Nervous diseases are diseases that develop as a result of damage to the brain and spinal cord, as well as peripheral nerve trunks and ganglia. Nervous diseases are the subject of study of a specialized field of medical knowledge – neurology. Since the nervous system is a complex apparatus that connects and regulates all organs and systems of the body, neurology closely interacts with other clinical disciplines such as cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, ophthalmology, endocrinology, orthopedics, traumatology, speech therapy, etc. The main specialist in the field of nervous diseases is a neurologist.
ND can be genetically determined (Rossolimo-Steinert-Kurschmann myotonia, Friedreich’s ataxia, Wilson’s disease, Pierre-Marie ataxia) or acquired. Congenital malformations of the nervous system (microcephaly, basilar impression, Kimberly anomaly, Chiari anomaly, platybasia, congenital hydrocephalus), in addition to hereditary factors, can lead to unfavorable conditions of intrauterine development of the fetus: hypoxia, radiation, infection (measles, rubella, syphilis, chlamydia, cytomegaly, HIV), toxic effects, the threat of spontaneous termination of pregnancy, eclampsia, Rh conflict, etc. Infectious or traumatic factors affecting the nervous system immediately after the birth of a child (purulent meningitis, asphyxia of a newborn, birth trauma, hemolytic disease) often lead to the development of such nervous diseases as cerebral palsy, childhood epilepsy, oligophrenia.
Acquired ND are often associated with infectious lesions of various parts of the nervous system. As a result of infection, meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis, brain abscess, arachnoiditis, multiple encephalomyelitis, ganglioneuritis and other diseases develop. A separate group consists of traumatic etiology: TBI, spinal cord injury, traumatic neuritis. ND that occur in old age are mainly caused by vascular changes (dyscirculatory encephalopathy, TIA, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke), less often by metabolic disorders (Parkinson’s disease). The incidence of oncological nervous diseases remains high. The limited space inside the skull or spinal canal leads to the fact that even benign tumors of this localization (astrocytoma, craniopharyngioma, ganglioneuroma) have a malignant course. In addition, the problematic nature of complete removal of CNS tumors causes their frequent recurrence.
Clinical manifestations directly depend on which part of the nervous system was involved in the pathological process. Thus, nervous diseases with brain damage can be accompanied by headache, dizziness, gait and coordination disorders, speech disorders, hearing and vision loss, paresis and paralysis of a central nature, changes in the psyche. Nervous diseases associated with spinal cord pathology are manifested by motor and sensory disorders below the lesion level. Diseases of the peripheral nervous system (trigeminal neuralgia, facial neuritis, intercostal neuralgia, cervical plexitis, polyneuropathies, radial nerve neuropathy, femoral nerve neuropathy, etc.) are characterized by pain syndrome, sensitivity disorders, muscular atrophy, motor disorders, vegetative and trophic changes in the innervation zone of the affected nerve.
The foundation of instrumental diagnostics traditionally consists of such studies as radiography of the spine, Echo-EG, EEG, REG, electromyography, in children of the 1st year of life – neurosonography. They are replaced by more accurate diagnostic methods: computed tomography, MRI, PET of the brain, ultrasound of the vessels of the head, duplex scanning. And, if REG and echoencephalography, as methods of diagnosing nervous diseases, gradually lose their significance, then EMG and EEG remain indispensable. They make it possible to identify functional changes occurring in many that are not diagnosed by neuroimaging methods. In some nervous diseases, diagnostic search requires lumbar puncture, stereotactic biopsy, puncture of the ventricles of the brain, and other diagnostic operations. Since the nervous system is closely interconnected with other organs and systems of the body, for a more accurate diagnosis of nervous diseases, a neurologist (a pediatric neurologist) often needs consultations from other specialists: an ophthalmologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, an orthopedist, etc.
Treatment as a rule, includes a whole range of measures aimed not only at combating the cause of the disease and its etiopathogenetic mechanisms, but also at maximum recovery of the neurological deficit resulting from the disease. For this purpose, physiotherapy, physical therapy, mechanotherapy, reflexology, manual therapy are widely used in the treatment of nervous diseases. Treatment of aneurysms, tumors, intracerebral hematomas, abscesses and cysts of the brain requires surgical intervention. In some cases, surgical treatment is used for epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Brain surgeries and spinal cord interventions are performed by neurosurgeons. They carry out modern surgical treatment of nervous diseases with the help of minimally invasive microsurgical techniques and under the control of neuroimaging. Methods of functional neurosurgery have been developed that are successfully used for torsion dystonia, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s chorea and other nervous diseases accompanied by muscle tone disorders, tremor or hyperkinesis.
You can learn more about the causes, symptoms, methods of diagnosis and treatment of individual nervous diseases in the corresponding section of the Medical Directory of Diseases. The Medic Journal website also provides descriptions of the main hardware studies that help diagnose various nervous diseases.
Sensitive ataxia is a disorder of sensory perception of pressure, vibration and body position in space, leading to discoordination and motor disorders. It is manifested by a disorder of gait and coordination, hypotension of skeletal muscles, pseudoathetosis of the distal extremities. Sensitive ataxia is diagnosed based on neurological status. To identify its etiology, a biochemical…
Senile chorea is a variant of choreic hyperkinesis, characterized by a debut in people over 60 years of age, slow progression, lack of association of the disease with infectious, cerebrovascular, tumor, etc. factors, intellectual—mnestic and mental safety of patients. Hyperkinesis may be focal in nature and affect only the perioral region. Diagnosis is carried out…
Compression of the brain is an acute or chronic compression of brain tissues that develops as a result of traumatic brain injury, the presence of a volume formation in the cranial cavity, hydrocephalus or cerebral edema. In a narrow sense, brain compression is understood as a form of severe TBI. Clinically, compression of the brain…
Retrograde amnesia is the loss of memory for events that preceded an injury or illness that caused a violation of mental function. Pathology occurs with TBI, strokes, metabolic encephalopathies and toxic brain lesions. Memory impairment is accompanied by disorientation of the patient, emotional arousal, illogical actions. To diagnose the causes of retrograde amnesia, CT and…
Spina bifida is a malformation of the vertebral column, consisting in the underdevelopment of the arches and /or bodies of one or more vertebrae with the formation of a defect in the wall of the spinal canal, through which the membranes and tissues of the spinal cord can prolapse with the formation of a congenital…
Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis is an acute autoimmune inflammatory process that diffusely affects various parts of the central and peripheral nervous system and leads to reversible demyelination. Clinically disseminated encephalomyelitis is characterized by rapidly increasing variable polymorphic neurological symptoms (sensory and motor disorders, dysfunction of the CN and pelvic organs, impaired consciousness and speech). The basis…
Multiple sclerosis is a neurological pathology with a progressive course caused by the demyelination of the pathways with the subsequent formation of sclerotic plaques in the foci of myelin destruction. Among the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, motor disorders, sensitivity disorders, optic neuritis, pelvic organ dysfunction, neuropsychic changes predominate. The diagnosis is confirmed by MRI of…
Sciatica – lesions of the spinal cord roots that cause motor, vegetative and pain disorders. Sciatica is manifested by an intense pain syndrome, a decrease in muscle strength, reflexes and sensitivity in the area innervated by the affected spinal nerve. Diagnosis of sciatica is carried out using radiography, CT and MRI of the spine, according…
Radiation damage to the nervous system is a group of pathologies of the central nervous system caused by exposure to various forms of ionizing radiation. Symptoms largely depend on the absorbed dose and the volume of irradiated tissues. Asthenovegetative, meningeal and intoxication syndromes, focal symptoms, motor and sensory disorders, and their combinations may prevail in…
Occupational neuroses are selective disorders of a separate type of highly coordinated actions, repeatedly and stereotypically repeated in the course of professional activity. They are characterized by weakness, spasm, tremor or pain syndrome that occurs when a certain movement is performed during work. Occupational neuroses are diagnosed on the basis of neurological examination, ENMG, after…
