise in a brain blood vessel (a thrombus), or arise
elsewhere (embolus) and travel to get stuck in a brain vessel
which then deprives brain tissue of oxygen. Depending upon the area of the brain involved, the
patient may suffer paralysis, loss of speech or loss of vision.
Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) Ischemia was introduced previously in the circulatory
diseases module referring to the heart. It literally means not quite enough blood. A short period
of insufficient blood supply to the brain can have the same signs and symptoms as a stroke such
as weakness in an arm, a partial loss of vision, but the problem lasts less than 24 hours. People
who get TIAs are at increased risk of having a stroke in the future.
Epilepsy a Greek word for seizure. Convulsions is another term used. Seizures may have
many causes and not all seizures are epilepsy. High fevers in young children may trigger seizures
which are short in duration, easily controlled and, typically, have no permanent aftereffects.
Epilepsy is a specific condition which may occur at any age, seizures are more intense, longer
lasting in duration, and recur with some frequency. The condition may be controlled with
medication, or if unresponsive to drugs, may require surgery.

Aphasia loss of speech. The speech centers are located on the left side of the brain in a
majority of people. If someone suffers a stroke (cerebrovascular accident-CVA), or traumatic
brain injury, and it involves the left side of the brain, they may suffer speech impediments that
vary over a spectrum of problems from difficulty in finding the right word, speaking slowly and
with difficulty, or complete loss of speech. Actually, there are two speech centers. Injury
described above involves the motor speech area, the area of the brain that produces language by
integrating thoughts of speech with the movements of the larynx, lips and tongue. There is a
second speech area, the receptive or sensory area, that enables us to understand speech. Injury to
the latter results in still fluent speech, but the individual does not understand what they are
hearing.